The Ultimate Holiday Gift for the Gardener in Your Life

The gardener’s arsenal is full of single-purpose tools—a hoe that hoes, a rake that rakes, and a hose that sprays water—but good luck getting one tool that tackles multiple tasks with ease. Enter the Leatherman Skeletool, the ingeniously designed, lightweight, super comfortable, and above all versatile tool that we use in our gardens nearly every single day. In our experience it’s one of the best gifts you can give to the gardener in your life. 

Like all the tools in the Leatherman family, the Skeletool excels at many more things than simple cutting, and it does it efficiently thanks to its lightweight, medium profile, and comfy grip. That grip is “skeletonized,” meaning it’s been reduced in bulk and weight to be all the more comfortable in your hand or clipped onto your jeans or garden apron. We also like that it comes in a rainbow of colors to stand out in your toolbox—but we have to admit we’re partial to the botanically-leaning green. We recently spent an afternoon in the garden with the Skeletool and it quickly proved itself to be an MVP in the greenhouse, at the raised beds, and at the table when we put together an al fresco lunch with our garden-to-table harvest. 

Here are eight reasons the Skeletool is the best go-to, day-in day-out tool for any gardener.

It’s Super Lightweight

Weighing in at only five ounces, and sporting a handy little clip, this is a tool you will keep tucked into the pocket of your jeans or, thanks to the carabiner-style hinge, clipped onto your apron string. And the little circular cutouts that reduce the weight just look cool. 

Courtesy of Leatherman

You Can Cut Open Those Bags of Mulch and Soil

If you’ve ever wrestled with the little dangling string at the top of those bags and or tried to poke a hole in them with a spade or shovel, you know it’s a messy job. The Skeletool’s razor sharp Combo Knife can make straight clean cuts right where you want them to make dispensing soil or mulch a tidy task. 

The Pliers Are Perfect

With both needle-nose and regular pliers, we’ve adjusted eyelets on planter boxes and chicken coops, twisted trellis wires tight, and pulled old nails out of timber. 

Those Wonderful Wire Cutters

With regular and hard-wire cutters you can clip through more gauges, plus they open wide enough to make quick work of clipping twigs and fruit when your pruner isn’t handy. 

Courtesy of Leatherman

You Can Fix Your Other Garden Tools with It

Sprinkler heads need precision adjusting and pruning shears need bolt tightening and realignment, which is where the large bit driver comes in. How many other tools can give another tool an assist in a day’s work? 

Serration at Your Service

The back half of the Combo Knife’s blade is serrated so you can saw through small branches and excise suckers from growing trees. 

Courtesy of Leatherman

Corrosion Resistance

Water and rust are a reality in the garden and the Skeletool’s 420C steel blade resists corrosion so you don’t have to baby it. 

You Can Pop Bottles

At the end of the day when you want to cool down with a bottle of mineral water or pop open a beer or artisanal bubbly, the built-in bottle opener will let you toast your efforts in the garden with ease. 

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