My wife recently lost my utilikey 6n1. I wasn't very unhappy. I really didn't like it but it was so unobtrusive I could take it anywhere, and I used it all the time. It was the one blade that I had on me 100% of the time.

So i want to replace it but it was so junky that I don't REALLY want to buy another one.

I'm considering going back to using a swiss army classic, which won't be as unobtrusive but its got that micro-form-factor going for it.

I have a micra and a squirt but they are just making my keychain too big.

I looked thru the crkt selection but their knives are still bigger than what I'm looking for (like the "shrimp").

Is there anything better out there as far as micro-knives go?

I like and carry a Spyderco Ladybug on my main key chain and a Spyderco Bug (real small) on a key chain with just my car keys.

Pete

I don't carry a micro knife, but one of my folding knives is always attached to my right front pocket. A Swiss Army multi-tool would not replace a folder, but would rather be an addition. For me, a blade is vastly more important than the other stuff that's in a Swiss Army multi-tool. So, a decent blade is worthy of being its own tool by itself.

For a folder, I recommend waiting for the knives at Big 5 to go on sale, and then take your pick. Big 5 drops their prices to rock bottom when they're trying to move stuff.

How about one of the these;



Boker Plus Chad Los Banos Subcom Titan 1-7/8" Blade, Titanium Handles

http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=BO01BO582

Leatherman Style?
http://www.leatherman.com/product/Style

That boker looks good. And I see spyderco has a lot of small knives. I'm checking them out. Style seems good. Thanks for the help.

+1 on the Spyderco Ladybug. I keep trying other items but come back to it. It's just big and sharp enough to be useful, but unlike the Leatherman miniatures, it doesn't bulk up in your pocket to an annoying extent.

Note that I mount my Ladybug on two stainless split rings (bead chains tend to fail) which are then put on the main ring; this lets it twist around so that it lays flat no matter what. The keychain acts as an extended handle.

I also have a thin all-metal Gerber in 440x that cuts well and weighs nothing, but it's a bit longer and I find that it twists and jabs more than I care for. YMMV.

As far as "micro knife" I carry Byrd Starling. It's my second Starling because I lost the first. If I happen to lose this one I will probably buy the same knife again. It has been discontinued though but can still be found in stores.

I ordered a Spyderco Ladybug and a leatherman style .

I'm worried the style will be too big but I really like the clip on feature, I use that all the time with my skeletool.

Amazon carried both, if they carried the boker I probably would have tried that over the ladybug.

ireckon, I think I should point out that victorinox & Wenger make a few different SAK's in the old pocket knife style i.e one or two blades in a single layer, including the wenger patriot, victorinox solo & settler (the settler has two blades one big, one small). Now I know that a good folder would be better than them but I think that for some situations and people there the best thing you could have. For example an office worker who has to dress in slacks, they also have some plus points in that they don't cost a lot, have good quality, can be picked up in many places and people aren't as afride of them compered to other knifes.

If you would like to know more about the different SAK models, you should take I look at SAKwiki.

I have a SAK Classic on my key ring. Fairly unobtrusive but I've used everything in it.

I too carry a Classic on my keyring, now in two variations, since those kindly folks at Victorinox make different variations. I carry at the moment in urban situations one that sports a very useful ball point pen. I believe there is also a Classic that sports a small LED light.

In the field, I carry the classic Classic with the ever popular tweezers and toothpick. I really like their tweezers - great for the occasional cactus spine.

I would take a look at the Gerber STL 2.0 (Doug did a mini review from one of his Shot Show reviews - http://www.equipped.org/shot_show_2007_knives4.htm).

I have one that I orginally had in my PSP, but it found a way to my key chain till I had to fly out for a business trip. Then I quickly lost it after that lost it.

I found that its thin enough that it hides on the key chain unlike the SAK Classic which I find its a tad on the thick side.

The subcom is way too fat to be a keychain knife, try the keycom instead, very sturdy little thing and cheap too.

I was given a Classic and tried it on a key chain; the blade would
occasionally open, in my pocket. It really was not very useful
any way. It is also very fragile.

Here is close to what I use know.

http://www.swissarmy.com/MultiTools/Pages/Product.aspx?category=doityourself&product=53133&

I carry one that looks like above, however mine does not
have the tooth pick or tweezers. I wish I had these, also.
Mine is 1/2 inch thick but seems to lay flat in my pocket.
I occasionally use everything, except the file, which is
embedded on the small fake blade. Handle: red translucent.


I have used much bigger SAKs on my key chain, but this is a
good compromise.

In my opinion the Victorinox Rambler can't be beat.
http://www.victorinox.com/product/1/100/1001/1109/0.6363

It's short, with two layers. You get both blade and scissors, both flat and Philips screwdrivers, bottle opener, nail file, tweezers and toothpick. For me it covers all the essentials, and doesn't have anything I don't use, so it has the best size-to-utility.

The scissors are small but good for cutting nails - better than the larger Leatherman scissors for that. The Philips screwdriver is also small, but again often fits better for small screws than a larger one. I carry a Leatherman Juice, but I still use the Vic Rambler.

I second thet Vic. rambler for keychain carry. If you are willing to carry something a bit bigger, the new leatherman squirt PS 4 is very good.

It's tough to beat the little swiss army knives when it comes to a keychain knife. They're pretty much a perfect combo of size to features, and they're unobtrusive enough that you can take them just about anywhere.

My favorites are the Swiss Lite (basically a classic keychain swiss army knife that has the toothpick switched for a little flashlight) and the Midnight Manager, which is a rambler with a flashlight and pen instead of tweezers and toothpick.


Leatherman's Squirt series is also really good, with the P4 being my favorite.

Another neat little keychain knife is the Buck Metro LED. Locking blade combined with a small flashlight. This is one of my favorites to give as a gift.

It's also worth noting that Doug Ritter, along with CRKT, has a small fixed blade that one could put on a keyring. The RSK Mk5. It's bigger than your average keychain tool/knife, but it's also capable of taking much more abuse.

The RSK MK5 fits a niche for me, thanks.

does anyone know where you can buy the same style of clip that is on the streamlight nano? I would be more willing to go back to a swiss army classic if I could have that sort of quick release.

I got the spyderco knife today, its a nice little knife that would also benefit from a keychain clip of the type above.

I use the streamlight nano as my keychain-carry flashlight and I really like the quick-release clip it uses. I'm betting its an off-the-shelf part from somewhere.

This site has many quick releases, key rings and such:
http://countycomm.com/tools.htm

I agree. Countycomm also has this one that doesn't show up in it's "tools" catagory:

http://www.countycomm.com/gateclip.htm

All you will ever need for keychain related hardware:

http://www.berkeleypoint.com/products/index.html

Both links are very good. thanks to both of you. Its nice to be able to go to a forum and get such good answers.