I’m a really big fan of Leatherman’s products. I own an original Wave, a Wave 2004 and a Vista. And if I had more money I’d own even more of their products.
While over on Popular mechanics I saw they had some photos documenting the early steps Tim Leatherman went through to bring his product to market. Really inspiring to see his nascent efforts to turn his dream into a reality. As someone who comes up with ideas and then goes through the steps to turn them into an actual workable object - including paper mockups of packs for instance - seeing his sketches, crude models and rather primitive prototypes, gives me hope that my far worse sketches, even cruder models and half-assed prototypes may one day become something as great as what Leatherman is today.
My hat is off to you Mr. Leatherman, not only for a great product and company, but also for having the perseverance to see your concept through to fruition.
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I saw these in a few months back issue of Pop Mech. It was nice to get some inside look on the development of the tool. Sadly with the recent outsourcing of Leatherman's machining (Made in Mexico, same plant as SOG now) I have lost faith in the company.
ReplyDeleteAwwww maannnnnnn.....
ReplyDeleteI had no idea. They appear to still be milking the Portland Oregon connection though. Bummer.