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Tim Leatherman

Co-Founder

Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.

Tim Leatherman was born in Portland, Oregon, and is a mechanical engineering graduate of Oregon State University. Leatherman was inspired to design his folding tool while he and his wife traveled overseas in 1975, often attempting to use a simple pocketknife to repair their repeatedly malfunctioning car or leaky hotel plumbing. He spent several years perfecting the prototype and received his first US patent (4,238,862) in 1980.

Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. Was formed in 1983. Its first product, the Pocket Survival Tool initially sold through Cabela’s and Early Winters’ mail-order catalogs. ...

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