Haha, not really. I left my gate opener for one of our commercial buildings in my truck and forgot the gate is set to automatically close at 10:00pm. So in order to get out I had to hop the fence. Being as graceful as I am I got hung upside down by the back of my knee twisted in the wire. I had to cut the wire in order to get down.

Keep in mind it was 11:00pm in an unpopulated poorly lit industrial area, so it wasn't like anyone would come by until morning (and if they did chances are they would demand my wallet at gun point). <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Yep, I think we're looking at two sides of the same glass. For survival work, the Leatherman is a compromise as it isn't the best tool for any particular situation perhaps, but it is functional enough and compact enough that most people could keep on or near enough to their person as to qualify as EDC. Since there are times when survival precludes getting to your BOB or your vehicle, and having some sort of a blade, a saw, a file, pliers, wire cutters, or scissors is reasonable to anticipate, the Leatherman and other such multi-tools seem like an appropriate compromise. Having relied on my Wave for so long, I can't ever leave it home or in a drawer or glovebox. I have used it to construct shelters, build fires, dress game, field modify communications equipment for survival uses, fix survival gear, as an orienteering aid, and so on. If I knew in advance when and how I would be put into survival mode, there are a host of better tools much more suited to the tasks involved.

I guess it is just a philosophy call, and you are correct that it is bad ju ju to do something just because someone else does it (the Lemming approach). In the context of this forum, I reckoned that knowing that an expert in the field did it and was obvious about including it in his demonstrations fairly well endorsed the concept as a sound decision, so that is a qualified statement I made which may not mean much to the uninitiated I admit. Hopefully this explanation fixes that assumption.

Since it is not advisable to be carrying a Leatherman on my belt here in the office, I opted instead to keep an SAK in my pocket. Likewise, when doing field work on comms equipment it was inappropriate for me to pack my Cold Steel SRK or my Swamp Rat Battle Rat, or even one of the many hatchets or axes, as it would tend to alarm the security personnel and general public a bit to see a 6'6" 260 lb man with a large bladed item moving through the crowds. However, if I am heading for the woods for some reason, you can bet your bippie that one or more of those and other items will be going with me. In the vehicle I like to keep one of my single bit axes (full length) and one of my portable hand chain saws, along with a host of other utility items.

Chris made an excellent statement comparing the tools we would use to the way we layer clothing. Not everyone dresses the same way.

I happily welcome our diversity. I think we each have the knowledge to make the right decisions, and we choose what suits us as individuals. These discussions enlighten us all and help to reduce the ignorance that brings peril.

I used to carry a leatherman wave with me all the time, that was before I got a job were having a multi-tool on the belt was not well recieved. Before the leatherman I carried a gerber. While I was on active duty I used it all the time to tighten screws on my personnal gear, cut wire, cut 550 cord and other items of field craft. I could have used several tools to do the same job but it would have required me to carry more than one knife. Once I became company armorer, my leatherman was my go to tool. I fixed all sorts of weapons, actually next to my leatherman the most used tool i had was my hammer. When i deployed to Iraq, I drove a humvee, dang near from one end of Iraq to the other. I did several repairs using my leatherman, even when i had other tools. it was just much faster to whip out my leatherman do what I had to do and jump back in. I broke the tips off my pliers trying to connect a slave cable (jumper cable), twisted a scewdriver bit to the point where it pretty much was useless, but then i had a few other screwdrivers on the tool I could use in replace of it. I cut flex cuffs, MRE's and even pinched the skin on my hand in the backside of the plier (that was a come to Jesus moment). When I am going out in the woods I am never far from my leatherman wave. If I could get a pocket clip for it, it would be riding in my pocket everyday.

Like it's been written here already, different strokes for different folks. I edc an Emerson CQC7, and it's all the tool that i need on an everyday basis. I also own a Gerber Recoil Auto-Plier Tool & tried to carry it on my belt, but felt silly doing so. I feel the same way about carring a cell phone in the same fashion..but thats another story.I love the Gerber, it's a well made tool; but it's too bulky for edc IMHO.that's why i keep it in my glove box and put it in my pack whenever I head ot to the woods.Because of my lifestyle, i perfer to go with the less is more attitude, when it comes to the gear i carry..

The visual I got from your description of a "6'6" 260 lb man with a large bladed item moving through the crowds" was priceless. I suddenly saw Rambo in an office ignoring the workers and stalking from cubicle to cubicle! gotta love that. But I understand why you wouldn't want to walk around like that. I'm pretty lucky, I work at a feed store where we sell things like that! In fact, we have a pile of tools like axes (single and double bit), shovels, saws, rope, chain, torches, and many other things that would come in really handy in a SHTF situation. It might even be better if it happened to me while at work. Most people however don't work in such a testoterone charged place. Most days I wish I didn't. But it does afford me the unique opportunity to get alot of great gear at a substantial discount.

To me personally, There is no substitute for the leatherman. I carry it always and I keep using it. Many times, I am using it in ways that I am sure the designer probably never envisioned.