Believe it or not, love it or hate it, it’s that time of year again. The End, a time to look back and take note of the year’s triumphs, failures and overlooked moments before swinging around in about-face and moving ahead into 2025.
When it comes to multitools, 2024 lacked the star power of 2023. Many big brand names seemed content hanging out in the shadows and releasing simpler updates, customs and added color ways. To be completely honest, many of the startups that stepped up to fill the void proposed tools we’d never actually want to carry, let alone use in the field. Who wants a sharp pry sticking them in the leg the whole hike, only to have its thin, weird, undersized knife come up short on the most basic of cutting tasks?
So how do we put together the year’s best with so few contenders? We open things up and invite in our favorite knife designs. We probably should have done this long ago because one good knife is worth more than a pile of mediocre multitools.
2024 brought some cool knife designs destined to become collector’s items, a redesign of one of the market’s sleekest modern classics, and a few other interesting launches that didn’t overcomplicate things by trying to spawn into uncomfortable multitools that excel at nothing.
All that isn’t to say there were no notable multitools to look back upon fondly. A few set themselves apart with swappable functions, sleek, ultra-portable bodies, and unique features.
In no particular order, here are the standout knives, split-purpose pocket tools and all-out multifunctional gadgets we featured over the course of 2024.
