A camp knife is a single-purpose tool done well: a sharp, sturdy blade for cutting. It slices food, cuts cord, prepares kindling, whittles a tent stake, and handles any job where a clean, controlled cut matters. A good camp knife has a full, comfortable handle and a blade long enough to work with safely, but short enough to control precisely. It does one thing, and it does it better than any other tool in your pack.

A multitool is a collection of small tools built around a blade: pliers, screwdrivers, scissors, a can opener, a saw, and more, all folded into one handle. Its strength is versatility in a small package. It will not cut as well as a dedicated knife, and its pliers will not grip as well as real pliers, but it covers a dozen small jobs that a knife alone cannot, and it does so without adding a whole toolbox to your pack.

On a backpacking trip, every tool competes with food, water, and shelter, so weight matters. A lightweight folding knife can weigh about as much as a small snack, while a full-size multitool can weigh several times that. A fixed-blade camp knife sits somewhere in between, depending on its size and handle material. Before adding either tool, ask what jobs you actually expect to do on this trip, not what jobs you might imagine in a survival fantasy.

For most three-season backpacking trips, the honest answer is that cutting tasks are light: opening food packaging, trimming cord, slicing cheese and sausage, and occasionally cutting a piece of tape or a blister plaster. A small folding knife or the blade on a multitool handles all of that easily. Heavy tasks like batoning wood or building shelter are rare on a normal backpacking trip, and carrying a large knife just in case adds weight you will carry for hundreds of miles and use for minutes.

A dedicated knife wins whenever cutting is the main job and control matters. Preparing food at camp is more pleasant and safer with a proper blade that holds an edge, rather than a short multitool blade that flexes. Cutting cord cleanly, carving a replacement tent peg, or trimming a splint all benefit from a longer, sturdier blade and a handle you can grip firmly with cold or wet hands.

A fixed-blade knife is also easier to clean and maintain in the field, since there are no folding joints to trap dirt and food, and it can be sharpened quickly on a small stone. If your trips regularly involve bushcraft, fishing, or camp cooking from scratch, a dedicated knife is worth its weight. Choose a blade length you can control comfortably, a handle that fits your hand, and a sheath that protects both the blade and your pack.

A multitool wins on trips where small repair and adjustment jobs are likely. Tightening a loose stove fitting, fixing a pair of glasses, opening a can, trimming a nail, pulling a splinter, or repairing a buckle are all jobs a knife cannot do, and a multitool handles them without a separate repair kit. For gear-heavy trips with stoves, trekking poles, and camera equipment, the screwdrivers and pliers alone can justify the weight.

Multitools also shine as a backup. If your main knife is lost or damaged, the multitool blade covers basic cutting until you can replace it. And for hikers who prefer one tool to two, a mid-size multitool with a decent blade is a reasonable compromise: it cuts well enough for camp food and cord, and it brings a workshop of small tools along for the price of one item.

Many experienced backpackers carry a small, light folding knife and leave the multitool at home on short trips, or carry a multitool alone on trips where repairs are more likely than heavy cutting. Carrying both is justified on longer or more remote trips, where self-reliance matters more and the weight penalty is spread over many days. Whichever you choose, keep it sharp, keep it accessible rather than buried at the bottom of your pack, and know the local rules about blade length and carrying knives before you travel. A tool you cannot use legally or cannot reach quickly is not really part of your kit at all.