You already know by now that we’re huge EDC guys, and some of our favorite EDC items include quality blades and pocket knives. But at the end of the day, we’re all about function over form. A knife might be beautiful and rugged, but what can it do for us? How can it help us when we need it to? What value does it provide? These questions ring especially true in a situation like camping. There are certain features we seek specifically to help make life in the great outdoors easier—things like fire starters, magnifying glasses, can openers, sporks, etc. Here are our 8 favorite pocket knives for camping.
Stainless Steel Multi-Function Pocket Knife Fork Spoon Diner Set
At five bucks, you simply can’t go wrong. But even aside from that, you’re getting a complete dining set, including fork, spoon, knife, can/bottle opener, corkscrew, and reamer with a sewing eye. Reviewers note that the tools definitely aren’t as snappy as a Victorinox (duh), but that the blade is plenty sharp and that the knife does its jobs well. What more can you ask for? $5
Camping Cutlery Tool Set
We love when a company gets things right, and the folks at Gentlemen’s Hardware definitely knocked it out of the park with their Camping Cutlery Tool Set. Rather than make things super bulky in one pocket knife, they made the concerted effort to split the set into two. The fork portion comes with a fold-out corkscrew and bottle opener for your beer and wine, while the spoon features a fold-out blade and file. The knives are all stainless, and are very low key, modern, and sleek. Oh, and they’re dirt cheap! $15
Baladeo MultiFunction Knife “Barrow”
Camping knives don’t necessarily have to be balls-to-the-wall feature-packed. We love Baladé’s Multifunction “Barrow” Knife because it features all the necessities we’d like, without any of the fluff. Some of its 12 functions include a wood saw, blade, pair of scissors, a can and bottle opener, and an LED torch to help you navigate the night. Simple, useful, and very well designed—especially with its $24 price tag. $24
Hobo Eat Kit
What do we really use our camping knives for? You can technically prep and scale a fish or field dress small game with any old pocket knife, and with so many tools out there for starting a fire, it’s hardly necessary that we have one on our knife. The reality is a good camping knife should include all the bare necessities—a blade, a can/bottle opener, and some utensils to help dress, prep, cook, and eat food. The Hobo Eat Kit from Ka-Bar is exactly what you’d expect from Ka-Bar—all of the function, and none of the pomp. This knife comes with only the essentials: A knife, fork, spoon, and bottle/can opener. If you’re trying to cut down on your plastic use, or just want something simple and reliable, this is definitely the kit for you. $28
Outdoor Nation Rescue Survival Knife
Of course, there’s more to surviving in the great outdoors than simply eating. This tactical folding pocket knife won’t help you spoon beans out of the can, but it will help start the fire to get it done. It comes with a firestarter, flint, and a flashlight, along with a 3.5-inch stainless steel cutting blade. The rest of the knife is made using anodized aluminum, which means it’s super lightweight and built to take a beating. The magnetic LED light can work up to 12 hours on a fresh battery, and it also features a convenient belt clip to help keep it close but out of the way. $40
Surviv-All Survival Knife
When you need the toughest of the tough, there’s probably no knife on this list better equipped than the Survival Knife from Surviv-All. It features a high carbon 440 stainless steel drop-point blade, a rubber handle for a sure grip when you need it most, a steel pommel on the bottom for hammering, a cord cutter in the sheath, and a paracord knife handle strap, just in case. This thing is the full package, too, as it even comes with its own knife sharpener. $45
The Muncher by Full Windsor
Depending on how much of a stickler you are, this might not actually count as a camping knife. It makes our list because it’s definitely small enough for pocket carry (although we’d recommend keeping it on a backpack strap or belt loop using the included carabiner) and also features a cutting blade. In addition to the blade, it also includes a spork, can and bottle opener, peeler, fire starter, pry-bar, box cutter, and flathead screwdriver. And it’s also made from 100% aerospace grade titanium. It’s as badass as it gets. $50
Victorinox Swiss Champ
We promised ourselves we wouldn’t turn this into a Swiss Army Knives roundup, but we really, really couldn’t help ourselves with the Swiss Champ. We’re huge fans of this heavyweight knife because even though it fits in your pocket, it still manages to include 33 functions, including a chisel, a hook, a pressurized ballpoint pen, a wood saw, fish scaler, hook disgorger, scissors, pliers, and even a magnifying glass (which really comes in handy when starting a fire). We can’t think of something we’d like to see on a camp knife that isn’t already included here. It definitely isn’t inexpensive, but we think it’s worth its weight in gold. $80
