Leatherman Signal

Why we like it: We can now add fire to the things a multitool can do.

Surviving with just a knife is super hard, even for the super tough. Our advice: Take all the help you can get. The Spark delivers key assists by adding survival gear (whistle and ferro rod) for when your skills aren’t up to whittling a whistle and your hand drill isn’t getting hot enough. Those items round out 19 features in this capable, if large, multitool. We liked the pliers (with replaceable cutters), bit driver, and blade sharpener, but our favorite was the ability to pull out the partially serrated, 2.73-inch blade and saw without opening the entire tool. Ding: no scissors. leatherman.com