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View Full Version : Any Swiss Army Knife fans here?


Platapus
03-29-21, 05:59 PM
I really like SAKs. I have been carrying a SAK, in one form or another, for over 50 years. It is truly one of my EDCs.


My current carry is the Trekker


https://imageengine.victorinox.com/mediahub/33315/560Wx490H/SAK_0_8463_MW3__S1.jpg


It is a good balance between carry size and the size and size of selected tools. I have just ordered a Locksmith


https://imageengine.victorinox.com/mediahub/33336/560Wx490H/SAK_0_8493_M__S1.jpg


It is just like the Trekker but has an additional metal file/metal saw. I figure between the blade, wood saw and metal saw, this knife can address a lot of problems. I will have to see if the extra width adversely impacts carrying.


I use a suspension clip


https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQc3jxomwMcdpCO0NJyMo5totimqlk qyI2HPmBE1SCl4_RF3y7gslp_20GPo8EY0jKY037RoXGY&usqp=CAE



That way my SAK hangs from the edge of my pocket, which keeps it from slipping around.


Anyone else here like Swiss Army Knives?

Skybird
03-29-21, 06:31 PM
I love them, Victorinox. Always had one since the age of 10. Plus this company knows a thing or two about good steel, and how to sharpen it so that it stays sharp for longer time than other brands. its not called Swiss mystery steel or phantom steel for no reason.



Their leatherman-style tools also are excellent, and imo better crafted than the originals.


Without a victorinox pocket knife at my belt i feel not complete. :)

MaDef
03-30-21, 12:03 AM
I've carried a pocket knife since I was about 7-8, when my grandfather gave me his Old Timer pocket knife, I've carried a lot of them over the years. Almost every one of them has been lost or broken, I currently carry a Gerber remix tactical at work and a Gerber Bear Grylls survival knife when out in the woods.

Sean C
03-30-21, 01:11 AM
I used to have a SwissChamp. I loved that ridiculous monstrosity.

Jimbuna
03-30-21, 05:37 AM
I used to have a Victorinox Tourist until my lad got his eye on it.

Platapus
03-30-21, 07:01 AM
It is possible that I was the only one who did not know about this.


tortoisegear.com sells two different types of fire starters especially for SAKs


The first is the Fire Fly


https://tortoisegear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/FireflyMini-220x220.jpg


These are Fero Rods that take the place of the toothpick that comes with many SAKs. Personally, I have never felt comfortable using the tooth pick as a tooth pick, and honestly the only use I had for them was to clean the gunk out of the grooves of my SAK.


Replace the gnarly toothpick with one of these and you have an emergency fire starter without needing to carry anything extra.


For those whose SAKs have the corkscrew, there is the Fire Ant


https://tortoisegear.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/FA10003O.jpg


The Fire Ant consists of two separate items that both screw into the corkscrew.



The first is a highly compressed tinder material and the second is a small Fero Rod along the design of the optional small screw driver that can be stored inside the corkscrew


Clearly, both of these products are for emergency use only. If I were going somewhere intending to start a fire, I would carry a dedicated full size fire starter, matches, or the good old lighter.



What I like most about this product is that it allows me to carry an emergency fire starter without needing to carry anything other than my SAK.


I have tried to see if it was possible to store one of the Fire Flys inside my Leatherman Wave +.


Unfortunately, the tolerances of the Leatherman Wave + allow no room and if you try to store one, you end up breaking the fire-starter.


Learn from my mistake.



This was disappointing as sometimes I like to carry my Wave + and would liked to have the option of storing one of these small fire-starters inside the Wave.



Just one more reason why SAKs rule. :D

Platapus
03-30-21, 09:55 AM
I can highly recommend the YouTube channel of Felix Immler. He has a series of videos showing what can be done with a SAK. He is a funny but highly skilled bushcrafter and I have learned a lot about non-intuitive uses of SAK tools.

mapuc
03-30-21, 10:48 AM
I remember having one of these in my youth-it was a Christmas gift from one of my elderly sister.

Today I have a no-name pocket knife with 4 different tools-8 functions.
Scissor, knife, plier(with two function) Screwdriver with 3 other function

I have on occasion been thinking on buying a Victorinox, but which one should I buy ?
Should I buy the Victorinox Swiss Army pocketknife - CyberTool 41

Markus

Platapus
03-30-21, 11:08 AM
Yikes, choosing which Victorinox knife to buy is a tough and very personal choice.



I really really wish that Victorinox would offer customized knives where the customer can choose which tools they want.



But until they do, you have to choose from the many many many different models that they do offer.



The first decision is the general size. This is the over all length of the knife when closed. Your choices are


Small - 50 and 76 mm. Don't automatically think that the smaller size SAKs have limited tools.



Medium - 76 and 101 mm


Large - 100 to 131 mm


It should not come as a surprise that the smaller SAKs are easier to carry and that the larger SAKs have larger tools.



As with any knife, it will be a trade off on carry-ability and desired tool selection and size.



I recommend visiting the Victorinox site or swissarmy.com. Both of these sites have pages filled with pictures of each of the models of knives. This allows you to quickly look for the features you personally prefer.



Unfortunately the CyberTool 41is discontinued but still can be found but it is getting hard. The current CyberTool is the CyberTool L which is a pretty wide knife!


https://imageengine.victorinox.com/mediahub/33899/560Wx490H/SAK_1_7775_T__B4.jpg

mapuc
03-30-21, 11:41 AM
^Thank you for your advise

It has never gone beyond the thought of buying one of these.

The reason is-If I did buy one of these it would be nothing more than a bragging thing. Have had a real hard thinking-Am I in a need of such a tool/multipurpose knife ?

No.

Markus

Platapus
03-30-21, 12:06 PM
No one needs a SAK, but what does that have to do with anything? :haha:

Skybird
03-30-21, 03:59 PM
That fire starter kit is a good idea, but it wpould come at the cost of the fine screw driver which I indeed use frequently to fix the screws in my glasses.

I also have use of the kife itself, the bottle oepner, the screwdrivers and the scissors. I have cut a small tree with the saw once.

A SAK is the smallest and most usable multi-tool in the world. The leathermans and all that there is are bigger and heavier on the belt, and only of use in a dedicated urban working environment. In the woods, I would not take them with me. Too little use for too much weight.

However, its a nice satisyfying feeling to own one of these:
https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=242262&highlight=Victorinox

My belt knifes grew in size with every new one I bought, I now am on a Victorinox Champion, https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61GJ8cLrcHL._AC_SX425_.jpg
I would like to have the multi-pliers on it, but buying an even bigger new one just for this I have not really the motivation for. I thought I would switch from the Champion to the Spirit as the standard belt equip, but went back to the Champion. Its smaller, lighter. But the Spirit is a damn fine thing, of excellent manufacturing quality. I look at it and know that I love it just for the looks and feel of it. :D

When I was at school, it was okay for teachers that I had a smaller Victorniox on the belt all the time, year in and year out, and on some few instances I fixed a screw in the chalkboard in front of the teacher and class, or did some othe rminor quick fixing of stuff with it in class. Nobody ever complained, never had anybody queer looks at me. If a (reasonable and calm) kid would do that today.... The yelling! The outcry...!!! The SCANDAL...!!! In 7th or 8th class we had a class visist to witness a life court, and I forgot to leave it at home, I imagined it would be no good idea to went there with a pocket knife on. My class teacher, when i told her, said "Lets wait and see", and the guards did not care to control us (big mistake I now say as an adult), and so I went in with the others, being the only armed civilian in the building, probabaly. Imagine the horror I could have unleashed! :D

Oh Baby, baby, baby,
what happened to those days,
when the doors were always open,
and the music always played...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11XaPbDcU2g

Catfish
04-06-21, 03:18 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTh14EF44XA

Platapus
04-06-21, 05:41 PM
Pretty funny guy

vienna
04-06-21, 05:52 PM
I was gifted a Swiss Army knife by a co-worker nearly 20 years ago; I had saved him from an embarrassing situation when he had developed a project and it was going to be launched at a weekend (overtime) session where a large group of employees were to use his app to to complete a time-sensitive, high profile assignment; somehow, he managed to make an error in the execution of the password protection on his app and could not get into it to start it, meaning there was an office full of people who had given up their Saturday to work on something that was now, for all intents and purposes, inert; I as not part of the project and had come in that Saturday, on my own, to do a little experimenting with some of my own ideas; another one of the employees, who had been part of the other guy's project, came into my server room and told me, "Did you hear? Ben (not his real name) just screwed up big time", and gave me the details; Ben had taken a real deep dislike to me when I had first started at the office and had not changed his opinion in the few years since, something I really didn't care about since that sort of thing, unless it gets real personal or disruptive, is something I choose to ignore; when I was told about the problem, I asked the employee to please ask Ben to come to the server room, since I tend to find it impossible to not try to help when anyone is in trouble, no matter what they may think of me; Ben showed up, more annoyed that I had asked to see him than anything, but his attitude changed when I told him I might have a solution to his problem, but it would involve a hack and that might pose a problem given we were working in a county government office and the hack may be deemed illegal, but he was a bit desperate and agreed to do it on my provision that I would deny any involvement if there were any repercussions; I fixed the problem with a bit of devious art and also made a change to his app when I noted a problem he might not have considered; he was grateful and his demeanor towards me thereafter was a bit more cordial...

About a year later, he went off on his longtime dream vacation to a skiing trip in Switzerland and he asked the other employees if there was anything they wanted him to bring back from his trip for them; the bulk of the requests were for the usual Swiss chocolate, etc., and when he asked me what I wanted, I said I really didn't want anything (since I'm not really a big fan of chocolate), but he persisted and I jokingly said, "OK, bring me back a Swiss Army Knife"; he wrote that down and went off on his vacation; when he came back, he was bearing the chocolates he had been requested to bring and he also gave each employee one of those little key-chain-sized SAKs in addition to the chocolates; when he got to me, I was expecting to also get one of those mini-SAKs, but he gave me a rather nice box with this inside:


https://imageengine.victorinox.com/mediahub/33894/560Wx490H/SAK_1_7775_T__S1.jpg


https://www.swissarmy.com/us/en/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Medium-Pocket-Knives/Cyber-Tool-L/p/1.7775.T


This SAK is a mini-IT toolkit and was, at that time, unavailable in the US; when I told him the gift seemed a bit much, he replied he remembered how I had unexpectedly helped him back when he had his app problem, and had not been able to find, until then, a way to say "thanks"...

I still have that knife and have used it many, many times over the years and it has served as a reminder that sometimes doing something for others can be rewarding even when you don't expect anything in return and that, even if someone doesn't immediately express thanks, it doesn't mean they don't feel gratitude all the same; the knife is one of my most prized possessions...




<O>

Sean C
04-07-21, 02:11 AM
I was gifted a Swiss Army knife by a co-worker nearly 20 years ago ...


That's awesome!


Just yesterday I was talking to a co-worker about a customer who remembered a small act of kindness he had done for her. I immediately remembered her, because she told me about it herself.



Now, I'm sure most of you know that a lot of "feedback" is negative, so the positive stuff stands out. Anyway, my co-worker said that whenever he runs into her, she stops and takes time to talk to him and ask how he is doing ... as if they are old friends.


Never underestimate the effect an act of kindness can have.

Skybird
04-07-21, 02:41 AM
I was gifted a Swiss Army knife by a co-worker nearly 20 years ago; I had saved him from an embarrassing situation when he [...] anything in return and that, even if someone doesn't immediately express thanks, it doesn't mean they don't feel gratitude all the same; the knife is one of my most prized possessions...

Ha, that little beuaty almolst ende dup in my collecitonback then, too. Yes, its a clever little thing with those bits included. And it is still available, at least over here.

vienna
04-07-21, 08:53 AM
That's awesome!


Just yesterday I was talking to a co-worker about a customer who remembered a small act of kindness he had done for her. I immediately remembered her, because she told me about it herself.



Now, I'm sure most of you know that a lot of "feedback" is negative, so the positive stuff stands out. Anyway, my co-worker said that whenever he runs into her, she stops and takes time to talk to him and ask how he is doing ... as if they are old friends.


Never underestimate the effect an act of kindness can have.


A lot of the things a person does out of kindness or a sense of wanting to help someone who is in a predicament often goes without notice or thanks, but the notice or thanks should not be the motive for our actions; sometimes you just kind of hope that the person you helped will, perhaps, remember what was done for them should they, in turn, come across someone else needing their assistance and be moved to extending their hand in aid...


Ha, that little beuaty almolst ende dup in my collecitonback then, too. Yes, its a clever little thing with those bits included. And it is still available, at least over here.


I still use it often and used it, on the job, until health forced me into retirement; one of the downsides was/is, since 9/11, the degree of security at so many of the buildings and businesses I dealt with tightened up so over the years that it became a bit bothersome passing the tool (which is how I viewed it) through metal detector, searches, etc.; I even had a difficulty with one person in an office I worked in who was raising an alarm because they alleged what I had was a "dangerous weapon"; cooler, and higher ranking, heads prevailed, particularly after I calmly enumerated a slew of potential other "dangerous weapons" I could have used to harm the complainant in their own cubicle, although that person did give me very wide berth after my enumeration... :D




<O>

Platapus
04-07-21, 04:29 PM
I finally received my Locksmith. It had to be shipped from Switzerland. Size-wise, it is identical to the Trekker in length and height (back spring to blade back). Since the Trekker is a three layer SAK and the Locksmith is a four layer SAK, the locksmith is a tiny bit wider. But the width is not that noticeable as both knives are rather large.

The Trekker is about 18mm wide and the Locksmith is about 21mm wide.

Carrying the Locksmith is not much different than carrying the Trekker. I feel that the Trekker is already too large to just put in a pocket.

I use a suspension clip so that the knife is hanging from the edge of the pocket and does not touch the bottom of my pocket. I just moved my suspension clip to the Locksmith and it carries just as easily or as uneasy as the Trekker.

The two knives are the same with two differences.

The Locksmith comes with an extra "blade" which is the dual sided file and the metal saw on the edge. I have to say that both files (one cross cut and one single cut) as well as the metal saw are quite aggressive. The file/metal saw on the Locksmith is considerably more aggressive than the file/metal saw on my Leatherman Wave + . I think that if I ever need to use either file or metal saw that it will be more than sufficient for any task that I would use a SAK/multi-tool for.

The second difference is a lot more contentious.

In life it is important to recognize that there are some issues that simply can not be compromised on. No I am not talking about pro life/pro choice, nor am I talking about the existence of god. What I am talking about is far more controversial and contentious than any of those

Serrated blade vs straight blade. There, I said it

Few issues will bring out the ire in knife enthusiasts especially SAK fanatics than this.

Serrated blades have advantages for cutting fibrous material such as rope and heavy multi layer cardboard. Another advantage is maintaining cutting ability longer when a blade needs re-sharpening

Straight blades have advantages over most other cutting tasks as well as being easier to sharpen when needed.

The Trekker, at least the model I have, has a hybrid blade. From the tip, 2/3rds is serrated and the last 1/3 is straight. I have always liked this as it gives the best of both worlds.

The Locksmith comes with a straight blade. This will take some getting used to. Fortunately, SAK blades are easy to sharpen and hone. You can even use the head of the tooth pick to help measure the 20 degree angle that Victorinox uses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuF9skzmqg4


So far, I have not had a need, nor opportunity to use the wood saw or the metal saw on my Locksmith, but my first impressions are

1. The Trekker is still a very nice knife with the tools that come in very handy. I carried the Trekker for years and it is a good knife. In no way was I dissatisfied with the Trekker. I actually prefer the hybrid blade of the Trekker.

2. The Locksmith has the extra metal files and saw but still maintains a compact package. I am happy that I got it. I will have to see how I manage switching to the other side and start using a SAK with a straight blade.

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with either.

For me, I like having the extra files and saw for only about 3mm more in width.

https://imageengine.victorinox.com/mediahub/33336/560Wx490H/SAK_0_8493_M__S1.jpg

And it does not have a corkscrew.

Which is the second most contentious issue in the universe - Phillips screwdriver vs corkscrew :o

I feel this will be the last SAK I buy until I buy the next one.

les green01
04-07-21, 05:52 PM
i have had several over the years with me they don't hold up too good but thinking about it they was wal-mart el cheapos so they was probly junk to begin with

vienna
04-07-21, 06:16 PM
There are a lot of SAK knockoffs out on the market, so it is possible to sometimes be sold an inferior clone; SAKs are known for high durability, but they are not impervious to misuse or ill-use; mine is still in pretty good shape after nearly 20 years ans, aside from having to replace the little nick-knacks, like the toothpick (which I use for anything but picking teeth) and such, the knife is still sturdy and will probably serve until Victorinox starts selling the 'Space-X Orbital SAK'...





<O>

Platapus
04-08-21, 04:44 PM
I have a Chinese knock off that I picked up who knows where/when. It stays in a small bag in my car just in case.

I have it, so I might as well keep it.

Aktungbby
01-06-22, 11:51 AM
brandonmane!:Kaleun_Salute:

August
01-06-22, 01:10 PM
I have several Victorinox's but my favorite has always been a Wenger.

Aktungbby
01-06-22, 07:53 PM
I have several Victorinox's but my favorite has always been a Wenger. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71FHJU17djL._AC_SL1204_.jpg https://d2dzp1iimffyb3.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/edit-martin-brody-jaws.jpg You're gonna need a bigger pocket! :o

August
01-07-22, 06:54 PM
You're just trying to get me to say that my Wenger is smaller.