The blade features a combination straight and serrated edge which is good for slicing through various materials. When it came to cutting both mono and braided line I found the blade sharp enough to easily cut through both, but unlike scissors it was more difficult to make precision cuts after tying knots. The needlenose pliers have built in wire cutters and while they do a great job cutting through traditional wiring they are not effective for slicing through thin diameter material like fishing line.

Just as you might expect from a Leatherman product the Skeletool is able to offer something extra, something that traditional pliers cannot, and that would be the inclusion of a screwdriver with exchangeable bits. These proprietary bits are flat and double sided and there are ¼ in and 3/6in as well as a Phillips #1 and #2 heads. There is plenty of attention to detail here and each head is also labeled. One of the bits locks into the non-carabineer end of the pliers while the other bit is held in place with pressure in the other handle. I was a bit worried that the extra bit would fall out but the metal pressure strip does a commendable job holding it place, no matter how much you swing the tool around.

Durability: During tests we deliberately dropped the Skeletool from a height of five feet on the decks of our boats, on concrete flooring in our lab and rocky creek beds, and through it all, besides a few cosmetic scratches, the tool continues to perform as advertised.

The combo knife does require sharpening over time but we found the blade to be reasonably wear resistant and very corrosion resistant. The blade makes use of 420HC stainless steel which is a grade commonly used in knife making. This stainless steel can be sharpened to a fine cutting edge and has fair toughness. In comparison D2 stainless steel is a little bit tougher but not nearly as corrosion resistant and 154CM to offer an excellent balance. If used in saltwater environments it is a still a good habit to rinse the blade and the entire tool with freshwater after use.

Price & Applications: Leatherman products are typically pretty reasonably priced and the Skeletool retails for $54.99. The Skeletool comes backed with a 25 year warranty and the stainless steel construction is built to last. There is no question this is a useful tool but just how useful is it for anglers? While I found the Skeletool excellent for applications like hiking, camping and as an emergency tool in the car, when it came to fishing applications only some of the tools were really valuable. The fact that the Skeletool can fold down so compact is excellent in terms of portability but when deployed the needlenose pliers are a little short, and at times I found it difficult to unbutton fish that were deeply hooked. The addition of a pair of scissors would have been very useful for cutting braid, and while the knife was able to slice through braid it was not always easy to make precise cuts.

Conclusion: With a number of useful tools that can help you get out of a tough situation the Skeletool delivers a lot of flexibility in a compact and lightweight package. The Skeletool makes for a very good emergency tool but when it comes to angling this tool is probably best used by backcountry anglers versus bass fishermen which have more application specific requirements.