Opinel No.08 Folding Knife
Opinel
1.6 oz, 3.35 in blade, Virobloc lock. The cheapest thing here that cuts properly.
$15.83 · Check price on Amazon
#ad how this is funded · price as of October 23, 2026
Knife vs Multi-Tool for Camping: Which One Earns Its Pocket Space
A multi-tool does eighteen things adequately. A knife does one thing well and weighs a fifth as much. Which is right depends on whether anything at your campsite has screws in it.
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The short answer
The short answer
Backpacking, or if you mostly cut food and cord: take the knife. Car camping with a vehicle, a stove, poles and a family: take the multi-tool, because the pliers are what you will actually reach for. The tiebreaker is whether anything you brought has a screw, a wire or a stuck fitting in it.
Compared on published numbers
| Opinel No.08 | Victorinox Huntsman | Leatherman Wave+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | folding knife | Swiss Army knife | multi-tool |
| Weight | 1.6 oz | not published on the page we read | 8.5 oz |
| Blade length | 3.35 in / 8.5 cm | not published | 2.9 in / 7.37 cm |
| Tools | 1 | 15 | 18 |
| Pliers | no | no | yes |
| Lock | Virobloc rotating collar | not published | locking tools |
| Warranty | not published | not published | 25 years |
The weight column is the whole argument on one axis: 1.6 oz against 8.5 oz. The Wave+ is more than five times the knife, and on a pack that is a real decision. In a car it is nothing.
What the knife does better
- It cuts better. A dedicated blade has a longer, thinner, better-supported edge. The Opinel's 3.35 in beats the Wave+'s 2.9 in, and a full handle beats gripping folded pliers.
- It weighs nothing. 1.6 oz is inside the noise on any packing list.
- It sharpens easily. One flat bevel on a simple steel. Multi-tool blades are short and awkward to hold against a stone — see how to sharpen a knife at camp.
- It costs little. Losing an Opinel is annoying; losing a Wave+ hurts.
What the multi-tool does better
Pliers, mostly. Everything else on a multi-tool is a bonus; the pliers are the reason to carry one. A stuck tent pole ferrule, a bent stake, a hot pot lid, a broken zipper pull, a stove jet — all of those are plier problems and none of them are knife problems.
Then scissors, which cut tape and dressings far better than any blade, and a driver for the screws in a lantern, a camp chair or a roof rack. The Wave+ publishes outside-accessible blades, meaning you can open the knife without unfolding the tool, which removes the main daily annoyance of the format.
The Victorinox Huntsman sits between the two: 15 tools including scissors and a saw at a weight far closer to a knife, with no pliers. For a lot of campers it is the honest answer to this whole page.
A repair kit beats both for the failures that end trips
Neither tool fixes the things that actually go wrong: a torn tent fly, a punctured pad, a snapped pole, a delaminated boot sole. Those need tape, patches, a pole splint and cord. Carry the small kit in camp gear repair kit essentials and treat the knife or multi-tool as the thing that helps you use it, not as the fix itself.
Steel, and the one maintenance rule
Opinel publishes two options: XC90 carbon or Sandvik 12C27 stainless. Carbon takes a keener edge and rusts if you put it away damp; stainless is more forgiving and slightly harder to sharpen. For camping, where knives get used on wet food and left in a pocket, stainless is the lower-maintenance choice.
The rule either way: dry it before it goes in the bag. The Opinel's beech handle also swells when soaked, which can jam the blade shut until it dries — a known quirk, not a fault.
So which should you buy?
| If this is you | Carry |
|---|---|
| Backpacking, counting ounces | the folding knife |
| Cutting food, cord and packaging | the folding knife |
| Car camping with a vehicle and a family | the multi-tool |
| Anything you own has screws or a stuck fitting | the multi-tool |
| You want one tool for both | a Swiss Army knife with scissors and a saw |
| First aid is a real consideration | whichever has scissors |
For most households, the honest setup is a cheap folding knife in the kitchen box and a multi-tool in the car, because they are solving different problems in different places. The full fields are in best camping knives and best multi-tools for camping.
The gear this page points to
Leatherman Wave+ Multi-Tool
Leatherman
18 tools at 8.5 oz with outside-accessible blades. You are buying the pliers.
$129.90 · Check price on Amazon
#ad how this is funded · price as of October 23, 2026
Victorinox Huntsman Swiss Army Knife
Victorinox
15 tools including scissors and a saw, without the plier weight. The middle answer.
$46.39 · Check price on Amazon
#ad how this is funded · price as of October 23, 2026
Questions people actually ask
QDo I need a knife or a multi-tool for camping?
A knife if you are backpacking or mostly cutting food and cord; a multi-tool if you are car camping with a vehicle, a stove and poles. The deciding question is whether anything you brought has a screw, a wire or a stuck fitting, because those are plier jobs a knife cannot do.
QIs a multi-tool blade as good as a real knife?
No. The Leatherman Wave+ publishes a 2.9 in blade against the Opinel No.08's 3.35 in, and you grip folded pliers instead of a proper handle. It cuts adequately; a dedicated knife cuts better and is far easier to sharpen.
QWhat is the lightest option?
The folding knife by a wide margin. Opinel publishes 1.6 oz for the No.08 against Leatherman's 8.5 oz for the Wave+, more than five times the weight. On a backpacking list that is a real difference; in a car it is irrelevant.
QCarbon or stainless steel for a camping knife?
Stainless for most campers. Opinel offers XC90 carbon, which takes a keener edge but rusts if stored damp, or Sandvik 12C27 stainless, which is more forgiving of wet food and a pocket. Either way, dry the blade before it goes in the bag.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from a published source. We have not tested this gear, so the numbers are the manufacturer's or the standard body's, not ours. How we research.