Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Which multi tool actually has the best most practical selection.

I really like SOG's offerings.

The Wingman is the shizz. Leatherman really knocked it out of the park with that one. Does a whole lot for its weight and isn't noticeable when you wear it on your jeans all day.

Cheaper too.


Travis

I am looking for a new one to add to a general purpose bag. After about an hour my head was spinning.

SOG, leatherman, gerber, leatherman was the first and has good stuff, gerber too. Not sure about SOG. Who else?

Downside is they are a spendy proposition.

I lost a SOG Paratool in a lake when I had to dive in after a fishing rod that had been dropped. Recovered the pole, but lost my SOG. I almost cried.

My Charge is laying out in the middle of a field. Pretty sure I set it on the sprayer while we were re-filling and then forgot to grab it before my dad took off.

thats why you keep an old fish stringer, the metal clip kind, handy. Open all the clips, toss it in and drag and one of the clips generally catches the rod or line on the first few tries...

This thread has me wondering how often you guys actually use a multi tool in the backcountry?

I can't think of what the [bleep] I'd use some channel locks for.

It don't take you long to look at a horseshoe, does it?

Borrow a metal detector and sweep the area.

I use them quite a bit in the backcountry. Not necessarily backpacking though, and never in the classical sense. All the time on the boat, and more than a little on a snowmachine (ok, none of that this winter, as we have no snow).

I packed one sheep hunting once, but pretty quickly gave that up. If I were to carry one there, it would sure as hell not be the chunky supertool.

I'll answer any questions you have about using photobucket.



Travis

Surprised no one has mentioned a good old Swiss Army knife. Scissors, tweezers, blades, etc.

I do love the Swiss Army knives. They are great but the Wingman has scissors (good ones) and although the Swiss Army tweezers are the single greatest [bleep] tweezers every made, the usefulness of the pliers on the Wingman trumps the usefulness of the tweezers in my opinion.

Gerber Suspension is pretty badass for me.

Not sure if DanAdair will approve of it, but through hiking the Bob has probably taught him more than us mortals could ever dream of....

Tanner

I dunno... They grab hot [bleep] better, work better for stove [bleep] (C stoves like to be [bleep] with) and they kick ass on Durapegs, and the long ass MSR aluminum stakes.

I have to agree with EdT, all the multi tools SUCK as pliers compared to real pliers. Plus there's the fact that they weigh 4 ounces.

Pack a set a few times, you'll probably leave the Leatherman home.

I dunno... They grab hot [bleep] better, work better for stove [bleep] (C stoves like to be [bleep] with) and they kick ass on Durapegs, and the long ass MSR aluminum stakes.

I have to agree with EdT, all the multi tools SUCK as pliers compared to real pliers. Plus there's the fact that they weigh 4 ounces.

I would be tempted to leave the Leatherman, but it stays in my pocket anyway, and I think for an extra 3oz. having screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters, scissors, a knife, etc. is worth the weight.


Travis

Anyway Travis, I've had a folder in a pocket and a multi-tool on my hip for so long now I feel naked without one and that's more or less where I'm coming from.

When and if the day comes that the mountains are sufficiently steep that I can't make it with the extra 4oz on my right hip......well let's just say that'll be a sign for me won't it?


Dwayne

That's why you should only visit the backcountry with a woman who drinks liquor.......straight out of the bottle.

Travis;
Hopefully this still Saturday morning finds you folks well and warm sir.

I'll admit - again - that it's been years since we've headed into the back country for days instead of "all day" or part thereof, so that taken into account I'd offer the following examples of fun in the BC back country.

We had a fairly new pack blow the stitching out of the bag on one side part way up the Kokanee Glacier. That led to carrying heavy needles, saddle thread, dental floss and duct tape on all our future trips.

Buddy's camp stove needed to be taken apart - a couple times - when we took a weekend jaunt up into the Cathedral Lakes.

Another buddy's boot blew the stitching out the side of it one evening coming off the mountain with his mulie buck hind quarters on our backs. I repaired it with a Leatherman, a flashlight in my teeth and the aforementioned needles and saddle thread. Nowadays I pack reading glasses too.

I can't begin to count the number of times I've extracted prickly pear cactus out of me, buddy, daughter, wife or horse for that matter in the back country with a Leatherman.

The same can be said for a decent little scissors - yes I carry at least 3 knives on me somewhere, but a scissors is handier and safer.

While I've not yet had to use it - thankfully - I'm a trained OFA and carry both butterfly adhesive strips and a suture kit in my pack. The suture kit looks to require something like a thin nosed pliers or a locking foreceps.

I did save a downed horse that was hung up on smooth wire - rancher buddy underneath it at the time too - with an original Leatherman - so they will work for emergency purposes too.

Now before someone points it out, I am cognizant that this isn't the horse section and it did bugger up the cutter faces to save that horse - but Ed and Bunjo thought it was a reasonable sacrifice for me to make.

Anyway Travis, I've had a folder in a pocket and a multi-tool on my hip for so long now I feel naked without one and that's more or less where I'm coming from.

When and if the day comes that the mountains are sufficiently steep that I can't make it with the extra 4oz on my right hip......well let's just say that'll be a sign for me won't it?

None of this is meant to poke a stick in the eye of the folks here that are much harder chargers than I ever was or intend to be Travis. I'm merely relating how I've used a multi-tool over 3 decades of walking and riding in the BC back country - sometimes far away from "mother's arms".

You folks have a good weekend Travis.

Dwayne

You're just jealous. Because you weren't the one who gave the best advice on the internet. Ever.

Snap On has a good one. I prefer it over my Leatherman. But I'd still rather have my green handled full size Swiss Army knife. I've done about 5 moose with it now. From gutting to sawing bone it can't be beat.

How could anyone that has a need for a corkscrew in back country even give a dam about weight...

Do the newer Wave's have any better steel in the pliars than the older ones? The culprit in the older ones is the wire cutters. They won't cut anything much harder than copper without notching. I use mine all the time but I have to go back to the tool box if I need to cut wire.

Well, if you're not savvy enough to hide the wine in your buddy's pack then yes, you have a point. I think asking him to make sure he carries a corkscrew is a little over the top though.

This is the backpack hunting forum right?

Certainly not for the ultra weight conscious packer. I'm more inclined to keep my body fat minimal and not worry as much about the weight I carry.

Having watched guys with 25-30% body fat discuss the virtue of 23lb mountain bikes has always been very amusing.
I have needed and used a multi tool more then I can count on fishing and hunting trips.

[quote=JJHACK]
The thing is, "a few ounces here and there" applied to all you carry is really a few pounds. If your style of hunting is to hike in a few miles and dump your gear at a central camp then a few pounds may not matter. If you need to climb high or move camp around, "a few ounces here and there" does matter, regardless of your body fat percentage. YMMV.

One thing I know for sure and certain now is that like horses all humans are not created equally and some of us can pack a lot more than others of us will ever dream of.

One thing I know for sure and certain now is that like horses all humans are not created equally and some of us can pack a lot more than others of us will ever dream of.

I have needed and used a multi tool more then I can count on fishing and hunting trips.

No, but I do go hunting with dudes.

Any misconstruction of that on your part is merely projection.

There is a fine line between hard and stupid.

True, and thankfully there are excellent chiropractors to unphuuck your "military neck" (their term) in your late middle age....maybe.

There is a fine line between hard and stupid.

Having read some of 'Lanche's posts, I think he fits squarely in this category.

You definitely fall on the side of stupid.



Travis

Don't believe everything you read on the internet

LOL, I don't believe a lot of what I read here, but I know how to read sign as they say.

That coming from a stupid mofo who just opined that surviving a whore-tryst-garrote attempt would be "cool". You need to bump-fire a Glocksicle before you reproduce again.

Not very Christ like.



Travis