knife/multitool

[Ian Rae]

Hey, what do you all use for a knife? Anyone carry a multitool? Do you just go without a knife at all? I always carry a SOG multitool, but rarely need it.

[John Chan]

I carry a Leatherman Squirt S4 (scissors). Great for cutting patches of moleskin.

[Vick Hines]

The baby Swiss Army knive. 3/4 oz., scissors, knife, file, toothpick, tweezers. Haven’t needed anything else, but the blade gets dull just hanging around.

[David Lewis]

Victorinox Classic… 16 grams with the plastic sides removed… because I am THAT obsessive… LOL :) I’ve never had a need for a toothpick and I keep the tweezers in my first aid kit.

[Bob Gabbart]

Victorinox Classic as well. Haven’t ever had a need for anything more.

Bob

[Anonymous]

Another vote for the Classic

[Stephan Guyenet]

I bring a wooden-handled folding Opinel with a 3″ blade. It’s comfortable, sharp and light. It’s the only utensil I bring. I wouldn’t trust a flimsy multi-tool if I really needed a knife.

[Dale Wambaugh]

CRKT Wrangler. It is a simple folding knife with an effective handle and a lanyard hole, 2.75″ blade, inexpensive (under $20) and just 1.4oz.

I was in a commercial fishing supply store and found a large number of knives with molded plastic handles for cutting bait and cleaning fish. A Victorinox paring knife with a SHARP serrated blade was just a few dollars and weighs 1oz. It’s just a dead simple knife– fixed blade, molded handle, perfect for cutting rope or cooking duty.

I carry a Leatherman Micra daily, but I would want a little cutting power in the woods. I have a heavier Gerber tool that I use at work, but it’s an anchor at 6oz.

I keep a single-edge razor blade in my essentials as a back-up survival tool– cheap and light as can be and you could do an emergency appendectomy with it [grin].

[David Lewis]

I know the original post was about multi-tools, but as long as we’re also discussing knives only, the Maxam Mini is the lightest I’ve ever seen for a “real” knife. It’s very short, but powerful… and only about 2 bucks. It weighs 17 grams.

[Ian Rae]

Thanks for all the replies. Do you swiss army knife users find you use the items other than the knife? I’ve found those knives dont stay sharp very long, and are hard to sharpen. I guess the main thing I like in the multitool is the pliers. Do you really use the file? The scissors might be nice, but a good sharp knife should substitute.

As far as plain knives go, the CRKT Wrangler and the Maxam Mini seem intruiging. I like the partially serrated blade. I have an opinel (dont know how much it weighs) but it’s not serrated.

David: about how long is the blade on the Maxam mini?

[Michael Freyman]

The Gerber Ridge Mini is nice. Weight is .9 oz. and sturdier/better quality steel than the Maxim Mini.
http://www.gerbertools.com/Gerber-Mini-Ridge-Bead-Blast-7184.htm

[Dale Wambaugh]

How about the Gerber LST Microlight? 1.5″ stainless blade, glass filled nylon handle, 0.3oz and a whopping $9.95US.

http://www.gerbertools.com/Gerber-LST-Microlight-6095.htm

The “regular” LST had a 2.5″ blade and is more in line with the CRKT Wrangler at 1.3oz. $15.95 for that one.

http://www.gerbertools.com/Gerber-LST-Serrated-Edge-6024.htm

I had one of the CRKT skeleton style knives and I didn’t care for the single-bevel blade which is neccessary for folding up against the handle. It was hard to sharpen and the exposed lock could get tripped in use too, which could result a nasty cut. The look and feel was nice and the marketing of knives reminds me of marketing fishing gear– much is made to catch the fisherman rather than fish.

[Vick Hines]

<do you swiss army knife users find you use the items…?>

Me, I ended up with the Victrinox because on long trails I used ALL of its tools it has, and didn’t need any others and would have missed them if I hadn’t had them.

A partly serrated blade would be nice because the steel is tough but not hard. Unfortunately, you would have to do it yourself.

[Mitchell Keil]

I,too, carry a swiss army classic in my 1st aid kit BUT I also carry a solid, one piece sheath-type knife made to rockwell hardness rc60. It’s 6.5 inches in length and has a 3 inch blade but only weighs 3.5 oz. Now why do I carry 2 knives? I have owned many knives over the years, everything from gerber folders and Buck sheath knives to swiss army “do-anything” pocket knives. Then I read the story about the fool who got his forearm trapped between two rocks in a slot canyon and had to “saw” his arm off. Despite the fact that he violated just about every wilderness safety concept getting himself into this predicament, he did spend a good bit of time describing the use of his cheap knife to do the cutting because the same knife would not work on the rock as a prying instrument or chipping tool. Got me to thinking about what I carry a knife for. I just finally had to admit that I carry a knife for safety reasons and really no other reason. So, I set out to find one which would stand up to the situation this fool got himself into. Now I have a fairly lightweight solid full tang safety tool that will pry, chip, cut down a tree, spear something or dig into just about anything without fear of breaking. I will probably never need to use it for these purposes, but it is there attached to my shoulder harness, at the ready for any emergency and it is a small price to pay in weight for the peace of mind it brings.
Just thought I would share this perspective with you guys. Food for thought!

[Ryan Faulkner]

I have a Victorinox Hiker, but find it is to big and heavy and has many features that I dont use, but is a well made knife that I recomend to anyone not as weight obsesive as me.

I also have both a leatherman micra and squirt S4. they are very similar but I use the micra because it is lighter, and I have a sort of attachment to it because it was my first knife as a scout.

And if you are looking for a single blade, no fuss knife, check walmart and target. I have two knives I bought at one of these two stores for about $9.
one is a cool Winchester one hand opening single blade knife, and the other is a Eddie Bauer titanium knife. Neither of these knives came very sharp, but after sharpening they are great options. Target also carries Gerber, Victorinox, and leatherman brands.

[Mike Storesund]

I too carry a Swiss Army Classic as part of my First Aid Kit, always in it.

Then, depending on if I feel the need for pliers I bring a Leatherman Juice xe6 (6.6 oz.) which has a good selection of tools.

If I don’t need pliers I bring a Swiss Army Explorer Plus (3.4 oz.). Like the Hiker but adds a magnifying glass which can help see the small items, like tying a fly, from my aging eyes.

[brian stein]

I like the ability to do repairs etc with a multitool, but as a knife I find them inferior because of the ergonomics. Although Ive used swiss army knives for a long time the steel is soft and Ive had the screwdriver turn into a swizzle stick on a tough screw (see also http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/rucksack.html).
I have been carrying a Helle knife (with sheath 85g [~3 oz]) which is a great knife but of course lacks the rest.
Im debating a combination of a squirt (2 oz) with a folder to try and get the lot. AG russell has some nice knives: the featherlight at 1.5 oz has had a good review at http://www.outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=150, but Im tempted by their ultimate pen knife in VG10 and titanium : 0.2oz.

[Douglas Frick]

I’ve had a hard time deciding between the Victorinox Classic (0.8 oz) and the Leatherman Squirt P4 (2.0 oz), which has pliers. The pliers have come in handy several times, so I now carry the Squirt P4.

I sometimes add a cheap $3 half-serrated 1.75″ lock-blade (0.5 oz).

[Ed Marrone]

As I tour by bicycle a lot I carry a Swiss “classic” and the $5.00 version of the Leatherman. The cheaper version works just as well as the expensive one and if you lose it you won’t be out a ton of money. With the multitool I can just about fix anything on my bike and any gear.
ED

[p Reed]

I use a 2.4 oz 3" fixed blade (lightfoot mini pitbull)

http://www.gatcosharpeners.com/product/fixedblades/pitbull.mgi

and a 1.1 oz buck 350 minitool.

http://www.multitool.org/miscellaneous-tools/small-tools/buck-model-350-mini-bucktool.html

for around 3.5 oz I get a full tang knife, pliers, scissors, tweezers, nail file, screwdrivers, and a spare blade.

Worth the weight in my mind.

[Andrew Skurka]

I'm looking for a UL multi-tool that can:

– cut craft wire (a little thinner than angel hair pasta)
– cut willows
– has scissors

Will the Leather Squirt S4 (scissors) be up to the job, or should I plan on carrying the Squirt P4 (pliers) as well as my V Classic.

REI makes a multi-tool that has big pliers and a small set of scissors, but a customer review indicates that the scissors are worthless. Not sure if that means they're more worthless than the V Classic scissors, or they're just not as good as big scissors.

If I need to cut craft wire and/or willows with the tool, it'll only happen once — it means I've broken a ski and I need to repair it. And I don't care about destroying the scissors in the process.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I agree with Dale on the Gerber LST. I've caried mine on many trips and never needed anything more.

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