wearable leatherman tread bracelet's links act as multiple tools

wearable leatherman tread bracelet’s links act as multiple tools
images courtesy of leatherman

the leatherman ‘tread’ bracelet, a wearable multi-tool, is crafted from high strength, corrosion resistant stainless steel links that each work as two or three functional utensils. including box wrenches, screwdrivers and even a swiss-made timepiece, a total of 25 usable features are available at anytime. the precision quartz movement watch accessory, named ‘QM1’, offers scratch resistance for heavy duty wear thanks to its use of shock resistant sapphire crystal, and limits reflection because of its curved face.

the leatherman-designed swiss-made timepiece addition

‘the idea originated on a trip to disneyland with my family,’ said president ben rivera. ‘I was stopped at the gate by security for carrying a knife, when what they had actually seen was my skeletool. I was unwilling to give it up, so they made me take it all the way back to my hotel room. I knew there had to be another way to carry my tools with me that would be accepted by security.’

‘I began wearing prototypes myself to test comfort and usability, and to ask for feedback,’ said rivera continued to say. ‘folks immediately associated the bracelet design with a watch and asked, where’s the watch? we decided to make a timepiece an optional part of the tread.’

the multi-tool bracelet

the prototypes that rivera started wearing started as a bike chain bracelet but through continued development, the tool began to take the shape of the final design. each complex link is manufactured by metal injection molding in order to provide strength and intensity, and features slotted fasteners to enable full customization.

a few example links