What is your Multitool of choice when hiking, backpacking, tramping, camping?

[Syncop8r]

There are many 'hidden' ones...                               

[ElevenBlade]

There are many 'hidden' ones...                               

 

[Syncop8r]

I often quote someone else's then copy the code that appears... or hover your mouse over one and insert the word that appears in between : : .

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https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,66780.0.html

[Echotech]

Hiking the SAK hiker (of course!)
Travel I put the juice in my checked in luggage which then goes in my pack at destination along with a SAK manager for my keyring




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[ElevenBlade]

Hiking the SAK hiker (of course!)
Travel I put the juice in my checked in luggage which then goes in my pack at destination along with a SAK manager for my keyring

(Image removed from quote.)


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You win the prize.  This has always seemed the most reasonable to me.  The Hiker, Trekker/Trailmaster and Farmer all have the same tool set, If I thought I needed pliers I'd get something like a Juice.  Anything that's more heavy duty - can cut metal or turn a bolt - really seems like overkill to me. 

But by the looks of the survey - medium to heavy duty MTs with pliers are the most popular. 

[Syncop8r]

Well look at you with your fancy smilies!

[ElevenBlade]

Well look at you with your fancy smilies!

 

[Echotech]

You win the prize.  This has always seemed the most reasonable to me.  The Hiker, Trekker/Trailmaster and Farmer all have the same tool set, If I thought I needed pliers I'd get something like a Juice.  Anything that's more heavy duty - can cut metal or turn a bolt - really seems like overkill to me. 

But by the looks of the survey - medium to heavy duty MTs with pliers are the most popular.

thanks very much, works really well for me


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[ElevenBlade]

This Skeletool isn't something I would go for, since I don't run into bolts in the wild... but the Topo pattern is 

[Sos24]

This Skeletool isn't something I would go for, since I don't run into bolts in the wild... but the Topo pattern is 

How about with a rescue hammer head?

[ElevenBlade]

How about with a rescue hammer head?
(Image removed from quote.)

I was admiring that for a good 30 seconds before I noticed the background.  And then I admired for even longer.   

[Sos24]

I was admiring that for a good 30 seconds before I noticed the background.  And then I admired for even longer.   

Thanks.  It is of the Adirondack Mountains.

[39hotrod]

Thanks.  It is of the Adirondack Mountains.

 

[Chako]

<--- is weird

I tend to pack one of my original Schrade Navitool. Sometimes with a lighter inside, and other times a small survival kit of sorts.

Here is a video I found on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoQmQFDRcYA

Adirondack Mountians....lot of good memories for me back in the 70s when I was still in Cornwall Ontario. My family would spent a lot of time around Lake Placid. I especially am very fond of all the old family oriented roadside attractions such as Frontier Town, Santa's Workshop, 1000 Animals, Storytown USA, Gaslight Village, etc. I do not imagine many of those places are still alive and well today, most of them being created after the war to keep folks minds off of the horrors.

[ElevenBlade]

<--- is weird

I tend to pack one of my original Schrade Navitool. Sometimes with a lighter inside, and other times a small survival kit of sorts.

Here is a video I found on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoQmQFDRcYA

Adirondack Mountians....lot of good memories for me back in the 70s when I was still in Cornwall Ontario. My family would spent a lot of time around Lake Placid. I especially am very fond of all the old family oriented roadside attractions such as Frontier Town, Santa's Workshop, 1000 Animals, Storytown USA, Gaslight Village, etc. I do not imagine many of those places are still alive and well today, most of them being created after the war to keep folks minds off of the horrors.

Probably not all that weird.   I watch hiking vlogs a lot (yes I am very weird) and I'm surprised by what sorts of tools people bring for hikes.   Something like this would be considered a useful multitool if pack weight wasn't a concern. A blade attached to a carabiner, a flashlight, or a compass... something decidedly more useful would sound like a great multi-tasker to some.   I've seen that some people will carry a hobo kit and use the knife as their only blade.  So that's a slightly odd thing that comes to mind... As I wander outside while eating peanut butter off a spork to find a piece of wood to use my SAK on for no reason... 

[Barry Rowland]

I did run into something in reference to the hammer not long ago.  I was packing the Bear Grylls fixed blade, which happens to have a built in pounder at the base of the grip.  I used it to pound in tent stakes.  It worked well for that. 

[Aloha]

When I question what to take I begin with the mindset of someone who enjoys sharps.  Need vs want vs enjoy, among other reasons to carry sharps all play into my thinking and planing.  Yes being prepared and the scenario add into that thinking/planning process. 

I'm not ultralight so weight is not a priority.  Doesn't mean I want to lug a lot of stuff around either.  I posted earlier on options I'll choose from in certain scenarios these options didn't factor in new to me items  .  Or items I want to try or am currently trying. 

I have a base from which I start and certainly there are tools that live within packs that have made the final cut.  There are just too many fun sharps to leave behind at times.   

After all the discussion and all the options at hand and my time on the trail or at the campsite I think I'll continue to be someone who carries a MT, SAK, and fixed blade.  Its as simple as that and the add ons are fun, things I'm trying out, new to me, possible replacement items that'll live in packs, or simply for the heck of it.     

[Barry Rowland]

And in the end, that's what it's all about.  Carry what you enjoy!

[ElevenBlade]

When I question what to take I begin with the mindset of someone who enjoys sharps.  Need vs want vs enjoy, among other reasons to carry sharps all play into my thinking and planing.  Yes being prepared and the scenario add into that thinking/planning process. 

I'm not ultralight so weight is not a priority.  Doesn't mean I want to lug a lot of stuff around either.  I posted earlier on options I'll choose from in certain scenarios these options didn't factor in new to me items  .  Or items I want to try or am currently trying. 

I have a base from which I start and certainly there are tools that live within packs that have made the final cut.  There are just too many fun sharps to leave behind at times.   

After all the discussion and all the options at hand and my time on the trail or at the campsite I think I'll continue to be someone who carries a MT, SAK, and fixed blade.  Its as simple as that and the add ons are fun, things I'm trying out, new to me, possible replacement items that'll live in packs, or simply for the heck of it.     

I might be in a slightly different camp... So to speak.
I like my sharps too, but when it comes to picking something to use in the campsite draws heavily on the aspects of what I like about sharps in general. 
To me, it's almost like each outing becomes a field test for what I had been thinking of and trying out since the last trip. 
I've gone through my single blade folder phase and I don't think I'll ever find anything I prefer over my Camillus.
I'd gone through my Alox phase, and am currently trudging through a 111mm phase.
You see, the trouble is...  Every sharp can be perfect, but no sharp is perfect until it's well worn.

[Sos24]

<--- is weird

I tend to pack one of my original Schrade Navitool. Sometimes with a lighter inside, and other times a small survival kit of sorts.

Here is a video I found on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoQmQFDRcYA

Adirondack Mountians....lot of good memories for me back in the 70s when I was still in Cornwall Ontario. My family would spent a lot of time around Lake Placid. I especially am very fond of all the old family oriented roadside attractions such as Frontier Town, Santa's Workshop, 1000 Animals, Storytown USA, Gaslight Village, etc. I do not imagine many of those places are still alive and well today, most of them being created after the war to keep folks minds off of the horrors.

I remember a lot of those same places.  I grew up just south of the Adirondacks.  As a teen, I did several 1-2 week backpacking trips up into the mountains with Girl Scouts or friends.  At the end we would have a bag of clean clothes in the pick-up vehicle, so we could go someplace and clean up then explore Lake Placid or Saranac Lake.

I’m not sure what is still there of the past, but one wonderful place that is now in that areas is the Double H Ranch.   It is a camp for children with handicaps or life-threatening disease that Paul Newman started.  My youngest brother who has cerebral palsy and in a wheelchair went there a few years.

[Aloha]

@ Eleven,     I like that approach.  I do like to run a new piece of gear thru day to day chores then take it out for an adventure.  I want some time with it but that mean I also take tried and true gear along too which mean I end up having, well lots to gear. 

[ElevenBlade]

I remember a lot of those same places.  I grew up just south of the Adirondacks.  As a teen, I did several 1-2 week backpacking trips up into the mountains with Girl Scouts or friends.  At the end we would have a bag of clean clothes in the pick-up vehicle, so we could go someplace and clean up then explore Lake Placid or Saranac Lake.

I’m not sure what is still there of the past, but one wonderful place that is now in that areas is the Double H Ranch.   It is a camp for children with handicaps or life-threatening disease that Paul Newman started.  My youngest brother who has cerebral palsy and in a wheelchair went there a few years.

Very nice... Especially that you were able to do those longer backpacking trips in the scouts.  My boy scout troop would take a weekend trip each month, but we never did a 2 week backpacking trip (the longest was a two week camping trip, or the optional High Adventure base trip that some would take on their own).  The girl scouts in town would only do one camping trip each year.

[ElevenBlade]

@ Eleven,     I like that approach.  I do like to run a new piece of gear thru day to day chores then take it out for an adventure.  I want some time with it but that mean I also take tried and true gear along too which mean I end up having, well lots to gear.

I'd been mentored by people who weren't really true gear users.  One guy has been using a breakaway utility blade for as long as he and I can remember... For ev-ery-thing.  I'm talking...  Processing tinder, cutting rope, fishing.... Lots of fishing... So improvisation is in my bones.

My last trip a couple of weeks ago... Because of being unable to go outside as of late, and spending too much time on MTo, I wanted to test out lots of tools.  With me, I brought a Skeletool KBX (knife, not MT), my trusty Camillus, a Buck lite, a Swisschamp, a Pioneer X, a One Hand Trekker.... I think that's all.  Admittedly, it was a low impact trip... Which I suspect will be more the norm for years to come. 

Taking stock of my usages... Initially I took a couple of seconds to decide what tool I wanted to use.  I lent the Trekker to one of the other guys who needed a screwdriver for something.  But pretty quickly, I was using the Pioneer X for everything.  It found a place in my right front pocket, whilst the rest were distributed among my various cargo pockets or clipped to my daypack strap. 

I found the screwdriver on the OHT to be a bit too much for the quick jobs it was being used for... Particularly that it has a liner lock to disengage.  The Camillus and the Buck were fighting for airtime and both lost to the Pioneer X.  I used a dedicated striker for the ferro rod.

Moral of the story is that I need to leave some of the kids home if I'm going to put any one of them through their paces.

[Aloha]

Moral of the story is that I need to leave some of the kids home if I'm going to put any one of them through their paces.

  for me as well.  Sometimes I end up looking like Bill the Butcher. 

[Sos24]

I'd been mentored by people who weren't really true gear users.  One guy has been using a breakaway utility blade for as long as he and I can remember... For ev-ery-thing.  I'm talking...  Processing tinder, cutting rope, fishing.... Lots of fishing... So improvisation is in my bones.

My last trip a couple of weeks ago... Because of being unable to go outside as of late, and spending too much time on MTo, I wanted to test out lots of tools.  With me, I brought a Skeletool KBX (knife, not MT), my trusty Camillus, a Buck lite, a Swisschamp, a Pioneer X, a One Hand Trekker.... I think that's all.  Admittedly, it was a low impact trip... Which I suspect will be more the norm for years to come. 

Taking stock of my usages... Initially I took a couple of seconds to decide what tool I wanted to use.  I lent the Trekker to one of the other guys who needed a screwdriver for something.  But pretty quickly, I was using the Pioneer X for everything.  It found a place in my right front pocket, whilst the rest were distributed among my various cargo pockets or clipped to my daypack strap. 

I found the screwdriver on the OHT to be a bit too much for the quick jobs it was being used for... Particularly that it has a liner lock to disengage.  The Camillus and the Buck were fighting for airtime and both lost to the Pioneer X.  I used a dedicated striker for the ferro rod.

Moral of the story is that I need to leave some of the kids home if I'm going to put any one of them through their paces.

Great observations.  The Pioneer X winning for most is why I’ve come to think of the Farmer X as my goto, especially if trying to save weight and space by carrying just one.   

[Sos24]

Very nice... Especially that you were able to do those longer backpacking trips in the scouts.  My boy scout troop would take a weekend trip each month, but we never did a 2 week backpacking trip (the longest was a two week camping trip, or the optional High Adventure base trip that some would take on their own).  The girl scouts in town would only do one camping trip each year.

The trips with the Girl Scouts was at a Girl Scout summer camp and not with my troop.  It would have Girls Scouts from all over the area for a 1-2 week session with all different focus areas.  It was one of my favorite parts of summer, but I don’t think I truly appreciated how special until talking with other scouts who had nothing like it.  I even worked there one summer.

[ElevenBlade]

I had another One-Day outdoor challenge this weekend out in the woods.
I decided to use my Camillus 5 inch lockback that I had been using exclusively for this purpose 15-20 years ago.  Really nice knife, if I do say so myself.

The things I did like was the walk and talk of the knife, in comparison to one of my more commonly used Victorinox knives.  It's sharp and cut extremely well.  It's fun to use. 

What I didn't like... I guess I've gotten used to a smaller knife on a multitool.  It had rained a couple of nights before, and the wood was wet.  Maybe I wasn't used to the grind angle, but it was somewhat less easy to make feather sticks.  (I think the wet wood was the biggest culprit)

Somewhat surprising results really.... I was expecting that I would have liked it more, for old times sake.... not worrying about which of my four front-running SAKs was going to get used for the day. 

Next time, I'll probably do a One Day Challenge with a OHT...
For science!

[Aloha]

Its fun to take a knife back out into the filed to see/remember why you carried/liked it.  I'll do the same but I tend to also bring a current option as well.  I use the old one then new one to compare why the old is no longer being used.  There are times when the change was just that, change.  Other times its about my needs or wants changing.   

Having recently won a Bark River Bushcrafter, I've been using it a lot albeit at home.  While the "testing" is different than what I'd do at camp I do get a good idea of handle comfort, edge retention, carry comfort, likeabilty, etc.  So far I am really liking it.  I've done a lot with it so far and so far I'm really liking it.  I did add a dangler option because thats my preference of how to carry. 

My Landi is a knife I gravitate to when we arrive at a camp site, be it car camping or whatever.  I enjoy that knife a lot.  Smaller option as I showed earlier in the thread are chosen determined by what we'll do.  I am reminded about the years I spent in the kitchen from small restaurants to large production banquet food service.  I did a lot with one knife.  I had many but when I think back, my 8 inch Henckel Professional S did most of the work.  I was able to do a lot with that knife and while I had an array of other task oriented knives I was comfortable with the 8 inch chefs knife. 

This brings me to thoughts I have on the topic of knives.  I enjoy them.  I like to have options for no other reason than fun and this wonderful hobby.  I spend time outdoors and we have fun using knives.  When we car camp we like to cook which includes prep work.  While sitting around a camp fire we like to whittle or just cut sticks as the kids say.  Like my days in the kitchen my Landi or any number of knives I have could work.  Yes some better than others which is where I make my decisions but all would work. 

Would I want my Classic Mora with me if we found ourselves in a sticky situation?  The answer is id be happy to have most any fixed blade vs none.  The other answer is not when compared to other options I have.  This takes nothing away from my Mora. 

While not designed for the camp site my Contego is a great knife that could serve in a multitude of scenarios.  Knives are fun and there are no really bad options for folks like us ( knife enthusiasts ).   My new to me Bushcrafter could be my go to for all outdoor adventures easily.  It wont be simply because I am a knife enthusiast and there will be the next knife I'll need to try. 

I said earlier that times were simpler when we had but one maybe two options.  As I strap my Bushcrafter onto my belt today my other knives that have proven to be wonderful companions will sit the bench.  Otherwise I'll end up going out looking like this

     

[ElevenBlade]

Have you guys seen the Leatherman Signal in Cobalt?   

[Aloha]