The Original Leatherman Wave

[mainegrw]

I know it's not as exciting as the vast majority of knives appearing in this subforum, but for me, this is a bit of a welcome reunion:

Around 20 or so years ago, on Christmas morning, I received an original pattern Leatherman Wave from my parents. At the time I was an aspiring stagehand learning my craft, and quickly grew fond of this tool and its selection of tools, especially the smallest flathead driver which I found fit perfectly on the retaining screw of a common style of XLR audio connector. I carried this tool everywhere, through the end of high school and on into college. Sadly, after a long and frustrating load in for an event, I realized all too late that I had left my beloved tool behind on the scaffold on which I was working, amongst other production gear. I went back first thing the next day hoping to find it waiting for me, but it was gone, most definitely pilfered by a coworker.

Following my loss, I tried to find a suitable replacement. This has amounted to two Leatherman Surges, two of the newer pattern Waves, a Skeletool, a Freestyle, a couple Gerber tools, and a SOG sailing mutlitool. None of them ever held up as well as my old Wave did. Somewhere in a bin there's a bunch of broken tools, some with blades snapped off, a Surge with half its plier jaws snapped off, and a Wave and Skeletool in two halves entirely, all missing their removable bits and such. Not sure what happened to Leatherman's quality over the years, but they're certainly not what they used to be.

All that said, today, on Facebook Marketplace of all places, I finally found a replacement for my beloved multitool, an original pattern Leatherman Wave, complete with matching Brown leather pouch, just like the one my parents gave me years ago. The tool is in excellent shape, I suspect not used much, as the blades just have their original edges, and none of the tools appear to have been used, or at least not that much. She does sport a bit of rust though, mainly on the plier jaws, but a few spots throughout. Any thoughts on how to clean it off without hurting the tool would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I often burnish rusted stainless steel with the white eraser of a ball point pen. Sometimes I chuck the pen in a drill and use a slow speed, sometimes it's all hand work. You can shape the eraser on a fine file for hard-to-reach details.

Ivan

 

[waffles]

Great tool. I have a more recent one with the replaceable bits and I don't think I'll ever have to replace it.

 

[Erocksmash]

Great story and it sucks someone swiped it...
I always found myself needing more than "just a knife" so I happened across a Leatherman Wave with pocket clip...

I like the dang thing so much I bought a second without a clip as a replacement for parts....

It's like my gun, wallet and keys I can't go anywhere without my Leatherman.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Excellent find!

The original Wave has always been my favorite multi-tool. I've had three--one lost when I was bird hunting, one I dropped in a river while I was fishing, one stolen from a job site when I laid it down for a couple of minutes. I figured if I was gonna lost them this fast I'd get a less expensive one. The Leatherman Kick I got has been impossible to lose!

The new Wave with the loose bits to keep up with doesn't really interest me.

 

[rockquarry]

At a SHOT Show about 1981 or maybe 1982 in Dallas, Mr. Leatherman had a very small and modest booth set up, not much more than a table with some order forms and a few samples of his first basic Leatherman tool. I think the booth was manned only by Mr. Leatherman.

The tools weren't actually available at the time. You filled out an order form and mailed it in with your check for around $25 or $30. In several months (many today wouldn't be able to handle such a lengthy delay) I received the tool. Still have it and still use it.

 

[Jon651]

Over the course of my career in the fire department I always carried a multi-tool of some variety or flavor - not for heavy work, but for the millions of small tasks that always seemed to pop up at infrequent intervals. I can absolutely recall owning and using the original Leatherman Wave, but I didn't keep it in service for very long. My particular gripe was that the tools did not lock into place, which was a safety hazard.

Towards the end of my career I owned two Gerber Suspension multi-tools, one on my radio belt and another in my department truck. After retirement, one went onto my desk and the other into my personal vehicle. Every tool locks in place (not just the blades) and the handles are a bit beefier than the Leatherman tools. Today, I think they open more packages from Amazon than anything else!

 

[mtgianni]

I like my wave, which for some strange reason I always called wah-vey. I have a Super Leatherman from a little earlier than that era that I used the saw to split the ribs on an elk to cool it our and the knife blade to gut it.

 

[30-30remchester]

I had an original Wave soon after they came out. It was my constant companion. Used it daily in my construction life. Being on the local fire department, it was used on many critical instances. Once was used to cut the seatbelts off 3 children trapped in a burning car. My grandsons called it "grandpa's wonder tool". Then I went on a cruise with Carnival Cruise lines. I read their rules, and nowhere did it say you could not have a Leatherman. So, I packed it in my luggage and off we went. I found a note in my luggage saying it had been confiscated and destroyed as it could be harmful on the cruise. I will never set foot on another Carnival Cruise line.

 

[cadmike]

My Original leatherman wave was a Christmas gift to me from my Mom. Similar to OP, mine was stolen from my desk at work. I’ve not replaced it since I have several other leatherman tools scattered throughout my life.

I’m glad OP story had a happy ending.

 

[Gripgrabber]

I liked the Wave so much I stocked up! But these came with nylon cases.

 

[bummer]

I had an original Wave soon after they came out. It was my constant companion. Used it daily in my construction life. Being on the local fire department, it was used on many critical instances. Once was used to cut the seatbelts off 3 children trapped in a burning car. My grandsons called it "grandpa's wonder tool". Then I went on a cruise with Carnival Cruise lines. I read their rules, and nowhere did it say you could not have a Leatherman. So, I packed it in my luggage and off we went. I found a note in my luggage saying it had been confiscated and destroyed as it could be harmful on the cruise. I will never set foot on another Carnival Cruise line.

Destroyed right into someones pocket. I hope Carnival doesn't provide steak knives

 

[Arisin Wind]

On one of my son's tours in the Middle East he carried a Wave. He gave it to me, and it is a prized possession.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

I bought an early Leatherman and I used it on several deployments overseas. It came in pretty handy from time to time. It's still a good piece of kit even after all of these years.

 

[jeffrefrig]

The Leatherman seems to be "the standard" for these multi-tools. I have and used a Crescent USA brand (Toolz-All) that has wire strippers/cutter instead of the
pliers. I mainly used it for stripping wire and for the knife blade. But the part of the tool that held the blade in place broke off, rendering it useless. Then I have one that says Winchester on the nylon pouch, but nothing stamped on any of the metal. I thought it would be handy as it also had an extra pouch containing 1/4" drive sockets that used the Phillips head blade for the sockets, but I never warmed up to it. Couple guys at work used the Leatherman, but I never really looked hard enough to buy myself one. I would probably reconsider if I was still working in the field. The less tools I had to carry the better. That Leatherman would handle the job of several tools, and probably be pretty reliable.