Leatherman - where manufactured?

K

knifeaholic

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Oct 15, 2001
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I'm not big into multitools but I just picked up a new Leatherman Micra. No notation on the tool or the packaging as to where it was made. Just wondering if Leatherman still manufactures in the USA or did this come from offshore?
 
My tools all say Portland, OR and USA on them. I don't recall seeing anything either on the packages on recent new Leatherman purchases. Also, when you call 'em, your still talking to Portland. Glad to see they didn't outsource CS either. Good folks at Leatherman.
 
I understand that they are no longer allowed to put "made in usa" because they are assembled overseas.
 
There was a thread on this some time back. Seems that some components were made or processed in Mexico, Austria and possibly other places as well, exceeding standards used by the state of California to determine how much content has to be domestic in order for the manufacturer to claim "Made in USA."

Leatherman was taken to court over this, and had to pay a fine and cease to stamp products for sale in CA as USA made. Other states have regulations not as strict, but Leatherman changed its markings for all markets.

I read enough of the legal ruling to be convinced that Leatherman actually was in considerable violation, at least with some of its tools. However, AFAIK, they are all still assembled in Oregon.
 
My understanding is this: there was a law suit against Leatherman claiming that the tools are made in the USA because many parts are in fact made outside the USA (for example, I understand many of the plier heads are made in Mexico) with the final product being assembled in the USA from those parts. Leatherman no longer have "Made in the USA" on their packaging but "Made in the USA with U.S. and foreign components". The plier heads on tools such as the Juice line used to have "USA" stamped on them, but now have the word "Tool". Some of the KF4's I got from Cosco simply had the "USA" wording scratched out. One tool that is (or was last time I looked) totally made in the USA is the Micra.

Some have commented that Leatherman's quality is not what it used to be and I wonder if this is part of the reason?
 
gatch said:
Some have commented that Leatherman's quality is not what it used to be and I wonder if this is part of the reason?
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Not sure how that could be, since the only thing that has really changed is how the tools are marked. Whatever problems Leatherman is having with quality seems related to more complex designs rather than cheaping out, although I wonder about the bead blasted finish on some of them.

All I can say is that I never had a problem with any of the earlier models (not caused by abuse, that is), but had some with a Charge and Juice I believe were design related. My P4 and S4 Squirts are well made.
 
My experience with Leatherman is limited to the Charge line and I don't believe it says "made in the USA." Can't be sure as I was so unimpressed with it that it is home in ther drawer. The Vic Swisstool Spirit is with me today...as usual.

Unfortunately, based on my limited Leatherman experience all I can say is :thumbdn:

:)
 
According to US law, if a product does not qualify as being made in USA, then it must have the country of origin marked on the product itself, or the packaging it came in.

So until you see Leatherman tools with "China" or "Mexico" stamped on them, you can rest assured that they are assembled in the US.

The problem comes from the world market we have today. It's not reasonable to expect that every part, every screw, every flat washer in a knife or tool is made all in the same factory. And even if they were, then whose to say where the raw steel itself came from?

The US government recognizes this reality, and so specifies what percentage of an item must be made in the country for it to be marked "Made in USA."

California specifies a higher standard than the federal government, which is where Leatherman got into trouble. Hence the "Made in USA with U.S. and foreign components" statement.

~Bob
 
I have a 2 yo. all black Wave and it doesn't say USA anywhere on it, I found that odd at first but quickly got over it.

The quality is top notch and I have carried it everyday and used it fairly hard for the whole 2 years, no complaints.
 
I own two Leathermans, one is a `97 the other one is a 2004, which lives at home in a drawer because I don't like the quality. It is sad but probably true, Leatherman goes down the same route other US manufacturers went before.

As a frequent flyer I used to love Tumi luggage. Rugged quality, but high prices. Since it was made in USA I didn't mind. Last year my wife bought me a Tumi wallet for Christmas. Inside a tiny little label "Made in China". Screw them. Why pay 100 bucks for a wallet if it's sewn by a chink who earns a buck a day. Might as well get a $ 5 wallet.

The list is long. Tumi, Harley Davidson, GM, all want us to ay top US $ for cheap crap from Mexico and China. Why not Leatherman?
 
Knowing that just hurts my feelings. I probably will never buy another leatherman. I have 3 older supertools. NAFTA sucks.
 
Hello All,

I'm heavily involved in this world for my real-life job. Once upon a time, you could mark a product USA if "substantially all" of the value in the product came from the USA. "Substantially all" was never defined. This law has since morphed into more fog. Leatherman was sued in California and in a class-action suit, lost to the tune of an award of $13 million. Plaintiffs's lawyers did rather well with this!!!

The result was that Leatherman had to remove USA from their plier head. The older products (subject of the suit) are now marked TOOL. The products introduced since then say neither. Some of the newer packaging that I've looked at says "assembled in the US". I understand from Leatherman that some blades are sharpened in Mexico and several components come from Switzerland (saws?) and Austria (files or corkscrews?).

For those upset by this, I must simply say, like it or not, our world is very much an international marketplace. We want everything at the lowest price, yet rail at goods made (well) in other countries.

Cheers - Joe

PS - I and many others collect SAK's made in Switzerland.
 
Walt-FL said:
chink
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An infraction has been issued.
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so can you tell me when and which leathermans were all US
and
if so simple
what years were the 'original good ones'

i have a Super Tool and an original old style Wave -id guess about 2001 and 2002 respectively -maybe a year or two older-and these seem to be a very fine quality-like an 'old time tool' from the fifties, hefty tight good steel-my micra is great-no frills very workmanlike-austere functionality

have leathermans always had foriegn componenets?
 
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