Swiss army paring knife

Check REI for the Little Vickie model with a sheath. The sheath solves a lot of problems.

http://www.rei.com/product/836226/victorinox-little-vickie-utility-knife

The bare knife comes in several sizes and profiles and plain or serrated edges. I originally found them in a commercial fishing supply. Restaurant supply stores carry them too.

Take a look at the Vitorinox tomato knife. The serrated blade is really what makes this style of knife so great. I very much prefer the rounded end on the tomato knife, compared to the pointed end of the Little Vicky, but the sheath of the little Vicky beats all. It's also a slightly smaller, lighter handle

Now I have to decide whether to round the end of my Vickie, or shorten one of my three tomato knives.

(Dale, my dad loved the form factor of my Vickie so much, I just couldn't not give him the spare one with his Christmas present. My mum has cut her thumb with it three times since. She loves it too!)

Dale: Thanks for the link with that sheath.

All the bait shops and commercial fishing suppliers up here carry that same knife, but in a heavier sheath made for a belt. Or as a bare knife. Many mushers carry one outside their parka in case they need to cut through a tangle of dog leads quickly (rope around another dog necks, sled into the river, etc). When I was mushing more, I stitched the sheath to the outside thigh of my coveralls. Then it was always in the same place.

I think the Little Vicky is the sweetest prep knife for hiking. I do think that the inside of the sheath would be hard (nearly impossible?) to clean, if you didn't wipe all the cheese/sausage off the knife before inserting it back into the sheath.

So I made a few of these, using 1" tubular webbing:

I expect the chipmunks will be impressed with my stylish matching sheath. But to impress the bears with your Bear Grylls persona, there's another option:

I sealed the end near the knife tip with a hot knife, but if you left it open, the inside of the sheath could be easily cleaned with a round brush. But I consider these to be disposable–when they get dirty, toss them.

The original knife with its sheath weighs 23 grams, and with the webbing sheath it's 21 grams (what savings!). The webbing sheath could be sewn to your shoulder strap or hip belt for quick access. And if you really want to geek out, you could make the sheath out of 1" tubular Velcro, and then sew the mating piece to your shoulder strap. That way you can have a sheath that attaches to your pack but can also be taken to the food prep area.

I bought all my hiking friends one of these knives for X-mas, along with a red tubular sheath. That's how much I like this knife, and also my friends.