Multi Tool

What a multi tool is, and what it isn't

Here's the thing. A multi tool is a compromise you carry on purpose. Every tool in it is smaller than the real one in your truck. The point is that it's with you and the truck isn't.

Leatherman's beginner guide says it plainly: a multi-tool supplements regular tools, it doesn't replace them. That matches every November at Hemlock Run. The Swiss thing tightens a loose stand strap, pulls a staple out of a blind, cuts a zip tie. The real wrench stays in the toolbox for the real jobs.

Most multi tools are built around one of two things:

• Pliers: the handles fold out into a pliers head, with blades and drivers tucked in the handles
• A knife: the Swiss army style, a pocket knife body with tools on the same pivots, usually no pliers

Then there's the keychain class, small enough to forget about. More on each below.

The table on this page lists every multi tool we track, sorted by the tool count the maker or the listing states. It shows the format, closed length, tool count, whether it has pliers, a knife blade, a saw, scissors and wire cutters, the frame material and the weight. The maker's numbers come first and the Amazon listing's fill gaps (marked as listing values), except weight, which is the maker's alone. When neither states a value, you get a dash, not a guess.

What to look at when you pick a multi tool

Ten columns. Here's what each one means for a hunter, in the order I'd read them.

Start with the format, because it decides the rest

The Format column is our call from the maker's photos and title, not a stated spec. It sorts every tool into one of four shapes:

• Full-size pliers: the classic belt or glovebox tool; Leatherman's guide says full-size tools fit a pocket, sheath, backpack or glovebox
• Compact pliers: the same idea, smaller and lighter, easier to carry unnoticed
• Swiss army style: knife-based, no pliers, most other tools still there
• Keychain / one-piece: a few ounces, a few tools, always on you

Rule of thumb: pick the format for where it'll ride. Belt or pack, full-size. Pants pocket all day, compact or Swiss army style. Key ring, keychain. A full-size tool in a front pocket is a brick with opinions.

The small ones have their own pages: the keychain multi tool and the EDC multi tool, which is about carrying one every day.

Read the tool count last, and read it skeptically

Tools is the number the maker prints on the box. We don't recount it. That means two tools with the same number can carry very different things.

Makers count generously, and that's allowed. One maker sells a bit kit as 21 double-ended bits, or 42 tools in total. A ruler counts. Each cutter in the pliers head can count. One maker's guide lists a 9-tool model and a 17-tool model, and the 17 includes a ruler, a can opener and a bottle opener.

So the count tells you roughly how busy the handles are. It doesn't tell you whether the tool you need is in there. Read the list on the maker's page. Buy once, cry once, and buy for the four tools you'll use, not the 18 you won't.

Pliers decide whether it's a tool or a knife

The Pliers column is a yes or no. Yes means the handles open into a pliers head. That's most full-size and compact tools, and almost no Swiss army style ones.

Leatherman's guide says a typical pliers head is four tools in one: needlenose pliers for small parts and tight spaces, regular pliers for nuts and bolts, wire cutters, and hard-wire cutters for solid metal wire. Some makers add spring-loaded jaws that open on their own.

For a hunter, pliers do a lot of quiet work. Bending a bent stand pin back, tightening a nut on a blind hub, pulling a broken staple. If you only ever cut things, a pliers tool is more weight than you need. If you ever fix things, don't skip them.

Wire cutters are the column Danny reads first

Wire cutters sit in the pliers jaws, right behind the gripping surface. The table shows whether a tool has them.

Danny judges every multi tool by its wire cutters. That's the electrician in him. He also says a tool without them "is just a fancy knife with a screwdriver hobby," and he's not wrong.

At deer camp the cutters handle trail-cam wire, fence wire and the zip ties nobody remembers putting on. Leatherman's FAQ says its premium cutters are made from 440C steel; most makers don't list the steel at all, which is why it's not a column.

Knife blade: a multi tool knife is a utility blade

The Knife blade column says yes or no. A multi tool with knife is the common case. Bladeless ones exist for places where blades aren't allowed, and Leatherman's FAQ says some of its tools are made to TSA carry-on specs.

Leatherman's guide lists three edge types. A straight edge makes clean cuts and is easier to sharpen. A serrated edge cuts tougher material less cleanly and is harder to sharpen. A combo edge has some of both. The same guide says almost all of that maker's blades lock open, and calls the lock a safety feature.

Here's my one opinion on this page: don't make the multi tool your field-dressing knife. You can check why against any multi tool's own care page: Leatherman's says debris between the blades needs a soak in mild detergent and water. A multi tool has more between-the-blades than anything else in your pack. Carry a hunting knife or a fixed blade knife for the deer and keep the Swiss thing for the stand.

A saw earns its place on a stand hunter's tool

The Saw column is a yes or no. A small folding saw blade sits in the handle on many full-size tools.

It won't drop a tree. It will take off the twig that's in your shooting lane at 6:40 a.m., which is the only twig that matters. For sawing anything bigger, a real folding saw does better. The tools that lead with the saw are on the multi tool with saw page.

Scissors matter more than you'd think

Scissors are a yes or no too. Leatherman's guide lists spring-action scissors among the common extras. They cut tape, moleskin, string and the corner off a bag of jerky without the blade coming out.

There's a travel angle as well. TSA allows multi-tools whose scissors are under 4 inches in a carry-on, but only if there's no knife blade on the tool.

Frame material and weight are the carry question

Frame is the handle material, as the maker or the listing lists it: stainless steel, aluminum, titanium or others. Leatherman's care page says its tools are high-grade stainless steel and that stainless is corrosion-resistant, not rust-proof. Keep that in mind on a wet November week.

Weight is the whole tool without the sheath, in ounces, when the maker gives both. Closed length is the folded size. Together they tell you how it'll ride. Leatherman's guide says a keychain tool weighs a few ounces. Full-size tools weigh enough that you'll notice them on a belt by noon.

Rule of thumb: if the closed length is longer than your pocket is deep, plan on a sheath. Sheaths are on the multi tool sheath page.

Butterfly or one-hand opening

The table doesn't have a column for opening style, but the maker pages always say. Gerber's guide describes the two common kinds.

• Butterfly: two handle halves on a hinge that swing open like wings; Gerber says most of these have pliers
• One-hand: opens with a single hand, for when the other hand is holding the thing you're fixing

Leatherman's guide adds a middle ground: a pliers tool with at least one blade or tool you can reach without opening the handles. That's handy in a stand, where one hand is usually busy with the stand.

How to use a multi tool without cutting yourself

A multi tool is a knife with company. The same rules apply.

Before you open a blade, check that nobody is within arm's reach; Scouting magazine calls that your safety circle. Cut away from your body. Never carry a blade open, and fold it away before you switch to the pliers.

1. Open only the tool you need.
2. If it locks, make sure the lock is set before you put pressure on it.
3. Squeeze pliers with the blades closed inside the handles.
4. Release the lock and fold the blade with your fingers out of its path.
5. Close the tool and check that every blade tip is hidden inside the handle.

That last check matters. CPSC has recalled a multi tool because the blade tip didn't fully fold into the handle, a laceration hazard. If a tip sticks out of yours, stop using it and look it up at cpsc.gov.

If a blade locks open and won't release, Leatherman's FAQ describes freeing it with a separate screwdriver at the handle spring. Go slowly. Keep your hand clear of the blade.

Scouting magazine also says a sharp knife is safer than a dull one, because a dull blade is more likely to slip. Keep the multi tool knife sharp.

Sharpening and care

Multi tools are low-maintenance, not no-maintenance. Ten minutes in the off-season does it.

• Flush grime and water out of the joints with a low-viscosity oil
• Soak sticky debris in mild detergent and water
• Use mineral spirits for tar and sap; skip acetone and brake cleaner on tools with plastic parts
• Put a PTFE-based lubricant on the pivots
• After salt water, rinse in fresh water, dry and oil

Leatherman's maintenance page gives its plain-edge angle as 32 degrees, 16 per side. Serrations get 20 degrees on the edged side only, with a sharpener made for serrations. Sharpening the flat back wears the serrations away.

That's a Saturday-afternoon fix, and the cabin has plenty of Saturday afternoons in the off-season.

Who should skip a multi tool

If you hunt from the ground and never carry anything that bolts together, a good pocket knife covers you. It's lighter and simpler, and it does the cutting better.

If you already carry a toolbox in the truck and never walk far from it, a multi tool is a spare. Spares are fine. Just don't buy the biggest one because it has the biggest number on the box.

And if you want one tool for both the deer and the stand, buy two tools. That's not a joke. That's the opinion above.

Traveling with a multi tool

TSA says multi-tools with knives of any length are not allowed in carry-on bags. They go in checked bags, with sharp parts sheathed or securely wrapped. Leatherman's guide recommends a sheath for storing a tool while flying. The final decision rests with the TSA officer.

Knife carry rules vary by state and by city. Check your state's rules before you clip one to your belt in town.

That's the Swiss thing, top to bottom. Format first, tools you'll open second, weight third. The number on the box is for the box.