Gerber Stakeout Review: A Camping Multi-Toool With a Built-In Tent Stake Puller

Introduction

Camping multi-tools tend to pile on tools that sound useful on paper but rarely earn their spot. The Gerber Stakeout leans hard into that trend with one genuinely unusual idea: a dedicated tent stake pulling hook. With 11 tools in a compact body and a design that clearly has campsite chores in mind, it caught attention. But unusual does not always mean useful, and the Stakeout is a good example of a tool that is more interesting in concept than in hand.

What the Stakeout Is Trying to Be

The Stakeout is an 11-tool multi-tool with camping overtones. Its signature feature is a tent stake pulling tool built into the body, essentially a hook paired with a T-handle style leverage point. The idea is that when a stake is really stuck, especially in packed dirt, the hook gives you a grip that bare fingers cannot match.

That premise makes sense for campers who set up and break down tents often, or who use stakes that wedge in tight. For anyone who just kicks a stake loose with a boot, the appeal shrinks considerably.

The Tent Stake Puller: Gimmick or Genuine Feature?

Packed dirt can genuinely make stakes hard to remove, and specialized stake-pulling tools do exist for that reason. There are even dedicated camp hammers with bottle opener and stake puller functions. So the concept is not baseless.

The catch is that the Stakeout’s hook competes with improvised solutions that cost nothing. A looped stick through a T-handle works fine, and many campers use stakes that pop out with a couple of kicks anyway. For the best performing stakes, such as the MSR Hurricane style twisted aluminum stakes, the hook is at least aimed at a real problem, since those stakes are not cheap and do get wedged in firmly. Still, most campers will pull stakes out without reaching for a multi-tool first.

What Actually Works

Not everything here is filler. The knife is a locking blade, and it is a legitimately useful camp knife. The scissors can be coaxed out, though they are stiff and the tips are not fine enough for much beyond casual first aid use. The bottle opener follows the classic style Gerber and Leatherman have used for years.

The Awkward Parts

The rest of the toolset is where the design stumbles. Several implements are difficult to extract by finger; a pry bar was needed just to get some of them open. The file is oddly placed inside the body rather than along a blade edge where files are far more practical. The tweezers use thin spring steel that tends to lose strength, which is a known weakness of this style of implement.

The saw is sharp but does not lock, and a short, non-locking saw is a genuine safety concern: change your cutting angle and the blade can fold onto your fingers. The awl, meant for scraping a ferrocerium fire rod, is a stout pointed tool that also does not lock, which is worrying for any tool used with thrusting force. Even loosening one of the stiff tools reportedly caused the whole unit to fall apart.

Things to Consider Before Buying

Pricing swings a lot on this one. It has been seen on sale as low as around $19, with full retail closer to $55, and around $30 at major online retailers depending on the finish. The real question is not price but purpose.

If you want a compact plier-and-knee capable everyday tool, Gerber makes better options, including one-handed opening plier designs that many prefer. For the tiny keychain role, Leatherman’s discontinued Squirt was a stronger tool overall, and Gerber’s Dime is the widely cited replacement in that class. The Stakeout, in the end, is more of a car-kit curiosity than a primary tool, and people who want to pull tent stakes can usually find a way without it.

Conclusion

The Gerber Stakeout is a novel take on the camping multi-tool, with a locking camp knife and a genuinely differentiating tent stake hook. But stiff, fiddly implements, a non-locking saw and awl, and filler tools like weak tweezers keep it from being a confident recommendation for most buyers. If you camp in packed ground and like the idea of a built-in stake puller, it may be worth a look at sale pricing. Otherwise, a simpler, better-built multi-tool will serve you better.