Clear Ambiguity

Owner Information:

I grew up in a family that was fortunately big on car camping, and started camping, back packing and cycle touring for myself around 15 years ago. A typical trip for me involves a mountain bike trip of around 100 - 200 kms with one or several nightly stop overs in national parks, or more recently stealth camping in the bushes on the side of the road or anywhere I can find a quiet spot away from anyone else. Most trips are done alone and self contained.

I have used camping, backpacking and cycle touring as a way to experience outdoor activities such as scuba/skin diving, fishing, bow hunting (no longer active) and to just get away and sort out my head for a while. I also enjoy kayaking and finding any excuse to get away from computers.
Product Description: Leatherman PST II
Manufacturer: Leatherman Tool Group, inc
URL: www.leatherman.com
dimensions:
Listed weight: 5 ounces (142 grams)
Weight as delivered: 5 ounces

The Leatherman PST II is a full size Leatherman tool primarily targetted at fishing types. However it is useful for everyone. The Leatherman has many separate tools which fold up into a small package approximately 10 cm x 2.7 cm.

I am not really sure of the year of manufacture for my leatherman PST II, but I purchased it in 1996 (from memory only).

I keep the leatherman with me at all times. It comes with a leather pouch and it stays on my belt. It is used for repairing gear, picking up strange or hot things, as a knife, scissors, pliers, just about any task you can imagine a small handheld tool accomplishing.

It is also a constant companion while working, where it is used almost daily to repair computers and fix most hardware related problems. I have also bought a second PST II to keep with my volunteer fire fighters kit and it has saved my backside a number of times while being entangled in ropes and for cutting wire.

I have used the Leatherman in the middle of fires, in town, in the Australian outback and underwater. It never fails and is always there ready for the next adventure.
Tools
(list is taken from the web site with comments from me):
Needlenose Pliers

These are incredibly handy and I think that any similar tool without pliers is very limited. I have used them to do a huge range of tasks from removing recalcitrant spiders to making major repairs to both cars and bicycles. I know of the exhaust manifold of a car which was held together with wire from a discarded paint tin using the leatherman over a year ago and is still humming along quietly today.
Regular Pliers

There are not really two sets of pliers, they are refering to the base of the needle nose pliers being suitable for use as normal pliers. I feel this is an inadequate description. You are really getting needle nose pliers only.
Wire Cutters

Very handy for cutting wire, strong fishing line, etc.
Hard-Wire Cutters

There is only the one one tool for cutting wire, but it has a small notch in it so that hardened wire does not damage the wire cutters. This actually works fairly well as I have cut nails and high tension fencing wire with this without damaging the tool.
Straight / Serrated Knife

The knife is serrated for around 60% of its length, then the rest (towards the point) is a straight edge. The knife is extremely sharp when first purchased and holds its edge well. I have not found a suitable way to keep the serrated section sharp, but it is still sharp enough to fillet fine fish anyway.
Diamond-Coated File
Cross-Cut File
Sharpening Groove

The two files are actually just the one tool, but one side is diamond coated and the other is a traditional cross cut file. The diamond side has a groove for sharpenning fish hooks and does this job well.
8 in. / 20 cm Ruler

I have found the ruler handy for measuring fish for size limits and helpful in those times when you really need to know how big something is. The ruler will extend to 21 cm with the pliers open. It is also possible to measure up to 34 cm with the knife and file extended, but there are no marks for acurate measurement on the knife or file.
Can / Bottle Opener

Works well for the designed tasks
Extra Small Screwdriver

Useful for eyeglasses and cleaning under finger nails
Medium Screwdriver

Works as expected
Large Screwdriver

No surprises here, however it is worth mentioning that you can increase the amount of torque applied by folding the handle to 90 degrees.
Phillips Screwdriver

This has proven to be extremely useful. I use it almost daily while working with computer cases (Phillips screws are used to fasten most computer peripherals) and it is still working fine. I would have expected this tool to have worn out years ago, but they have used a hardened steel that just keeps on working.
Scissors

The scissors are useful for most small cutting jobs. They are sharp, strong and easy to use.
Random Comments:

The PST II is just the right weight and size to use as a tool for humanely killing fish (hit on top of the head, just behind the eyes).

The tool should be washed after use in or around salt water as the hardened steel sections may rust.

The tool doesn’t have a locking facility, but uses a flexible 1cm length of the handle to apply enough pressure to keep the blades/ tools in the extended position. This works well but is worth remembering, especially when using the very sharp knife.

To give you some idea on the usefulness of this tool. I have used it today to pull out stubborn tent pegs, replace a car brake light globe, untie a knot in an overly tightened guy, and to upgrade the motherboards on 2 computers.

Well worth buying, but I could not find a recommended retail price on the official web site to tell you how much to pay.

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