What, in your opinion is the most practical knife or multi-function tool for camping, hiking, hunting, backpacking, fishing, etc? Please leave a link so everyone can see it.

Congratulations. You have opened the ultimate outdoors person can of worms.

dido! Anything you like, is comfortable, and will not fail when you need it. Hope I wasn't to veg.

The SAK vs. Multi Tool has been covered, you could try searching for the thread. Depends on what you think you will need the tool to do. It's what works for you, there's no perfect answer that fits everyone. My EDC is a SAK Ranger and a Leatherman kf-4. EDC also change with enviroment and activities.
Dave

The best tool is the one you have with you; therefore get the one you'll carry...:)

tro

Any of the major brand ones are pretty good (Leatherman, Gerber, Sog, ect) as well as Victorinox multi-tool and swiss army knives. You just have to pick which one fits you best.
You have to make sure that you carry it as often as possible and learn to use it.

Leatherman Charge XTi, Victorinox Swiss Army Knife(take your pick), Chris Reeve Knives Lg. Classic Sebenza.

todd

here's my 2 cents i concur with what you are comfortable with..... leatherman charge xti with nylon pouch the little pocket in front of the big one seems to fit a micra or the gerber as well along with the charge behind it w/out any difference

I'm one of those people who think that each of the activities listed deserves its own tool, and there are knives that do those functions better than others.

CAMPING: I tend to like fixed blade knives that are good slicers and excel at food preparation and can also be used in preparing kindling and other simple chores. I've been using the Becker BK10 for this, though it is a bit beefy for a good slicer.

HIKING: I tend to prefer a lightweight folder worn in a sheath on my belt. My favorite is the Rittergrip here.

HUNTING: I haven't hunted in a looong time - mostly in my teenage years with my buddie who lived on a farm. At that time I preferred a fixed blade that was VERY sharp and had a sweeping curved blade that facilitated skinning. Back then I used a Buck Special 119.

BACKPACKING: I haven't backpacked since my days in Boy Scouts, but from what I've read, the preferred knives are all small and relativley lightweight. These inlcude small SAKs or Leathermen like the Micra or Squirt.

FISHING: I see two different primary uses for knives related to fishing. One is what I think of as general cleaning of fish. For this I prefer a smallish fixed blade knife so it doesn't get too gunked up. Beyond that, just about any blade will do for scaling and head-choping. Now, if you choose to do filleting (I never do) then certainly a thin fixed bladed fillet knife is certainly called for.

Will one knife do all this? Well, the knife that comes to mind is one of the Mora knifes. They are light enough to carry while hiking & maybe backpacking, good enough slicers for camping, and probably could do a half-decent job filleting a fish. I have the Model 22, but I'd rather not use an oil-sealed wooden handled knife for butchering game or cleaning fish. Models 731 or 741 (carbon or stainless) from http://www.ragweedforge.com seem like they'd do well. For my taste (the other plastic handled Moras on the site are a bit too short for food preparation and fish cleaning.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I think you'll find that everyone has his or her own preferences. A wealth of information can be found here on the ETS main site.

My two cents:

- Chris Reeve Sebenza
- Victorinox SwissTool
- Leatherman S4

Heh. This is a topic that I fear will never be exhausted. I definitely fall into the category of "why have only one when you can have two (or more). To answer the question more directly, my favorite all-purpose tool is the original Leatherman Wave.

But in reality, my daily kit consists of:

Victorinox Classic and Money Clip
Gerber AirFrame

usually, I will also have in my briefcase a Benchmade 100 River & Rescue knife, plus the aforementioned Leatherman Wave plus tool kit.

And when I hit the trail, there will also be a Benchmade 190 Drop Point Hunter and 192 Bird & Trout, plus a Gransfors Mini Belt Hatchet, unless of course, I've decided to carry some other pieces from my collection. The Gransfors is a permanent fixture, but the two Benchmades are my current favorite "hunting/camping" knives. I also generally carry a couple of Henckels kitchen knives for food (6" chef's and 4" utility/parer).

I carry a Kershaw Ken Onion folder and a Leatherman PST. I also carry a PSK with a SAK Classic in the same pouch as the above mentioned items. After reading this post and all the replies I started wondering if it is a good idea to have everything in the same pouch? I also take a Camelback with a 50 oz bladder in it EVERYWHERE I go. Is that too excessive?

*flinches* You didn't test the water with both feet, this is just cannon balling in.

:P

What kind of role do you have in mind? I carry a Supertool and Micra every day. Most days, I add a Doc Allen Versatool and an LM Squirt EL. A LM PST is in the fisrt aid kit, a Victorinox Swisschamp is in the car, and a lock back SAK (not sure which one, like the Hunter, but it doesn't have the skinner blade) is in the desk.

My top picks.


Large Regular CRK Sebenza w/ Double Thumb Studs



2nd Generation Leatherman Wave



CRK Mountaneer I

Is there a tool/knife that will suit all these diverse requirements? Is it not better to carry a knife that has the potential to be "useful" for the specific tasks in mind? I change my knife depending on where I am going and what I intend to do. I have a Leatherman Wave 2004, various SAKs and a range of fixed blades from which I will pick the most suitable. More often than not I will carry more than 1 knife.

A LeatherMan Wave or Charge Ti, a Mora knife, and a Gerber Sportsman’s saw. These three tools will take care of anything you would want to do with a cutting edge, on a short outing, in the wilderness.

I carry a Leatherman Micra everyday. I have it on my key loop along with my car keys, so whenever I go camping/hiking/fishing, I have the Micra around.

During those trips, I often carry some kind of other bag or backpack. In this case, I bring a first aid kit (in a bright orange nylon pouch), my PSK and a Leatherman Fuse, which I find is the best bang for the buck when it comes to complete, larger tools.


Bee

I just went to Leathermans website. After I came out of a tool induced coma I started thinking about my stuff. I want to get some advice about sharps. I have a Vietnam era Ka-Bar, a Randall Model 15 Airman with the Model 18 blade with sawback and everything in stainless steel no less, Buck 119 fixed blade, 2 Buck 110 folders, Leatherman PST, Leatherman PST II, and a Leatherman Micra. All except for the Randall and Ka-Bar are in my B.O.B. The Ka-bar is put away and the Randall goes with me in my briefcase. After seeing the website, I started wondering which Leatherman(s) I should add or exchange for others. I wanted a WAVE for a long time now, but I saw the CRUNCH and thought that it would be a good addition to my other stuff. Then I saw the Juice and Squirt models. I am now as confused as ever. If I could carry ever Leatherman on me at all times I would (and by that I mean if Candy would let me buy them) but that is not practical(which means she won't let me). So I need to make a decision. Maybe if enough of you guys tell her that all of them are useful, she might let me have them all. I wish Leatherman would let you pick the options you want in a tool and then make it for you. I want to mix and match my Leathermans so bad but I am not sure if I want to undertake something like that. Let me know what y'all think.

I really like the Leatherman New Wave, have it in my pocket as my EDC right now. Sold my old leatherman anniversary wave on ebay and got the new one because all those tools lock open, the old one didn't -- it is great! Got the bit kit too, but don't carry that every day. Like it so much, I just ordered a Leatherman Squirt with the scissors to add to my keychain, waiting for that to arrive.

There seems to be an emerging consesus for the Wave. I agree: a New Wave and Micra go with me everywhere.

Coming from someone who has or has had all of them except for three the best Leatherman models IMHO are the two Charges, old/new Wave, Squirts, and Blast. All the rest are either too big and heavy or don't have a real good tool selection for both city and wilderness use. I really like the juice models too as they are extremely compact and have excellent tool selections, but the pliers arn't real heavy duty. Great if you are looking for a SAK replacement or true pocket tool. The crunch isn't bad, but your really better off having a pair of locking pliers along with a multi-tool. The Victorinox Swiss tool and Spirit are good also, with the Spirit being the better of the two IMHO, though you need to carry a knife with it. I still prefer the Charge over all though.

I love my old wave, but I hate the fact that it doesn't have an awl/punch. I had the original Leatherman and it had one. Is there any Letherman with an awl/punch? Thats is the reason I have to carry an extra SAK with me when I go hunting, because I use an awl/punch many times.

Here's my vote...

The Victorinox Swiss Army Pioneer Farmer -



M

I own the Leatherman Super Tool 200, and it does have an awl on board. Great tool, if you don't mind the extra size/weight thing.

Some Juice models have an awl, eg the Cs4. It may be too small for you in other ways, though.

I knew you were going to do that. And you are right.

But you need to tell how you re-sharpened the thing.

Thanks for the help. I will look into this Leatherman with an awl. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

CRK Shadow IV.

Nice size, practicaly unbreakable, can be used for MANY purposes and can store a striker or matches in the handle. It's pricey but you get what you pay for with this knife. Another vote is the CRK Neil's Knife, nice size and better girp IMHO.

Now I carry this as well as a Swiss Amry locking that has saw, knife, screwdriver, etc..

randjack,

It's a super secret that we keep here: http://home.nycap.rr.com/sosak/convex.htm

Don't tell anyone...

M <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />