# Where are Leatherman tools made now?



## parnass

Where are the current generation of Leatherman tools manufactured?

My Leatherman tools (an original, a Super Tool, and Micras) are all older and were made in USA.

When I look through the plastic packaging of the current Leatherman tools in stores, I don't see "USA" displayed on the tools and the country of origin is not printed on the packaging.

Thanks.


----------



## DimBeam

USA. If he has them made anywhere else he loses his credibility.


----------



## VWTim

Not to start a riot. But to many of us, when the owner started supporting Kerry for President with company money he lost his creditability.


----------



## CLHC

That's a good question.

On the Charge XTi holster that I have it says "Made in China". The tool itself and the packaging does not indicated where it was "Made in" but I'm assuming that it is made in Oregon. Reason being is that Tim Leatherman dons a red apron on a daily basis so that he can join in on the build on the manufacturing floor. So where's that manufacturing floor? Oregon—which would mean that his tools _are_ "*Made in the U.S.A.*"

That is stated on their website. . .


----------



## Kingfisher

I was a bit suspicious last year when I bought a second Leatherman Wave (reason it was a real bargain) and saw ‘Leatherman Tool’ on the pliers instead of ‘Leatherman USA’- like my old Wave. The guy in the store didn’t even notice it, but the box stated it *was* “Made in the USA”. 

I wonder if there are any future plans for making them overseas though, as taking USA off the pliers could be the first step. :thinking:


----------



## swissbianco

sure they are us made and maybe the sheaths only from china.

but for sure i now titanium leathermans are customized on switzerland by swissbianco...


----------



## Deanster

IIRC, their current claim is something like 'Assembled in the USA from parts made in China', but I may be remembering incorrectly.


----------



## dg

Could it be that for international customers the 'made in USA' mark carries little significance, and from a marketing viewpoint it is better to increase brand awareness by just marking it with 'Leatherman'?


----------



## yuandrew

Other than "Pat Pending" plus the ruler and length of the some blades, there is no Made in (place) on my Charge Ti

The holder for the bits does have a "Made in Taiwan" sticker


----------



## ZeissOEM2

edit


----------



## CLHC

If you read their website, it says that Tim Leatherman has a daily routine of going on the floor of the manufacturing plant in Oregon.—That's manufacturing plant in Oregon. That Is in the U.S.A.


----------



## heathah

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe I read somewhere in a thread over in Bladeforums that the reason Leatherman quit putting USA on their tools was because a product could only have USA on it if it was made entirely in the USA. That means no parts from anywhere else (screws, washers, etc.). I haven't really looked but I don't suppose I've ever seen a screw or a washer with USA printed on it.


----------



## TonkinWarrior

VWTim said:


> Not to start a riot. But to many of us, when the owner started supporting Kerry for President with company money he lost his creditability.


----------------------

+1

Kudos to ya, VWTim, for (a) your keen political awareness, and (b) courage to boycott products that merit it, based upon the ideological seeds their masters sow -- on our oblivious-consumer financed dollars -- when our backs are turned.

Let that riot begin.


----------



## lasercrazy

TonkinWarrior said:


> ----------------------
> 
> +1
> 
> Kudos to ya, VWTim, for (a) your keen political awareness, and (b) courage to boycott products that merit it, based upon the ideological seeds their masters sow -- on our oblivious-consumer financed dollars -- when our backs are turned.
> 
> Let that riot begin.


 As much of a scumbag that kerry was I'll still keep using my leatherman no matter what the owner does.


----------



## Diode

VWTim said:


> But to many of us, when the owner started supporting Kerry for President with company money he lost his creditability.


To the rest of us, it's another reason to buy a Leatherman.


----------



## greenLED

CHC said:


> If you read their website, it says that Tim Leatherman has a daily routine of going on the floor of the manufacturing plant in Oregon.—That's manufacturing plant in Oregon. That Is in the U.S.A.



And you can see their location from I-5, IIRC.


----------



## cslinger

My Juice has Leatherman USA on the pliars.

As for the Kerry incident...........well to be honest I'm just happy when anybody takes a stand for what they believe in or in politics as a whole, whether I disagree with them or not. More people need to quit bitching and get involved. (Not directing this at anybody here just as a whole)

His right is to support whomever he believes in our right is to stop supporting him if we feel the need. America is great that way.

By the way 99.9875% of all politicians give the rest a bad name. Think about that the next time you are voting for your pet Republicrat. 

Chris (Not a big fan of politicians as a whole if hadn't noticed)


----------



## RA40

The Micra I bought about 4 years ago has "Leatherman USA" on the scissors. The Micra I bought last week has "Leatherman Tool". It kinda made me suspicious.


----------



## SJACKAL

My Micra has 'Leatherman USA', my Wave has 'Leatherman Tool', my Charge Ti just 'Leatherman'. The Micra and the Wave are bought about the same time from the same shop. As long as they are all well made, its fine with me whether is made in USA or Asia, American politics means nothing much to non-americans anyway. But I certainly would mind if I know its made cheaply by unskilled or inadequately skilled workers or production plant.


----------



## RA40

For me, as with SJACKAL, I like know who I am supporting with the purchase. 

This discussion also leads into the Knife Makers Guild debates about CNC and "handmade" knives...a collector/user is presuming that a knife offered by a custom maker on his table is made entierely by his hands (Unless otherwise stated). There have been makers who will CNC bodies, blades, handles and do a final fit then charge comprable costs to what they sell as all hand crafted. 

If a company is marketing a product without identifying itself, it may be misleading. Thus I was a bit confused why this new Micra does not indicate USA and it seems I'm not the only one who has doubts now.


----------



## markdi

I live about 5 miles from the leatherman factory.


----------



## SJACKAL

Maybe you could pop in and ask Mr Tim?


----------



## RA40

This was relayed to me through the grape vine so you may have to dig a bit to veirify, based on what I read, this should be easy to follow-up. It was relayed that Leatherman Tool lost a $10,000,000 lawsuit last year. The allegation was their product was not completely made in the US.


----------



## parnass

RA40 said:


> .... It was relayed that Leatherman Tool lost a $10,000,000 lawsuit last year. The allegation was their product was not completely made in the US.



Thanks for the tip. Using the Google search engine, I found this article:

http://www.lawcash.com/attorney/2545/leatherman-tool-group-lawsuit.asp

In part, it says "_A class action has been certified against the Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. on behalf of all persons who, between April 2, 1997, and the date of any eventual judgment in this action, purchased for personal, family, or household purposes any Leatherman tool in California that was contained in packages on which an unqualified "Made in U.S.A." or "U.S.A." representation was made. The action alleges that the company violated California's Unfair Competition Law and Consumer Legal Remedies Act by falsely advertising that its products were completely made in America. The action seeks compensatory damages, and an order from the court that will force Leatherman to state truthfully where its tools are manufactured. ..."_

Perhaps this is the lawsuit in question.


----------



## CLHC

Whoa! A real ocular opener here. . .

". . .*an order from the court. . .will force Leatherman to state truthfully where its tools are manufactured*. . ."

Well now, I really must say. . .


----------



## markdi

my nephiew's girlfriend's father works at Leatherman.

I have been there many times to have one of there tools fixed or sharpened.

I usually get my tool mailed back to me in three days - totaly free of charge.


----------



## powernoodle

VWTim said:


> when the owner started supporting Kerry for President



Glad I'm not the last person on earth who recalls this. I'll never buy another. Never. No way. :wave:


----------



## InfidelCastro

heathah said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe I read somewhere in a thread over in Bladeforums that the reason Leatherman quit putting USA on their tools was because a product could only have USA on it if it was made entirely in the USA. That means no parts from anywhere else (screws, washers, etc.). I haven't really looked but I don't suppose I've ever seen a screw or a washer with USA printed on it.





I have heard that things can be marked 'made in the USA' even if the parts are foreign and it is only partially manufactured here..


That does make sense if you think about how firearms manufactures get around the 89' import ban, but I don't know if that's a good example or not.


----------



## InfidelCastro

powernoodle said:


> Glad I'm not the last person on earth who recalls this. I'll never buy another. Never. No way. :wave:




Globalist socialists Bush/Cheney or globalist socialists Kerry/Edwards... personally I don't get my panties in a bunch over the extremely minor (and in reality non-existent) differences between the two corporate parties. I voted for Badnarik myself. I refuse to be a party to the slow destruction of this country, whether it's Kerry driving us off the cliff at 80mph or Bush at 70.


----------



## DimBeam

InfidelCastro said:


> Globalist socialists Bush/Cheney or globalist socialists Kerry/Edwards... personally I don't get my panties in a bunch over the extremely minor (and in reality non-existent) differences between the two corporate parties. I voted for Badnarik myself. I refuse to be a party to the slow destruction of this country, whether it's Kerry driving us off the cliff at 80mph or Bush at 70.




Could not have said it better!!


----------



## RA40

InfidelCastro said:


> I have heard that things can be marked 'made in the USA' even if the parts are foreign and it is only partially manufactured here..
> .



I don't have the specifics, a product's origin has to have a percentage to qualify for the designation. Supporting items like screws, washers can be of off shore manufacture. Main componets produced off shore but assembled in US would read of the country it was produced in. Other labeling would be:"Assembled in USA with components manufactured from XXXX."


----------



## heathah

InfidelCastro said:


> I have heard that things can be marked 'made in the USA' even if the parts are foreign and it is only partially manufactured here..
> 
> 
> That does make sense if you think about how firearms manufactures get around the 89' import ban, but I don't know if that's a good example or not.



This is more from the link parnass mentioned earlier about the California/Leatherman lawsuit:

"The action alleges that the company sold its tools in packaging indicating that they were produced completely in the United States, when in actuality certain parts were manufactured outside the country. California's consumer protection laws--which are more stringent in some ways than those of other states--prohibit the unqualified use of statements like "Made in the U.S.A." if a product is made of parts manufactured in another country, even if the final product was in fact assembled here."


----------

