Leatherman
Tools Is A Fascinating Success Story
It
is a fascinating story. The birth of Leatherman
tools is one of inspiration, perserverance,
desperation, perservance and inspiration.
Beginning with an idea in 1975, Tim Leatherman
pursued his dream for seven years before he
sold his first Leatherman multi-purpose tool.
In 1983 the Leatherman
Tools Group was officially
established with its Pocket Survival Tool product.
Today there are nearly 20 variations, along
with this original tool, in the company catalog.
Tim
Leatherman was a young design engineer from
the U.S. who took off on a low budget vacation
across Europe with his wife in 1975. The couple’s
old car continually broke down on this trip with
Tim attempting many of the repairs with his trusty
scout knife. The knife was inadequate. What Tim
needed was pliers. He decided on that trip to
invent a folding multi purpose tool that included
full sized pliers. The concept of the Leatherman
multi tool was born.
Leatherman
struggled to perfect his idea for seven years
before he could find anyone to buy the Leatherman
pocket tool. Originally designed as an industrial
tool, he tried to sell his multi purpose knife
and pliers combinatation to telephone companies
for linemen and repairmen to use. The idea
was rejected. It wasn’t until it was
redesigned as a consumer sporting goods tool
that the concept caught on. And, caught on it
did. First year sales exceeded original projections
by six fold with orders coming from major sporting
goods stores.
Leatherman
Pocket Tools Have Been Redesigned Into Nearly
20 Distinct Models
The
Leaterman tool has been redesigned again and
again since the original Pocket Survival Tool
was introduced. The array of tools contained
in the folding chassis changes in each model
to offer a complete multi tool kit for a variety
of applications. In one model the pliers jaws
are replaced by vice grip type jaws. Model
sizes are varied to suit the needs of different
consumer groups. Today the Leaterman tool is
commonly found in the gear of military personnel,
rescue workers, fire fighters, sportsmen, campers
and home hobbyists.
It took more than seven years for Leatherman
tools to catch the eye of consumers and the first
of the multi purpose tools to be sold. Now, 20
years later, the company ships 15,000 of its
tools each day from its Portland, Oregon plant.
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