Would Rambo have carried a multi-tool?

[ElCuchillo]

Hey guys, I posted this in the Multi-tool forum, but with Jackknife and Amos and some of the other guys that live here, I figured it would be appropriate here as well. (Hope I'm not Spamming)
I've been reading posts on here as well as on other forums, and I wonder if our grandfathers would have carried a multitool. I mean, they were working men who for the most part carried non-locking slipjoints. These were not collectors items in their hands, they were hard working tools, many times inexpensive, no frills, no nonsense knives used for one thing. Work. Hard work. Our grandfathers had them, and many of our fathers had them, and now we not only use them, but collect them as relics from a time long gone. However, if multi-tools as we know them today had been around in the days of our grandfathers, would THEY have been the EDC of choice? Again, remember, many of these old schoolers were hard working men. Would they be carrying a Leatherman, or Gerber, or Swisstool? Would the Rambo movies and the like have featured a Surge, lets say, rather then a big bulky "Survival" knife? Back then a man needed to be prepared for anything. It was the old scout mentality. What do you think our past would have been had their been multis available back then?

 

[mp510]

I could easily picture our grandfathers carrying multitools as their EDC, however, they would probably be the more basic versions- not the uber SOGs or Gerber Recoils. IN the multi tool world, I figure those would go with the tacticool Ninja crowd. But Rambo, just can't picture him with a Leatherman.

 

[severtecher]

Rambo , the legend goes, carried a large leather pouch on his back. In this pouch he carried Chuck Norris. He needed no other tool to survive any situation. ....News you can abuse

 

[Arathol]

If your grandfather were to carry a multi-tool, heres what it would look like. They're a bit bulkier than the current versions but they got all the right parts- knife blade, saw, can opener, file, etc. The big one is made in Germany by D. Peres, the smaller one is a Utica kit.

 

[mnblade]

... These were not collectors items in their hands, they were hard working tools, many times inexpensive, no frills, no nonsense knives used for one thing. Work. Hard work.

I think this description fits most quality multi tools. And that is the reason Leatherman tools and other multis are so popular with working guys. (Lord knows why they're so popular with desk-bound computer jockeys like me though!)

 

[hicomp2]

Arathol; Very nice collection!!!!!!!!!

As far as Rambo; No way! Would the egotistical cop have been justified in pinching him for carrying a "weapon"? Ok, perhaps in England or Boston, but not the pacific northwest. And John Rambo could not have stated that he used his Swisstool for "hunting", when asked why he carried it. Rambo could not beat up jail guards, grab his leatherman and steal a motorbike. Well, he could, but it wouldn't look as cool. And cutting the canvas into a vest; a leatherman would work, but it just wouldn't be the same. No, Rambo needed a razor sharp, Bowie style, fist filling, hunk of cold steel in his hand.

 

[jstewart16701]

Rambo DID carry a multi-tool. The guard on his knife had a phillips head on one side and a flat head on the other.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

@ Arathol: very cool settup! However, if you'd given a man of that era the choice between the canvas roll-up and a Leatherman Wave, I bet he'd pick the Wave!

Marines at Iwo Jima? Bet they'd have loved the Leatherman. Not to replace the Ka-Bar, but as a dang good addition for 6oz.

Same way that I bet an actual cowboy would have given his eyeteeth for a modern Ruger Vaquero instead of a "genuine Colt". Stainless steel, almost impossible to damage with BP cartridge ammo, transfer bar to allow carrying a full cylinder, etc.


I'd say it's definitely a mistaken assumption to regard everything new as inferior. Some new stuff is flimsy chintzy junk, but a quality stainless-steel multi-tool would have been worth a fortune in any past century.

-MV

 

[cockroachfarm]

"Would Rambo have carried a multi-tool? "

I thought Rambo WAS a 'multi-tool'????? (At least from some of the house rules he makes his staff follow.)

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

Rambo? Probably not. Pioneers, mountain men, cowboys, farmers? Probably a basic leatherman or SAK, but as was noted, not the fancy "way-kewl" stuff. A SAK became my regular carry knife, in a belt pouch, while in the Army, assigned to the Sinai Desert. It was truly an everday carry. First it was a SAK Champ, then later a Swiss-Champ. I even managed to wear out a leather sheath or two. When the belt strap ws breaking on the last one I just cut it off and used the SAK to cut some new slots in the back and carried it that way for a while. Too heavy these days, but while I carried it I used those SAKs for many things, even some car repairs.

A good, basic multi-tool in a possibles bag would have been real welcome to a mountain man I think. As it was they carried a few basic tools to keep things working in there. Possibly the tool types in a "period" mult-tool would have been a little different and more matched to the needs of the time.

We get a lot of different contractors in where I work. They have to come by security to get access badges. You see a lot of Leathermans on their belts, as well as on the belts of the maintenance guys. Working tools for working guys.