Introduction
Not all ultralight backpackers carry a knife on a routine basis (myself included). Carrying a knife seems extraneous to me. I seldom need one unless I’m cutting guylines, cleaning fish, repairing gear, striking a fire-starting flint, shaping first aid tape, opening a food package, slicing cheese, or whittling up a pile of dry wood shavings.
Oh, wait. That actually seems like quite a bit of utility, actually (sic).
OK, so I may actually find a knife to be useful after all.
But I’m not a knife guy.
Which is code for I have zero interest in spending exorbitant amounts of money on a knife I’ll probably lose.
My criteria for a good knife are simple:
- Sharp « so it cuts stuff;
- Light « duh;
- Small « so I can tuck it anywhere;
- Cheap « so I can spend more money on gas to the TH’s;
- Orange « so I don’t lose it!
Guess what, y’all –Â I found the perfect knife for me!
The Backnife Micro Utility Knife
Imagine a cutting tool that slices through Spectra cord like an as-seen-on-TV-tomato knife plowing through a pop can.
This is the idealized micro-Utopian vision of every ultralight backpacking enthusiast, and it’s the promise made by the Backnife Micro-Utility Knife.
Features & Specifications
- Stanley-style carpenter knife dimensions and a trapezoidal shape. Old school. #MAGA!
- Sharp! Blade made from zirconium dioxide ceramic. A material that sounds like a sound bite – it’s tweetable!
- Injection-molded plastic housing (2 pieces) assembled with electrosonic welding. Made in Canada!
- Adjustable blade length
- Light! Weight: 0.23 oz (6.5 g) (verified on a NIST*-certified scale; *NIST is an agency overseen by the POTUSÂ – this weight is not Fake News!)
- Small! Dimensions: 2.5 in (64 mm) x 0.875 in (22 mm) x 0.14 in (3.5 mm). Will fit well in even the smallest hands!
- Cheap! Cost: ~USD$12 (includes shipping & handling). Affordable for all tax brackets!
- Orange! Color: Orange. A nice shade of orange, at that!
Commentary
This is the extent of my performance review:
I cut up a bunch of stuff.
First, paper #FTW!
Then, tape, cardboard, aluminum cans, and on to fabrics (silnylon, then spinnaker, then DCF pack fabric, then pure Spectra). By the time I reached the fabrics, the Backnife was still making clean cuts.
But then the real test: pure Spectra cord, which isn’t handled well by most steel knives. Plus, Spectra dulls steel like you wouldn’t believe. After about one hundred cuts of Spectra cord between 2 and 4 mm in diameter, the knife was still making clean cuts.
Maybe there’s something to this white blade and its ceramic nature.
How to Get Your Very Own Backnife
Visit their website.
Disclosure
I didn’t ask for this knife. I didn’t even realize I wanted it until I got it.
It wasn’t on my Christmas list, nobody bought it for me, and I’m not making (much) of a fortune by writing a good or bad review for it! In fact, if you end up buying a knife as a result of reading this review, Phil’s gonna get all the money. That’s pretty awesome for Phil.
I received the knife as an unsolicited package from knife-maker Phil Cressman, a Canadian. It was in a Tyvek envelope, which I thought was cool because it was Tyvek.
In a way, you could say it was a donation I suppose. But I had no obligation to review it.
I did think it was a really cool product because it weighs a quarter of an ounce and was designed with a lot of thought.
So there. Go buy one. Support Phil. He seems like a decent guy with a great beard. Also, he’s Canadian, and that has to count for a lot! Go Phil!
*Phil is not a family member, and he does not have any tight, loose, medium, or undisclosed financial interest in Backpackinglight.com, or Russia. (As far as we / Jeff / Robert can tell.)
Discussion
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Nick,
I had a couple Gingher nippers back when I tied flies. The blades seemed to loose alignment easy when I was using them for heavier (ie not thread cutting) purposes.  The steel was softer than my Gerber knife, soo, I could burnish the blades to very sharp with just a few strokes on the back of the knife blade.
I gave up on scissors, though. I simply went with a super sharp blade, honed with some diamond paste on a block of maple every 100-200 uses. But, with most ceramics I have ever used, they get sharp and stay sharp longer, but they do not ever hit the super sharp edge of a well burnished/honed piece of hard steel.
Good to know. I’ve never used those clippers for anything but thread, and it makes sense that they wouldn’t be high quality steel.
Why’d you give up on scissors?
Nick, scissors are simply two cutting blades. Highly refined larger scissors are more of an anvil edge that guides the sharper cutting edge.Indeed, many times I have cut out tarps, packs, etc by simply pushing the scissors through with *no* scissor action.
So, really what you are doing with a scissor is cutting, albeit fairly well guided. I simply substitute my sharp knife blade and use it freehand. Similar to one of those “roller cutters,” I really don’t need the second edge, only the stability it supplies. Several ways to get stability. A hot knife cuts pretty well, it just uses a single blade for cutting fabrics. It uses heat instead of sharpness, but the principle is the same. Yes, you need a very sharp knife to do this without heat. (Ignoring the self sealing edge a hot knife leaves behind. Just don’t try to cut two layers at a time…)
James lives life on the single edge.
Sorry if this has been asked already. What about passing TSA control — the one and only issue with all microknives, keychain tools etc. Easily lost 10 knifes to them.
Knives are a no go, but some scissors are allowed.
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring
OK, I forgot that one was in my wallet and walked through a MAGNETIC field detector, of course this does not pick it up.
BUT the full body scan!  I have been stopped twice once because a single business card was in my shirt pocket and second time because a single folded kleenex tissue was in my back jeans pocket!
You MIGHT be allowed to carry since the blade is only 2 ” long and not a locking blade BUT I would not bet on it!
Phil (Designer and Manufacturer)
When TSA has found a Victorinox Classic in my carry-on, they seize it. About 1/4 of the time. Â Then I take another one out of my pile of $4 TSA-seized ones.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
My tent weighs 1,600 g.
My quilt weighs 700 g
My pack weighs 1,140 g (yes, heavy, but good for 2-month long trips)
My food weighs ~700 g per day.
These are significant weights.
I have a couple of favourite small knives, such as the Victorinox Swiss Classic Paring Knife : 8 cm blade, extremely sharp, and huge 25 g. (Actually, mine is a Colterie Paoluci equivalent, bought in Europe somewhere in a hurry. A wickedly dangerous knife, still, after many years.)
My small Deejo Naked series 15 g unit (https://backpackinglight.com/deejo-knives-caffin/) is also a favourite.
Better add: all of these have ‘straight’ edges (actually curved), NOT wavy or serrated edges. Wavy edges may be OK for cutting up loaves of bread, but not much else.
Both seem to be a LOT safer than a Stanley blade held in my hand. Maybe I am a coward?
Cheers
Roger, I agree that 10 or 20 grams more allows for a much more capable knife.
Or viewed the other way, I can cut the weight of my xxxxxx by 80% (for instance, 200 grams of 2-mil plastic sheeting as a shelter) but I lose most of its functionality when I need it most.
However, on many trips, I don’t use any knife. The most minimal blade vastly increases my capacities.
Hi David
Ah well, we DO use a knife on almost every trip. How?
Taken in France with French bread and a Benchmade knife – but same idea.
Also for chopping up cheese and sausage for dinner:
So I guess the knife depends on the need.
Cheers
I use a SAK Classic for most cutting jobs. I have the Caldera Inferno to supplement the Caldera Cone alcohol use.
If you cannot break the twigs with your hand you are probably using wood too big. For the Inferno woodburning mode I carry an Opinel 7 knife and if only large wood is available I can carefully baton with it.
I have officially become backer #536 !!!
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