Hello,

 My name is Dan. Im 14 and I have recently become seriously into walking/climbing/hiking. I feel I need to get a new multitool as my cheap crap one ha given up the ghost. I think that it would be wise to spend good money and get a good one. I can spend up to about £50 max. Could you give me some suggstions please?!?

 Dan

xox

if your on a budget look around for something like a gerber suspension tool, which are normally about £30 to buy.

if not go for a leatherman wave, which is a great tool and slimer in design than the gerber but obviously more expensive. I have seen them new on ebay for about £50.

good luck 

If you know anyone going to the US, it would be worth asking them nicely.

Although the £/$ rate has slipped of late, Leatherman tools are much cheaper over there.  I picked up a Charge TTi for £55 whilst in New York in November.

I agree with Guy.  I have a Leatherman which was given to me as a present, and it goes in the bag for ski touring where the pliers may be handy for bodging field repairs tobindings or the like, but other than that it's more awkward and heavier than a SAK.

SAKs give you a range of options.  Remember that more is not better: get the smallest thing you can that has the tools you want.  I like the mountaineer model, smallest with the stuff I want which is a decent main blade, scissors, screwdriver (for adjusting tension on flicklock poles) bottle opener, can opener and corkscrew, and the last 3 of those are irrelevant if you're not camping.  In fact, outside of camping trips I'd question the degree to which they're worth carrying at all (though I do have one of the tiny ones in my First Aid kit for scissors and a good blade).  I actually won a Swiss Champ in a "letter of the month" thing, but sold it on: all it did for me more than my smaller, cheaper knife was weigh more and take up more space.

The real thing worth paying for in a multi-tool or multi-blade knife is a good quality steel blade.  You certainly get that with Victorinox and Leatherman, but how often do you find a need for the various tools on offer?

Pete. 

Not needing a big multitool, I went for the Gerber Short, and find the fold-out scissors very useful for getting into food parcels and cutting tape/patches. link

I then got the lighter Leatherman Squirt S4. It is essentially the same, but is smaller and lighter. The tweasers come out completely, and the blade seems sharper. Okay, so it is better than the Gerber, but I like the action on the Gerber, it feels solid.

Probably not what your after, but I had a bigger unit from Drapers and it weighed a ton, and I hardly used it. The lightweight unit stays on by pocket cord-kit, along with torch, firelighter, whistle, and backup torch.

Thanks

 Do you reckon that I would be better off with a locknife or something like that? The reason that I thought about the Multitools was because I always seem to be in a barren place, not too barren, with an inadiquite tool to do the job I need to do. I understand your points though and see what you meen as most of the most expensive ones come with lots of sizes of the same tool. While I have been waiting for your responese to my post I have been looking at the web and alot of american websites, that post to the uk, have tools for up to half the price of them in the uk. does anyone have any experiances in the matter, reccomendations of shops, or tools that are good and within my £50 price limit

Dan

xoxox

If you're ordering stuff from the US, I've had great experiences with newgraham.com for knives and the like. For delivery to the UK, the Global Priority postage option works out cheapest. If you don't see it as an option, just ask-they are most helpful!

 Multitoolwise, I have a SOG Paratool and a Leatherman Squirt P4, which both fill different roles. The Squirt is way stronger than it looks and is light enough that I actually bother carrying it. Squirt was cheap (new) from ebay.

 If you're after knives (which your parents will obviously be buying for you as you're under 16), I'd wholeheartedly recommend a Spyderco, probably a Delica would fulfill your needs.

Just a note of caution, (maybe OVER caution) but being the age that you are, I think you need to be very careful what you carry in a public place.

Given the high profile cases involving knives, I would caution against carrying one.

It is difficult enough a full blown adult justifying carrying such a blade these days, let alone a 14 year old.

British Transport Police for example are paranoid about "weapons" being carried and can stop and search and arrest you for carrying one if you are travelling by train or tube for example.

If you are going to "tool up," I would strongly recommmend you take a multi tool type device with you, as it is much easier to justify carrying one than a knife, especially at your age!

i would second tony's comments wholeheartedly.

I have only every carried a knife when I need one and i dont feel the need to carry one in public. If i am carrying a knife in public I always make sure it isnt on my person, so I can say I wasnt using it in an offensive way, and put it in a wash bag or something of the sort which i wont need to take out until im in a less public place, of prefferably in the middle of nowhere. Thanks for the note though and I am always glad when there is someone who put safty first. Thanks!!!

Dan

XoXooXxO

Good advice Tony. IIRC, some chap in London was done for carrying a multitool in his briefcase on the Tube last year. Army colonel, if my poor memory serves.

Totally depends on what you want it for. I don't know what climbers normally carry, but I was brought up on a standard scout knife, and it took me a while to get out of the habit of thinking that I needed one for hiking. Then I found a folding pocket knife did me for most tasks, but the abovementioned multitools served for a long distance walk.

But I don't go ski-ing or snow-shoeing, so don't feel the need for pliers. Nor hacksaws to cut wood, and big blades to whittle, or skin rabbits.

ref Tony Bonds last post.....

He is indeed right in what he says and i would err on the side of caution.

As long as it is not a lock knife pursay. Has less than a 3 inch bladed and can be folded way  and it's in your rucksack when travelling i.e not in your pocket or immeadiate possession, then you should be ok.

 the problem you've got against you is your age. And if your under sixteenyou cant even purchase one anyway

 I would under the circumstances, buy a multitool not a knife.

As a mulitool is not really covered in any legislation as such but you will need to make sure the above rules apply to the bladed part of the multitool.

hope this helps. if you need to i can cover more of the legislation and acts but i dont intend to bore you with that stuff. Thats unless you want me to of course

Do you reckon that I would be better off with a locknife or something like that? The reason that I thought about the Multitools was because I always seem to be in a barren place, not too barren, with an inadiquite tool to do the job I need to do

Well, let's start with what exactly are the jobs you need to do?  Walking and climbing I don't usually find much use for a knife etc. except cutting up plasters or tape, and that doesn't need anything fancy.  If I'm camping I'll use a knife for food preparation, and the can and bottle openers come in there too.  A few things have a basic screwdriver handy.

For any of those a lock-knife is a little better than a non-locking knife, but it frankly doesn't make much difference as none of them are exactly pushing the boat out in blade capability.  But a locking blade will add to the cost.

Given the high profile cases involving knives, I would caution against carrying one. It is difficult enough a full blown adult justifying carrying such a blade these days, let alone a 14 year old.

I think this is going too far: if you're going out hiking and climbing then you've a perfectly reasonable reason for carrying a small multi-blade knife.  If you're going camping then even more so.  If you really want to do GBH to someone then (a) you're much better off in town where there's a supply of victims and (b) there are much better tools than a pen knife with a 3" blade available in practically every kitchen or toolbox in the country.  And the police are well aware of that and aren't going to be shaking down wild campers in the back of beyond.

Pete. 

Pete,

The point I was making is that you still have to travel to and from the "back of beyond," so that could leave you open to be stopped and searched. Indeed the Army Colonel that Duncan referred to was arrested and charged with carrying an offiensive weapon which was nothing more than a credit card multi tool. (Overly zealous BTP yes - but he was still convicted!)

Imagine that a 14 year old was travelling past a football ground on a Saturday to get to the hills. He might well get stopped and would the Police worry about the "excuses" given in those circumstances? I very much doubt it.

It also means nothing where abouts on the "person" a knife is carried, stop and search powers sort that out.

I did admit that it might be "over cautious" to mention this, but I do think it is folly for a 14 year old to carry a knife in this current political climate.

Common sense should indeed prevail, but when has that ever stopped an over zealous bobby?

By that logic it should be completely impossible for anyone to buy a decent carving knife at a branch of Debenhams, located inconveninetly as they are in major population centres... 

You've just got to turn your brain on and not give anyone a reason to search you, and even if they do then the posession of everything you need for a day's hiking plus parents/guardians who are well aware where therir son is going and willing to vouch for him should be all that is required.

For goodness' sake, you can do far more damage with a broken bottle, or a box of matches and a gas bottle for a camping stove.  The reason to not carry a pocket knife is it isn't actually that useful for the most part, not because people are paranoid.  If you have a good reason to carry a knife (and if you're camping you certainly do, as you have your kitchen with you) then it is legal and reasonable to carry one.

Pete.