The best friend in my rangebag

We’ve all been there. You’re at a match or a class, and you need a screwdriver. You forgot to bring your awesome Brownells Ultimate Gunsmithing and Apothecary set which has 331 different bits and will fit the pentagon shaped screw head used by the Siberian pistol fighting monks that make your one of a kind speed belt. Now you’ll never win first C-class!

leatherman tool

But the day is saved, because you have a leatherman! An old school leatherman at that, with none of those sissy “ergonomic” handles covered in rubber padding so kids who grew up getting time outs and learning about self-esteem don’t hurt their tender hands should they ever be forced to use an actual tool.

Fearlessly, with leatherman in hand, you attack you pentagon screw head with multiple bits, until you’ve successfully tightened the screw on your rig. Now you’re ready. Now your victory is assured. Of course, the screw head is ruined and totally rounded out, but victory must be had at all costs!

Okay, so I may have gotten a little carried away there, but in all seriousness I do love having a good, old school leatherman in my bag. Between this and my Wilson Combat 1911 tool, I can fix 99% of the issues that come up on the range that aren’t gun related. Usually holster retention issues, to be honest, but sometimes I’ll get something more interesting. The best “I fixed it with a Leatherman” story I have is from last year, actually. I was shooting the Tanfoglio Stock II at the Cup and couldn’t get the holster to seat the gun correctly. The interior dimensions of the holster were off, so using my Leatherman and the hotel room’s blow drier, I painstakingly “re-did” some of the holster’s interior dimensions using a combo of heat, the file, and the knife blade.

If you have any good Leatherman fix-it stories, share them in the comments!

3 Comments

  1. I have the Pulse. It stays on my belt every single day. When at a competition it goes in my bag. When I first started carrying it many years ago, people made fun of me… until someone actually needed a file and I had it.

    I use either the Leatherman or my folder at *least* once a day. Most useful tool I have.

  2. I stopped carrying my Leatherman when I started carrying a regular folding knife (95% of what I used it for was just the blade). I am actually considering strapping it back onto my belt on a daily basis now that my new workplace has a strict no weapons policy with a specific allowance for Leathermen (most likely because all the guys on the shop floor were going to carry them anyway).

  3. I broke a bed frame in a hotel once. Fixed it (at least enough to get outta there) with an old school leatherman.

    Then once we accidentally left a side window open in the kitchen at a rental cabin and a black bear came in at night. Fixed the window (broke off the hinges, but glass ok) and the pantry door (ripped one hinge off the frame) with a newer leatherman.

    I never travel without one anymore.

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