Always Sharp, Maintenance-Free: Leatherman ‘Rustle’ Kitchen Knife Review

I’ve always been the cook at home. Even as a kid, I liked making meals for my family that extended past the chicken nuggets and boxed mac and cheese that ’90s kids grew up eating. This extended into my outdoor life, where I would bring camp potatoes and chicken or steak with me for long hikes and overnight adventures.

Most modern kitchen knives are made from high-carbon stainless steels designed to prepare and process food in a controlled environment. They’re easy to sharpen and aren’t generally that rugged, because they don’t need to be. I would never think to use a kitchen knife to cut, chop, and slice meats and vegetables out in the great outdoors.

So, when Leatherman decided to use MagnaCut steel — easily double the thickness of standard kitchen knife steel — for its Rustle kitchen knife, I got excited. And I nearly fell over when I learned it had G10 scales as well.

MagnaCut currently sits at the top of the mountain for outdoor and EDC knife steel. Quite honestly, I never even considered it kitchen knife steel (in fact, it initially felt like overkill). But 3 months into using it for food prep in my kitchen, as well as on trail at state camp, I am hooked.

In short: A common trait of most modern kitchen knives is the need to sharpen and clean them constantly. By using MagnaCut stainless steel on the Rustle, Leatherman takes maintenance all but out of the equation. It’s not a true camp-kitchen knife, but then again, it works just as well outside as inside. Just know it’s a premium blade that’s not for ounce-counters.

Leatherman Rustle Review

Design & Features

The Leatherman Rustle is a streamlined, rugged approach to meal prep. Made from a single piece of MagnaCut steel with G10 handles, the Rustle has an overall length of 8.3 inches — 4 of which comprise its full flat ground Santoku-shaped blade.

It comes with a Kydex sheath for easy carry in your camp kit. It also has a lanyard hole so you can hang it in your kitchen for easy access.

MagnaCut continues to find itself as a buzzword in the knife world, and for good reason. Though it’s not the best steel for an outdoor or EDC knife, it is the most balanced. MagnaCut is a stainless steel, so corrosion isn’t an issue, and it’s incredibly resilient to abrasion and abuse.

Additionally, it holds an edge like a champ. Where these are desirable traits in the great outdoors, as a kitchen knife, it’s a requirement.

First Impressions

Unlike the keyboard warriors who lost their minds when Leatherman unveiled its “Built Different” initiative, which included the Rustle, I was excited and eager to try them out. Leatherman tools have long been a staple in my pocket and pack due to their reliability and durability. I wanted to see what a kitchen knife from this outdoor brand was all about.

The Santoku shape of the Rustle’s blade resembles other knives I have in my knife block, but G10 and MagnaCut steel are definitely new. And though Leatherman didn’t set out to create a solely at-home kitchen knife, I knew before the knife was delivered that it would become my primary knife for preparing meals for my daughters here at home.

To be fair, we do live in a cottage in the woods, so it’s kind of like preparing food in a remote setting in the outdoors. We just have blazing-fast internet, power, and running water.

Mostly, I was looking forward to using a knife that didn’t need to be sharpened all the time. Kitchen knives are notorious for going dull; MagnaCut should stave off that reality for a while.

In the Kitchen

I’m going to be honest, the LeFort family did not do any camping this summer. We did spend a lot of time outdoors, but for a variety of different reasons, none of that time was spent in a tent. So nearly all of the time I spent with the Rustle was done in the kitchen in our house — and if I am being honest, I find that environment more demanding than any camp kitchen.

At home, utensils can sit in a sink for a while. They could also end up in a dishwasher. Both of these scenarios can be hell to a good kitchen knife. The acids from fruits and vegetables, the blood from meat and poultry, and the high heat from a dishwasher can all ruin a knife blade and its handle scales.

After 4 months of near-daily use with the Rustle, it still looks and feels brand new. After slicing and chopping well over 100 tomatoes, peppers, and onions, along with numerous cuts of beef and birds, the blade is still impressively sharp.

$300 Kitchen Knife

One of the pain points about this line of knives from Leatherman is the price. All five knives launched at $300. Where this might seem a little out of whack, it’s is a fair price for knives made in the USA from premium materials, especially by a brand that invests in manufacturing more products domestically.

If you spend your life buying knives or knife sets from department stores, you may never realize that there is a whole market of chefs’ knives that rival car payments.

Where I find this level of opulence to be awesome, I am a single father of two. I am not running a prep kitchen in a top network show named after a large animal. I need a knife that can be left sitting in a bowl of water and soap with the fading remains of fruits, vegetables, meat, and poultry, floating around it until I get to it.

In that light, $300 seems fair and honest.

Who’s It For?

Having set the tone early on in terms of seeing what this knife can do, I have zero qualms about bringing it out into the great outdoors and seeing what kind of culinary wonders I can create with it under the stars.

Anyone from Michelin Star–rated chefs to cooks busting ass in all-night diners will tell you that a good knife can change the game. A great knife can redefine that game, especially if you don’t need to spend half the time maintaining it.

With the Leatherman Rustle, the need for maintenance is virtually nonexistent, and its rugged build and premium materials make it nonpareil in any kitchen where you find yourself prepping. If you’re serious about the food you’re making, the Leatherman Rustle is the right choice for your next kitchen knife.