Multitool Giant Enters the Fixed Market

There are few companies in the outdoor industry whose brand has become synonymous with a product like Leatherman. I don’t know that we can say that the company invented the multi-tool. However, they for darn sure put that product niche on the map. And now, Leatherman enters the dedicated knife market with two folders and three fixed blades. Let’s take a look at two of the fixed blades.

Leatherman Fixed Blades

Recently, Leatherman began dipping a toe into the knife market. The company released two folders and three fixed blades. After agonizing a bit over the choices, I settled on the Trac and the Rustle.

I’ve had both knives for about a month now and have used them each extensively. Let’s look at the knives themselves, then get into what I liked and what I see as opportunities for improvement.

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Leatherman Rustle

I’ve done my fair share of backpacking trips as well as survival treks, sleeping in a lean-to, and such. I’ve earned the right to sleep in a nice tent on an air mattress if I want to do so. Among the luxuries car camping allows is an assortment of kitchenware. That’s where the Rustle comes into play.

I like the idea of having at least one knife set aside exclusively for food prep if we’re car camping. Sure, virtually any knife can be used to slice peppers and sausage. But field knives are often a bit thicker than I’d like for such purposes.

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Leatherman designed the Rustle to be the ideal food prep knife for outdoor use. Think of it as a chef’s knife for rustic meals. It features a MagnaCut Santoku-style blade with G10 handle scales. It runs 8.3 inches overall, with a 4-inch blade. It’s a slim knife, with the handle only 0.5-inch thick. The Rustle comes equipped with a sturdy Kydex sheath. There are three colorways available.

• Evergreen G10 handle with blaze orange Kydex sheath
• Alpine G10 handle with deep green Kydex sheath
• Vapor Grey G10 handle with black Kydex sheath

Rustle Pros and Cons

A Santoku blade profile is a great choice for the Rustle. This is a kitchen knife, after all. The Santoku style excels with slicing and dicing, as well as push cuts. MagnaCut works well in this application because it won’t dull before you finish prepping the evening meal. When it’s time to eat in camp, people don’t want to wait for you to sharpen your knife.

I used the Rustle for a few meals at home, trimming chicken breasts, slicing peppers, and whatnot. At the outset, I was concerned about the lack of texture on the G10 handle scales. They’re pretty smooth. Interestingly, they became quite grippy when wet, allowing for a confident and secure grip. The blade’s edge was like a laser beam, cutting through everything I put in front of it.

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A Kydex sheath makes sense for the Rustle. As a food prep knife, it’s likely to get wet a lot, and the Kydex won’t retain that moisture or hold it against the blade for long periods.

Honestly, the Rustle would make an excellent kitchen knife for home use and for camp. If you go that route, you can store the knife in the sheath and leave it in a drawer until it’s needed. In fact, that’s exactly where and how my Rustle is going to be stored. It’s earned a permanent place in my kitchen. I’m the family chef, so I get to make those sorts of executive decisions.

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The biggest drawback of the Rustle is the sticker shock. With an MSRP of $280, it’s toward the high end for a camp chef knife. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a kitchen knife with this sort of quality any cheaper than that. So, it’s actually a good balance overall.

Leatherman Trac

The Trac is Leatherman’s offering as a field knife. It has a full-tang MagnaCut drop-point blade with a hollow-ground edge. Paired with G10 handle scales, it’s perfectly suited for rough-and-tumble outdoor use.

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The Trac is 8.93 inches long, with a blade length of 4.2 inches. The blade is about 1.25 inches high. Along the spine, there’s about 2.5 inches of jimping. It weighs 6.4 ounces, or about the same as a softball. It’s available in three handle colors: Jet Black, Earth Brown, or Alpine.

The Trac comes with a very well-made leather sheath. It is vegetable-tanned, hand-stitched, full-grain cowhide, and is equipped with a snap closure to secure the knife. It can be carried vertically on the left or right side, or horizontally (scout carry). All three handle iterations come with the same leather sheath.

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Trac Pros and Cons

In the last few weeks, I’ve used the Trac for carving and feathersticking, cutting cordage, tearing apart cardboard boxes, and similar chores. The knife has a great balance, and the handle is comfortable. It’s a little thin, around 0.6-inch, but not so thin that it’s awkward to hold and use.

The edge was very sharp at unboxing, and it retained that edge throughout the testing. That wasn’t much of a surprise, given that we’re talking about MagnaCut.

The Trac really hits the sweet spot for size when it comes to a field knife. There’s plenty of blade there for just about anything you could reasonably want a knife to do when you’re out and about. At the same time, it’s not so large that it feels clumsy to carry around.

I’m not a fan of the jimping on the Trac. When I was doing some carving with the knife and applying pressure to the spine with my thumb, it got really uncomfortable really fast. Had I been wearing gloves, it probably wouldn’t have been an issue at all. There were no other issues with the blade’s performance, though.

The Trac is 100% made in the U.S.A., as is the Rustle. However, the Trac’s leather sheath bears a sticker indicating that it was made in Mexico. Now, this isn’t a deal breaker for me, but it did strike me as odd. A bigger issue with the sheath is how the knife fits into it. The edge of the blade cuts into the welt. This is disappointing, given how well-made the sheath is.

The Trac retails for $300. That’s not too far out of line for MagnaCut steel and a high-quality, handmade leather sheath. But by the same token, for that price, the sheath should fit better.

Leatherman’s First Fixed Blades Make a Strong Showing

Overall, I was more impressed with the Rustle than the Trac. Neither is a bad knife by any stretch. But the Trac just didn’t dazzle me the way I’d hoped it would. It’ll get some trail time, but it likely won’t be the first knife I reach for when we’re headed out for an adventure. The Rustle, though, will definitely live in my kitchen and see daily use.

Leatherman Trac Specs

Leatherman Rustle Specs

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