I’ve made a bunch of paracord lanyards with the classic Leatherman logo colors, black and yellow. There are some with snake knots, some with square knots, and some with cobra knots. How many I give away will depend on how many people enter, but one lanyard per winner. The first finner will get first pick, second winner will get second pick, etc.

To enter, send an email to contest@andreasodegard.com with your name (nothing else). I will draw X number of random winners in about a week (when I have the time) and contact them via email.

The lanyards will ship with normal uninsured mail, as that’s the only way it’s affordable. Hopefully they will still make it where they’re going. The contest is open worldwide, as long as the country in question has a mentally stable postal system.

November 24 update: contest is over and winners have been contacted.

A while back I had an idea for a system to attach a spork to my Squirt PS4. I did a prototype using some hardening model clay but the whole thing was a bit bulky. The only way I could see it be practical would be if the whole thing was made of metal and a solid piece, like the 3D model mockup:

Today though it hit me that there was a much, much easier way of doing this that didn’t require anything special at all. The whole idea is to have a spork/spoon/etc that has a wide enough flat handle to be able to cut and bend it and cut out a slot for he PS4 (and other squirt models’) flat Phillips head screwdriver. The idea worked brilliantly and it was a very quick and easy mod to do. I am going to pick up some ehatshrink to add “walls” to the Phillips slot tomorrow but it already works the way I hoped just from the pressure of the bent handle. When I get my hands on that spork I ordered ages ago I will probably do the same to it as this seems like the easiest way of making a Squirt attachement.

The tools in the kit was just what I needed to make the part necessary for the liner lock mod. Making the holes for the pivots was the hardest part since I had to do it using the wrong tools still (had no drill) but I managed to do it. Everything works fully, doesn’t add much thickness and I’, generally very happy with it. See the video and pictures for more details.

I’m in college so I live in something in between a dorm room and an apartment (the concept doesn’t really exist in the US), and so I have very limited access to tools compared to what I have at home. That’s why a fairly simple thing to do like making the spring needed for the Squirt line lock mod is suddenly not so simple anymore. Since I couldn’t do that, I started thinking about why I need a locking blade on the PS4 and came to the comclusion that opening things like heat sealed thick plastic packaging is really what I need it for. I then realized that I could make a smaller blade shaped like an x-acto blade and basically solve the problem that way.

This was a very simple mod to do, only requiring using a cutting wheel on my Dremel on one of my spare Squirt/style blades. By making the blade like that, I move the tip from the back and to the front and reduce the overall length of the blade, which accomplishes two things: first off, applying pressure to the tip now forces the blade open rather than forcing the blade towards the pivot point and close to forcing it closed. Secondly, the shorter length means less leverage is applied and you need more force on the tip to make it shut.

The result is absolutely perfect. Not only can I now open plastic packaging without risking losing a finger or two, but I can also cut through things that I previously couldn’t. This basically means I don’t need a liner lock blade, so I can scrap that project for now.

Check out the video below to see the knife in action.

One thing I really miss from my Skeletool when using the Squirt PS4 is the locking blade. Having a blade that locks is essential for not having it snap shut while your fingers are in the way when you’re doing something that requires a bit of force.

Yesterday however I got an idea for how I could add a liner lock to the PS4. Today I made a prototype, and the system works flawlessly.

The concept behind a liner lock is a metal spring that slips into place when the blade is open and stops it from shutting until the spring is bent back while clsoing the blade. It’s not a very complicated system and so it’s easy to replicate. 20 minutes with a cutting disc on my Dremel and I already had a working system made from the skeleton of my old Squirt P4.

Obviously this isn’t the finished version, as that requires a bit of poilishing. The plan is to move the scales around in order to get a full thickness scale covering the scissors, freeing the thinner scale from the scissors to go on the blade. The scissors are thicker than the blade by default, so doing this will give me more room to work with both because the blade is thinner and because it will then have the thinner scale. Hopefully when the spring is in place the scales will line up again and the added thickness in total will be about a millimeter.

Below is a video of the prototype being put together and tested, as well as some 3D model pics of what I imagine the finished sprig will look like. It will have a small flap on it to make it easier to push back inside.

The Skeletool was the second ever Leatherman I had, after the PST. Leatherman models are so expensive over here that I couldn’t afford anything else before I started buying stuff from the US. I used it for a couple of years at work before I ended up breaking the pliers trying to fix a window. I wasn’t aware of the great Leatherman warranty at the time and bought a new Skeletool CX from the US, before eventually getting the original Skeletool fixed. I gave that away and am left with the CX, which is the more expensive model. It has a better steel for the blade (154CM instead of 420HC) and also has a straight edge blade instead of a combo serrated/straight edge one. When the Skeletool models first came out the combo blade was actually on the CX, but I guess people like the straight edge blade better and so Leatherman decided to put it on the more expensive of the two.

The Skeletool must have sold pretty well as it spawned a new pair of tools, the Freestyle and Freestyle CX. They’re based on the same (awesome scary looking) design, but drops the carabiner end and bit driver which bumps them down from the “full sized” to “pocket sized” tool categories ont he Leatherman page.

the idea behind the Skeletool is a lightweight tool with the bare minimum; one hand opening liner lock blade, pliers and bit driver – and of course the carabiner/bottle opener. It does lack scissors and a saw to really make it all purpose, but as far as screwdrivers go a bit driver is much more useful. It can store one bit in the handle and one in the driver, so you can carry two double ended Leatherman flat bits. I have lost both as I really only use the bit extender which lets you use normal hex bits. I also made several accessories for the Skeletool that utilizes the bit holder, which you can read about here, here and here.

The Skeletool is great if all you need is the tools it has, which was the case for me for a long time. The alternative in the same size category is the Juice series, for example the Juice S2. Many models in that series, but the Skeletool has a few things none of those have like a locking blade, carabiner and integrated bit driver (though you can get a bit driver accessory for all the Juice models).

Make sure to check out the video and pictures below, and as always, send me an email using the contact link in the top menu if you have any questions or comments.

The idea behind this mod is basically to make a smaller version of the Leatherman Freestyle. The Freestyle itself is a version of the Skeletool series, of which I’ve had both models and still have a Skeletool CX.

The stock Leatherman Style CS which is the basis of this mod is somewhat of a ladies’ Leatherman, with scissors as the main tool and a nailfile in the handle (along with a blade of course). Originally it was supposed to have a thumb hole on the blade for easy one hand opening just like its bigger brother but the final version didn’t have that. This mod removes the carabiner, turning the Style CS into a smaller version of the Freestyle rather than a smaller version of the Skeletool. It also replaces the large scissors with pliers and adds that thumb hole to the blade. Lastly it puts a smaller pair of scissors in the handle, replacing the nail file.

To do this mod you need a donor Leatherman PS4 to get the smaller scissors and the pliers (or another way of getting the two parts, like a P4 and a Style etc). Replacing the pliers is relatively easy once you learn how to force the pivots back through the holes (use a screwdriver with a pointed tip as a guide, like one of the two T6 torx screwdrivers you need to take the Style CS and PS4 apart). Adding the thumb hole to the blade is a bit more tricky, and requires a Dremel or similar precision tool. I used a worn down SpeedClic (EZ lock) cutting wheel since it had a smaller diameter from being worn down. I then used some diamond tipped engraving tools to form the hole.

Furthermore you need to do a careful job of thinning out the plastic handle that holds the tweezers and nailfile in order to fit the scissors. This is a trial and error process and I recommend a sanding wheel or similar to do the job. Be very careful not to remove too much plastic since you do want that hand there to shield the scissors, while at the same time making enough room for the scissors to close properly. you also need to shave off a bit of the scissors themselves, namely the handle you press down when using them. You’ll realize this as you work your way through the scissors fitting. You also need to make the nail nick of the scissors accessible by sanding a groove int he plastic handle.

Cutting off the carabiner is of course not mandatory if you like to have it there. I prefer the smaller size, so I cut it off and used some fine grit sand paper to smooth the cut edges to not make it cut my hand while using it.

This mod is not an easy “LEGO build” like switching out tools in a pivoted PS4, so you do need to know how to work a Dremel to do it. I think the result is pretty nice though, and the similarity to the Freestyle is almost scary.

Below is some pictures and a video showing off the finished Free-Style CS.

The idea here is to make some extender pieces which replace the existing handle scales with a solid piece of stainless steel that extends the handles about 13mm (making the tool 71mm instead of 58mm). At the end of one of these extenders is a full 1/4″ hex bit driver, which the other hande has a threaded hole which can be used for screwing in accessories. For example, I geocache and carry a dentist’s mirror for looking under things, but the handle takes up a lot of space being so long. this would allow me to flip one handle of the PS4 open, screw on a mirror accessory, and have a 142mm long handle. Another use would be to screw on a sawblade, a spork, or even a larger knife blade. So many things we carry are really just smaller tools with large handles, so making the handle universal and removable keeps the small size of the tool with the option of adding bigger tools than the PS4 itself holds.

A threaded hole might not be the best option, but this is just a concept – the point is to have something to slot accessories into that will lock them in place. If this is done in a way that let’s you just slot them in, you could have a hex shaped pin on the slot-in accessory as well that used the bit holder in the other handle for support. Imagine a large add-on blade that used the full 20mm width of the closed PS4 and connected through both extender slots, locking in the accessory slot and using the bit slot for support.

The downside is it will block two of the tools, namely the awl and Phillips on my PS4 and only the Phillips on a normal PS4 – they will only be able top open partially. The blade, scissors (and on a normal PS4 the file) open the other way and won’t be affected.