Multi tool vs Penknife

[Fraxinus]

Perhaps ultimately a man never need graduate from the humble Victorinox!

Depends on your needs or prospective future needs.
I will buy from Wenger and Victorinox again and from Leatherman due to their quality and from my past experience with their tools.
I will not buy from a company who has so little faith in their product that they have to rebrand their offerings with a "celebrity" name to make it sell.

Money is better spent on producing a better product, one to trust.

 

[EdPhelan]

I carry a Leatherman Crunch every day and love it. I also carry several pocket knives for grins and giggles.
I also have a Victornox Swiss Champ XLT, It has all the toys but is a bit much to carry everyday. I do keep it in my man purse when I have to carry extra stuff. I also keep an origional Leatherman PST in it plus several other knives and my pipe kit.
I also carry 2 neck nives. Think I just might have a problem with those sharp pointy things.

Now that's a whole separate discussion right there! Best man purse...

Seriously though, I think I'm perhaps getting ahead of myself. I've yet to encounter a situation in which I was let down by my trusty SAK. However, I'm not quite at the stage where I'm building log cabins in the woods so perhaps it's something I'd need to revisit if ever I got more serious in the survivalist world!

 

[GGTBod]

Best man purse? Surely that's an oxymoron

 

[Jared]

If I was building log cabins in the woods, or homesteading I'd much rather have a SAK, and a pair of fencing pliers. Probably work out cheaper too.

 

[Dave]

I have some single blade folders. And they all live in different places.

Theres a opinel no8 gardening knife, in a kitchen roll, in a 50 litre bucket along with cast cookware, and other car camping kit, a small victorinox lives in my fishing chest pack, an s30v doug ritter lives in one or anther coat pocket, o a maxped waist pack...etc

The conclusion I came to on multi tools was that a swiss army champ suited me better than any leatherman.

The reason was simply that the SAK champ has got more useful tools, but the leatherman has the decent pliers.

However I would only really need the leatherman pliers when I was using a vehicle. A car, a snowmobile, or a canoe etc.

And if I was using a vehicle, a canoe for instance, I would always take a real pair of pliers, and/or an adjustable spanner in a repairs kit or a tool kit and the excess weight is no big issue.

So the SAK champ is the better choice

 

[Fin]

It would depend on your activity...

I have a Leatherman Charge TTi which has become so indispensable that I feel naked if it's not on my belt. The main S30V steel blade is an absolute peach in terms of shape and edge retention and is perfect for close/ fine work - and, like any folding blade, it's not designed to be smacked with a baton. It would be better for jobs like boring if it was more central to the tool spine but there are always compromises with these tools (SAK or Multi).

The only thing it lacks, for my purposes, is an awl and making one to fit in its bit holder has long been on my things to do list.

 

[copper_head]

I think it very much depends on your personnel needs, I have a leatherman that sits in the knife drawer and a SAK that lives in my pocket so that's my answer!

 

[John Fenna]

SAK in my pocket and in my cook box, multi-tools (all different Leatherman models) in my van, sewing kit, canoe barrel, leatherwork set and garage then the smaller versions in my day bag and grab bag .. - but my wife has a SAK recue tool in her car...
Plain folders in my other trouser pocket on my office desk, by my comfy chair and in the workshop.
Then the fixed blades are in Workshop, van, sewing room, living room, kitchen, garage, cookbox, day bag, grab bag ... well you get the picture.

 

[Nice65]

I think the Victorinox Swisstool is the best thing they've ever produced. Multi-tools are generally far more robust and larger and allow the tools to lock.

That, in a nutshell. Though SAKs are designed around the blade, the more tool layers you have, the less versatile that blade becomes, bringing it into multitool territory.

I haven't yet blessed myself with a Swisstool, it will happen though, so my multitool that lives in the kitchen drawer and in my work bag is a Leatherman Charge with a McFeely Pocket Wrench, and bit driver. It's a good all round tool, but heavy.

 

[ged]

I think the Victorinox Swisstool is the best thing they've ever produced. Multi-tools are generally far more robust and larger and allow the tools to lock.

What Jonathan said. But I do also have several other Victorinox SAK-type things, not to mention a couple of Wengers and three EKA folders.

My usual EDC is a multitool and a folder. The folder will be for food prep and the multitool for everything else.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

This is something I've been pondering a lot recently. I tend to carry a leatherman wave with the old wave tool adapter as part of my standard tool kit for day job as a computer geek. I've been very happy with it and have both the original wave (kept at home as I don't want to lose it), and the new wave.

I have two issues with the wave as an EDC:

- Blades lock - So you can't carry it everywhere. I carry it when I am on call, it's my tool box as a professional computer geek.

- It's heavy - I find it a pain to carry in my backpack when out in the woods.

These days a lot of the time I carry a Svord Peasant mini as my EDC, it goes everywhere with me. I then carry the Bahco Laplander with me in the woods. I would dearly love a lighter saw and knife combo. If I could get a decent wood saw and a blade like that on the svord peasant in one unit, that would be my ideal.

One of the main uses I put my svord through in the woods, aside from eating, is batoning. I'm not entirely sure that any multitool or SAK will put up with the abuse that batoning puts on the blade.

The Leatherman CS4 as an EDC has a certain appeal, but at 160g, it's still pretty heavy...

Just my thoughts.

Julia

 

[petrochemicals]

The multi tools are all different, the gerber folds out as in buckshot example, where the leatherman folds the other way, leading to a closer blade edge. I found them difficult to use, and uncomfortable, and too thick.A simple little sak for everyday use, legal small simple,

A lock knife as a back up, maybe a Victorinox soldier wood saw lock knife, no cork screw, a phillips head screwdriver awl, and a few other things.

And a mini pair of pliers, 65g, a fixed knife, a small file, a gi tin opener, come in for about the same weight anyways the gerber multitool at 300g~.

The stanley knife, something like it surely is a better option,interchangeable blades on the same handle, saws. A non quick release one in UK legal carry. Two handle pieces for the pliers attachment

 

[crucible]

I tend to only bring a multitool on trips where there is the possibility of doing equipment repairs is high, like cycling or backcountry ski trips. The greater selection of tool options, especially with additions like a Leatherman bit insert kit makes it handy and convenient

If it's just a hiking or backpacking trip, I tend to bring just a small folder and small Vicegrip pliers instead. It allows you to use both hands simultaneously for repairs, and weighs less.

 

[Graveworm]

My preference is a Swiss Army Knife. Whilst I have and use a multi tool I feel that often the knife blade on a multi tool is not the main tool on the device, where as on a Swiss Army Knife it is

The Spyderwrench might be something you might like. It's different to a lot of multi tools, well thought out and the blade is pretty good.

 

[Blaidd]

I carry a Wingman with the blade removed (an easy mod), and its small enough to fit in my jeans fifth pocket, with a SAK Spartan or Wenger Soldier in my front left pocket. A saw would be handy though in the woods, there's a good video on the net of Adam Savage sawing through a 2x4 with a Leatherman (Charge or Wave, cant remember) in about 21 seconds. ( its on the end of a video of him making a belt holster for a LM.)