Tip Our Hats: Carving Our Initials Into A Tree

Maybe we're feeling romantic here, but we just wanted to gush about how rad it is when a guy carves your initials into a tree. This simple gesture is as old skool and romantic as splitting a vanilla milkshake with two straws. Except, unlike a milkshake, your tree testimony has a low-impact permanence. It's like if he got a tattoo with your name on someone else's skin, but in a sweet, woodsy way. And, carving your initials linked by a plus sign with a heart around it is pretty much the only romantic thing a guy can do with a Leatherman.

Somewhere out in woods of Highland Park, IL, there is a tree carved with my initials in it, along with the initials of my high school sweetheart. It's crudely done and looks more like a guy scratched it into the bark with his fingernail than with a sharp implement, but it's all mine. I haven't thought about that tree in years, but now that it am in this post, it's strangely comforting. Sorry, didn't mean to get all Shel Silverstein on you there.

So, to all those guys put their Leathermans (Leathermen?) to good use, we tip our hats to you. We'll be sure to carve this into the next tree we see: SK + TC = TOP (Shmitten Kitten + Tree Carvers = Tip Our Hats)