PETZL Spatha, Yellow, UNI

Product Information

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 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. 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

Two ways to open the blade: with the notch in the blade if bare handed, or with the textured wheel when wearing gloves. All four knives have clip-in points and/or lanyard attachment points. The Spatha and Rope Tooth can be opened while clipped to a carabiner, but the Piranha and NIAD cannot. Size, Weight, & Intended Use Although it has the longest blade of any knife in our test, the plastic handle is shorter than the Spatha’s and has no texture for grip. It’s still more versatile than the emergency knives, but it’s not reassuring during all-around use. Royal Mail will ask to see a valid photo identification if the recipient appears to be under 25, in line with the 'UK Challenge 25' policy, and a signature will be required upon delivery. Due to the size and nature of some items, we're unable to despatch them via our usual delivery services.The only real downside to the NIAD is the price. It’s by far the most expensive climbing knife in our test. 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. For emergency knives, the choice comes down to price. The NIAD is significantly more expensive, but offers slightly better performance in a more usable design. The Piranha isn’t quite as user-friendly, but it’s a decent performer at a wallet-friendly price. How We Tested The Rope Tooth’s unpredictable ways made for a slightly dangerous test. For a relatively cheap knife by good knife standards I'd recommend a spyderco serrated delica, VG-10 - though any VG-10 sypderco will be good. Unless you need to carve, serrated is pretty good. There's more cutting area, and even when relatively blunt they still act like a saw. Not to mention serrated cuts through things so much faster than plain edges. I suspect you'll lose the knife before you need to sharpen it, though. You can open delicas very fast with one hand, too. One handed opening is important.

Half straight/half serrated blade is nearly 3 inches long, making it useful for more scenarios than many of the shorter knives on this list.Full-length knives (Spatha and Rope Tooth) use plastic handles that also function as a sheath when the knife is closed. The handles are still compact, but they allow for an easier and more familiar grip.

The greatest asset of the Piranha is its price. As of this writing it ties the Edelrid for the cheapest in the test and is less than half the price of the NIAD. For comparable emergency performance, that’s a good value.Most remarkable was the sheer cutting power: the Spatha sliced through most varieties of webbing in just one or two strokes. The other two (the CRKT NIAD and Trango Piranha) are small, ultralight emergency knives with metal handles and no sheath. It’s combination straight and serrated long 2.75 inch blade makes it useful for any scenario you might encounter. Like the NIAD, it has a small divot at the base of the blade to allow you to pinch the knife as you cut. The handle is even shorter than that of the NIAD, which means that for those of us with large hands, only the first two fingers can grip the handle. The Rope Tooth is cheaper than the Spatha, but in this case the extra money is well worth spending. With such serious flaws, we think the Rope Tooth is poor value even at for how cheap it is. Summary