Multi-Tool or Pocket Knife For EDC?

If you’re like most gear loving guys, you seem to accumulate more and more EDC gear with every year that passes. So you start out with your wallet, keys, phone, pocket knife and/or multi-tool and at some point, this all starts to be a bit much. This is especially true if you are a CCW holder. Between all the regular stuff you carry plus adding you CCW gear into the mix, it all adds up and it can start to be quite a lot for some people to carry with them all day. When one day you ask yourself; Is having all this gear necessary? 

The real question: What’s better for EDC, a pocket knife or a multi-tool? The quick answer is if you can handle the extra size and weight of a multi-tool and the knife blade is heavy enough to perform the cutting tasks you require, go with the multi-tool. 

The full answer is more involved. There are several factors that need consideration. 

• The Cost to Benefit Ratio
• Size and Weight Constraints
• The Blades: Compare and Contrast
• Form Factor
  

The Cost To Benefit Ratio

There are a couple of different things to consider when figuring the cost to benefit ratio of carrying a multi-tool vs a knife or vice versa.  The cost is not the intrinsic value but the cons of one over the other and the benefit is the pros of one over the other.

One of the first things to consider is what tools are you using most often and why. If you are a ranch hand and you find yourself needing wire cutters and pliers to mend fences and a knife for cutting twine then the proper high-quality multi-tool would serve you well. If the ranch hand only carried a knife then he would need three separate tools, his knife, wire cutters, and pliers to perform the same tasks.

Or if you are in construction and you use a knife to cut bundled materials or plastic wrap frequently and don’t need additional tools then a good pocket knife is the best choice. It doesn’t make any sense for the construction worker to carry a big bulky 12oz multi-tool with 21 tools if they are only going to use the knife blade or the occasional pliers or wire cutters. This is where a minimalist type multi-tool comes in handy.  

Now let’s say you are a backpacker and you find yourself hiking many miles with a heavy loadout. Then you would be very conscious of the cost to benefit ratio and you would really take stock of what each is worth.

For instance, people who backpack or ruck over vast distances have an old saying; Ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain. The more an item weights you down or inhibits your movement, the more you have to really consider its worth. A folding knife alone does not offer the versatility of a carefully chosen multi-tool. Backpackers or hikers need a multi-tool that offers a lot of features in a reasonably small, light package and many carry larger fixed blade knives for heavy-duty cutting and utility work. This leads us to our next topic.

Size And Weight Constraints

For many people, it’s really not practical to carry a multi-tool and a pocket knife at the same time. If pocket room allows I personally prefer to carry both but my work attire does not allow me the necessary room to carry both, so most days I just carry my Leatherman Charge+ TTI. For some people, carrying a full-size multi-tool in their pocket is just not feasible. This is where carrying something smaller like a pocket knife becomes more desirable, but there is an alternative.

If you still want to have some tools, there are a couple of great options from Leatherman. The Skeletool with a decent knife and a total of seven tools in a 5 ounces package and the Freestyle with five tools weighing in at 4.5 ounces. You would be hard-pressed to find more capable options in their weight class. As with most multi-tools, the knives are still relatively small and don’t provide the heft that I prefer for heavy cutting.

(Click Here to Check Out My Favorite Lightweight Multi-Tools For EDC)

When it comes to multi-tools you will find that its all about compromise. Unfortunately, when trying to fit so many different tools into such a relatively small package, compromises have to be made. The multi-tool is, for the lack of a better term, the Jack of all trades, master of none.  It can do many things but when compared to its full-sized counterparts it just cannot perform at the same level. Especially when it comes to the knife. For example, the needle-nose pliers on the Leatherman Charge and Wave are great for needle nose pliers but don’t function as well as regular pliers.

As knife blades go, in order for a multi-tool knife to compete with at full side pocket knife blade, the multi-tool would have to be much thicker and would have a reduced tool count to allow for room to stow the blade in the closed position. 

The Knife Blades: Compare and Contrast

Another thing to take into consideration is how much will you be asking of your knife blade. As discussed in the previous section the size of a good knife would directly affect the number of tools and/or the overall size and weight.

The knife blades on multi-tools are designed to perform a variety of tasks but are usually very thin and lightweight compared to a good pocket knife.  This is okay for light and medium-duty cutting but for heavy-duty cutting tasks a thicker, heavier blade is more desirable.

For an EDC pocket knife, I prefer something with a 3.5″ to 4′ blade. Depending on your local and state laws, blade length can be a deal-breaker. Most multi-tools generally have blades around 3 inches give or take, which makes them okay in most freedom loving states.

(Click here to check out my Recommended Tools page: Favorite EDC Knives)

Form Factor

What is, form factor? It’s a term I use, to sum up, all of the different attributes that make up a piece of EDC gear or EDC system. Form factor takes into consideration several things:

• Size and Weight
• Shape
• Features
• How It Feels In The Hand
• How It Stores/Carries
• How Well It Serves Its Intended Purpose
• How It Interfaces With The Rest Of Your Gear

Unfortunately, figuring, form factor can be very subjective. So in this discussion when we are talking about multi-tools and knives it is really personal preference. For some people like myself carrying a full-sized multi-tool and a 4″ folding knife is not a problem but to someone else just squeezing a 2.5″ folding knife into their EDC is a chore in itself.  With the vast number of multi-tools and knives in all different sizes and with endless feature options available today finding the right one for you is easier than ever. 

Other Considerations

For those of us in the United States, we have something else to consider when deciding which to carry. If you are a responsibly armed citizen it is paramount that you retain control of your firearm at all times. Having some sort of weapon retention tools and skills is just as important for your safety as carrying a firearm in the first place. I feel if someone open carries, whether by choice or per the laws of their state, having a larger folding knife for weapon retention is almost a must.  Click here to check out my Favorite EDC Knives 

Conclusion

There are many things to consider when deciding what to carry in your EDC system.  For some, this will be an easy choice and for others, it takes hours of research to find the right combination of gear. I still think that if you can have both it will give you more options. So I will leave you with the words I live by, I’m sure you’ve heard it before, the old saying, I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. If you are looking to have your cake and eat it too.

Click here to check out my Recommended Tools Page – Best Lightweight’s For EDC