Who is Benjamin Rivera?

Thanks for that link. It was pretty interesting.

One thing about the Juice and Surge/Wave/Charge lines is that they are not only more complicated than the older models, but they also are more difficult to copy economically. The original PST, for example, was really a crude design in many ways, and easily replicated. Thus the flood of imported copies that, while often built from inferior materials, were essentially the same thing at a fraction of the cost. The newer designs raise the bar a bit, making copies more difficult to lowball price.
 
I agree completely. In, this respect the Wave/Charge/Surge handle design is way ahead of the offerings from Shrade, Gerber, Victorinox, etc., which are still pretty "basic" (please don't flame me as this is my personal subjective view :)). I love how they sort of "accidentally" came up with the design. From the same article:

"The Wave's design came out of a push to improve handle comfort by folding the handle surface around to create a rounded broad handhold. That folding also created "pockets" or slots in the handle exterior. Once those pockets opened up, Leatherman engineers decided to fill them. "What should we put in the pockets? We said, 'Bingo, blades,'" Tim Leatherman recalls."

I think the next step in this design is how to put the awl, can/bottle opener, screwdrivers, and bit driver on the outside as well, with locking mechanism and all (and dare I say, one handed opening as well???). Looks like quite a challenge, but I'm sure Tim and Rivera's team will find a way...and I would have to part with my money again :)
 
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