Light usable scissors?

[Rex Sanders]

I take a Swiss Army Knife Classic backpacking, and use the scissors almost exclusively. Seems like a waste to carry the rest of the knife, and the scissors are pretty small.

As David Thomas pointed out in another thread, scissors are far safer than razor blade style cutters. Nothing like a deep gushing wound to cut a trip short. Yes, that was a pun.

Does anyone carry light, usable scissors for backpacking? Especially for people with XL hands?

I’ve seen small, light scissors with points so sharp, they require a protective case that weighs almost as much as the device.

Scissor nerds?

— Rex

[Ryan Jordan]

Rex —

I use Cuda Micro Scissors. they are terrific cutting tools and the finger holes are actually big enough to be usable. I’m not a fan of micro-scissors that have unusable tiny holes, but I have pretty small hands…I used to use fly-tying scissors but I prefer these because they have serrated blades that seem better for things like first aid tapes, fabrics, and guyline materials. Oh: and the tip is dull and doesn’t require a case. I keep them in a little ziplock bag with the rest of my wound bandaging supplies.

[Bob K]

I carry 4 1/2″ bandage scissors, 27 grams, in my first aid kit. The blades are about 1″ long and blunt. I have XL hands and can use them comfortably. So-called trauma or EMT shears weigh about 65 grams and offer much more cutting power.

[jared h]

I carry thread scissors. Also called spring or squeeze scissors. Big fingers, cold fingers, gloves…doesn’t matter. They come in several variations–blade lengths, overall lengths and widths, angled heads, round/pointed tips, etc…. Amazon has a bunch.

[Iago Vazquez]

Depending on what size you have in mind, for 1.6″ scissor blades, I like the Leatherman Style CS (1.4 oz) or Leatherman Micra (1.8 oz). Swiss Army also has keychain sized knives with scissors, but I personally prefer the Leatherman.

 

[Ken Thompson]

Ambidextrous kids scissors

Same weight as the SAK Classic

[Nathan R]

I like a decomposed Swiss Army knife—a dedicated pair of scissors (0.3oz) for 80% of the tasks, it’s especially good for cutting tape and rounding the corners to help it stick better, opening food packets, etc etc. The opinel is 0.3 oz and mostly just used for cutting meat and cheese. The little tweezers are good if I’m going anywhere with cactus.

Fiskar makes a 0.5 oz folding scissors.

The mini bic is for size reference.

 

[Gary Dunckel]

Victorinox made a credit card size “multi tool kit” that had a small pair of scissors just like the ones on the knives. I carry one of these (just the scissors) to cut open my ClO2 tablet foil packs. To keep the tips from opening and poking something, I place one of those tiny rubber thingies that electricians cover open wires with. These are not very macho, but they are sharp, and they will work for most scissor-related chores I might come up with (eg, cutting duct tape or moleskin, cutting thread while sewing, opening a MH FD dinner package or my vacuum-sealed dinner packs, etc). You could probably also trim your fingernails with it.

[DAN-Y]

Gary, the Victorinox is the best set of tools that can be had. The scissors are the “best” cuts fingernails easily.

[Luke F]

my trauma shears are 44g, they do cut very well and have very small serrations, and are somewhat disposable. the nice thing is that they are so beyond blunt at the tip that you couldn’t damage anything with them if you tried. Also all five fingers are fully engaged in cutting. I believe mine are a middling size, so a smaller pair might be worth trying, and certainly doesn’t cost much to explore.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

They’re not stand-alone, but the Swiss Army Nailclip 580 includes a pair of scissors that are a nice upgrade over the regular Swiss Army scissors. These scissors are serrated and a little more beefy.

On thru-hikes I carry nail clippers anyways, so I like the Nailclip 580 (36g) better than carrying the Mini Classic (22g) + nail clippers.

[J R]

Westcott 2.5 Sewing Titanium Bonded Fine Cut Scissors. Weighs 0.24 oz. I got them from Amazon but I’ve also seen them on the shelf at Walmart.

[Stormin]

Used these for the last 15 years.

[Dale Wambaugh]

+1 on Westcott embroidery shears—- the Mora of tiny scissors.

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