3 week test Victorinox Cadet/Pioneer

J

jpvjr71

Joined
Feb 3, 2025
Messages
169
I've carried my Victorinox Cadet (C)& Pioneer (P) alternate days for about 3 weeks.
My impression is that the P is heavy duty & can do 95% of what needs done, & the C can do 85%.
My gf, the quad, and pretty Marine asked me to qualify that.
I told them if I had to hike from PA to ME with m P I know I will have zero problems.
If I had my C I still would feel confident I could do everything needed, just think a little about how to manage.
 
jpvjr71 said:
I've carried my Victorinox Cadet (C)& Pioneer (P) alternate days for about 3 weeks.
My impression is that the P is heavy duty & can do 95% of what needs done, & the C can do 85%.
My gf, the quad, and pretty Marine asked me to qualify that.
I told them if I had to hike from PA to ME with m P I know I will have zero problems.
If I had my C I still would feel confident I could do everything needed, just think a little about how to manage.
Click to expand...
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Like I have said before, its a shame we can only like a post once!!!!!!

I came to that conclusion long ago, after completing a tour in Vietnam with the issue demo knife. Later it got replaced by a SAK, and while I have owned a tinker, a huntsman, a spartan, my go-to SAK for over 40 years has been my Old Wenger Si or a pioneer. A pioneer and classic make a very dynamic duo!
 
You can do 99% of edc cutting and use with basic one or 2 layer saks.I also find victorinox paring knives as usefull,that cut better than all my other knives....both plain and serrated edge,and are inexpensive enough that of you break or lose one you can easily replace it.If you take care of them they will last for years.
 
lonestar1979 said:
You can do 99% of edc cutting and use with basic one or 2 layer saks.I also find victorinox paring knives as usefull,that cut better than all my other knives....both plain and serrated edge,and are inexpensive enough that of you break or lose one you can easily replace it.If you take care of them they will last for years.
Click to expand...
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
jpvjr71 said:
I've carried my Victorinox Cadet (C)& Pioneer (P) alternate days for about 3 weeks.
My impression is that the P is heavy duty & can do 95% of what needs done, & the C can do 85%.
My gf, the quad, and pretty Marine asked me to qualify that.
I told them if I had to hike from PA to ME with m P I know I will have zero problems.
If I had my C I still would feel confident I could do everything needed, just think a little about how to manage.
Click to expand...

Ya know jpvjr71, be veerrry careful with these experiments! 🧐

I did much the same in my quest for the perfect knife, and every time I did one of my "experiments", I found out what knives I had no use for. the experiments I did actually reduced the size of my knife collection, excuse me, knife accumulation. Once I found what worked for me most of the time, I got rid of the stuff I just didn't need anymore. Same for all the other knives, guns, power tools, fishing stuff, and so on. It de-cluttered my life and made things a LOT easier to deal with.
 
Also victorinox folding paring knives are pretty good...can be modified if you want,both plain and serrated edge cut like crazy...very light to carry ,cut better than 99,99%of folding knives ive seen!
 
lonestar1979 said:
Also victorinox folding paring knives are pretty good...can be modified if you want,both plain and serrated edge cut like crazy...very light to carry ,cut better than 99,99%of folding knives ive seen!
Click to expand...
Victorinox paring knives are another cutlery favorite of mine. Light weight, easily replaceable, and they cut better than most of the high dollar wonder knives that people spend too much money and attention on. Being a retired old fart, I'm doing more fishing, woods walking, road trips between her4e in Texas to both east and west coasts with car camping along the way at state and national parks. All our cutting these days is with Victorinox products. Theres a couple of the Vic pairing knives with a small plastic cutting board in our picnic kit for on the road, and traveling my wife keeps a serrated edge folding paring knife in her purse. Away from home our classic's on our keyring and my Wenger SI take care of all our cutting needs and more. The few tools are all we need on the go.

I've made to a ripe old age, an arthritic octogenarian. I have few regrets, but one of them is the time and money I spent on my knife obsession in my younger days. Wasting time and money going to knife shows, reading knife magazines that are the shills of the knife industry, while all the time the best 'everyday' cutlery is right there with Victorinox. There is not much one of those tacticool wonder knives an do that can't be done with a SAK. BUT...the reverse is not true.

Many years ago, when I was preaching the virtues of Victorinox, my friend Danny took me up on a challenge. Opening day, he bagged a nice buck, and on a bet he did all his field dressing with a Vic paring knife with a serrate blade. He didn't think it would make it through, being such a thin bladed little thing. His main knife for decades was a Swedish Mora. But that morning, that little thin bladed paring knife slice through everything he needed. Hide, hair, tissue, meat. Danny kept his mora, but he also made a Victorinox paring knife part of his outdoor kit. Now almost 40 years later, Danny is still a Victorinox fan. They are in he and his wife's kitchen, in the glove box of his car, and in his fishing kit.
 
jackknife said:
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Like I have said before, its a shame we can only like a post once!!!!!!

I came to that conclusion long ago, after completing a tour in Vietnam with the issue demo knife. Later it got replaced by a SAK, and while I have owned a tinker, a huntsman, a spartan, my go-to SAK for over 40 years has been my Old Wenger Si or a pioneer. A pioneer and classic make a very dynamic duo!
Click to expand...
The Classic (even the Alox model) seems too dedicated.
Not delicate, just something that is a 1 trick pony.
 
I wish they woulf expand their line in alox models to include Spartan, tinker, and Huntsman and no so much in the synergy line. A lot of people cant legally buy them but a slipjoint kept at 3 or under is widely admissible
 
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