Serial Numbers on Multitools?

C

campandtravel

Joined
Mar 16, 2019
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Do Leatherman, Gerber, Victorinox multi tools have serial numbers?

I'm wondering how they keep track of 25 years for the warranty?
 
I don't see a serial number on my Leatherman Charge + TTI.
I'll guess they use
Registration after you buy? if you bought it new
What years it was in production? if you got it used or it was a gift.
(I don't know if they require proof of purchase to register it.)
 
Some (older LM)have dates on their handles, though these are the dates the handles were made, no the date the tool was assembled or sold.

What was mentioned previously is the most likely way to go.
 
Leatherman has no serial numbers. Their warranty is for the original owner only, but they have never asked me to provide any information about when or where I purchased a particular tool. They seem pretty liberal in what they cover, especially if the failure of the tool is not obviously caused by abuse. They have always taken good care of me. T-A
 
campandtravel said:
Owner's life or life of the tool? That can't apply to SAK knives though right?
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I know someone who bought a used Climber with a broken scissors and sent it to Victorinox just to see if it works and they fixed it and sent it back to him. I’ve done it once but it was my own SwissChamp. They never ask about the history of the knife though.
 
Dimashkieh said:
I know someone who bought a used Climber with a broken scissors and sent it to Victorinox just to see if it works and they fixed it and sent it back to him. I’ve done it once but it was my own SwissChamp. They never ask about the history of the knife though.
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I've tossed out a couple of old SAKs, long ago. Just got used up (well, misused TBH). I didn't know I could have gotten them repaired.
 
campandtravel said:
I've tossed out a couple of old SAKs, long ago. Just got used up (well, misused TBH). I didn't know I could have gotten them repaired.
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Besides maintaining their great reputation, Victorinox have a lot of spare parts because their blades and tools are used in several models, so they manufacture a lot of parts with no need to plan where or when they are going to use them (to some extent). The main blade of the most common 91mm models have changed once or arguably twice in the past 100 years. Also, the repairs cost them very little because first, their proprietary steel is not expensive, and second, because they have already invested in the assembly/disassembly machines, which makes repairs fast and easy.
 
campandtravel said:
Oh that's the kicker there isn't it? I was thinking it was a manual job.
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There was a documentary 4-5 years ago detailing how they make their knives. I believe it was on the History channel. It is fascinating, but the only process that humans are involved in extensively, is the final assembly (layering the tools on SAKs of different thicknesses). Even then, they use machines to rivet the final knife and press the scales. Victorinox produces way more knives than what I originally thought, and they perfected the mass production game quite a long time ago. It doesn’t take out of their quality though. Visiting their factory in Ibach is very high on my bucket list, although it is not easy to book as it used to be some years ago.
 
Leatherman used to have a "lifetime" warranty, and to my understanding, there was some legal change that meant they had to put a number on it. I'm going off rumor and hearsay. That said, I've never known someone to get into any trouble with just asking nicely about having their beloved tool fixed, the worst I've seen is getting a different tool that was less suited as tools go out of stock. There have been a few threads about bad warranty service here, but if they sent letters in with their tool like they wrote their initial posts, I'm not sure the receiver knew exactly what was going on either. And at some point there is a limit, if the tool broke while removing the transmission from a truck, well, I mean, should have found a different adjustable hammer.
 
gadgetgeek said:
Leatherman used to have a "lifetime" warranty, and to my understanding, there was some legal change that meant they had to put a number on it. I'm going off rumor and hearsay. That said, I've never known someone to get into any trouble with just asking nicely about having their beloved tool fixed, the worst I've seen is getting a different tool that was less suited as tools go out of stock. There have been a few threads about bad warranty service here, but if they sent letters in with their tool like they wrote their initial posts, I'm not sure the receiver knew exactly what was going on either. And at some point there is a limit, if the tool broke while removing the transmission from a truck, well, I mean, should have found a different adjustable hammer.
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Makes sense, though I think the "date code" people talked about might also answer the question. I'm sure they have great warranty service, that's what I hear. I was honestly wondering something more nerdy, I was wondering if it's cheaper to tool things for a serial number and also manage disappointed people with a broken tool after more than 25 years, or to just repair/replace anything sent to them.
 
Dimashkieh said:
I think this is it. It’s National Geographic not History Chanel:

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Okay I watchted that. I'd seen it before. It's exactly the reason I came the opposite conclusion you did. From that video I get the impression that a repair is a manual process, which is why I'm so surprised that you said they will repair SAK knives. Even replacing seems cheaper.
 
gadgetgeek said:
Leatherman used to have a "lifetime" warranty, and to my understanding, there was some legal change that meant they had to put a number on it. I'm going off rumor and hearsay. That said, I've never known someone to get into any trouble with just asking nicely about having their beloved tool fixed, the worst I've seen is getting a different tool that was less suited as tools go out of stock. There have been a few threads about bad warranty service here, but if they sent letters in with their tool like they wrote their initial posts, I'm not sure the receiver knew exactly what was going on either. And at some point there is a limit, if the tool broke while removing the transmission from a truck, well, I mean, should have found a different adjustable hammer.
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They don't always fix stuff. I broke the jaw on a modified Skeletool CX (I trimmed the blade tip to make a better climbing tool) and they just sent me a new one, I also kinda half jokingly asked if they would fix an old leatherman sideclip I found on the beach, half corroded to death, and they sent me a sidekick, or one of those sorts of tools. I think in general most companies that can run a good warranty dept do, because it makes up in the long term when they have products that they are asking customers to take a bit more risk on. Sometimes date-codes are more for stock management and internal stats than they are a customer-facing bit of info. Or it could be stock control between facilities that gets misinterpreted, who knows. The only year code I know anything about is the Vic Soldier knives, and those were specified in the contract.
 
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