The Best Multi-Tools for Camping, Judged on the Pliers
A multi-tool is a pair of pliers with a knife attached. Buy it for the pliers, because the pliers are what fix the things that actually break at a campsite.
The things that break at a campsite are a bent tent stake, a jammed zipper slider, a stove regulator that will not seat, a pot handle rivet and a snapped buckle. Every one of those is a pliers job, and none of them is a knife job. If you already carry a knife, the multi-tool is not a second knife — it is the tool that makes repairs possible.
Tool
Tools
Closed length
Blade
Weight
Blade steel
Warranty
Leatherman Wave+
18
4 in
2.9 in
8.5 oz
420HC
25 years
Leatherman Skeletool CX
7
4 in
2.6 in
5 oz
154CM
25 years
Gerber Suspension-NXT
15
4.25 in
2.25 in, partially serrated
6.7 oz
not published
not published here
All figures as published by the manufacturers. Where a maker does not publish a figure on its product page we have left it blank rather than sourcing one elsewhere.
The weight question
A full-size multi-tool at 8.5 oz plus a camp knife at 3.9 oz is most of a pound of steel. In a car that is irrelevant; in a pack it is a real decision, and it is why the lightweight category exists.
The practical split most people land on: the full-size tool lives in the car camping kitchen box, and the lightweight one goes in a pack. If you are buying only one and you backpack at all, buy the light one — a tool you leave behind because of its weight is worth nothing.
What a multi-tool fixes that nothing else will
Pliers straighten a bent stake and grip a stuck stove fitting. They also squeeze a widened zipper slider back into shape, which is the single most useful multi-tool repair in camping and the one nobody knows about — a zip that separates behind the slider is usually a worn slider, not a broken zip. The method is in how to clean and care for a backpack, and the rest of the repair kit is in camp gear repair kit essentials.
The features worth paying for
Outside-accessible blades. Opening the knife without unfolding the pliers is the difference between using it and not.
Locking tools. A blade or a file that folds under load is how people get cut. Leatherman publishes locking tools on the Wave+; Gerber publishes a tool lock on the Suspension-NXT.
Replaceable wire cutters. The part that wears out, on the tool you are keeping for decades.
Scissors. Better than a blade for tape, bandages, packets and cord, and the most-used tool on many multi-tools.
A bit driver. Turns the tool into a genuine screwdriver for gear repairs rather than a rounding-off machine.
Two things not worth paying for: a very high tool count, which mostly adds thickness, and a serrated section on a short blade, which makes it worse at food without making it much better at cord.
Air travel
Multi-tools with blades cannot go in carry-on baggage. They travel in checked bags, and this is one of the most common ways people lose an expensive tool at a security checkpoint. If you fly to camp, pack it in the hold or leave it at home.
What we did not do
We have not used or stress-tested any of these. There is no standardized test for multi-tool durability, plier strength or edge retention, so this page compares tool count, closed length, blade length and steel, weight and warranty — what the makers publish and what genuinely differs. Every figure carries a link to its source, and where Gerber does not publish a blade steel or warranty term on the specification we cite, we have left the cell blank rather than filling it in. See how we research.
The picks in full
1. Best all-round camping multi-tool
Leatherman Wave+ Multi-Tool
Leatherman
18 tools including replaceable wire cutters and spring-action scissors, with outside-accessible locking blades, at 8.5 oz and a 25-year warranty.
Leatherman publishes 18 tools, a 4 in (10 cm) closed length, a 2.9 in (7.37 cm) blade, an 8.5 oz weight, 420HC blade steel, outside-accessible blades and locking tools, and a 25-year warranty. The tool list includes needle-nose and regular pliers, replaceable wire and hard-wire cutters, an electrical crimper, a wire stripper, a knife, a serrated knife and saw, spring-action scissors, a ruler, can and bottle openers, a wood and metal file, a diamond-coated file, bit drivers and a screwdriver.
Outside-accessible blades are the feature that separates this from cheaper tools. You can open the knife or the saw with the tool closed and one hand, rather than unfolding the pliers first — which sounds trivial until you are holding something with the other hand.
Replaceable wire cutters are the other quietly important one. Cutters are what wear out on a multi-tool, and being able to swap the inserts rather than the tool is the difference between a 25-year warranty being meaningful and being marketing.
The drawback
8.5 oz is heavy enough to notice in a pack, and it is a poor food knife compared with a dedicated blade.
7 tools at 5 oz in a 4 in closed length, with a 2.6 in 154CM blade, a carabiner bottle opener and a 25-year warranty.
Leatherman publishes 7 tools — needlenose pliers, regular pliers, hard-wire cutters, wire cutters, a 154CM knife, a carabiner and bottle opener, and a large bit driver — with a 4 in closed length, a 2.6 in blade, a 5 oz weight and a 25-year warranty.
Five ounces against 8.5 is the argument. That is the difference between a tool that lives in a pack and one that gets left behind, and the pliers, cutters, knife and bit driver cover the great majority of what a multi-tool is actually used for.
The 154CM blade is a genuine upgrade over the 420HC used on the Wave+: a higher-carbon stainless that holds an edge noticeably longer, at the cost of being slightly harder to sharpen. On a tool where the knife may be your only blade, that matters.
The drawback
Seven tools means no scissors, no saw and no file. It is a stripped-down tool by design, and some of what is missing is genuinely useful.
No product photo: we don't take our own
Published specs
Tools
7
Closed length
4 in
Blade length
2.6 in
Weight
5 oz
Blade steel
154CM
Extras
carabiner and bottle opener, removable pocket clip
3. Most tools for the weight, at the accessible end
Gerber Suspension-NXT Multi-Tool
Gerber
15 tools at 6.7 oz with spring-loaded needlenose pliers, scissors, a file and a 2.25 in partially serrated blade, plus a pocket clip.
Gerber publishes 15 tools, a 4.25 in closed length, a 6.25 in open length, a 0.65 in width, a 2.25 in partially serrated blade, a 6.7 oz weight, spring-loaded needlenose pliers, a tool lock, a lanyard point and a pocket clip. The tool list includes standard pliers, wire cutters, a cross driver, an awl, a file, a ruler, scissors, three flathead drivers, can and bottle openers and a wire stripper.
Spring-loaded pliers are the feature to notice. The jaws open themselves, so gripping and releasing repeatedly — which is what you do when straightening a bent stake or working a jammed zipper slider — is one-handed rather than two.
Fifteen tools at 6.7 oz sits neatly between the two Leathermans, and the pocket clip means it carries rather than lives in a bag. The partially serrated blade is the compromise: good on cord and webbing, poor on food, which is an argument for pairing it with a proper camp knife.
The drawback
A partially serrated blade is worse for food than a plain edge, and spring-loaded pliers make the tool slightly bulkier closed.
If you want to be able to repair things, yes - and buy it for the pliers rather than the knife. Bent stakes, jammed zipper sliders, stove fittings and broken buckles are all pliers jobs, and none of them is a knife job.
QIs a multi-tool a good camping knife?
Not really. The blade is short, often partially serrated, and awkward to use on food because of the handle shape. Multi-tools and camp knives solve different problems; many campers carry a light knife and a multi-tool rather than choosing.
QWhat weight multi-tool should I carry backpacking?
The light one. Leatherman publishes 5 oz for the Skeletool CX against 8.5 oz for the Wave+, and the Skeletool still has pliers, cutters, a 154CM blade and a bit driver - which covers most of what a multi-tool actually gets used for.
QCan you take a multi-tool in hand luggage?
No. Multi-tools with blades must travel in checked baggage, and confiscation at security is one of the most common ways people lose an expensive one. If you fly to camp, pack it in the hold or leave it at home.
How we picked
Everyone else in this category will tell you they tested twenty of these. We have not tested any of them, and we would rather say so than pretend. There is no gear closet here and no test lab.
What we did instead: pulled the published specifications from each manufacturer's own spec sheet or manual, named the standard behind every rating so you can check what it actually promises, did the arithmetic that turns a spec into a decision, and pulled today's real retail price rather than quoting one from memory. Every pick states a drawback, because a list where nothing is wrong with anything is an advert.
The limits of that method, stated plainly: published specs do not capture zipper quality, seam durability, or how a tent behaves at 2am in a storm. Where that matters, we say so on the pick. The full method is here.
