I'm looking at alternatives to my skeletool for pocket carry. I live in Europe and lots of places a knife blade is iffy at best to have on you. Lots of sites have security checks etc. All I really use the knife in my skeletool for is opening amazon boxes and those devious clear plastic packages. I was thinking something like a credit card size or smaller, or even a pry bar type thing with a sharp hook for opening packages, maybe getting through a seat belt or clothing in an emergency. I might also carry a bit driver and my 100mm knipex pliers and I'll have the functionality of the skeletool in a travel friendly package.
Which part of Europe you live in ? Not same laws all over the EU. F.e. in my country (Italy) ALL blades are forbidden to carry, doesn't matter dimensions.
I'm in Italy as well. I thought there was a blade length limit (2"?). I don't know. I'm in Naples, we seem to get away with most anything down here compared to Northern Italy. So maybe a knife-less pocket tool that can open packages is in my future.
Would a tool with a retractable replaceable razor blade be allowed, because that would probably work best? Because you mention credit card, there are some multitool cards that have sharpened edges that work pretty good. I have an MRF Universal 3.0 that has several built in tools including a “knife”. I also have a CRKT K.E.R.T and a MyKee that might meet your needs. You could also take your favorite one piece tool with a pry tip and sharpen one corner. One of the best non-knife box openers I have came like that, but is no longer made.
No sort of blade admitted if you don't have a weapon's carry license, doesn't matter about the length. Sorry to say, but this is our (strange) law. About Naples... i don't know, i've never been so South...
Maybe a Victorinox Swiss Army Jetsetter? No blade. https://www.swissarmy.com/ca/en/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Small-Pocket-Knives/Jetsetter/p/0.6263
For a pliers based multi-tool, I recommend the Leatherman Style PS. It is tiny compared to most pliers based tools, but the pliers are still quite useful. The scissors are serviceable for cutting tape on packages, and have pointed tips great for poking holes in plastic packaging/cardboard/leather, etc. but can't handle large scale jobs. There is also a nail file/screwdriver that can be used for light prying. For a prytool, I'd recommend the County Comm widgy bars. Mine has enough of a hard corner on the pry tip to easily push/rip through tape and thinner cardboard. Be advised the larger ones could be imagined to be a weapon by extremely strict people. There are many other similar 2-4 inch baby prybars out there. As mentioned above, the CRKT KERT, a mass produced version of the Raker Ring Tool, is great for keychain carry. I carried one in a school for years, it's perfect for cutting the straps that secure copy paper boxes. It does kind of need to be on a keychain or lanyard to give you a better grip. I have a SOG baton Q1, it's a Pen based multi-tool with scissors and a pry/screw/opener tool. Not for heavy duty jobs, but it'll take care of cutting tape and lighter duty packaging. The classic can opener tools, the P-38 and P-51 can openers can also be used to rip tape on packaging and are so small no one would think they were dangerous. Nite-Ize has a few prytool options that seem good for opening packaging.
I don't want to encourage braking the law, but some laws are so badly implemented that they don't deserve our respect. In my country there is a general prohibition against carrying any type of knife in public. There are however some very vague exceptions. What this basically means is that we carry the knives we need and try to stay out of trouble. Yesterday someone liked a post I made some time ago, and it reminded me that the Maratac keyring flat head tool (Link), or a similar device, might be something that could work for you. You can read the post here: Workplace Kno Knife Policy
@zimm i live close to Milan, and i feel you about knives carry. So maybe you can consider a bladeless multitool like some leathermans, or buy a plier based multitool and swap the blade to another tool to build yourself the perfect bladeless mt for your needs.. https://www.leatherman.com/knifeless-rebar-465.html
To open boxes- just use the teeth in a key. For clamshells and so on, carry some folding or pocket-friendly scissors (suggests the guy who is generally broke and hates to carry additional weight if he can avoid it.)
Well I found out we're moving from Italy to Japan. They're even worse- no knife blades AT ALL. So it looks like I'll need basically a TSA compliant multitool. The style PS looks like just like my Skeletool but with scissors instead of blade but I wish it kept the bit driver. Or I suck it up and get that little SA jetsetter.
I flew internationally with the Swiss+ Tech key for years. I had forgotten that it was on my keychain. It came in handy one day for opening a couple of blister packs. Sent from my LG-V520 using Tapatalk
You could always try getting a modified (or modding your own) SAK. I have a bladeless Climber that I found on ebay. After reading some “how-to”s, I am thinking about attempting to make a bladeless Explorer or some other variation maybe with the metal file.
For those stubborn plastic packages I've found small side cutters to be surprisingly useful e.g. Knipex 70 15 110
