My brother gave this to me. I don’t think he intended to, like it wasn’t planned as a present or anything – he had it on him when he visited us in London, he showed it to me – I held it, looked at it, told him I liked it – and he gave it to me.
I use it maybe three or four times a week, for various tasks. Yesterday I used it to cut courgettes from the vegetable patches in the garden. I didn’t plan that either, that I would make a post and somehow shoehorn in the fact that I am growing courgettes – it just happens to be a fact. A couple of days before that I used it to cut open a bag containing salt blocks for the water softener.
There are various blades and functions. I think we, my brother and I – liked this sort of thing because, growing up, our father always had a Swiss Army Knife on him. How many times we tried to count all the various blades and functions – it was impossible! The same is true of my Leatherman Wave, I don’t know how many blades there are.
My brother gave this to me I think around 25 years ago, maybe it was 1999. He turned up out of the blue at our flat in North Gower Street. He had just come back from working overseas and had a lot of money – but he was living irresponsibly – drinking a lot, getting into fights. His whole life was like this.
You have to be careful when using the plier function in case you lose your grip and the handles close, pinching the skin between your thumb and forefinger – super painful.
I suppose the conclusion of this piece – again, not really intended – it’s just a fact – is that my brother is no longer here but the knife he gave me still is. I think of him every time I use it.
I am grateful for the existence of lots of things. My Leatherman Wave is one of them.
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