Hi Rokfather,
Welcome to our forum.
When we began setting up the "byrd" line, we were designing knives that we are making in China. I came across this old design and I thought that it might be a nice thing to reproduce with a modern version. I thought the concept provided an opportunity for variety in the multitool market without conflicting with any of the multitools available at the time, which were mostly made by our friend, Tim Leatherman.
sal