Acquired - Wave w/ S30V blade (pics)

[Nutznboltz]

Just a quick follow up to my previous thread about seeing a Wave combo pack with a S30V blade.   I went back to the store today and sure enough it was still there on the counter with other sale/clearence items.  I grabbed it and proceeded to checked the store for others,  they had 5 other packages but they all had unmarked blades.   This was the only Leatherman combo they had, none of the others and this was not advertised on their website.








Clearly a production assembly error as the specs on the back of the package shows "420HC" blade.

Now the question of whether or not I should open her up.

[cliosguy]

i would! that deserve get used

[PyroJames]

DAMMMMMMMNNNNN!!!!  Nice find, Nutz!  I wouldn't open it... it could be a collector's item!!!  If you open it, people will just assume you modded a regular Wave with a TTi blade.  Don't open it, you have a FACTORY SEALED Wave with an s30 blade.  If it stays sealed, everyone will know it's a genuine error on Leatherman's part.  Leatherman's goof is your gain!

(Damn, how come I'm never so lucky when I go tool shopping...)  

[AHB]

I'm with PyroJames on this one..
Don't open it.. 

[Mr. Whippy]

I wouldn't open it unless you had to.  That's like mailing the inverted Jenny stamp or spending a double struck coin.

[WhichDawg]

don't open it! (expect a pm from Chako too )

[ducktapehero]

If it were me I'd open it. But I'm not a collector, I like to use the stuff I get.

[Sazabi]

I'd keep that one in the package and just get someone to swap a S30V blade onto a stock Wave, that way you can have a collector and a user-mod.

[DaveK]

I can see the case both ways - so I'm no help at all. 

Great find though Nutznboltz - we probably won't see another like that!

[ducktapehero]

I'd keep that one in the package and just get someone to swap a S30V blade onto a stock Wave, that way you can have a collector and a user-mod.

That's a good idea.

[RaptorMan]

Nice find...I wonder how many of these are out there like this??

[AHB]

Nice find...I wonder how many of these are out there like this??

Let the bidding begin, Gentlemen...   

[heavy handed]

i was reading your original thread yesterday, i kept checking for updates 2day.i bet ure heart skipped a beat today when you got to the store and it was a s30v blade.
i think that could be a real find and i think it should be unopened. congrats mate

[jzmtl]

Le baron? I saw the same package here and it's marked special too. Damn now I gotta go check out if it has s30v.

[scrappy]

that is a rare find.

[ducktapehero]

I may head up to Bass Pro Shops tomorrow and browse through their Waves. Who knows, there may be a few more out there.

[AHB]

I may head up to Bass Pro Shops tomorrow and browse through their Waves. Who knows, there may be a few more out there.

Good luck, DTH..   

[Nutznboltz]

If it were me I'd open it. But I'm not a collector, I like to use the stuff I get.

Yeah DTH, I'm not a collector either, really tempted to open this and put it through it paces.

i was reading your original thread yesterday, i kept checking for updates 2day.i bet ure heart skipped a beat today when you got to the store and it was a s30v blade.
i think that could be a real find and i think it should be unopened. congrats mate

I was pretty sure thats what I had saw, but didn't think much about it till I got home and started asking myself - Leatherman doesn't offer S30V blades on the Wave", then after much web searching and checking the Leatherman site I realized it was a error.  I went yestarday but they are closed on Sundays so this morning I was really anxious about getting there early.  Too say I was shocked to still see it there is a major understatement.

I guess it was a case of being at the right place at the right time.

[Nutznboltz]

Le baron? I saw the same package here and it's marked special too. Damn now I gotta go check out if it has s30v.

Yes, it was Lebaron.  I've gotten some really good deals there in the past.

[PyroJames]

I guess it was a case of being at the right place at the right time.

You should go out and buy a lottery ticket now.

[AHB]

I guess it was a case of being at the right place at the right time.

You should go out and buy a lottery ticket now.

Can I chip in..? 

[Wetdog]

Anyone ever wonder if these "mistakes" are done on purpose?

[ducktapehero]

Anyone ever wonder if these "mistakes" are done on purpose?

I don't know. Maybe it's a gift from the factory to people who are really interested in these things. Plus, word like this gets around and MT lovers like us go flock to the stores and look for one. If even 5% of us who look at the Wave decide to buy a regular one just as an impulse buy they're probably made money in the long run.

[Nutznboltz]

Anyone ever wonder if these "mistakes" are done on purpose?

I don't know. Maybe it's a gift from the factory to people who are really interested in these things. Plus, word like this gets around and MT lovers like us go flock to the stores and look for one. If even 5% of us who look at the Wave decide to buy a regular one just as an impulse buy they're probably made money in the long run.

I thought about that too. That some of these "mistakes" are intentional, how else would a end of line checker or quality miss this?.  But having worked in a manufacturing/production enviornment I know carelessness is very common and bad parts get shipped out frequently.  In this case it wasn't a bad part thankfully and it worked out to my advantage .
One things for sure, from now on I will certainly pay more attention to whatever I'm looking at.

[Dunc]

I certainly wouldn't open it for the time being .Have you thought about emailing the photos to Leatherman and asking them to comment ? I bet just about everyone who has replied to this thread would be interested in their reply .It could end up being worth a bit  

  Of course another thought is , is it really S30v ? the etching might be the mistake and the blade could actually be 420

dunc

[prime77]

Nice find NutznBoltz   I wouldn't open it. But I sure would be tempted to.

[getpower]

I am the last one here to tell you not to open it.

But these guys are right saying that they'll just think that you nodded the thing.

Especially if it says 420hc on the back of the package. That's genuine production error there.

[Nutznboltz]

I certainly wouldn't open it for the time being .Have you thought about emailing the photos to Leatherman and asking them to comment ? I bet just about everyone who has replied to this thread would be interested in their reply .It could end up being worth a bit  

  Of course another thought is , is it really S30v ? the etching might be the mistake and the blade could actually be 420

dunc

Actually I did email Leatherman on Saturday to see if S30V was now available on the Wave, this was after I first saw it but didn't buy it.  Still haven't gotten a response from them yet but when I do I just might email them the pics and see what they say.

I certainly hope its an actual S30V blade and not a etching mistake, but thanks Dunc for putting that in my head now  ,  the only way to be sure is to open it and find out how long the edge holds up.

[Anthony]

It is possible that it is a 420 stainless blade, that was simply engraved with S30V on it.  There is no visual way to determine the difference between the steels right?  It may be possible a case of stainless Wave blades were sent to be engraved with "S30V", and once the mistake was found out, they decided to just go with it.  There's a hundred different scenarios..

I woulden't open it, but I'd send a pic a short story of where you got it to Leatherman and see if they respond.

[Chako]

I am thinking that is more than likely actually. Still, I wouldn't use it as it is different nonetheless.