Just finished a trashy novel in which a courageous midship-person quickly reconfigured her Leatherman tool into a ninja throwing star and took out a bad guy at distance. If you open the sheepsfoot serrated and clip blades on a Wave, then separate the handles, you get...well...something with a lot of points on it in a vaguely X-shaped configuration. While Heinlein encourages knife throwing as a defensive art, no one else does so, and tossing the Wave around is probably a bad idea, but part of the ETS ethos involves a search for multi-functionality-have any of the martial arts or martial artists addresses the defensive multi-tool issue?

Yeah, I wouldn't want to have this (my Leatherman Charge Al) flying through the air at me:



Jim

A closed Leatherman (or any of the others) can make a pretty good kubotan, if you know that you are doing...

I know it's a cell phone, but the basic concepts about the same
http://youtube.com/watch?v=t7x1aic74Mg

The pliers end of a closed Leatherman is a first-class opener for those tasty beers that use the non-twist-off cap. European (Beck's) and Mexican (Sol) come to mind. Don't know how much that applies in the U.S. though.

(I have to wonder, though, if ANY use of a Leatherman could be considered "alternative." The endless re-configuration of pointy bits pretty much defines the whole multitool concept, if you ask me.)

I don't know to much about it as a weapon but I have used a Leatherman as a doorstop. A weight for getting a line over a tree branch. Stabbed into a tree as a hanger for a candle lantern. A plumb bob. I have wrapped thin Kevlar line or wire around it so I could pull without cutting my hands to shreds. Lacking an icepick for busting up block ice for drinks I have used the plier tips.

Uses are only limited by imagination.

I have a Sony Reader and use it daily. When reading at lunch, I prop the reader up with my Leatherman Wave, putting the screen at a better viewing angle.

I once used a PST as a throwing weight, using video tape from a VHS tape, as a throwing line from one building to another.

The art of knife throwing takes a lot of practice to get any level of good. Unless you can afford to break a bunch honing your skills you most likely won’t ever get that good at hucking your multi-tool at someone with any accuracy. It would most likely break the open blades upon hitting the ground. Keep in mind as well that anything you throw at a bad guy can be thrown back at you if you don’t hit the mark. I don’t really want to give him another weapon to use against me. In a pinch my surge blades are large enough to give a good stab or slash and if I feel the need to throw something there is lot of other stuff around usually. In its closed position it would give one hell of a smash to a person’s temple or windpipe.

As far as alternate uses, it would make one hell of a torture tool if you ever need to extract info from someone……..A fingernail puller or an eyeball extractor maybe?

Agreed.

It might also be a heck of a lot more effective to throw something hard with weight. I think throwing a rock would be a better option.

The only other use I've made of a multitool is as a paperweight. It kept the map from blowing away.

I EDC my Schrade multitool for the past 9 years



And I believe it's much more versatile than any Leatherman because of its side opening tools design. It allows to utilize the perfectly flat side surfaces of the tool when closed or when having the pliers half open. And it's really a heavy duty tool. I never hesitate to hammer a nail or a knife with it (but yes, the only problem is that it's heavier than most Leathermans).

Some more things which worked very well with this particular tool:
- it's easy to improvise a very strong slingshot using the outer sides tools when closed;
- an emergency rappelling device;
- a crushing jack (only one handle open as a lever);
- comfortable carying handle (1/8-th open and pliers lips secured to handles with a string or wire, forming a hook);
- riveting hammer (the hinges have a perfect conic shape and precisely aligned for riveting, works great with thick alluminium electric wire);
- Several ways to improvise very good bow compasses for wood/plastic works.

Probably rank right up there with throwing a pistol at someone after having emptied the clip. A last-ditch effort to be sure.

I always laugh when the guy in the movies does that. They would be better off defending themselves with, as the joke from "Aliens" goes, 'Harsh language'.

A pistol without ammunition is not entirely useless. It makes a fair hammer and decent club and there is always the option of deception and guile. Bluffing during a conflict can be an effective strategy.

In one historic story a US soldier was single-handedly guarding several hundred enemy POWs. After several hours he saw an officer and quietly confided that his rifle was empty and that if the prisoners resisted he would be lucky to defend himself much less keep himself from becoming their prisoner. The officer offered back that his pistol only contained one cartridge and that perhaps it was best if the prisoners didn't know about their predicament.

I EDC a Leatherman Charge Ti and have used it for many things. The most out of the ordinary use I can think of off the top of my head was when I used the philips head bit driver as a pressure flaker while flint knapping.

Yeah I second the doorstop idea. I saw it done in the movie "Speed" and now use it on the job. Works like a charm...