Leatherman PST chronology project

[J-sews]

                        SMITTY44 INFO

-Knurled screws

-No Lanyard attachment

-Old plier pivot

-Plier pivot (both sides):
"LEATHERMAN" (no USA)

-No hard wire notch

-Handle stamp (one side only):
"LEATHERMAN TOOL (small print),US PAT 4238862,  Portland OR.
On the top handle CABELA'S,in large writing

-Inch ruled only

-Drop point blade, with LEATHERMAN  on side of blade,not stamped
                                          U.S.A.
-Blade tang:Blank

-Milled Awl blade

-Off center screwdrivers pivet in

-Can opener has left hand cut.

-Ordered from Cabela's late in 1983

Wow, another oldy with LEATHERMAN TOOL stamped on the handle and yet an inch-only ruler. Amazing!


Ordered from Cabelas in 1983 eh Smitty? Surprising that it has knurled screws instead of rivets. That would suggest that Leatherman dropped the rivets earlier than I'd thought.

[J-sews]

Bob - it is the middle of the three blades (sabre) on the PST I mentioned.

Ahh good, so we've narrowed it down to sometime after 1993 that they switched to the new knife blade. (Darn, I should have been asking about this from the start so we could see what Spoony's 1996's were) 

My OP has been updated, the only one of four has the Saber blade.

Hey, thats interesting!
One of your 1996 tools has no saber blade/no hard wire notch/handles stamped with reg number.
The other 1996 has yes saber/yes hard wire notch/no reg number.

That pretty well nails down 1996 as the year all three of those changes were made.

One last thing Spoony; are the screwdrivers on both models the same? (are they old pivot-in-under-pressure, or new pivot-out-under-pressure?)

[J-sews]

A possibly useful compilation of the info contributed in this thread thus far, in Excel spreadsheet, so that it's a bit easier to compare the tools. I like looking at puzzles during my lunch hour, so sue me.

*edit*
shoved the spreadsheet into a Word document due to forum limitations

A spreadsheet is the right way to compile this info Woofer. Great idea!   I must admit to being Excell-challenged though.

[Poncho65]

Man J-sews this is an interesting post of the PST  I really like the PST but since I have been getting models with more on them it is kind of playing 2nd fiddle I need to get it out and about some this weekend maybe It really and truly under normal circumstances has everything would need But saw, scissors and diamond files and etc etc are nice if you have them 

[Smitty44]

                        SMITTY44 INFO

-Knurled screws

-No Lanyard attachment

-Old plier pivot

-Plier pivot (both sides):
"LEATHERMAN" (no USA)

-No hard wire notch

-Handle stamp (one side only):
"LEATHERMAN TOOL (small print),US PAT 4238862,  Portland OR.
On the top handle CABELA'S,in large writing

-Inch ruled only

-Drop point blade, with LEATHERMAN  on side of blade,not stamped
                                          U.S.A.
-Blade tang:Blank

-Milled Awl blade

-Off center screwdrivers pivet in

-Can opener has left hand cut.

-Ordered from Cabela's late in 1983

Wow, another oldy with LEATHERMAN TOOL stamped on the handle and yet an inch-only ruler. Amazing!


Ordered from Cabelas in 1983 eh Smitty? Surprising that it has knurled screws instead of rivets. That would suggest that Leatherman dropped the rivets earlier than I'd thought.

See LM history on attch link http://www.leatherman.com/about-leatherman/history/default.asp

see quote about Cabele's on the yr of 1983,neat history,thanks for the Post Bob

[woofer]

A spreadsheet is the right way to compile this info Woofer. Great idea!   I must admit to being Excell-challenged though.

The useful things about spreadsheets is that they take only minutes to update and clarify.

Attached file is an Excel spreadsheet, just change the file extesnion from doc to xls. Word is a pain.

[ringzero]

Okay now thats a combination that I haven't seen before RZ. A "Japan" knife blade combined with handles that say "LEATHERMAN TOOL" and have an inch-only ruler. Any way you can post a picture of the handles, similar to those in Reply #3  ?? 

Sorry, not at the moment.  Pics would have to be via a cell phone camera.  It takes pics that are low resolution and rather blurred - really not worth the trouble to take and post.

I'll see about borrowing a decent camera to try and get a few pics that'll be worth posting.

Can you decipher the approx date of manufacture from that "REG'D TM" number?  Think LM has a record of when they switched over from stamping Trademark Numbers to Patent Numbers?

I don't see additonal numbers anywhere, including inside the handles.  Is there anywhere in particular to check for date codes that I might be overlooking?

Also, I'm still not clear on what year LM changed from using rivets to the knurled screws?

.
 

[Roadie]

Glad to see this project taking off Although have i been volunteered for something?!?

[Spoonrobot]

Bob - it is the middle of the three blades (sabre) on the PST I mentioned.

Ahh good, so we've narrowed it down to sometime after 1993 that they switched to the new knife blade. (Darn, I should have been asking about this from the start so we could see what Spoony's 1996's were) 

My OP has been updated, the only one of four has the Saber blade.

Hey, thats interesting!
One of your 1996 tools has no saber blade/no hard wire notch/handles stamped with reg number.
The other 1996 has yes saber/yes hard wire notch/no reg number.

That pretty well nails down 1996 as the year all three of those changes were made.

One last thing Spoony; are the screwdrivers on both models the same? (are they old pivot-in-under-pressure, or new pivot-out-under-pressure?)

 

Yup, drivers on both 96 models are the same; the older centerline pivot-in-under-pressure versions. The only PST I currently have with the newer drivers is the 00 model. *Adjusted down below.

[NeitherExtreme]

•   Rivets or knurled screws?
Screws
•   Lanyard attachment?
Yes
•   (Old) small diameter or (new) large diameter plier pivot?
Old
•   LEATHERMAN cast into plier pivot, along with USA or TOOL?
LEATHERMAN         USA
•   A hard wire cutter notch?
No
•   Handles stamped with what? (see pictures in next post for examples)
"LEATHERMAN TOOL, standard font, from late 1980's thru 1990's"- Leatherman Tool, REG #, and Porland OR
•   Inch ruler only, or inch/metric?
Inch/Metric
•   Date codes? What are they?
1293    1193
•   Drop point knife blade or clip point? (saber?)
Saber
•   Knife blade tang stamped LEATHERMAN, JAPAN, or USA?
LEATHERMAN USA

[Spoonrobot]

2000??
•   New off center screwdrivers pivot OUT

Hey Bob, I do have another PST in storage that I didn't give all the info on in the thread. Call it my PST #5. What I can tell from the pictures I posted a long time ago; it is a 0599 model with a newer-pivoting-out phillips and medium flathead drivers.

The flathead has the side nail nick and not the top nail-ridge like the 00 model I have. Hope this helps!

[J-sews]

Okay now thats a combination that I haven't seen before RZ. A "Japan" knife blade combined with handles that say "LEATHERMAN TOOL" and have an inch-only ruler. Any way you can post a picture of the handles, similar to those in Reply #3  ?? 

..........I'll see about borrowing a decent camera to try and get a few pics that'll be worth posting.

I'd really like to see that picture someday RZ. Hope you can borrow a camera someday soon.

Can you decipher the approx date of manufacture from that "REG'D TM" number?  Think LM has a record of when they switched over from stamping Trademark Numbers to Patent Numbers?

Google Patents has patent date information, but where does a person look to find Trademark info?

I don't see additonal numbers anywhere, including inside the handles.  Is there anywhere in particular to check for date codes that I might be overlooking?

Also, I'm still not clear on what year LM changed from using rivets to the knurled screws?

In a previous survey we did here at MTorg, the earliest date stamp anyone reported was 1292 (December 1992) Before then Leatherman did not stamp date codes, so trying to figure out feature introduction dates is almost pure guesswork.

My best guess as to when they discontinued rivets had been 1984/1985. But now Smitty reports that he has a PST from late 1983 that has knurled screws. Hmmm, that means the rivets were only used for about one year.

[J-sews]

2000??
•   New off center screwdrivers pivot OUT

Hey Bob, I do have another PST in storage that I didn't give all the info on in the thread. Call it my PST #5. What I can tell from the pictures I posted a long time ago; it is a 0599 model with a newer-pivoting-out phillips and medium flathead drivers.

The flathead has the side nail nick and not the top nail-ridge like the 00 model I have. Hope this helps!

Good stuff. So far your 0599 is the earliest we've seen the out-pivoting screwdrivers.

(first post edited)

[J-sews]

The first-post survey questions have evolved somewhat since we started. Here is the latest:

Please take a look at your PST and tell us where it fits in. Does your PST have:

•   Rivets or knurled screws?
•   Lanyard attachment?
•   (Old) small diameter or (new) large diameter plier pivot?
•   LEATHERMAN alone cast into plier pivot? Or with USA? Or TOOL?
•   A hard wire cutter notch?
•   Handles stamped with what? (see pictures in next post for examples)
•   Inch ruler only, or inch/metric?
•   Date codes?
•   Drop point knife blade or clip point? (saber?)
•   Knife blade tang stamped LEATHERMAN alone? Or with USA? Or JAPAN?
•   Screwdrivers: pivot-in or pivot-out?

[DaveK]

PST #2

•   Rivets or knurled screws?
Knurled screws
•   Lanyard attachment?
Yes
•   (Old) small diameter or (new) large diameter plier pivot?
Old
•   LEATHERMAN alone cast into plier pivot? Or with USA? Or TOOL?
USA
•   A hard wire cutter notch?
Yes
•   Handles stamped with what? (see pictures in next post for examples)
LEATHERMAN TOOL - PORTLAND OR
•   Inch ruler only, or inch/metric?
Both
•   Date codes?
0898
•   Drop point knife blade or clip point? (saber?)
Drop Point
•   Knife blade tang stamped LEATHERMAN alone? Or with USA? Or JAPAN?
LEATHERMAN -USA-
•   Screwdrivers: pivot-in or pivot-out?
Out

Bit earlier with the driver pivot!