Leatherman PST chronology project

[DaveK]

Very nice indeed 

[David]

Finally found one of these, lanyard attachment and no US PAT 4238862 stamped on handle.

[DaveK]

Nice one David 

[J-sews]

Nice! Any other variations you still need to get David?

[David]

Nice! Any other variations you still need to get David?

I`m looking for a BO and BO CC with the newer plier head    and a no date BO CC also. To many variations to keep track of.   

[Zed]

(I like that Zed guy, he's my kind of people!)

He surely blends right in... 

You noticed it too

well did it and now got some more knowledge  very interesting read, problem now is i want more older LM's  yesterday my wife picked up the kick from the kitchen side,she said so you got your LM back, she was very glad, of course i said yes i did ,  luckily to her it looks the same as the wave, not sure ill get away with a skeletool  cx  but really want one, well my 40th in November so possibly a pressie   

paul   

[Poncho65]

Hey Dave both of ya How many PST variations do each of you have now I am willing to say you might have most of the variations covered between the 2 of ya

[DaveK]

To be honest - I'm not really sure 

I have a bunch more coming from GG soon, so I'll have a look through when they arrive, and list the differences.

[Poncho65]

To be honest - I'm not really sure 

I have a bunch more coming from GG soon, so I'll have a look through when they arrive, and list the differences.

  More You will soon have enough PSTs to start a small army Can't wait to see them

[DaveK]

I reckon David must have many more than me at the moment!

[Zed]

Dave out of interest how much would i be looking at to buy a old PST ,

paul

[DaveK]

Dave out of interest how much would i be looking at to buy a old PST ,

paul

That's a very difficult thing to answer tbh Paul.

As they have been discontinued for so long, it really is a case of whatever you can find. Personally I probably wouldn't pay more than about 15 quid for one in reasonable shape, but if it was NIB, then maybe double that. It's hard to say really.

[Zed]

Dave out of interest how much would i be looking at to buy a old PST ,

paul

That's a very difficult thing to answer tbh Paul.

As they have been discontinued for so long, it really is a case of whatever you can find. Personally I probably wouldn't pay more than about 15 quid for one in reasonable shape, but if it was NIB, then maybe double that. It's hard to say really.

cheers mate, i did see one the other week for £20 but didnt have the money at the time  ill keep my eyes peeled, 

[DaveK]

The "tools needed" forum here is always a good place to let people know what you're looking for.

People are really helpful in my experience here.

[Zed]

The "tools needed" forum here is always a good place to let people know what you're looking for.

People are really helpful in my experience here.

cheers dave once i get the funds up ill put up a post 


paul

[minorca]

Hello!  I address to you with the request. I have bought to the husband LeathermanTTI. But is cheaper than in all shops in Moscow. Everybody knows that avaricious pays twice, here and now I have understood that it has some difference. There is sign R instead of TM. Tell me please, is it a fake?
Thank you sorry for my English 

[DaveK]

Hi and welcome

Do you have a picture of the TTi?

[minorca]

I have the same picture  from internet, on the first picture there is sigh R and on the second thesigh TM after word Charge. What's the diffrence? May be one of them had been produced later than another one?

[DaveK]

Ah yes - I understand.

The older Tools were marked: Leatherman(R) Charge TM

From about 2005, that was changed to: Leatherman(R) Charge(R)

I'm sure it's not a fake

[minorca]

Ufffff, thank you so much!
I've seen your diary and your collection, you're crazy and it's fantastic! 
Sorry for OFFtopic, but I couldn't not to tell my thanks to Dave! 

[DaveK]

Lol. You're very welcome - thanks !

[glkdc58]

Wow, great stuff.  Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread.  I'd been trying to piece together all the versions/variations of the PST on my own and had come up with only six, not including the BO versions.  This info is EXACTLY what  I was looking for.

On page 18 of this thread are a few posts regarding the PST II, stamped as a PST.  The consensus of the three or so posts is that this tool is in fact a PST II.  I had been considering it just the opposite, that this was a PST with the PST II tool set.  The website: smartknives.com describes four versions of the PST, one of which had the PST II tool set.

So, the question in my mind is this: is this truly yet another version/variation of the PST, or it a PST II dressed in a PST's clothing?     

(Reading Tim Leatherman's input really just whetted my appetite for more, a full "authorized" history of the PST and other early tools.  I wonder how much of it is documented, perhaps only piecemeal in some cardboard boxes in a dusty corner of a storage room at the Leatherman plant.  Perhaps the only complete history resides in Tim's head).   

[Gareth]

My gut feeling is that they were playing with the idea of just updating the tool list for the PST (to what became the PST II), but then there was a decision to then run with both as an option hence having the PST and the PST II.

If that's the case then I suppose it could be argued that the PST marked units (but with the PST II tools) were just PSTs.   However as the original PST never went out of production I will always look at them as being separate tools and no matter what's stamped on the outside it's a PST II.

I'll be the first to admit this is all supposition on my part though.

[DaveK]

It's highly feasible.

Think of this. The PST wasn't called the PST until the Minitool came out - it was simply marketed as "Leatherman Tool". Heh - deep or what?

Anyhoo, I forgot to update this thread a couple of weeks ago, when I discovered something new, but better late than never....

I was refurbing an old PST ready for a trade with another forum member and spotted something on the file that I hadn't seen before. This prompted me to dismantle the other example that I had in the drawer, and it was the same......

Here is the mid '80s US (or so I thought) PST:



And here's the little surprise that I found on the file tang:



The stamped "JAPAN" is so close to the hole, that you simply can't tell it's there without taking it apart!

So, "LEATHERMAN USA" on the blade tang, "JAPAN" on the file. And I have two of them (until I ship one out at least).

Discuss!

[Gareth]

My guess would be that while the rest of the tool was produced and assembled in the USA the file has obviously been sent over form Japan.  Perhaps as an over-run on what was required from the Japanese factory, or it's maybe it was because they didn't have the facility's to produce the files themselves.  Bob's story form Kutmaster suggests they were having a lot of parts subcontracted at one point anyway, so while some may have gone to other US companies perhaps they had to look to the Japanese to get this done.

[DaveK]

It's highly possible. I have two here that are identical in every aspect. With "over 10 million" PSTs out there, that would be one hell of a coincidence if it were random, rather than a distinct configuration in the history. 

In other words, if I have two, there will be more out there for sure.

[David]

I went and looked at the two I have and can see the top os a JA poking out alittle on one of them.The other I cant tell without taking it apart. I`ve noticed that the early files were double cut on both sides and a change came to the single cut file to the outside. Then some time before the date codes were put in the handles they went to the double cut on the outside which are stamped LEATHERMAN. I have examples of these late 80`s early 90`s of this in Stainless and BO which I`ve meant to get posted but havent yet. With DaveK find these single cut outside file may all have JAPAN stamped on them   

[J-sews]

Interesting discovery Dave!  
I agree with Gareth. There must have been such a scramble for component parts back in the 80's that that they had them coming from every which direction.

And I doubt there was any effort whatsoever to keep different "generations" pure and seperate. When the assembly department started to run low on knife blades obtained from company A for instance, I'll bet they just brought in a bucket load of them from Company B and poured them into the same hopper. As long as all blades met a certain spec there was no need to keep them seperate. And so the finished tools coming off the line probably were made up of a hodge podge of different generation components.

[DaveK]

David - I just checked, and your theory holds good with all of my PSTs. So I think we just found another way to date the "odd" ones a bit more finely - great spot. 

[Poncho65]

I have a few late 80s early 90s ones I will check when I get home as well I was looking at a couple the other day to see if anything was on the file of some of the older ones but didn't see anything but that may have been a riveted one I can't remember for sure great spot guys

an to the PST II question I have always considered it a PST II in a PST body  Someone just came up with the idea to rename it prob later though