Leatherman
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Daniel teaches McKyler about a legendary tool and its creator.
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Transcript
We can go with it, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, we don't have a jingle.
Speaker B:Do you want to make up an intro?
Speaker B:Dang it.
Speaker B:I meant an intro, not a jingle.
Speaker A:Oh, we don't have a jingle.
Speaker A:Do you want to give me an intro?
Speaker B:Do the intro.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:This is doing learning with Makyler and Daniel.
Speaker A:That's me.
Speaker B:That's perfect.
Speaker B:Oh, that was great.
Speaker B:And you're hosting this week.
Speaker A:God, that's scary.
Speaker A:Last.
Speaker A:Last week, I just had to, you know, come along for the ride and just.
Speaker B:I know I'm buckled up.
Speaker B:I'm all cozied in the back.
Speaker B:I got my.
Speaker B:I got.
Speaker B:I'm playing iPad in the backseat.
Speaker B:I got my.
Speaker B:My Chips Ahoy and my Cheez its.
Speaker A:And I just have to.
Speaker B:I'm ready to go.
Speaker A:I gotta keep my eyes on the road and keep my hands on the steering wheel.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:Quit looking back here.
Speaker B:Look through.
Speaker B:Look in the rear view if you want to look at me.
Speaker A:I can't turn around just like, oh, you still there?
Speaker B:I mean, maybe very briefly, but it's debatable whether that's a good idea or not.
Speaker A:I feel like I would have, you know, like, kind of like the.
Speaker A:When you have a child, you look through the rear view mirror, but then there's a mirror because you're in a car seat.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:That's okay.
Speaker B:I'm a tiny.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I guess I'm a tiny baby child.
Speaker B:I don't know if I'm eating Cheez its.
Speaker B:I guess.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I'm probably not eating.
Speaker A:I'm just saying you're not trying.
Speaker A:I feel like you're just.
Speaker A:Would be just playing or sitting down very weirdly, to the point where I had to get multiple mirrors.
Speaker B:You've got just like decked out.
Speaker B:Your rear view has like side mirrors on it to give you a little bit different.
Speaker A:I got full 360 scope on whatever's happening behind me.
Speaker B:Is this a minivan?
Speaker B:I like.
Speaker B:What are you driving?
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's SUVs are different than minivans, right?
Speaker B:Certainly.
Speaker A:Certainly.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Probably an suv.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:That could be like any vehicle.
Speaker B:Yeah, but that's super generic.
Speaker A:You know what?
Speaker A:Minivans.
Speaker A:I don't think they get the hype they deserve.
Speaker A:They're freaking awesome.
Speaker A:I don't know if I would get one, but they're freaking awesome.
Speaker A:The lugs, you know, luxury comfort to their size.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker B:You the utility.
Speaker B:I can't even.
Speaker B:I can't even hardly say anything.
Speaker B:Because I'm, I'm gonna get roasted by my own wife.
Speaker B:Because that, that apparently is my spirit vehicle is a, is a Toyota Sienna.
Speaker A:Oh, yes, because they're.
Speaker B:We, we, we, we one time we had.
Speaker B:Gosh, there's a Chrysler Pacifica.
Speaker B:Dude does not hold a candle to, to the Toyota.
Speaker B:I mean it, it, it gave, it, it gave the presumption that it was really nice, but it wasn't.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like it was just over complicated.
Speaker B:Too many buttons, but nothing going on at the same time.
Speaker A:Do you know who Han Lu is?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:He's a, He's Han from Fast and Furious.
Speaker A:Oh, he came from Tokyo Drift number.
Speaker B:Two, the second one.
Speaker B:No, Tokyo Drift was the second movie.
Speaker A:No, it wasn't.
Speaker B:Yes, it was.
Speaker A:It was the third movie.
Speaker A:No, technically, in the installment.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Well, did they do like a prequel afterwards?
Speaker A:It was, it was Fast and Furious 2 Fast, 2 Fierce and it's Tokyo Drift.
Speaker B:That would make sense that 2 Fast 2 Furious would be the second one.
Speaker B:Yes, because there's twos everywhere.
Speaker B:Okay, Okay, I stand corrected.
Speaker B:I have probably seen about 20 minutes of collectively of the entire franchise.
Speaker A:But anyways, he is a big car guy, right?
Speaker A:Not aside from the movies that he plays in.
Speaker A:Okay, but he, he swears and he, he'll fight anybody on this.
Speaker A:Minivans are the way to go.
Speaker A:He loves his minivan, dude.
Speaker B:I did.
Speaker B:It's a matter of time before I get one myself.
Speaker B:It's me and my wife, man, and we're.
Speaker B:It's going to happen.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know when I, I don't know when I'm going to just trade up for that.
Speaker B:But you could fit, you could fit 10 footers in there, dude.
Speaker B:You could foot.
Speaker B:10 foot two by fours in a minivan, dude.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Think about that.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's pretty amazing.
Speaker A:I mean it is.
Speaker A:It's crazy.
Speaker B:You could fit a full sheet of obs plywood.
Speaker A:You could do it.
Speaker A:Preach.
Speaker A:Preach it.
Speaker B:But the stone goes down.
Speaker B:Throw in your, your four by eight foot.
Speaker A:Don't, don't talk, don't talk to me about it.
Speaker B:I know you're gonna roll up in a minivan next week.
Speaker A:Don't talk to me about wood, man.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:What, what, what, what is my jam, dude?
Speaker A:I worked at the sawmill for like two years.
Speaker B:I love you did work at this.
Speaker B:And I know very little about that, Daniel.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's more or less the same, Daniel.
Speaker B:I, I believe that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, I moved up pretty quickly on that one too.
Speaker A:It's fun.
Speaker A:It was I will.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I tell.
Speaker A:I tell my wife all the time.
Speaker A:I tell people that, you know, really knew me around.
Speaker A:Like, honestly, one of my favorite jobs to have because it was a job that I could just kind of turn my brain off.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And be super efficient in.
Speaker B:Just be a doer.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I've had a couple of those.
Speaker A:And it's just like, yo, it was so nice because you just go in, you turn your brain off, do your work, and then at the end of the day, turn it back on and you're going home and you're like, oh, man, the day's over.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Hey, that's nice.
Speaker A:And I'm like, oh, it's not that bad.
Speaker B:It's not that bad.
Speaker B:Other than time moves so fast.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Like summer.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's just gone exactly like, whoa, those 12 hour shifts.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:They make time fly, baby.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But yeah, Yeah.
Speaker A:I used to load up my, my car with scraps of wood because you could, you could take the scraps of wood if you wanted.
Speaker A:Because they're not.
Speaker A:Because they're cutting.
Speaker B:Sell them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You're not going to sell them.
Speaker A:And I would use them as a fire starter for my house.
Speaker A:You know, like, toss them in there and then put the bigger logs in there.
Speaker A:But, you know, just as kindling and stuff like that.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But anyways, to the topic at hand.
Speaker B:Maybe I was going to say we're seven.
Speaker B:We're seven minutes and we haven't started.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:Yeah, this might all get cut.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker A:Topic at hand.
Speaker A:You know, the other day I was.
Speaker A:I was just kind of at home, just kind of doing my thing, you know, as, as a dude, as you do.
Speaker A:I was actually, as one does.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I was actually drawing maps for my homebrew.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I'm like clicking my pen up and down, up and down, like, thinking of like, oh, where did it go?
Speaker A:Where to go?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I find it very satisfying.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Certainly.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Everybody around you, they get annoyed.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:They're just like, stop.
Speaker A:Like, dude, just stop.
Speaker A:So then I started thinking about, oh, what if I just make like.
Speaker A:Just start in my brain, just tinkering in myself.
Speaker A:What if I make a pen that has tactile feedback?
Speaker A:What if it's like, it gives you the satisfaction of clicking a pen, but it's actually just silent so it doesn't annoy people.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And you could just have that and you can be writing utensil and stuff like that.
Speaker A:I'm like, I told my wife, yo, I think I have A million dollar idea here.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker A:Let's go.
Speaker A:Like, I'm like thinking like, oh, this is so good.
Speaker A:And I don't want to get online.
Speaker A:I don't want to, like, just put it out there in the world for the world to know.
Speaker A:Like, I don't want to.
Speaker B:As soon as you Google it, Google.
Speaker A:Steals it and somebody out there just invents, right?
Speaker A:So I don't want to tell.
Speaker B:It always happens, all my best ideas.
Speaker A:So I'm just like, I'm writing down this thing and I'm just like, like, I'm like, okay, how would I do it?
Speaker A:Like, like, I know mechanism, like, how, how to make it softer, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A:But then it comes to a point, like, okay, I don't know enough about this, and maybe I do need to do a little research and stuff like that.
Speaker A:Okay, I'm gonna do a little research.
Speaker A:Things already been done, dude.
Speaker A:It's on.
Speaker A:It's on.
Speaker A:It's on any online store that you can like, really look, look for, like, hey, silent pen or whatever.
Speaker A:Silent clicker pen.
Speaker A:I'm like, are you kidding me?
Speaker A:I was just like, did you buy one?
Speaker A:I didn't because mostly because I didn't like the design.
Speaker A:I was like, ah, that's a design.
Speaker A:So I was just like, to me, I was just like, that idea is gone.
Speaker A:It's not a million doll idea anymore because it's already done.
Speaker A:But at the same time, it's like, I can make my own in the style that I want.
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker A:Okay, take theirs.
Speaker B:If the style was wrong, if that's what you didn't like about it, there's room for improvement.
Speaker A:And maybe it's not the exact thing that I wanted to do in.
Speaker A:Exact pin that I wanted.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Which got me thinking about inventions and stuff like that.
Speaker A:Like, it's crazy.
Speaker A:Like, oh, this is cool.
Speaker A:This is cool.
Speaker A:And how there's ideas out there and you think about them and then you look it up and you're like, that's already been done.
Speaker A:But how.
Speaker A:You know, but you.
Speaker A:It's not done perfectly how you want it, right?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:So you start tinkering with something, your idea, and your idea becomes this passion, and this passion becomes kind of your.
Speaker A:Your goal for what you want to do.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And you're still on the pin.
Speaker A:No, no, this is.
Speaker B:You completely moved.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:This is what you want.
Speaker A:Like what happens, right.
Speaker A:Sometimes.
Speaker B:Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:You just develop these things.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And this is what got me into kind of a.
Speaker A:I wouldn't say a deep Rabbit hole.
Speaker A:But a small rabbit hole.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Small rabbits only.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Of who I ended up learning about.
Speaker A:It's not what I ended up.
Speaker B:Oh, we're doing a who this week.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:I'm sure you know this person.
Speaker A:I'm going to show you what this person invented.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Oh, and do I guess the person.
Speaker B:Is this a game?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:Well, I know it's a Leatherman.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Is it?
Speaker B:Thomas Leatherman invented it.
Speaker A:That's really close.
Speaker A:Is it?
Speaker A:It's Tim Leatherman.
Speaker B:Oh, come on.
Speaker A:The crazy thing that I learned about this.
Speaker A:This object itself, I've never thought about it.
Speaker B:They just always existed.
Speaker A:Okay, question.
Speaker A:They've always existed.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:When did they exist?
Speaker A:When was their existence?
Speaker B:Since my dad got one.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker B:When did.
Speaker B:Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker B:Let me.
Speaker B:Let me take a legit guess.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:When the Leatherman was invented.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, this feels.
Speaker B:Ooh.
Speaker B:Because it feels industrious.
Speaker B: Like the: Speaker B:Like the wartime is going on and soldiers need a tool.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:Like one tool that they can carry around and do whatever they need to do.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So that's kind of where I'm gravitating to.
Speaker B:But there's.
Speaker B: There's something like late: Speaker B:Like, World's Fair.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Where it's like we're changing the game.
Speaker B:Like people.
Speaker B:That's what they were doing.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:All kinds of stuff.
Speaker B:Taking other ideas and improving them, doing different things with them, coming up with new stuff.
Speaker B: So I'm either going to go: Speaker B: And probably: Speaker B:Those are my two guesses.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I'm going to claim two guesses.
Speaker B:I don't know if that was the game, but I'm going to do it.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker B:I'm half right.
Speaker A:You're right in the sense that you are in the same mentality that I was.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Wait, so I'm wrong?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Gosh.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:To me, when I see Leatherman, I see just, you know, Americana, basically.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's, like, ingrained in America.
Speaker A:This is cowboys.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Just ride around with it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I'm just.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:It's like.
Speaker A:It feels so old.
Speaker A:Like it's been around for a while.
Speaker A: Like: Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A: Or like early: Speaker A:Dude.
Speaker A:Things like 40 years old.
Speaker B:Huh.
Speaker B:As.
Speaker B:So this changed my dad's life.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Huh.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B: That put us in the: Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Huh.
Speaker A:It's actually.
Speaker A:I mean, this is getting a little bit ahead of myself, which is fine.
Speaker A: It was like: Speaker B:So his name was Tim Leatherman.
Speaker A:Tim Leatherman, that's a hell of a.
Speaker B:Name, by the way.
Speaker B: But: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker B:Like, what was he doing?
Speaker B:Was he a tinkerer?
Speaker B:Who is Tim Leatherman?
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's, That's Tim Leatherman.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:How did he grow up?
Speaker A:You know what?
Speaker A:I can.
Speaker A:I can't tell you about this childhood because I.
Speaker A:The Internet wasn't invented back then.
Speaker A:How are we supposed to know.
Speaker B:The Tim Leatherman?
Speaker B:Just fanboys out there just going crazy, right?
Speaker A:You have to look here, dude, look.
Speaker B:In the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I might have to fact check myself, but I think this is correct.
Speaker A:He born and raised in Oregon.
Speaker A:No, I know.
Speaker A:He went to Oregon State University.
Speaker B:Okay, okay, okay, let's start there.
Speaker B:Which thought they go either way.
Speaker A:And I'll look it up.
Speaker B:State University.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And maybe you can help me on this part of where he actually is from.
Speaker B:Let's look it up.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A: to Oregon State University in: Speaker A:Makes sense, right?
Speaker B:Hey, him and I, we got a vibe going on.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And that's why I was like, okay, that's awesome.
Speaker A:Like, okay, that makes sense, right?
Speaker A:It makes sense that somebody that has mechanical engineering would engineer.
Speaker B:Like, I just want to carry one tool.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't want a toolbox.
Speaker B:I want one tool.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What I.
Speaker A:After.
Speaker A:So him and his wife decided, like.
Speaker A:So he met his wife in college.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Fun side story.
Speaker A:Met her during one of the times where him and his buddy from college decided that they were going to be professional ping pong players.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Yeah, just wait.
Speaker B:During college?
Speaker A:Yeah, during college.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:So they either found out, learned about, or set up.
Speaker A:I can't.
Speaker A:I can't remember.
Speaker A:A ping pong table, you know, in the basement of one of the buildings.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And they just started setting up and they should start playing.
Speaker A:And apparently they're a very good, adequate table tennis players.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Like, by no means were they amateurs.
Speaker A:They are legit.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:I feel like there's a huge step in.
Speaker B:In, like, the world of ping pong.
Speaker B:It's like, I remember we played ping pong in freshman PE in high school.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so, like, there's a huge gap from, from never have having picked up a paddle before to somewhat.
Speaker B:Okay, that's A huge range.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, most people are not good at it, but you pick up a paddle and you play a little bit, you're.
Speaker B:I gotta imagine you're just jumping up the percentiles and if you play in like every day with a pal.
Speaker B:Yes, yes, dude, you could.
Speaker B:You could get decently adequate at ping pong.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've got.
Speaker B:I've got him, Tim.
Speaker B:He's my dude.
Speaker B:Yeah, he's my dude.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:He's a dude.
Speaker A:Dude.
Speaker B:He is my dude.
Speaker B:He's ping pong.
Speaker B:I played.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Ping pong in high school.
Speaker B:Mechanical engineer.
Speaker B:This is my guy.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker B:I like Tim.
Speaker B:So he was born in Portland.
Speaker A:Portland.
Speaker A:Portland.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:Makes sense.
Speaker A:Oregon.
Speaker A:Portland, Oregon.
Speaker B:Is that where Beaver State is?
Speaker B:What is it called?
Speaker A:Oregon State.
Speaker A:Oregon State University.
Speaker B:They're the Beavers though, right?
Speaker A:Dude, I.
Speaker A:My knowledge of college mascots.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:We have to fact check ourselves on a college mascot whilst talking about the Leatherman in ping pong.
Speaker B:That's fine.
Speaker B:Anyways, we're gonna go with the Beavers.
Speaker B:It's fine.
Speaker B:It doesn't matter.
Speaker A:Beavers.
Speaker B:I'm picturing beavers from.
Speaker B:From here on out.
Speaker A:That makes sense.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:Now that I think about it more, it makes sense.
Speaker A:Aren't there a lot of trees in Portland?
Speaker B:Well, yeah.
Speaker A:And are there a lot of dams in Portland?
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:You know, I shouldn't even speak.
Speaker B:I am.
Speaker B:I don't know anything.
Speaker B:I've never been to Oregon.
Speaker B:I don't know why.
Speaker B:It's the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker B:I would presume there's.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh, it is the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker A:I'm thinking east coast, dude.
Speaker A:Right now I'm thinking Maine.
Speaker A:I'm thinking like Maine area.
Speaker B:Maine.
Speaker B:It's the wrong.
Speaker B:Oregon.
Speaker B:It's the West Coast.
Speaker B:Maine.
Speaker B:Not them.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:In my mind, this whole time, like, it's somewhere up there by Maine.
Speaker B:Doesn't matter.
Speaker B:All of that aside, well, we're down in a basement playing ping pong.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:We're down in the basement playing ping pong.
Speaker A:And in his words, is the most beautiful woman he's ever seen walks in into this basement.
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker A:That's a great question.
Speaker A:I wish I knew.
Speaker A:But he said, oh, I'm going to play a little hard.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Then he starts taking it a little bit more serious, you know, like going back and forth.
Speaker A:She didn't like him.
Speaker B:How could she not?
Speaker B:I mean, come on.
Speaker A:But eventually they, you know, he.
Speaker B:He does what he does something external to.
Speaker B:To the ping pong.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Convinced her.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So maybe there's circles ran elsewhere.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:Familiar.
Speaker B:In.
Speaker B:In the.
Speaker B:The basement.
Speaker B:In the ping pong.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Zone.
Speaker A:So they end up, you know, starting to date and everything and be together.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And he.
Speaker A:His wife has to go back to Vietnam because it.
Speaker A:She was there on the school thing.
Speaker A:So she.
Speaker A:She's not like.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:She's not living here.
Speaker A:So he decides to go with her.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:To Vietnam.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B: In: Speaker A:No, this is a little before that.
Speaker B:A little before.
Speaker A:A little before 76.
Speaker B:76 is when he invented.
Speaker A:When he started tinkering.
Speaker B:Tinkering with.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:So yeah, this is.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Fresh out of college kind of thing.
Speaker B:Goodness gracious.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:So he goes there and this is where I think it's.
Speaker A:It's kind of cool because he's a mechanical engineer.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:He's a smart guy.
Speaker A:But when he goes to Vietnam, he sees all these people riding around.
Speaker A:Scooters, they're doing their thing, right?
Speaker A:They're like putting loads on their bikes, you know, with a little back rack.
Speaker A:And, you know, because you're putting extra, extra load on your bike, the bike, you know, wears more.
Speaker A:So it has to.
Speaker A:It breaks down, right?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:And as it breaks down, you know, people go in, get it fixed, blah, blah, do this, do all that stuff.
Speaker A:And then these, all these bikes that are broken down, he's like seeing these kids, like their kids fixing these, their scooters, fixing their livelihood.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Transporting things.
Speaker A:And one of his friends or acquaintances there that he.
Speaker A:He knew told him, yeah, fixing scooters, like, I guess I came on conversation one day, sure.
Speaker A:It's like, oh, yeah, fixing scooters, one of the easiest things you can do.
Speaker A:Like, yeah, those, they're so easy to fix and work.
Speaker A:And so that's why you.
Speaker A:That's why all these guys have them.
Speaker B:They're easy to maintain, work.
Speaker B:Well, they're mobile.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And Tim was like, I have no idea how to fix a car.
Speaker A:I wouldn't know where to.
Speaker A:Where to sit.
Speaker B:The mechanical engineer.
Speaker A:Yeah, he's like, I didn't know anything about scooters.
Speaker A:He's like, him saying that that's so simple.
Speaker A:It was just like I was.
Speaker A:And to me, that.
Speaker A:That started sparking the interest.
Speaker A:I'm like, dude, you invented this amazing tool.
Speaker A:Like, what do you mean?
Speaker B:He didn't even know?
Speaker B:No, I mean, I guess I don't know much about scooters.
Speaker B:I know much about some things, but.
Speaker A:I would think that you would have an idea, at least something like some grand idea.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:But I think what he was trying to convey, which, which I got out of it, it's like, just because you know something doesn't mean you know everything of that something.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Which is like, it's cool to see in a, in a very established person.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:To be like, even somebody that knew fresh out of college still had their limitations.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And honestly, Daniel, what you're poking at too is like, is that academic experience versus real life.
Speaker B:Like, I'm not exactly sure how the years line up here.
Speaker B:Had he done any of his studies, like, he'd be a fairly knowledgeable guy about a lot of topics regarding mechanical engineering.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And then you look at something and you say, boy howdy, I wish it doesn't break down because there's nothing I could do about it and you're a couple years deep or I don't know what in your academic career, there's this huge dichotomy between the theory and the real.
Speaker B:So I feel, Tim, because you learn in an academic setting and then as soon as you get to the job, it.
Speaker B:That's the real.
Speaker B:That's the real game.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like you're in the business now and guess what?
Speaker B:You don't use any of that.
Speaker B:So I feel, Tim, I feel.
Speaker B:Yeah, I, I have felt that feeling and, and trying to make that transition.
Speaker B:It's eye opening.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I, I can.
Speaker B:I'm with you.
Speaker B:You're.
Speaker B:You're along the, the ride with looking at the scooter.
Speaker B:I've seen it broke down on the side.
Speaker B:I'm like, man, if only I had a le.
Speaker B:I'd rather be playing ping pong right now.
Speaker B:So I wanted, I looked up one thing while you're, While you're chatting.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B: This is wild because you said: Speaker B:And this, this scooter story, this, this might be one we need to look up when it happened.
Speaker B:Because I'm looking again and I'm reminding myself, Viet.
Speaker B:We were at war with Vietnam.
Speaker A:Oh, yes, we were.
Speaker A:Yes, 100%.
Speaker B:And you know what?
Speaker B:The young Internet, mid-70s, that.
Speaker B:The early to mid-70s, that's full fledged.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So there's.
Speaker B:He doing this during wartime or shortly.
Speaker A:After he is there during wartime.
Speaker B:Insane.
Speaker B:He went back during a war, was like, this lady's worth it.
Speaker B:That's why.
Speaker B:That's cool, man.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:There is an interview that I can't remember his name.
Speaker A:It's a podcast when.
Speaker A:When I.
Speaker A:When I was going down the rabbit hole.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I happened to get into this podcast that just kind of.
Speaker A:I was like, oh, my gosh, they have a whole section of him.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:So I started, like, they asked the host.
Speaker A:Asked him.
Speaker B:With Tim?
Speaker A:Yeah, with Tim.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:It was Tim himself.
Speaker A:He's like, what was it, like, legend being a u.
Speaker A:S.
Speaker A:Citizen in Vietnam during the war.
Speaker A:And he was just like, he almost said it nonchalantly.
Speaker A:Like, I wasn't.
Speaker A:I was in the.
Speaker A:In the army.
Speaker B:I wasn't hardly noticed it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:He's like, I wasn't part of the military.
Speaker A:I was just, you know, surrounding myself with my wife's family and like, we were just doing our own kind of thing and just, you know, I was just out there.
Speaker B:I'm like, yeah, that is not what I would have expected.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:To just be so nonchalant.
Speaker B:Like, kind of don't even notice it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:He seems like a very, like, chill, but very focused guy, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, he's just like, he knows what he wants and he's gonna go do it, and anything else around him is just a distraction kind of thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:The dude took war as a distraction.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:No, it's fine.
Speaker B:It's fine.
Speaker B:I'm going to go with her.
Speaker B:It doesn't matter what's going on.
Speaker B:Yeah, dude, that's dedication.
Speaker B:That's really cool.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Dude, Tim's my guy.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm a big Tim.
Speaker A:But anyway, so they.
Speaker A:They ended up coming back to the U.S.
Speaker A:right.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And then they set up shop in the U.S.
Speaker A:okay.
Speaker A:And they.
Speaker A:They eventually decided, you know, they want to go do the whole Europe backpacking thing, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah, of course.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Of course.
Speaker B:You've gone through wartime in Vietnam.
Speaker B:You be.
Speaker B:You've conquered ping pong in the basement.
Speaker B:The natural next step is to be outside in Europe for as long as you possibly can.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Walking around.
Speaker A:He and.
Speaker A:Yeah, he.
Speaker A:They go.
Speaker A:They go to Europe.
Speaker A:They're going to do this big backpacking trip.
Speaker A:They have it set up.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:I believe, if I'm not mistaken, they were out there for eight months.
Speaker B:That's a long one.
Speaker B:That's pretty sweet.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:They did not end up backpacking.
Speaker B:What did they do for eight months?
Speaker B:They were there, but they didn't backpack.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Instead they.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I can't quite remember right now if it.
Speaker A:For what reason they decided not to backpack.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:But I'm sure there are many.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'M sure there was.
Speaker B:Maybe it was just they feet got tired.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Or something.
Speaker A:Or maybe they just decided it wasn't for them.
Speaker A:But they.
Speaker A:They decided to be like, oh, how hard is it for foreigners to buy a car in Europe?
Speaker B:So they start like, we're, we're.
Speaker B:We're.
Speaker B:I'm done with hiking.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:We're going to just drive.
Speaker A:So they started looking around.
Speaker A:Looking around and they were able to find a pretty easy way to find to buy a car.
Speaker A:They just had to go to, like, to the right spot, Right?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:And they ended up buying a Fiat 600.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And they went around Europe from, you know, spot to spot in this little tiny Fiat.
Speaker B:I picked this car up.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Have I.
Speaker A:Have you've seen the.
Speaker A:Our little Fiat that we have, right?
Speaker A:I've showed you pictures of it.
Speaker B:I'm sure I have.
Speaker A:It's like a little sky blue one.
Speaker A:It's like.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's literally just like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do we drove a Fiat around.
Speaker B:Is the Roast me a Barth.
Speaker B:A Barth version of it?
Speaker A:I mean, you're.
Speaker B:Dude, I don't know what it was, but it was like the tricked out, souped up.
Speaker B:It was like cool kids, right.
Speaker B:That one do.
Speaker B:We were turning heads.
Speaker B:It was our honeymoon, Right.
Speaker B:We're driving around Italy.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:We left that little thing sitting in the parking lot idling, and it would just sit there like this little Fiat and like, people would be like, dang.
Speaker B:Walking by.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I've got the vibe different, maybe different car.
Speaker B:Dude, I got this.
Speaker A:You are Tim right now.
Speaker B:Dude, Tim is my guy.
Speaker B:I'm getting a Tim shirt.
Speaker A:But anyway, they're like driving around and Tim, Tim is a boy scout, you know, he has his boy Scout knife.
Speaker B:Dude, this is my guy.
Speaker B:Dude, I'm an eagle Scout.
Speaker A:And he.
Speaker A:Everywhere they go, you know, there's every hotel that they stay at either has a leaky faucet or something.
Speaker A:So he's always grabbing his, you know, his knife and trying to like either screw it back in or something.
Speaker A:When he got his Fiat, you know, he got some channel locks and, you know, wrenches and his, you know, trusted knife.
Speaker A:So whenever had to do repairs, you know, he had the tools, but it was always just like in the.
Speaker A:Every, every time there was a problem or something that would come up or like just a new nuisance, he would.
Speaker A:He had a journal that he would carry around and he would just jot it down and then jot it down.
Speaker B:Today I needed a screwdriver or Something screw down the sink.
Speaker A:And he would just keep a log of every little nuisance that he would come along or just ideas that he would have along the way of this eight month period.
Speaker A:Then he did that, came back home and he started looking at through this notebook and the thing that kept popping up at him was like, oh, man, I used my boy scout knife a lot.
Speaker A:I use that thing a lot.
Speaker A:But if it only had pliers, oh yeah, it would be like, it would be good.
Speaker A:So that was the one thing he took from me.
Speaker A:He's like, I'm gonna, I wanna, I wanna try to do this.
Speaker A:So he went up to his wife and she's a saint, her name is Chow.
Speaker A:And asked her, hey, I want to make this thing.
Speaker A:I want to make one for myself.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I want to like do this.
Speaker A:I don't know how I'm gonna do it.
Speaker A:I need to tinker with it, all this stuff.
Speaker A:And she said, okay, how long is it gonna take you?
Speaker A:And he's like, I don't know, four to six months.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Just to make one for himself.
Speaker A:Right, sure.
Speaker A:Because he wants a tool that he desperately needed in this trip.
Speaker A:His wife supports them.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:She's the only bread maker.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Throughout the whole.
Speaker B:So he's doing nothing.
Speaker B:He's, he's working on, he's working on the future Leatherman.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:During this four to six months.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:So he's doing this and he.
Speaker A:I believe his brother in law had a shop.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:It might be a father in law.
Speaker A:I'm not sure if I'm mixing stories here.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:That he would go and it was a machine shop and he would literally just grab scrap pieces of metal from here, from there and just start filing them down, making them.
Speaker B:I just picture him running around the back of the shop be like, what's Tim doing here, man?
Speaker B:Like, nobody knows.
Speaker B:He's been running around and then building something secret.
Speaker A:And then he finally got his little prototype done, you know, and then he looked at it and he tossed it out.
Speaker B:Ah.
Speaker A:He's like, Tim.
Speaker A:He's like, no, it's too long.
Speaker B:Don't give up, Tim.
Speaker A:He's like, I.
Speaker A:I don't want it.
Speaker A:I want it like pocket knife size, right?
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker A:I don't want it like this.
Speaker A:I don't want it.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:He doesn't want the channel locks.
Speaker B:He wants the idea channel locks.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:But in your pocket.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So he keeps going at it.
Speaker B:Keep dreaming, Tim.
Speaker A:And he just keeps going for the next two years.
Speaker B:Woof.
Speaker B:Tim.
Speaker B:That's all.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:He's prototyping.
Speaker B:It seems so obvious in retrospect, doesn't it?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, Tim, were you kind of messing around?
Speaker B:Tim, you're just messing around at the shop.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:From 76 to 79.
Speaker A:So like two and a half, three years he's doing this.
Speaker A:Dude.
Speaker A:He's prototyping and his wife is the one supporting them.
Speaker A:Dude, higher time.
Speaker B:That's cool.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's hardcore.
Speaker B:I just wonder what the process looks like.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:Okay, the first one's too long.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Does it just take a long time to.
Speaker A:Well, you.
Speaker A:You gotta think.
Speaker A:He's not.
Speaker A:He doesn't have a whole shop to himself.
Speaker A:He has to, like, kind of work.
Speaker A:Work in between things.
Speaker A:And he doesn't have, like, access to, like, raw materials.
Speaker B:He basically got a skulk around.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Wait for the.
Speaker B:Some scrap.
Speaker B:Wait for the machine time.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He said he.
Speaker A:He wasn't really like.
Speaker A:Like forging in fires and stuff, but he was.
Speaker A:He's definitely, like, bending stuff by hand.
Speaker A:He's not like, you know, you gotta see what's the technology of the settings.
Speaker A:I'm not entirely certain, like, how easy it is to do this.
Speaker A:And then, you know.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:But yeah, it's taking him to get it exactly how he wants to get it.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:And he says he remembers on the eve of his 30th birthday.
Speaker B:This is so dramatic.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay, I'm there.
Speaker A:He looks back at all he's done.
Speaker B:Just a reflective.
Speaker A:Yeah, a reflective moment.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:At the 8th of his 30th birthday.
Speaker B:Hot cocoa.
Speaker B:He's got slippers on.
Speaker A:And he starts shedding tears because he says, I.
Speaker A:I've just wasted all this time and I don't have anything yet.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:He's just like, I don't have anything to show for it.
Speaker A:It's too.
Speaker B:You know, his wife's starting to get mad.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Maybe she's like, tim, yeah.
Speaker B:You told me four to six months.
Speaker B:It's been three years.
Speaker A:But he kept at it.
Speaker A:He kept at it and finally got a working prototype.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:His little prototype.
Speaker B:How long between the eve of his 30th birthday and the prototype he was satisfied with?
Speaker B:I mean, would that count as the year or the.
Speaker B:I would say the element was invented.
Speaker A:I don't think.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:We could.
Speaker B:We could do some math.
Speaker B:We could do a little.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't know if it.
Speaker A:That's the.
Speaker A:It's definitely not.
Speaker A:It's definitely the year it was invented, but it Wasn't the year that it was really in the market.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker B:I think that that makes sense.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I would say around 79 would be the year that it was truly invented.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So I feel like he's.
Speaker B:He's on that night, he was probably getting pretty close.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Felt like all the.
Speaker B:All the hope was fading away, but really just around the corner.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Hang in there, Tim.
Speaker A:But then, yeah, he did.
Speaker A:He hung in there and he got his prototype.
Speaker A:There's a video of him showing off what he.
Speaker A:Mr.
Speaker A:Mr.
Speaker A:Jabber or mister.
Speaker A:I can't remember what he was calling his Leatherman, because he wasn't even calling it Leatherman.
Speaker B:It wouldn't even been called a Leatherman.
Speaker A:He was just, like, showing it off to his friends, everybody.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:All this stuff.
Speaker B:Mr.
Speaker B:Jabber.
Speaker B:Because it goes, yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker B:Okay, okay.
Speaker A:But then he's like, okay.
Speaker A:He starts getting idea, okay, this is a tool.
Speaker A:Like, what if we sell it?
Speaker A:What if.
Speaker A:What if it goes to market?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Like now, like, oh, that's useful.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Can I have one?
Speaker A:Then you start talking about it.
Speaker A:Then you start going, right, dude.
Speaker A:He approaches, like, the big.
Speaker A:The big guy, Gerber.
Speaker A:You know, the Gerber friends.
Speaker A:He approaches them with his prototype.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Like, hey, here, test this prototype.
Speaker B:Change everything.
Speaker A:Let's do this.
Speaker A:They're like, no.
Speaker B:They're like, wait, is this the baby food people, too?
Speaker B:Are they the same company?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Are they?
Speaker A:When I saw that, I first, I'm like, I thought the same thing, but I don't know.
Speaker B:This is going to change everything.
Speaker B:If the two.
Speaker B:If the baby on the food can also be holding a wrench.
Speaker B:I think we have to look it up.
Speaker A:Gerber versus Gerber.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker A:They're spelled the same, right?
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I think so.
Speaker A:Gerber is a Gerber Life.
Speaker B:Maybe the company name is.
Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker B:I'd say is.
Speaker B:I have.
Speaker B:I have the Internet, too.
Speaker B:What am I doing?
Speaker B:Is.
Speaker B:Is Gerber baby food the same as Gerber Tools?
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:Gerber is a brand that makes both knives and baby food.
Speaker B:I was right.
Speaker A:You were right.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I want the baby on the front to be holding some kind of tool that.
Speaker B:Just a nice adjustable wrench.
Speaker B:I think that would go.
Speaker B:I think that would go.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:But okay, okay.
Speaker A:So Gerber, you know, says, no.
Speaker A:They're like, okay, nope.
Speaker A:Guess what?
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's not a knife.
Speaker A:We specialize in knives.
Speaker B:It's A little bit of a knife.
Speaker A:If they check it out, like, that's a tool.
Speaker A:That's what they tell him.
Speaker A:That's not a knife, that's a tool.
Speaker B:Well, they're not wrong.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:So he's like, okay.
Speaker A:You know, like, he.
Speaker A:It sucks, right?
Speaker A:It sucks to see that.
Speaker A:And then he started going to knife companies, you know, like big, big name knife companies of the time or whatever.
Speaker A:I'm sure there's still a lot.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Trying to think of some.
Speaker B:I don't know of any that were around Spyderco.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:Yeah, I know.
Speaker A:Was Benchmade around there?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:A Benchmade is a good one.
Speaker B:I got one in my pocket right now.
Speaker A:Look at that.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:But you know, the.
Speaker B:Okay, so going around shopping to knife dealers.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:What is it with knife dealers in the.
Speaker B:Would this be early 80s now?
Speaker B:Are we in the early 80s?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:They just.
Speaker B:They don't want tools.
Speaker B:They just want knives.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The knife people, the.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I feel like Gerber was a tool company, but maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe I'm wrong now.
Speaker B:Maybe in the 80s they were like baby food and.
Speaker B:Baby food and knives, man.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I feel lost.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker B:Now, now maybe said baby food and knives.
Speaker B:That's pretty specific.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Is there yet another company called Gerber that does tools but not knives necessarily?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:Because I know Gerber does like a lot of survival things like, like the acts and stuff like that too.
Speaker B:Maybe they just figured it out.
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe think that they kind of learned their lesson.
Speaker B:Like, oh, if we only would have listened to Tim.
Speaker A:Yeah, he.
Speaker A:He kept going around.
Speaker A:So I do have.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:He went to Victoria Knox.
Speaker A:That's a knife company back.
Speaker B:Man, that sounds fancy.
Speaker A:It's a.
Speaker A:It's a Swiss knife company.
Speaker A:So he.
Speaker A:He stayed a lot a local US but that's the one that he went outside.
Speaker A:You know, the Swiss.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:The Swiss army knives and stuff like that, they might be interested in.
Speaker B:So like a Swiss army knife was.
Speaker B:They existed.
Speaker B:They existed for the Leatherman, didn't.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I feel like that's close.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And yeah, that's pretty close.
Speaker A:But, you know, like, a Swiss army knife is definitely different.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, Tim's second love was pliers.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:I see what he's getting at.
Speaker B:You got to get the pliers in there.
Speaker A:So then after all the no's at all these knife companies and they're all telling them Their tools.
Speaker A:Where's he gonna go?
Speaker B:Sears?
Speaker A:He started going to.
Speaker A:Yeah, Sears, Stanley, Black and Decker.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:All the tool companies.
Speaker B:Home Depot, baby.
Speaker A:Like, okay, this is a tool.
Speaker A:Let's go for tools.
Speaker A:Then.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That seems, you know, again, Tim, I don't know.
Speaker B:Looking back, it seems obvious.
Speaker B:Everyone's like, no, it's a tool.
Speaker B:No, it's a tool.
Speaker B:It's like, maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe you should have.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:That doesn't seem like.
Speaker B:I figured he probably could have picked up on that sooner, right?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:That's fine, Tim.
Speaker B:It worked out.
Speaker B:We know the end.
Speaker A:We do.
Speaker A:We do.
Speaker A:I mean.
Speaker B:Keep going, Tim.
Speaker A:Keep going.
Speaker B:Keep going, Tim.
Speaker A:So bright eye, bushy tail goes through all the tools companies.
Speaker A:They say, no, that's not a tool.
Speaker B:Who's going to.
Speaker A:Come on, that's a gadget and we don't sell gadgets.
Speaker B:That's so pedantic.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh, dude.
Speaker B:If they sell the Swiss army knife and be like, come on, man, you.
Speaker A:Know, is that a gadget?
Speaker B:Have you.
Speaker B:Did you ever own a Swiss army knife?
Speaker A:I own the little one.
Speaker A:I think it was like a four or five.
Speaker A:One.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Did you ever use it?
Speaker A:No, I threw it in the front pocket of my backpack or something.
Speaker A:Cool.
Speaker B:You thought, like, oh, man, I got everything if I ever needed it.
Speaker B:I've had some things that resemble X Swiss army knives or knockoff Leathermans that didn't have the pliers.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Never use them.
Speaker B:You know, like, I got eight knives in my pocket.
Speaker B:Like, I don't.
Speaker B:I don't need that.
Speaker B:So the fact that like, that existed and had, like some kind of reputation.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:That precedes the Leatherman and people didn't want to let.
Speaker B:That blows my mind.
Speaker B:I am also curious of what other gadgets were existing at the time where they're like, oh, that's a gadget.
Speaker B:And gadgets are.
Speaker B:Us Sells that.
Speaker A:What is it?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Were they just turning him away?
Speaker B:Probably.
Speaker A:Probably.
Speaker A:Maybe it was just an untested thing that just didn't want to go on.
Speaker A:Like, I don't know.
Speaker A:And I mean, I guess I can.
Speaker A:I can.
Speaker A:I do understand in a sense, like, it's a.
Speaker A:It's a gadget because it.
Speaker A:Gadgets and gizmos, you know, like future.
Speaker A:Like so many moving parts, moves out, spins out.
Speaker A:You know, it's this thing.
Speaker A:Is it's a knife?
Speaker A:Is it a plier?
Speaker A:Like, yeah.
Speaker B:What is its identity?
Speaker B:It doesn't know what it is.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:I can understand the tentativeness of companies.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:They're trying to.
Speaker B:They have to sell it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But at the same time, like, why?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:It's so obvious.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's like, dude, this idea, like, so useful.
Speaker B:Do it like, every dad will have one.
Speaker A:But can you imagine going through that, like, being Tim, knowing that you have a great product and nobody is fighting.
Speaker B:Stick with it, Tim.
Speaker B:It's going to be worth it, buddy.
Speaker A:So after all this, he was kind of like, feeling guilty, Right.
Speaker B:Of wasting all that time.
Speaker A:Wasting all the time.
Speaker A:And his wife is still.
Speaker B:She's like, supporting.
Speaker B:Is he still doing nothing at this time?
Speaker B:Running around trying to sell his.
Speaker A:Running around trying to sell these things, trying to make.
Speaker B:Hang in there.
Speaker A:So he then, so, you know, 79, early 80s.
Speaker A:So around the.
Speaker A:It's still the 80s.
Speaker A:So it's like, it's still not like a long time between the moment he finished his prototype to the moment he's, like, trying to sell it.
Speaker A:It's not that long.
Speaker A:When he realizes, okay, I need to go get a job.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:So he goes to Eutectic.
Speaker A:It's a welding company.
Speaker A:Yeah, I don't.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I've never heard of it.
Speaker A:I don't know if you've ever heard of that.
Speaker B:No, that's.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Eutectic is a specific thing within metallurgy.
Speaker A:So he.
Speaker A:He becomes a salesman for this welding company for.
Speaker A:He's selling welding products.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So now he's on the other side of product development and marketing.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker A:But it was.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He said, yeah, I can do this, and blah, blah, it starts doing this.
Speaker A:But he.
Speaker A:He was also being very, very smart about it, too.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Like, I.
Speaker A:I feel like he doesn't say it, but I feel like he always had, like, a plan about, like, he knew it from the beginning.
Speaker B:Okay, Tim, you schemer, you dog.
Speaker A:He's doing this and he's selling products, and he's like, oh, yeah, and you can service it.
Speaker A:And he's like, oh, by the way, if you need to service it, I have this tool that could help you on your job.
Speaker B:Have you done?
Speaker A:So he would, like, you know, show people his leatherman.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:As and people.
Speaker A:And maybe people didn't, like, go for the product, but it was almost like a hook.
Speaker A:Oh, let me see that product that you have there.
Speaker A:And then like, oh, you don't want this.
Speaker A:But, like, this is our welding product.
Speaker A:So it kind of helped him, but it also put it in people's mind.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:For these.
Speaker A:For this thing.
Speaker B:He started the Wildfire himself.
Speaker A:So he's like, okay, you dog.
Speaker A:So, yeah, he just kept talking about it and stuffing.
Speaker B:Is this like door to door?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:I don't know why I picture door to door.
Speaker B:Imagine a door to door welder salesman.
Speaker B:Excuse.
Speaker B:Excuse me.
Speaker B:Are your parents home?
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Hey, ma'am, could I interest you in this here mig welder?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Tim's from Portland.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Clearly not Southern.
Speaker B:He just talks like a guy.
Speaker B:I'm sure.
Speaker A:Soft, slow spoken.
Speaker B:Excuse me, ma'am.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker A:That's just the southerner in you.
Speaker B:He just.
Speaker B:He's got that way about him, I suppose.
Speaker B:Oh, gosh.
Speaker B:I just pictured.
Speaker B:Okay, I know he's not.
Speaker B:But I'm gonna picture him as a door to door sales salesman.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker B:He's wearing a vest and a long sleeve.
Speaker A:You know?
Speaker A:I like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, I like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:He's going wild a little bit.
Speaker B:With like a blue undershirt, like a.
Speaker B:Like a pink paisley vest.
Speaker B:It's shiny, right?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Dude, Tim's getting it.
Speaker A:Tim's just.
Speaker A:Tim's definitely.
Speaker B:I believe in Tim.
Speaker A:So after, you know, after all this time, early 80s, he.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:It's been over like 200 rejections.
Speaker A:Like the companies.
Speaker A:200 different companies rejecting.
Speaker B:That's a lot of.
Speaker B:I've never even heard of that many companies.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And then he's like.
Speaker B:For Kismos.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:He's just, you know, this guy is not backing down.
Speaker B:Don't back down team.
Speaker A:He still.
Speaker A:He still wants to hold on to that dream and keep going.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He actually went to a convention hall.
Speaker A:Convention center, like.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Where you people can sell their stuff, Right?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Like just set up a booth.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, right.
Speaker A:This is like a expo.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That he tells all the time.
Speaker A:Kind of stuck with him.
Speaker B:Comic Con for.
Speaker B:For sellable gadgets, Right?
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:He said that he was in his little thing.
Speaker B:He's a.
Speaker B:He has a booth.
Speaker A:He has a little booth.
Speaker B:He's got a booth.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And he has his little gizmo.
Speaker B:His little gizmo.
Speaker A:Little leatherman.
Speaker A:And he's there.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The jab, jibber, jabber, jabber.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I actually don't know at what point he decided to.
Speaker A:I know when.
Speaker A:Because still, to this point, they don't.
Speaker A:He doesn't have a business.
Speaker A:He's just trying to.
Speaker A:His one product.
Speaker B:He's not making any money.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:Why would you form a business?
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:So he doesn't have branding or anything, really.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:He goes to this thing, and he's sitting there at his booth, and he's just looking at people.
Speaker A:Looking.
Speaker A:You know, some people come by and he's like, oh, you know, kind of talk about his thing, but he's just there.
Speaker A:And then he remembers this guy.
Speaker A:Like, nobody's coming to his booth, but.
Speaker A:Because everybody was at this one guy's booth, this guy's on a freaking, you know, stool high up, and he's like, hey, like me, like, check this out.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Like doing all this stuff.
Speaker A:And people are like, oh.
Speaker A:I think he was.
Speaker A:What was it like?
Speaker A:Not.
Speaker A:Not.
Speaker A:Not technically.
Speaker A:The little pop sockets, you know, they're not pops.
Speaker A:The things you go throw on the ground that.
Speaker A:It pops.
Speaker B:Oh, gosh.
Speaker B:What are they like?
Speaker B:Yeah, snaps.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't know what those things are called.
Speaker B:The little firecracker thingies.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:He wasn't selling those exactly, but something like that.
Speaker A:He said there was, like, flash and stuff.
Speaker B:What is this convention?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:It's just a bunch of different weird things.
Speaker B:Do they still have it?
Speaker B:Wow, that sounds like fun.
Speaker B:I was wondering who else.
Speaker B:Who else is here?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:So this is in.
Speaker A:In.
Speaker A:In.
Speaker A: In: Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So you got to get going.
Speaker B:But, yeah, so that he's making money.
Speaker A:When he's at this convention, right.
Speaker A:What he actually has on his table, that is the evolution of a tool.
Speaker A:That's what he, like, does.
Speaker B:All these prototypes, okay.
Speaker A:Up to the.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The top.
Speaker A:The one finished product, right?
Speaker B:Educational.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, they're magnesium fire starters.
Speaker A:That's what he was selling that other guy.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:His.
Speaker A:I had to write it down because his name, man.
Speaker B:What a legendary expo.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:This guy's name is, like, legendary.
Speaker A:This guy that was selling the magnesium fire Skeets pouches.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And I was just like, I don't.
Speaker B:Know if I could buy anything from a guy named Skeets.
Speaker B:I just feel like I don't know, Skeets.
Speaker A:But, yeah, after his whole little show Skeets show, he comes over to Tim's.
Speaker B:Table and he's like, come on, Skeets, help him out.
Speaker A:It's like, what are you doing?
Speaker A:Like, what are you doing here?
Speaker A:And he's like.
Speaker A:And Tim's just like, I'm waiting for somebody to come and find my stuff.
Speaker B:Get him.
Speaker B:Go get him, Tim.
Speaker B:You got to get out there.
Speaker A:He's like, you.
Speaker A:You can't.
Speaker A:You can't do this.
Speaker A:You got to stand up, dude.
Speaker A:These people are freaking zombies.
Speaker B:Table.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, they don't just kind of walk around.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker A:They have no idea what.
Speaker A:Unless you grab them.
Speaker A:Unless you tell them, hey, yeah, here's my product.
Speaker A:There's zombie.
Speaker A:They're just walking past your booth, dude.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that's what Tim does.
Speaker A:He's just like, hey, you know, starts, this is my product, blah, blah, blah, and he gets a guide and tells him about it.
Speaker A:Dude makes his first sale.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, Tim.
Speaker A:This guy pays $175.
Speaker B:Whoa.
Speaker A:For this Leatherman.
Speaker B:Well, no wonder he wasn't selling them.
Speaker B:Dagnab.
Speaker A:And on top of that, you know, it's the 80s.
Speaker A:So this guy Tim doesn't have inventory.
Speaker A:He just has his prototype.
Speaker A:So this guy, whoever he made this gentleman may be, mails a check for $175 to Tim.
Speaker A:And Tim goes back home and makes another Leatherman and ships it to this guy.
Speaker A:And wherever that guy may be, has the first.
Speaker B:The original Leatherman.
Speaker A:Original Leatherman that he bought at an expo.
Speaker A:$175.
Speaker B:Wonder how much it's worth now, dude.
Speaker B:I mean, it feels legendary.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But, like, I.
Speaker B:Is there.
Speaker B:Is there really a market for it?
Speaker B:Like, is it historical yet?
Speaker B:It's got to be close.
Speaker A: I mean, it's in: Speaker B:I mean, how much would you pay for the original Leatherman if you had.
Speaker B:I mean, if you could spend whatever you wanted.
Speaker A:If I could spend whatever I.
Speaker A:I wanted on it.
Speaker A:And I, like, I had the cash on hand.
Speaker A:I am a knife enthusiast.
Speaker A:I do love history, stuff like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Dude, honestly, I can see myself paying 3, $500 for it.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was gonna say, like, I was gonna start the test at, like, five grand.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, do you start getting hesitation at five.
Speaker A:At five grand?
Speaker A:I don't use a Leatherman all that often.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:But it's those kind of historic.
Speaker B:Very much so.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:At five grand, I'm thinking about it.
Speaker A:But I would still be like, yeah, maybe.
Speaker B:And see, like, that's a.
Speaker B:That's a big number for what it is.
Speaker B:But it's not like, it's not earth shattering.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But I mean, I mean, give it another.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Another couple decades maybe.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:When it.
Speaker A:When it actually is like.
Speaker B:So there's a.
Speaker B:There's just a guy sitting on his Leatherman somewhere.
Speaker B:He's got it.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:It's in a shadow box above his tv.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:It's got all the things splayed out.
Speaker A:Or did you do you even think this guy knew what he had?
Speaker A:I mean, it's the first ever.
Speaker A:Do you think he just kind of threw it in a drawer and forgot about and that drawer went to the dump somewhere, man.
Speaker B:I mean, very much could be.
Speaker B:I mean, if he didn't find it useful and it wasn't popular at the time, I'm.
Speaker B:Why would he keep it?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, 175 bucks.
Speaker B:I feel like.
Speaker A:I think he.
Speaker B:I think find a way to use it.
Speaker A:Yes, I agree.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:Huh.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:The first leatherman.
Speaker B:I wonder where it is that it's.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Tim knows.
Speaker A:Tim knows.
Speaker A:So his college buddy comes back.
Speaker B:Oh, ping pong guy.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Comes back into the picture.
Speaker A:He's been following Tim's journey.
Speaker A:How on.
Speaker A:Just keep.
Speaker A:I don't know, just keeping up with him.
Speaker B:Like, Tim making headlines.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:You know, when I first read that, I was like, oh, he's following like on Facebook and stuff.
Speaker A:Like, I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Speaker B:Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Speaker A:How is he following him?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know by what means.
Speaker A:Maybe there's like a update, something by like, like, where are they now?
Speaker A:Kind of thing.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:But he's kind of following his career, you know, and seeing where he's at, and he's like, yo, I can help you.
Speaker A:Let's partner up.
Speaker A:I can help you sell these things.
Speaker B:Because his degree is in business and finance.
Speaker A:Yes, it is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes, it is.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Tim's friend, of course, as soon as things start getting juicy, the friend shows up and he's like, hey.
Speaker A:So they.
Speaker A:He gets into partnership with him.
Speaker A:75, 25.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's the deal.
Speaker B:You know, that's not bad.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Timmy's holding on to the majority.
Speaker A:Yeah, Timmy's holding on to the majority.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And not only that, Tim's friend's dad has a shop.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:Has a shop that.
Speaker A:It's a manufacturing shop and all this stuff.
Speaker A:So it works great.
Speaker A:They calculated it that in order, all the time Tim spent on this materials and all these things that we're going to have to do.
Speaker A:They would have to sell 4,000 knives to break even.
Speaker A:Just to break even.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Unlike.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Because, you know, Tim has already put a lot of time, a lot of resources, like, you know, money into, like, building this thing.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:And then everything else.
Speaker A:So they went to.
Speaker A:First thing.
Speaker A:First things first.
Speaker A:Like you said it right.
Speaker A:In the.
Speaker A:In the 40s, military needs a utilitarian thing.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Yeah, maybe.
Speaker A:And that's their first thought.
Speaker A:Yo, let's sell to the U.S.
Speaker A:army.
Speaker A:Yeah, let's go.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:They went straight up, said no.
Speaker A:Army said no.
Speaker B:I feel like it's probably hard to sell stuff to the Army.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:But at the end of the day, it's a government customer.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:There's so much red tape in the way of.
Speaker B:Here's the thing that makes sense.
Speaker A:Tim had enough foresight that he made his Leathermans to.
Speaker A:To the specs of the military.
Speaker A:Like everything that was made because he's a boy scout, man.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:He knows he's doing on all those years.
Speaker B:He's like, mil specs, man, dude.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He's like, I know what's going to be durable, what's going to last, what's going to.
Speaker A:Like all this.
Speaker A:And you know, it starts paying a picture.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:That's pretty wise.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:They're not camo, though.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Maybe that's why.
Speaker B:Think about it.
Speaker A:Maybe you can enlighten me on this one.
Speaker A:But they also approach AT&T.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker A:They approach AT&T to sell their Leathermans.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:No, okay, that.
Speaker B:That makes sense.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Just think of all.
Speaker B:I mean, telecommunications, just all that in general, especially back then.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's communication over wires and antennas.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker B:So you've got technicians out in the field doing stuff all the time.
Speaker B:It still happens today.
Speaker B:Right, Right.
Speaker B:Like there.
Speaker B:There are communications terminals, like out in the boonies, connect cities.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, thinking like cell phones.
Speaker B:No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No, no, no.
Speaker B:You're thinking, yeah, think infrastructure.
Speaker B:Don't think final product.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Think infrastructure.
Speaker B:And then you're there.
Speaker A:That makes a lot more sense.
Speaker A:I'm like, dude, they went to a phone company.
Speaker A:Cool.
Speaker A:I'm like, good for you, Tim.
Speaker A:You're just shooting your shot to go.
Speaker B:Can you text on it?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:But you could buyers things.
Speaker A:So then they're like AT and T.
Speaker A:They say no.
Speaker A:So then they hang in there, Timmy.
Speaker B:Everyone's going to.
Speaker B:They're like, you know what?
Speaker A:Let's go.
Speaker A:Mail order catalogs.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And you're like, okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:They start, you know, and everything's letters.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You have to write.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:So they're sending out.
Speaker A:They're sending out.
Speaker A:They're sending out.
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:His carpal tunnel.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:They send out 279 letters.
Speaker B:To who?
Speaker A:To all these catalog, like people, like.
Speaker B:Just anybody who's at the time selling stuff out of catalogs.
Speaker A:Out of.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, I mean, like any of the department stores.
Speaker A:Yes, anybody.
Speaker B:And all the ones that we have no idea about.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:Pop.
Speaker B:Shops that are cataloging.
Speaker A:You have whatever, whatever.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Zero responses on 279 of them.
Speaker A:And then they send the 280th.
Speaker A:And they wanted to see the tool in person.
Speaker A:They're like, okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker A:We want to see it, Timmy.
Speaker A:They were close enough to this catalog provider that they're like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:They said the tool was too complicated.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker A:They're like, it's too complicated.
Speaker A:Simplify it.
Speaker A:If you can simplify it, we got a deal.
Speaker A:So they went back to the drawing board another four months.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker A:To make it a lot more simpler.
Speaker B:Was it more complicated?
Speaker B:Like, really?
Speaker B:How much different could it.
Speaker B:Okay, I want to know.
Speaker B:I want to see, like, the early written.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:So they.
Speaker A:They went back, prototyped it, and asked, you know, okay, we got it.
Speaker A:Can you order 4,000?
Speaker A:And they're like, whoa, all right.
Speaker A:They're like, yes.
Speaker A:No way.
Speaker B:Oh, that's a lot.
Speaker B:But also, that's no way.
Speaker A:No, screw that.
Speaker A:So they have a new prototype now.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:They decide to.
Speaker A:Hey, let's just.
Speaker A:Let's just do it.
Speaker A:Let's just re.
Speaker A:Reach out to all the 279.
Speaker A:79.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker B:Going back to the cat.
Speaker B:Come on, man.
Speaker A:They start going.
Speaker A:Start going.
Speaker B:I know it's going to be Sears.
Speaker B:It's got to be serious.
Speaker B:I'm holding on to Sears.
Speaker B:I don't know why.
Speaker A:Out of all the ones that they resent these out of.
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker A:One replied, Sears.
Speaker A:They cut a check for $12,000 for 500 tools.
Speaker A:May 83.
Speaker B:Was it serious?
Speaker A:It was Cabela's.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:It was Cabela's.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A: was we need them by December: Speaker A:So they got from May.
Speaker B:May to December to make 500 tools.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Get it going for 12 grand for.
Speaker A:For 12 grand for 500.
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:I'm not sure what the inflation rate changes on 12 grand.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:From 83.
Speaker A:But his partner that he had.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, Come on.
Speaker A:Step up was.
Speaker A:So the only reason it started doing so or, like, why they started getting people is because he marketed pocket survival tool.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:And that changed.
Speaker B:Leave it to a freaking everything.
Speaker B:Major market is different.
Speaker B:You just tell somebody it's.
Speaker B:It's not a gizmo.
Speaker B:It's a survival.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:They went.
Speaker B:Well played.
Speaker A: tools in: Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Tim's doing okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Tim hey, he hung in there.
Speaker A:He did.
Speaker B:And wow, That's a very good.
Speaker B:Yeah, good job, Tim.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And now his.
Speaker A:Their numbers are still growing.
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker A:I think, dude, I think 40% of their.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:We're gonna have to fact check, maybe get some not.
Speaker A:But I think 30 to 40% of their sales go out side the US which is astronomical for anybody, you know.
Speaker B:Oh, dude, I remember one time we were in.
Speaker B:We were in the Bahamas and we rented bicycles and one of the guys, it was like eight bucks for the whole day for a bike.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It was awesome.
Speaker B:We're just cruising around the island and one of the guys, his chains kept popping off whenever he'd pedal.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So they just pulled into like whatever.
Speaker B:Whatever industrial flavored thing happened to be around.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I don't even know what it was.
Speaker B:It was like a junkyard or like a wood shop or something.
Speaker B:And they just are like, hey, do you guys have like some kind of tool to where I can just like jam on this bike and wrench on this bike and fix it real quick because, like it couldn't get anywhere.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so I guess that's what I picture is just like the utility of this little thing.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's so obvious.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:It's almost frustrating looking back and being like, dude, look at all the companies that passed him by.
Speaker B:Good, good job, Cabela's.
Speaker B:You figured it out.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because, man, all, all the, all the people on scooters.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You got your, you know, you're cruising around on your scooter, you got your Leatherman on your side, you're good to go, dude.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I mean that just.
Speaker B:You can apply that to anything.
Speaker B:It's a great tool.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:And it's like I said, like, that's why I started with like, it doesn't matter if it's already invented.
Speaker A:If you can make it better or make it like in a different shape form or like something that helps you, not only is it going to help you, it's going to help somebody else out too, because they're going to like.
Speaker A:Yeah, because, you know, hindsight, it's 20 20, right?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:He had the vision to see it before most.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's only 40 something years old.
Speaker B:That's crazy, huh?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Is that 40 or is that.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, if, I mean, we're talking early 80s.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're.
Speaker B:I mean, you're in the, you're in the ballpark.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's aging into 50.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:Yeah, I, I suppose.
Speaker B:But man, 175 for the first one.
Speaker B:And what.
Speaker B:I mean, what do they.
Speaker B:What do they cost now?
Speaker A:It depends on what model you get.
Speaker B:Like a.
Speaker B:Like a decent middle of the road one.
Speaker B:Like a 20, 30 bucks.
Speaker B:Is that like a really good one?
Speaker B:What did that give me?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Probably.
Speaker A:I think a skeletool, which is kind of like just your.
Speaker A:Your pliers, a couple knives.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's like 65 bucks.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So super well made, though.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, again, mil specs.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Did they ever get into the army?
Speaker A:Hey, honestly, I don't know.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:It just feels like.
Speaker A:I feel like that.
Speaker B:It feels like it makes sense.
Speaker A:It does.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:The one quote that I loved from Tim, if I have anything else left to say of Tim, is he says there's a fine line between persistence and failure to accept reality.
Speaker A:And I was determined to try and go on too long before giving up too soon.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:You know, I.
Speaker A:That resonates a lot.
Speaker A:Especially what we're trying to do.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, we're trying to start something.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Doesn't matter how long it takes for us to do this.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:I'd rather try too hard than stop short.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Of something that we're gonna do.
Speaker B:Or she tried harder.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Sooner.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So for me, I think that's a.
Speaker A:That's a huge inspiration that I learned from somebody that I, you know, I always knew about kind of you, but never really knew the tool.
Speaker B:Almost every day, but you just never think about it.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:And there's just some guy chilling now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:I can't imagine what Tim's up to nowadays, but I'm.
Speaker B:I'm sure.
Speaker B:I don't know if he's a humble dude, but, I mean, he figured it out, and good for him, man.
Speaker B:He seems.
Speaker B:Tim seems like a dude.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Tim seems like my kind of guy, for sure.
Speaker B:I'm curious to hear if you have the video or this podcast of his interview.
Speaker A:Yeah, I can definitely send it over.
Speaker B:Send it over to me.
Speaker B:We'll post it, too.
Speaker B:Of.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I just want to hear him talk about it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:From the mouth of.
Speaker B:Of the horse.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Of.
Speaker B:Get a sense of who this guy is.
Speaker B:Who.
Speaker B:For me, I mean, it's like you said, it's kind of eternal.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's just always been.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And that's not true.
Speaker B:It's actually fairly new.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:In the grand scheme of things, it's very.
Speaker B:Yeah, man.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I have to admire Tim and.
Speaker B:And many other inventors out there who.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It just seems so obvious.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I just wonder what we're missing, like, right now that people are stewing up, coming up with some.
Speaker B:Some crazy idea they're cooking up in.
Speaker A:Their basement, you know, and that we're gonna pay $175.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:And then you get.
Speaker B:I give it.
Speaker B:Give it 30 years, and it'll be half that cost.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Good job, Tim.
Speaker A:Yeah, good job.
Speaker B:Good job, Tim.
Speaker A:But as always, don't take our word for it.
Speaker A:Do your own research.
Speaker A:Stay curious.
Speaker B:Tim's my guy.
Speaker B:Dude, that's wild.
Speaker B:I like that.
