Name: Pam Wyant
Age: 47
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight: 165 lb (77 kg)
E-mail address: pamwyant(at)yahoo(dot)com
Location: Western West Virginia, U.S.A.

Backpacking Background:

Last year I finally acted on a long time interest in backpacking, starting out slowly by day hiking, researching backpacking productsand techniques, purchasing gear, and doing a few overnight trips, including one solo. This year I’ve turned into a “weekend warrior”, taking a number of short trips, and hoping to take a longer trip soon. I hike and backpack mainly in the hills and valleys of West Virginia, and use a hammock sleeping system. For a two-day trip my typical pack weighs 22-30 lb (10-14 kg), and I’m striving to lighten that a bit.

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Imlay Canyon Gear
Year of manufacture: 2005
Date of Delivery: May 2, 2005
Manufacturer Website: www.ImlayGear.com
MSRP: $19.95 US

Features:

Made of 440-C surgical stainless steel
Serrated blade which locks open
Bottle opener
Clips to a carabiner
Will not open when clipped to a locking carabiner
Opens & closes with one hand

Details:

Advertised Weight: 0.7 oz (20 g)
Delivered Weight: 0.7 oz (20 g)
Advertised blade length: 1-1/8 in (29 mm)
Measured blade length: 1-1/16 in (27 mm)
Measured blade height: 3/4 in (19 mm)
Advertised overall length opened: 3-3/8 in (86 mm)
Measured overall length opened: 3-3/8 in (86 mm)
Measured overall length closed: 2-3/8 in (60 mm)
Measured overall height: 1 in (25 mm)

Physical Description:

The Imlay Canyon Gear Canyon Knife is a small blade joined to a small metal handle with a rivet-like fastener. The knife is designed to be opened and closed with one hand, with the blade locking in place when the knife is opened. A circular opening in the handle allows the knife to be attached to a carabiner when the knife isn't in use. One side of the knife blade is exposed when closed. The bottom of the handle can be used as a bottle opener. For a more detailed description of the knife see my Initial Report.

Field Information:

The Imlay Canyon Gear Canyon knife has traveled with me on West Virginia and Virginia trails. Elevations have ranged from around 550 to 4000 ft (150 to 1200 m) and temperatures from 32 F (0 C) to 90 F (32 C). For the most part, I keep it on a mini carabiner that also holds my key ring, so it goes pretty much every where I do. It's traveled on several weekend backpacking trips, numerous day hikes, and went along to camp many weekends. On the first couple of backpacking trips I took, I carried it on a small carabiner attached to my shoulder strap (along with a small bottle of hand sanitizer and sunscreen), but I eventually found the jingle annoying, so I switched to carrying it in a zipped security pocket in my pants. For day hikes and at camp, I mainly keep it in my pocket attached to my keys. It's light and tiny enough that it doesn't weigh my key chain down or feel awkward, and keeping it on the carabiner eliminates worries about losing it.

Field Use:

The Imlay Gear Canyon knife has become a tool that I use regularly. I've found I use it more in everyday chores and at camp than I do backpacking or hiking, because in preparing things ahead and repackaging, I've found I just don't have much need to cut things on the trail. Among the few things I've used it to cut on the trail are bits of nylon cord, moleskin, and some food packages. The Imlay Canyon knife works well for all of these, although moleskin is easier to cut with a small pair of scissors. I've cut cheese and some small beef sticks with the knife, but found it messy to clean after cutting these items, mainly due to food particles getting into the folding mechanism. I've also used it to cut carrots and apples at camp, and found it easier to clean after these foods, but a little awkward to use on them due to its small size. I had to cut small wedges out of the apple, which worked, but it took a lot longer than just making a few cuts completely through the apple with a larger knife.

The knife really excels at cutting packaging, providing a smooth even cut. Having it handy on my key chain allows me to pull it out quickly and open everything from a taped shut cardboard box to stiff plastic packaging. It's also great to cut bits of string, plastic cord, and tough food wrappers. It's fairly adequate for whittling purposes. On a lark one day, I whittled out a small rough spoon, just to see if I could do it in case I ever forgot to bring one along. It took a little effort, but I was able to make an adequate utensil in a reasonable length of time. Another time, a fellow hiker borrowed my knife to strip part of the bark from a downed branch to make a hiking stick, and it worked well for that.

Conclusions:

I've found the knife has great balance, and even though it is extremely light, the blade is sturdy and doesn't flex or bend. The open design of the knife seems to help it stay clean - I haven't noticed any dirt or debris lodging in the crevasses or joints from carrying it around. A few tiny scratches have appeared on the backside of the handle, and the inside of the blade, but they are barely noticeable, and there is no discoloration. The knife continues to open and close smoothly and easily, even with one hand, and even when it is attached to the mini carabiner with my keys. (While the knife does not open when attached to a standard sized carabiner, I can open it when it is attached to a miniature version.) One of the things that amazes me about this tiny knife is that even though it's sharp on the inside edge, the outside edge of the knife is not sharp when it's closed. A few times the knife accidentally opened while it was on my key ring, and once while being carried on my pack strap, but it seems to take some pressure before the sharp edge bites in, and I didn't get cut any time this happened.

One question I had about the knife was whether the serrated blade could be sharpened. No literature was provided about this, but when I e-mailed Imlay, a return e-mail indicated that most likely it could not. Since the knife is relatively inexpensive, and the blade has stayed sharp so far, this isn't bothersome to me. If it gets too dull in a few years, I'll just replace it.

When I first started testing the Imlay Canyon Gear knife, I was carrying a small multi-tool weighing about 2 oz (57 g) for backpacking trips, and thought I would end up carrying the knife as an additional item. I did this for several trips, because I thought the multi-tool would be much more versatile with its scissors, screwdrivers, and tweezers. I figured I would quit carrying the Imlay Canyon Gear Canyon knife at the end of the test period because it would only be adding weight, while one of my backpacking goals is to lighten my load. In keeping with a light weight attitude, I eventually decided to try a trip with the Imlay Knife only, and I've found it adequate for everything I've needed so far. The Imlay blade feels much more balanced and is easier to use than the blade on the multi-tool and weighs less too. I'm really happy with this little knife, so it is going to remain my primary backpacking knife, and it has a permanent place on my key ring for every day life.

Likes:
Super light weight
Balance and heft
Easy to use one handed
Easy to carry and use on mini carabiner
Sharp

Little Irritants:
No use and care instructions were provided
Messy to use with some foods

Thanks to Imlay Canyon Gear and BackpackGearTest for the opportunity to test this cool little knife.

Read more reviews of Imlay Canyon Gear gear
Read more gear reviews by Pamela Wyant

Long Term Report

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