What a Tour! (Leatherman Factory)

Joined
Dec 14, 2006
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A few weeks ago I finally did the Leatherman Tour here in Oregon. They are one of the few that do it.

So some friends from another forum got together and we met out front:
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I'm the big guy in back in yellow (giving Bob the antenna! lol)

LM really rolled out the red-carpet for us! I'm telling you they were so cool (being in forums has it's privileges I'm telling you :p )

They had bagels and coffee and juice all ready for us for starters and proceeded by the tour of the factory. We got to see how each tool is made, from the big-ole roll of steel to the punching, cutting, shaping, polishing, fitting, assembling and the quality control at every step! (no pictures on floor allowed)

It was so cool! Tons of CNC robots and people all through the process. The "smell" of machining and that; "new-tool" smell (drool)
It's a big place that has grown over the years (newer buildings/add-ons).

They said Tim Leatherman bought the land himself and bought a lot! (man thinks ahead) back then in the early 80's it was not much around, but today! what a "boom" area. So after almost 2 hours of the tour they brought us back to the "Lunch-room" sectioned off for us and guess who's there to greet us?
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Tim Leatherman himself! :eek: (and friends)

He shakes all our hands and they have set up a "round-table" like conference area of tables (only square) and we all sit down and he tells the "Story" the whole thing; how it started, how he first came up with the idea(s) and how hard it was to do!

What a good story teller and talker he is, it was so cool. He answered all our questions (and I had a few) and showed us his personal tools and pictures of the first prototypes he made and he talks about it all and has demonstrations for us and then they bring in Lunch! (BBQ ribs and chicken drool)

We spent another 2 hours eating and talking and joking and we got to meet the engineers and designers and other cool brass, wonderful people I'm telling you. As we were finishing up the day, they give us each a brand new Multitool, their new "SideKick" (with carabiner and leather pouch) and Tim Leatherman himself engraves each one for us! :eek::thumbup:

They also give us a super cool flashlight! and a coupon to buy more at their retails store (discounted). I'll post pictures of it later in this thread.

But how can I use it! doh it's special to me now. It was a wonderful time, nothing any of us expected (or deserved) and If you get the chance to do the tour I highly recommend it; you may not get the same experience (and stuff) we got but it really helps you appreciate all the hard work and planning that goes into these tools.
 
Wow, that's awesome! :thumbup: Leatherman really "gets" how to do business and market their product in 2011. It's all about building relationships with customers. Oh, and making a great product as well. :D
 
Can't wait to see more pictures, especially of the engraved Sidekick.
 
That's terrific...................

Great American company with great products and a great story about the beginnings of the whole thing.

How nice that you had that opportunity. I'm jealous............

Syn
 
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