I Just received the Leatherman "Surge."

OK, here is a trivia question I hope somebody has an answer to. On the Signal below the belt clip are the coordinates of the Ripplebrook campground in Oregon. It is located in the Mount Hood National Forest. Is this some sort of memorial, Where the Signal was tested, ??? sadly, this campground was burned off in a recent wildfire


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I know what these coordinates mean; they make my Leatherman Signal much more interesting. I remember this event; on the 2nd of May, 2000, at midnight, the US Military switched their GPS system's selective availability. A GPS device went from an accuracy of 100s of feet to a few feet, in the case of my current iPhone, about 3 feet. To celebrate and test this new accuracy, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, and GPS enthusiast, wanted to test this new accuracy by stashing a navigational target in the woods. He called the idea the "Great American GPS Stash Hunt" and posted it in an internet GPS users' group. This was the first Geocache. The exact coordinates of that first GPS stash was located at N 45° 17.460 W 122° 24.800. This is near Viola, Oregon. It was a black bucket with a logbook and pencils so people who found it could log in. This started the worldwide Geocache movement. This is the sort of thing that makes history so interesting to me.

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Algorithms are diabolical. Now that I have researched the coordinates on the Signal on YouTube, I am getting endless posts on Leatherman multitools and others I have never heard of, some very interesting. I swear I see little lips on the Leatherman's saying, "Please, you must buy me." I will say this. Of the 3 Leatherman I have, the Signal is the best one. It is light enough and has a size to comfortably fit in my EDC possibles bag.
 
I have to agree about the weight of the Surge. It is not a pocket EDC. But I carry a possibles bag instead of a wallet, it is OK there. There is the rather pricey bit driver set that uses proprietary bits and drivers that you can only get from Leatherman. What I carry in my larger cross-shoulder bag is this nifty tool set from Wera. The Tool-Check Plus comes in Imperial (SAE) and Metric. Its 1/4-inch ratchet is so cute you almost want to use it as a necklace.

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My wife got me this exact model for Christmas, I keep it in the car. It is EXTREMELY high quality and I do love it.
 
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