I have had occasions where a nail clipper is handier than a knife or scissors. On one hike, one of the moms had a cracked nail and when I handed her my Swisstool Spirit with the scissors out, she looked at me like I was insane and went on with the cracked nail. In fact, she did tell me I was crazy. I use the SAK scissors for nail care all the time. But it is probably safer to use a clipper on your nails and cuticles than a knife. Especially for someone like the hiker mom. Also, we have lots of little kids with us on our hikes and camping trips. I rather use clippers on them, especially when they are fidgetty. In the kits I put together for the 4H kids, they each have a small nail clipper in it and a scissors. They they can open packages of stuff themselves. And my kids can cut their own nails. I am not quite ready to equip them with knives just yet. The oldest are only six. Besides, it is so small, it is no bother for me to include it.

They also have full sized tweezers in their kits. They love it and find all kinds of interesting and creative uses for it and the other stuff too. They took their packs camping and they REALLY made use of the things in there. My daughter designated herself the first aid girl and took care of all the kids owies at camp. Now I have to completely restock her first aid kit.