The Human Penknife

November 13, 2002 4:37 AM

Taking the adage "be prepared" to the next levelEric, a thirty year old electrician from Lyons, France, has made the record books for having the "most practical suit of clothing". Often dubbed "The Human Penknife" Eric has no less that 1,300 useful objects, ranging from a humble toothbrush to a soldering iron, arranged in carefully designed pouches sewn into his clothing. What won't you leave home without?
posted by lucien (29 comments total)

Guess he's never heard of a swiss army knife...
posted by banished at 4:41 AM on November 13, 2002

Lucien, I won't leave home without closing the door.

also..my keys, clothes and sometimes my girfriend if she is coming with me. Oh yeah...! my wallett as well.


and sometimes my minidisc walkman

and cigarettes, or gum.. depends.


What did you have for breakfast?
posted by Frasermoo at 4:53 AM on November 13, 2002

gargoyle!
posted by dabitch at 5:06 AM on November 13, 2002

bleh!
posted by Frasermoo at 5:17 AM on November 13, 2002

and here I was expecting a bunch of funny american express jokes to come out of the witty mefi community. :/ isn't that what used to happen to 'lesser' FPP's?
posted by dabitch at 5:21 AM on November 13, 2002

A photo would have been appropriate for this story.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:22 AM on November 13, 2002

I think I found a pic of his stereo.. *heh*
posted by dabitch at 5:24 AM on November 13, 2002

Pants.

Well, most of the time, anyway.
posted by jonmc at 5:43 AM on November 13, 2002

I'd like to see him go through security at La Guardia at 4 PM on a Friday. That would be funny.
posted by PrinceValium at 6:15 AM on November 13, 2002

I've carried a Victorinox pocket knife, the 'Executive' model, for years. Same toolset as this one, but with a metal case rather than plastic, and minus the toothpick and tweezers. Only a couple inches long, and more slender than the plastic-sided models. A remarkably handy bunch of gadgets. It's a shame I can't carry it on airlines any more. Otherwise, it's always in my pocket.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 6:31 AM on November 13, 2002

"I often end up sleeping in odd places..."

Indeed.
posted by dfowler at 6:51 AM on November 13, 2002

Swiss army knife, definitely. Mine is better'n 10 years old, a gift from my wife, and I have it on me all the time (except when travelling). Otherwise, the only other things I carry all the time is a pen, a sheaf of mini-posties and a thing of those breath strips that melt in your mouth.

Because fresh breath is a priority in my life, that's why.
posted by UncleFes at 7:04 AM on November 13, 2002

a sheaf of mini-posties

I saw this out of the corner of my eye, my brain said "No, he means Post Toasties, surely", and I said "UncleFes is a Junior G-man who never leaves home without his decoder ring."

I didn't get much sleep last night.
Wallet, keys w/folding swiss mini-tool, PDA and work ID.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 7:14 AM on November 13, 2002

Leatherman! This little sucker has come to the rescue more times than I can count. Most recently to put a new hole in a coworker's belt.
posted by jennyb at 7:22 AM on November 13, 2002

Now there is one frood who really knows where his towel is.

Also his allen wrenches, vitamins, laser pointer, snakebite kit, stopwatch, toothpaste, bottle opener, duct tape, blowtorch, rubberbands, magnifying glass, dog whistle, tire iron, matches, and Esperanto dictionary.
posted by Foosnark at 7:22 AM on November 13, 2002

My Leatherman. Ever since I've had one, Swiss Army knives have seemed like childs toys (no offense to those who have 'em). I can't tell you how surprisingly often having a pair of pliars available comes in handy.

My Zippo, even though I don't smoke. (Except for when its out of fuel, like right now) Flame can be a handy thing to have available, too.

That's it aside from the usual mundane stuff.
posted by jammer at 7:23 AM on November 13, 2002

Hah, all I leave my house with is my discman, zippo, and cigarettes. Gotta love minimalism.
posted by Dark Messiah at 7:29 AM on November 13, 2002

I don't own a wallet because when I loose it I loose everything so instead carry everything loose in my pocket. For some reason this upsets the women in my life who believe all men really want wallets and so I get them as gifts. It's like having a messy office it's only a mess to those who don't know how everything is organized.
posted by stbalbach at 8:16 AM on November 13, 2002

"No, he means Post Toasties, surely",

Ha!! Yeah, PinkStainlessTail-- it makes soooo much more sence for him to bring his Post Toasties.

Actually, I never leave home these days without my cheerios.

I have always been a fancy-free sort of gal, so I love to walk out the door without my purse-- the Partner carrries all the money, keys, mints and assorted other crap, so usually I never leave home without the Partner.

However, lately the bulldog has been in training and she works for cheerios. I have to have a reward handy at all times-- hence all my pockets have accumulated the stuff.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 9:25 AM on November 13, 2002

I hate, hate, hate articles that focus on something visual and then do not include a photograph. It's just sloppy reporting. Do they think it's absolutely crucial we know about this guy? No, it's trivia, therefore take the extra time and snap a pic.
posted by Hildago at 11:04 AM on November 13, 2002

My Leatherman. Ever since I've had one, Swiss Army knives have seemed like childs toys (no offense to those who have 'em).

You may be the only polite person left on Metafilter, jammer.
posted by Hildago at 11:05 AM on November 13, 2002

I carry this little tool, which has come handy sometimes and since it's not as big as a leatherman I actually carry it around all the time. The blade in the Sebertool is puny so I also carry a cheap small (4 cm blade) folding knife, which actually is broken right now. I don't like buying expensive multi-tools or knives since I can't really use them comfortably in fear of breaking them.
Naturally I also carry my phone, wallet and glasses+sunglasses.
posted by lazy-ville at 11:49 AM on November 13, 2002

Pictures.

Same page, english translation.
posted by lucien at 11:51 AM on November 13, 2002

I saw this out of the corner of my eye, my brain said "No, he means Post Toasties, surely", and I said "UncleFes is a Junior G-man who never leaves home without his decoder ring."

*stares with fascination into the mirror of mefi opinion, musing at thuis new clue as to what sort of image the collective has of me in that my leaving the house with a pocketfull of post toasties and a decoder ring is more believable than with a small yellow pad of sticky paper*
posted by UncleFes at 12:01 PM on November 13, 2002

Hildago: You may be the only polite person left on Metafilter, jammer.

Nah, I can be a real ass, and have been in the past. Just trying to turn over a new leaf. ;)
posted by jammer at 1:07 PM on November 13, 2002

Leatherman Crunch (w/ locking pliers, i couldn't do my thesis without it! greatest folding tool EVER), visor prism w/ visorphone and pen stylus, mini flashlight and much much more in my backpack.
posted by NGnerd at 5:13 PM on November 13, 2002

ngnerd: bet you don't carry those with you all the time. That's why small keyring tools are great, you always have them with you. I have been contemplating on buying a Leatherman tool myself, are there any downsides to the crunch as compared to other Leatherman tools.
A funny anecdote: My friend was a KFOR peacekeeper in Kosovo and carried a Leatherman Wave around. He had to use it to cut some nato-wire and that was one warped tool he had there. The wire-cutting blades were seriously damaged and apparently the whole tool had bent ever-so slightly. But it did do the job.
posted by lazy-ville at 7:11 PM on November 13, 2002

How the hell can they call that costume "Most Practical"? Most bloody impractical, more like...
posted by robcorr at 5:04 AM on November 14, 2002

Lazy-ville: actually what i said IS the stuff i carry on me all the time (a good belt is a necessity). The crunches major downside is that it doesn't have as many blades as the wave (one mixed serated flat edge and one large file), occasionally the plier mechanism detaches (it's designed to do that) when you release them, and it costs more then the ps2, however if you know/love locking pliers it DEFINITLY makes up for the lack of blades. As for wear and tear i've never had a problem with them and i use them ALLOT. I have also heard of people mailing them into leatherman and getting new ones shipped right back. As far as i've seen they're as good a carry-all-the-time-tool as you can find. If you've got more questions feel free to contact me (as this thread is quite dead)
posted by NGnerd at 1:24 PM on November 14, 2002