There's a history section on the leatherman web site ( www.leatherman.com ) Briefly, the concept was started in the late '70s, a patent was issued in 1980, & in 1983 the mail order business was born.

The French design that you referenced is very similar to the WWII vintage OSS Escape tool. I have an updated version that was sold by Al Mar knives during the '80s. It has pliers, wire cutter, 2 3/4" clip point, 2 3/4" serrated sheepsfoot, file/flat s.d., & phillips s.d. The pliers are too small to be of any real use (3/8" jaw) & the phillips, while about the same size as a SAK s.d., is limited by being located next to the pliers handle. The closed length is 6" & weight seems to be close to or just slightly heavier than my Leatheman SuperTool.

Ed