Gear Review: Leatherman C303 Knife

I recently received my Leatherman C303 Bottle Open…., er, I mean knife, from Knives Infinity. Now that I’ve had a chance to take it out and test it a bit I thought I’d do a quick review.

First of all, I went through the website to pick out a good knife for day hikes and short camping trips. I decided on Leatherman because of their great reputation for quality, and I’ve had a Leatherman multi tool for years that has worked great. The reason I picked the C303 over other knives is because it had a built in bottle opener in the carabiner clip. I figured what other feature would I use more? A screwdriver?…not likely. So really, I think of this as my bottle opener for camping, that also happens to have a nice sharp knife with a straight/serrated blade, when I need it.

Click here for the full spec details:

* 420HC Stainless Steel Drop-point Knife
* Bottle Opener/Carabiner Clip

Features:

* Aluminum Handle
* Blade Launcher
* Thumb Stud
* Locking Liner
* Removable Pocket Clip
* 25-year Warranty

Measurements:

* 4.04 in | 10.3 cm (closed)
* 2.8 in | 7.1 cm (blade length)
* 3.2 oz | 91 g

I like the size and weight of the knife, and the blade opens easily with the thumb stud. The ‘blade launcher’ feature is pretty cool also, in case a quick draw is needed during one of those pesky sudden mountain lion attacks or something. But did I mention it also has a bottle opener?! The bottle opener works like a charm, and the carabiner clip even catches the caps from falling so you don’t have to worry about picking them off the ground (pictured below). I really think they should market that as another feature of the knife: Cap catching technology or something. Oh ya, and its also works well for, you know, cutting stuff. My only disappointment with the knife is the quality of the carabiner clip itself seems a bit suspect, and it can actually wiggle loose, so I resort to just keeping it my pocket rather than clipped anywhere.