Although designed mainly for slicing through ropes, tat and cordage, the Petzl Spatha will make light work of salami and those hard alpine cheeses! Long, heavy-duty blade with fiberglass, nylon, and rubber handle makes for a great long-lasting knife for multiple uses. A little industrial research reveals that the Spatha uses the highest-quality steel of the bunch. It’s sharp and versatile, but should hold up well to long-term use and resharpening.

The Petzl Spatha Knife is a specially designed climbers knife designed for cutting rope and cord and features a hold for a carabiner. Two ways to open the blade: with the notch in the blade if bare handed, or with the textured wheel when wearing gloves. Lighter than many of the knife options on this list, yet comes with nine different tools–including screwdrivers, scissors, knife blade, and pliers. All in all, the Spatha wowed testers. It’s not the cheapest in the test, but we still consider it a bargain. Best Ultralight Emergency Knife: CRKT NIAD Smaller blades (Piranha and NIAD) are less friendly for general use. While the full-length blades have both serrated and un-serrated sections, the shorter blades are almost entirely serrated. That’s great for cutting cord but less adaptable to other tasks.

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White Glove Delivery is available on many lawnmowers & other highlighted products and is offered free to customers within a 30-mile radius of our showroom. Learn more. Surrounding the clip-in point is a textured plastic wheel that allows for easy manipulation with climbing gloves, removing the worry of slicing open a mitt. This bladed product is not for sale to people under the age of 18. You may be required to provide proof of your age before we can send you this product. See details. While it’s heavier than the CRKT NIAD by 26 grams (less than the weight of a typical wiregate carabiner), having a true handle means that the Spatha is much more usable for everyday and camp tasks. And although the Rope Tooth’s blade is a hair longer, the Spatha has a slightly longer handle, which helps it sit securely in larger hands.

If you don’t need to trim every gram, consider the Petzl Spatha. The penalties are slim, adding less than an ounce of weight and a couple inches of size. In exchange, you get the very best performance in a design that works just as well as a camp knife. The NIAD and Piranha are probably smaller than your car key. Budget A good balance of weight and blade length with a reasonable price makes this our all-around best climbing knife. Notch in the blade helps you open it with bare hands while the textured wheel allows you to open it with gloves on. Trango also sells the Trango Shark, which combines a nut tool with the Piranha. We’ve tested the Shark as well; you can read our review of it in our guide to the best nut tools. Edelrid Rope Tooth

Our Verdict

When unfolded, the NIAD was an excellent performer in the cutting tests, bested only by the Petzl. A small divot at the base of the blade provides a place for the index finger to nest, which allows a surprisingly secure grip for such a small blade. The other three knives all cut through a standard 18mm sling in under ten seconds. The Rope Tooth took more than a minute and a half. The serrated blade seemed both dull and prone to snags, and it required far more energy to cut through even thin material.