Ask just about any outdoor enthusiast and they’ll tell you that a good multitool is pretty much invaluable while out on the trail. These handy devices usually include everything from knife blades and screw drivers, to box cutters and a needle-nose pliers, all brought together in a compact form that can be worn on your belt or stashed in a pocket until needed.
The idea behind multitool design has always been to provide as much functionality as possible without creating a product that becomes overly complex or bulky. Some have succeeded at this spectacularly, while others have lost sight of that premise and failed miserably. By focusing on one very specific function — making it easier to eat and prepare meals at your campsite — a new multitool called The Muncher falls comfortably in the former category.
The Muncher comes our way courtesy of Full Windsor, a company best known for making a line of cycling accessories that includes a couple of well designed multitools. But this seems to be the company’s first foray out of the bike industry and into the more general outdoor market segment, although judging from the amount of attention the product is getting on Kickstarter, the firm seems well primed for success.
Made from aircraft-grade titanium, The Muncher features ten different tools, each of which will come in handy when it comes time to cook and eat a meal in the back country. Those tools include a spork, a serrated knife, a vegetable peeler, a can opener, a bottle opener, a ply bar, a box cutter, a cord cutter, a flathead screwdriver, and a sparker for getting the campfire going. Both the spork and the knife have a highly polished finish that allows them to be quickly and easily cleaned. An optional hypalon carrying case, which includes a carabiner and flint to aid in the fire-starting process, is available as well.
Thanks to the use of titanium, the entire multitool weighs less than an ounce, and is only 6.5 inches in length. That choice of metals allows The Muncher to be incredibly thin, but remain substantial enough to handle jobs like popping open cans or slicing through thin cords. It is also compact enough to take with you just about anywhere you want to go without adding any excess bulk to your backpack.
The Kickstarter campaign for the Muncher launched just a few days ago, but it is already a major success. The team at Full Windsor had hoped to raise $15,000 to turn this product into a reality, but early bird supporters have already pledged nearly three times that amount with more than a month yet to go. That means that The Muncher should go into production in the early part of 2017 and become available for purchase in April — just in time for the spring camping season. The multitool is expected to sell for about $35 without the case when it ships.
Find out more — and reserve one for yourself – on the official Muncher Kickstarter page.
