A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from the local outdoor shop franchise saying Tim Leatherman would come to one of their shops and he would engrave your Leatherman tool there. So I immediately entered myself and my boys .And yesterday was the big day, we drove to the shop (in the heart of Antwerp) and there he was, Mr. Leatherman himself. At first, all three of us received a Leatherman Buff and some ballpoint pens, and then we stood in line, waiting for our turn to meet "the creator". There were only 4 or 5 people in front of us, so we didn't have to wait that long. The guy on front of us had brought an old style Wave with him, he handed it over to Tim Leatherman and he inspected the tool a bit, read the date code and started to engrave the tool, and right before giving it back to its owner he looked at the inside of the tool again and said "your phillips is worn out, wait a minute". He picked up a big bag from the floor, searched it until he found a brand new phillips and he put the new one in the Wave, and gave it back to its owner. Which was quite impressive in my opinion.Then it was our turn, I told him I brought along my entire family, so I introduced him to my wife, my two boys, and my six weeks old daughter. He shook hands with all of them, even shaking hands with my baby girl, which was the youngest fan he saw that day, he said. I told him my boys brought along their Charges to be engraved by him. And I brought the PST that I found, new in box, in a display cabinet of an (other) outdoor shop, a couple of years ago. I gave him my PST, he opened it and checked the date code, and started engraving it, while I showed him my first Leatherman, my Original Supertool.I told him I bought that one back in '94, and that it was the tool that I carried through high school, and at my first job, and that it had a lot of emotional value for me. So when he gave back my PST I asked him if he would engrave my Supertool also, and he told me he would love to do so. I handed him my Supertool, he opened it and read the date code, "1094" he said, "you are tied with this other guy who also brought me a '94 tool to engrave today, those are the oldest ones I've seen today". When he handed me my Supertool one of the people from Leatherman Belgium noticed my Leatherman sheath on my belt, and told me to hand over that one as well. That one happened to be my Charge AL, and Mr. Leatherman told me he would engrave that one also. While he was doing so I told him about my Leatherman history, how I first bought my Supertool in '94, my Wave in 2003, and a bit later my Skeletool CX, and that I joined this forum on the internet, Multitool.org, around 2010, and that it all went downhill from that day, ending up with about 30 Leatherman Tools in my collection. He did seem to know this weird place . He asked me if there was anything I would like to see on a new Leatherman, since I didn't expect this question (and English is not my native language) I didn't really know what to say, so I just told him I liked the high polish finish on the old tools better than the "unpolished" finish on the recent ones, but I also told him that I'm quite an "old fashioned" guy, so maybe that was why I liked the old style better. He asked me what my favorite tool was, and I told him I really liked the Rebar, and that the Rebar was the one I took with me on vacation, since it's light, very able, and legal in most European countries. He replied that the Rebar was his favorite too, since it reminded him the most of his first PST.Then my oldest son gave him his Charge, and while he was engraving it he asked my oldest son if he had cut himself with it, my oldest one being quite shy, did not know what to say, so I ensured Tim that he had not cut himself (yet). Then it was my youngest son's turn, and his Charge also got engraved. I also brought a Leatherman Banner with me, and asked if he could sign that one also, and while Tim was doing so I told him I also had a Charge in my collection for my baby girl, but that she was a bit too young right now. The people from Leatherman Belgium took some pics of my boys and me, with Mr. Leatherman, and they insisted on a pic with my baby girl in it as well. The pics would be available on their facebook page in the future, so when I see them there, I'll post them in this topic also. I told Tim I would really like to visit the factory in Oregon, but since that is not going to happen in the near future, this was the next best thing. And he answered that if I ever want to visit the factory, I should send him an e-mail, and he would personally give us a tour, how cool is that .At the end, we shook hands, I thanked him and told him how great it had been. The people from Leatherman Belgium gave us a couple of cool Leatherman pins, and I had a chat with them for about 15 or 20 minutes about my collection, and my passion for multitools. And then we drove home, feeling very happy .So, here are the pics.I hope you guys enjoyed it, I sure did .
Oh wow Eric, that it so incredibly awesome!! Congrats on that great experience buddy!
Awesome stuff; I also just met the man on his "world tour" and got my PST signed. Chilled solid dude. I also got a Tread to commemorate the occasion and he made it something to treasure.
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