8 Best Multitools of 2026

The Sidekick is the Wave Plus with the extras trimmed away. You keep the saw, the spring-action pliers, the outside-opening blade, and the 25-year warranty; you lose the scissors, the replaceable cutters, and some of the polish that comes with a more expensive tool.

Nothing that matters for a day outdoors got cut, and that is why we recommend it. The saw takes a fallen branch down to kindling, the spring-action pliers save your hand when you are squeezing again and again — pulling a splinter, holding a nut, bending a stake — and the plain-edge blade opens one-handed. At 3.8 inches closed and 6.88 ounces it slides into a jacket pocket or a pack lid without a thought.

The one practical annoyance is carry: there is no pocket clip, so it is a sheath or the lanyard ring. That suits a pack and frustrates a jeans pocket. Beyond that, the compromises are all in the tool list rather than the build, and the steel, pivots, and lockup feel like the same family as the Wave.

The Huntsman is here for one tool: the wood saw. A hiker who needs to break down a dead branch for a fire gets more from that saw than from any number of screwdriver bits, and it is the reason we reach for this Victorinox over the smaller Classic when a pack is going on.

The rest of the 15 functions are the classic Victorinox set — large blade, scissors, screwdrivers, can opener, tweezers, toothpick — packed into 3.42 ounces and 3.6 inches closed. That is light enough to forget in a hip-belt pocket, and the blade and scissors arrive sharp enough to trim a blister dressing or cut a cord cleanly, which is most of what a day hike actually asks.

It is a folding saw, not a pruning saw: an inch-thick branch is a few strokes, and anything past your wrist takes a while, so plan your firewood accordingly. Where it earns its keep is the small stuff — trimming a strap, cutting cheese and cord, sawing a branch down to size — and it does that with less bulk in a pocket than any plier tool here.

The Classic SD is the multitool that actually gets carried, because it lives on a key ring. At 58 mm and 21 grams it adds nothing you notice to a set of keys, and it is there when a tag needs cutting, a screw on your glasses works loose, or a nail splits.

For that weight you get seven functions: small blade, scissors, nail file, screwdriver, tweezers, toothpick, and the key ring itself. The scissors are the standout — they cut thread, tags, and fingernails without a hunt through a bag — and the blade handles tape and packaging. Both come sharp and stay useful with an occasional touch-up.

The honest limit is size: 58 mm closed means the blade is shorter than most people picture, and it is a key-ring tool rather than a knife for camp chores. As a gift it is the easiest call in this group, small and useful and hard to get wrong, and for plenty of people it is the only multitool they will ever need.

Fifteen tools, spring-action pliers, and a locking blade: the Suspension NXT reads like a lot of tool for the money, and in the hand it mostly delivers. The frame is stainless, the butterfly opening is smooth, and the tools sit in the handles ready for a thumbnail.

Spring-action pliers are the feature we care about most at this end of the market, and having them alongside a blade that arrives sharp and holds a working edge is what earns the NXT its place. Prying a lid, bending a bracket, cutting a zip tie, driving a screw — it does the jobs a multitool is actually asked to do, and the lock keeps the blade where you put it.

Plan on a break-in. The lock tabs take a firm thumb when your hands are cold or greasy, and working every tool open and closed a dozen times when it arrives makes a real difference. Past that, the compromises are the predictable ones at this price, and none of them stopped us using it.

The Truss is the one here that arrives with a sheath and expects to be worn. That sounds minor until you have carried a full-size plier tool loose in a pocket for a day: on a belt it stops being a lump against your thigh and becomes something you can reach with one hand while the other holds a branch.

Seventeen tools, and the camp-relevant ones are all present: a saw, a full serrated blade, scissors, a cross driver, three flatheads, wire cutters and a stripper, plus openers. The serrated blade is the piece we reach for at a campsite — rope, webbing, a stubborn bag of kindling — because it keeps cutting where a plain edge skates on grit.

The weak point is the plier head. This is a tool for squeezing a bent stake or holding a nut, not for cutting fence wire or leaning on a rusted bolt, and stiff wire under a hard squeeze is where it is most likely to let you down. Treat it as a camp and trail tool and it is fine; treat the pliers like a proper pair and you are asking for trouble.

Where it lands for us is the hiker who wants the tool on a belt and does not plan to do any real wrenching. Sheath, saw, serrated blade, and a limited lifetime warranty cover most of what a campsite asks for, and the belt carry means it is with you rather than buried in the pack.

Most cheap multitools hand you a hex sleeve and no bits to put in it. The Mossy Oak ships with a screwdriver bit set and a sheath with an elastic pocket on the front for the spares — the sort of practical detail that decides whether a tool gets used or left in a drawer.

Twenty-one functions, every one of them self-locking, laid out so the tools open without unfolding the pliers first. There is needle-nose pliers with a wire cutter, plain and serrated blades, a wood and metal file, a saw, a ruler, and a bit driver that takes standard bits, so you can add the ones your own work needs.

What you are buying is capability, not refinement. At 454 grams this is a heavy tool, and it belongs in a glovebox, a boat locker, or a workshop drawer rather than a hiking pack, where the bit set spares you a trip back to the toolbox. Judged as a tool that stays somewhere and covers a bit of everything, it is a lot for the money.

The WETOLS and the Mossy Oak are the same idea from different factories: 21 tools in a stainless body, a sheath, and a price at the bottom of this group. The difference that matters is weight — 334 grams against 454 — which makes the WETOLS the easier of the two to keep in a pack.

The tool set covers the same ground: spring-loaded needle-nose pliers, regular pliers, wire cutters, plain and serrated blades, a wood and metal file, a ruler, a hex sleeve, and a sheath. Spring-loaded pliers at this price are worth noting, because they save your hand when the jaws open and close over and over.

It measures 4.13 inches closed and 5.91 inches open, in hardened stainless with a sandblasted handle, and the tools lock. It is a lot of metal for the money, and it is easy to see why it gets sold as a gift: it looks more expensive than it is, and a first-time multitool buyer will not be disappointed.

Where it sits for us is a second tool — the car, the shed, a boat bag — where being a little chunky does not matter and having 21 tools within reach does. It is not as refined as a Leatherman and it will not replace a pocket knife, but as a knockabout spare it earns its place.