What Multitool Does Ryan Gosling Use In Project Hail Mary?
Ryland Grace carries a Leatherman. Is that realistic?
The film adaptation of Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary” is off to a strong start, with a solid first weekend box office and 96 percent positive reviews from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. In it, Ryan Gosling plays a resourceful astronaut who sets out to save humanity with the aid of his pet rock. But there’s also an unexpected co-star: the Leatherman multitool the character relies on, at one point to save his own life.
I reached out to Portland, Oregon-based Leatherman, who confirms the tool is a Surge. They apparently sent a number of models out to the film’s props department, who selected that specific tool on their own.
In this screen cap from the trailer, Gosling can be seen deploying the Surge’s blade. Doing that one-handed, while wearing gloves, is a lot less easy with the Surge than it is with the Arc, on which the blade is equipped with a thumb stud.
Is that choice honest to Weir’s original book? While that mentions the use of a multitool multiple times, it makes no mention of any make, model, or specific feature set from which we can guess at any specific item.
The Surge is a larger version of Leatherman’s popular Wave, targeted at professional users. To achieve that, it’s been, “engineered with large pliers, long blades, and a rugged frame built to handle demanding work.”
Those pliers feature replaceable wire cutters, the knife blade is 3.1 inches long and made from 420HC stainless steel, and the entire package is housed in a stainless steel chassis that allows you to quickly access important tools like that blade without opening the handles. Gosling can be seen doing exactly that in this trailer, in which the tool appears at both 1:43 and 2:18.
Is the Leatherman Surge an authentic choice for an astronaut? Navy SEAL/physician/NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim carries a Leatherman into space.
In this video, we can see Kim using his Leatherman to open access panels onboard the International Space Station for cleaning.
Kim isn’t carrying a Surge, he’s carrying a limited-edition tool from Leatherman’s Garage program of experimental releases. That Garage Batch #005 was built to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary, and is essentially a Leatherman Arc that’s had its handles cerakoted white and its Magnacut knife blade coated in bronze.
The Arc is the superior tool. Not only are all of its features accessible using a single hand, but the Magnacut blade will hold its edge much longer than than the Surge’s 420HC, while also better resisting chips to its edge.
Kim can be seen pairing his custom Arc with Leatherman’s own Ratchet Driver accessory. He carries the multitool in a ZapWizard holster, which also accommodates that ratchet.
One other relevant plot point from Weir’s book is that the Project seeks out commercially-tested rather than prototype solutions whenever possible. Not only does this tend to reduce cost when compared to bespoke equipment, but it also crowdsources durability testing and allows them to take advantage of a wealth of consumer feedback in order to select the right tools.
And the choice of a Leatherman fits well within that concept. Not only did Tim Leatherman invent the multitool 40 years ago, but the company still makes everything in America, to higher quality standards than any of its knockoffs. I carry the Leatherman Arc.
A journalist with more than two decades of experience working around the world, Wes Siler is here to cut through the outrage and disinformation to bring you the factual, insightful, actionable reporting you need to understand what’s going on. Upgrading to a paid subscription supports this reporting, and buys personal access to Wes, who will help you save money on gear, and prepare for real life.
Writing this musta felt like a brief vacation after many of the heavy pieces which needed exposition lately
Love the company, but my biggest frustration with the multitool sector was always the overall size of the standard sizes and number of tools carried (for everyday work, not camping/hiking). I carry the discontinued Freestyle and am plenty happy with it.
It gives me a knife and pliers and while I wish it had a screwdriver, I'm not convinced on the benefits of migrating to a Skeletool (size). I can also clip it in a pocket and reach past for items, which I'm a fan of. I also have my gripes about it, & those "knives w/tools" look tempting to me.