I need your opinions. Give this some serious thought. How useful is a multi-tool out in the woods? There's no question about its usefulness in an urban environment but what about in the woods? I see lots of people carrying these tools when hiking/camping. Other than for gear repair I just dont see the point. Do they have another purpose in the bush other than repairing the man-made gear you drag out there with you when you go? I seems to me that a good, strong single blade knife would go a lot further than a multi-tool... even the best of which have pretty shabby blades in them.

Thanks guys... I really value the opinions expressed in this forum and am looking forward to your comments.

A SAK and fixed blade knife or machete have always worked for me. As we did less backpacking and more car and group camping ( with more stuff) the multi tool was more usefull than the SAK. When I hike I generally have a SAK on me and leave the multi tool in the car.

Oh, the leatherman is most definitely a man-made stuff knife, however, I HAVE managed to use only the blade on a leatherman to butcher wild gamebirds, so it is possible. But a decent fixed blade is a good idea in the woods.

Hmmmm..... Food for thought there! Last camping trip I went on the only thing I used my multitool for was lifting the lid on my cook pot. Since I was bicycle camping the multitool was a part of my bike tool kit anyway.
gino <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You can get some that are pretty light if you are concerned about carrying the extra weight. As for me I would much rather have it and never need it than need it and not have it. I would think that it would be next to impossible to improvise a pair of pliers or screwdriver in the wild and the file has served me well in several instances also. Before heading out the door, I usually grab my Leatherman first. The tools are like a fixed-blade or a pickup truck for that matter - you usually aren't going to need them all the time, but when you need them nothing else will do the job as effectively.

I have both a SAK and a Gerber Multitool that I carry with me everywhere.

In the 'bush', I have used the multitool for taking thorns out of my shins(pliers).
The plyers make wonderful clamps for situations that you need one, a rubber band helps!
My hands don't always work right, so I use the plyers for grabbing and threading rope through grommets.
... Cooking handle when the old one broke, definately helped save my hands, and food...
had to move a dead skunk once - had a stick, but the back end kept moving around and spreading nasties, so I used the plyers to hold the tail until it was off the trail. I hate ATV's in marked no vehicle areas.

I have found, along with the lanyard loop maker on my SAK(the actual name escapes me right now), the plyers are very useful in outdoor situations. Besides the knives.

Sure, it's helpfull :

when I have drunk all the water from my 1.5l Platypus hydration bag, I use the corkscrew from my Leatherman Juice C4 to open two Burgundy bottles and replenish the hydration bag !!!
<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Kinda depends on what you want/need to do. If chopping full grown trees into tent pegs it is not the best choice. If you want to do some smaller scale construction, the saw and rasp/file on the Super Tool (and others) sure come in handy. You can whittle with the straight edged blades, slice just 'bout anything with the serrated ones. The awl can drill a hole in wood, leather, etc. The screwdrivers are pretty much for working on the man made stuff. P-38 opens cans better than the can openers in the multi-tools, and we always have one of those, right? Pliers are grippers for just 'bout anything.

I guess that the best way to go is to carry two blades, your favorite larger fixed blade and the multi tool of your choice. But if I can only carry something small (kindasorta) and out of the way (always on my belt), it is my Super Tool...

I'd have to agree with you. I have a super tool and while it's proved it's self time and again on site, out in the woods it's almost out of it's element. If I'm going in the woods I'll take both as you suggest. If I could only take one then I'd take the multitool. Ok the knives aren't brilliant but as I say if you could only take one, then they're better than nothing.

Lets see, I carry a Wave and I have used the following for doing stuff other then fixing commercially made things:

The pliers: I've used for rope work, grabbing hot pots and foil bags, pulling out splinters, cutting fishing line, cutting snare wire, pullig out tent pegs, as well as many other things I can't think of right now.

The can opener: Has been used to open cans and bottles.

The saw: I use it all the time, as I usually don't carry any other kinds of saws on me. I've also used it for making deadfalls and trap release mechanisms.

File: Sharpen my other knife with the diamond side, used it on wood when doing carvings.

Screwdrivers: used for punching holes and for working knots free.

I think as multi-tools get better (and they are improving, recently Leatherman released the charge series which have 154CM one handed opening blades, same as a lot of common "better end" knives) they may replace the single bladed folding knife as what most people carry on a day to day basis. It seems as if in todays technology based world a screwdriver is just as handy as a knife. A single bladed knife is becoming less people friendly, while a multi-tool is seen more like the modern version of the Swiss Army knife which is seen as non-threatning and usefull. I know of quite a few people who when they go camping carry nothing more then a multi-tool, no fixed blade, no folder, no saw. To the average camper the blade is enough and the can opener, pliers, ect are very handy for the modern camp tasks with todays equipment. They simply have no need for anything more.