Alox Classic test upcoming

J

jpvjr71

Joined
Feb 3, 2025
Messages
188
My gf's sister loaned me her Alox Classic to be used next week.
I'll be in Harrisburg.
She said I'll be amazed at what it can do.
I think it is too dedicated to be of use.
But we'll see.
 
jpvjr71 said:
My gf's sister loaned me her Alox Classic to be used next week.
I'll be in Harrisburg.
She said I'll be amazed at what it can do.
I think it is too dedicated to be of use.
But we'll see.
Click to expand...
I dunno ... the Cellidore Classic/Classic SD is the (claimed/alleged) only EDC for a few folk.
Admittedly, most are in an office or cubical "all day". (😭)

I have little doubt it will surprise you. The scissors come in handy quite often...

I carried a "Signature" (same tool set as the Classic, less toothpick (unless you swap the tweezers for toothpick, like I did), but compensates with a retractable ball point pen (blue ink) on the toothpick side) for over 20 years on my key ring, when I upgraded to the Mini Champ.

It was never my only carry. I paired it with a Huntsman, Stockman, and an Old Timer 6 or 7OT or a Buck 110.
 
Last edited:
jpvjr71 said:
My gf's sister loaned me her Alox Classic to be used next week.
I'll be in Harrisburg.
She said I'll be amazed at what it can do.
I think it is too dedicated to be of use.
But we'll see.
Click to expand...
I'm curious as to how you thinks too 'dedicated' to be of use?

To me, the dedicated knife is the one that is too dedicated to be of much use. A knife can't deal with screws, file a chipped nail, make a starter hole for a wood screw, or pluck a sharp burr out from up between a dogs paw pads. All of which can be handled by a small SAK like a classic or other 58mm.

It all depends on your lifestyle and where you are. Being retired, I don't spend any time in an office cubicle. But, I did spend a lot of time in a machine shop as a machinist, and the 58mm SAK did okay for my pocket knife. These days I'm retired in Texas, and do more fishing than ever before, woods walks with the wife and dog, road trips from Texas to California, and the little 58mm still is a handy little thing to have. Sometimes my classic is teamed up with a Wenger Si, or oddly, a Victorinox florist.

For my urban/suburban lifestyle, I don't really need much knife. I'm not a ranch hand, farmer, commando, or bush crafter. Before I retired and moved away from the D.C. area, the classic was my sole EDC pocket knife for many outings. But I also got by well with a Case peanut for years, so I admit I am partial to a small pocket knife.

It all depends.
 
Last edited:
jackknife said:
I'm curious as to how you thinks too 'dedicated' to be of use?

To me, the dedicated knife is the one that is too dedicated to beef much use. A knife can't deal with screws, file a chipped nail, make a starter hole for a wood screw, or pluck a sharp burr out from up between a dogs paw pads. All of which can be handled by a small SAK like a classic or other 58mm.

It all depends on your lifestyle and where you are. Being retired, I don't spend any time in an office cubicle. But, I did spend a lot of time in a machine shop as a machinist, and the 58mm SAK did okay for my pocket knife. These days I'm retired in Texas, and do more fishing than ever before, woods walks with the wife and dog, road trips from Texas to California, and the little 58mm still is a handy little thing to have. Sometimes my classic is teamed up with a Wenger Si, or oddly, a Victoprinox florist.

For my urban/suburban lifestyle, I don't really need much knife. I'm not a ranch hand, farmer, commando, or bush crafter. Before I retired and moved away from the D.C. area, the classic was my sole EDC pocket knife for many outings. But I also got by well with a Case peanut for years, so I admit I am partial to a small pocket knife.

It all depends.
Click to expand...
I dunno. I think maybe OP meant to say the classic was to delicate. I could be wrong. I’ve kept a classic on my key ring for years and it is still in great shape and going strong.
 
My grandfather carried a standard classic SD loose in his pocket and used it for everything.

For the $10 they used to cost he'd use the blade up then replace them, if he were a little more careful at sharpening it he may not have really been using them up so much but it's not the knife's fault.

Trust me the blades on the little 58mm victorinox models is extremely capable.
I personally prefer other small traditional pocket knives of a similar size over the lobster pattern 58mm victorinox models, but that's just because they don't really present as a conventional pocket knife to me.
I carry them for the Scissors tweezers and driver but not for the blade, I really like the jetsetter and rambler.
 
Last edited:
jackknife said:
I'm curious as to how you thinks too 'dedicated' to be of use?

To me, the dedicated knife is the one that is too dedicated to be of much use. A knife can't deal with screws, file a chipped nail, make a starter hole for a wood screw, or pluck a sharp burr out from up between a dogs paw pads. All of which can be handled by a small SAK like a classic or other 58mm.

It all depends on your lifestyle and where you are. Being retired, I don't spend any time in an office cubicle. But, I did spend a lot of time in a machine shop as a machinist, and the 58mm SAK did okay for my pocket knife. These days I'm retired in Texas, and do more fishing than ever before, woods walks with the wife and dog, road trips from Texas to California, and the little 58mm still is a handy little thing to have. Sometimes my classic is teamed up with a Wenger Si, or oddly, a Victorinox florist.

For my urban/suburban lifestyle, I don't really need much knife. I'm not a ranch hand, farmer, commando, or bush crafter. Before I retired and moved away from the D.C. area, the classic was my sole EDC pocket knife for many outings. But I also got by well with a Case peanut for years, so I admit I am partial to a small pocket knife.

It all depends.
Click to expand...
I think the pen knife could be useful in a very limited instances.
For instance I used the pen blade on my Peanut in Iraq to do a tracheotomy.
I keep that blade at 10 degrees compound for first aid/surgeries/emergencies.
I really can't think of a use (for me at least) of the scissors.
The nail file is a good pencil sharpener (I carry a 2mm drafting pencil/lead holder).

I am asking because I hope to emigrate within a year.
Which is why I posted on the knife laws forums a question comparing UK/EU laws.
I met several Royal Marines so have a somewhat working knowledge of theirs & would like clarification on the EU.

I am a logger but finished my course to teach English as a foreign language.
 
jpvjr71 said:
I think the pen knife could be useful in a very limited instances.
For instance I used the pen blade on my Peanut in Iraq to do a tracheotomy.
I keep that blade at 10 degrees compound for first aid/surgeries/emergencies.
I really can't think of a use (for me at least) of the scissors.
The nail file is a good pencil sharpener (I carry a 2mm drafting pencil/lead holder).

I am asking because I hope to emigrate within a year.
Which is why I posted on the knife laws forums a question comparing UK/EU laws.
I met several Royal Marines so have a somewhat working knowledge of theirs & would like clarification on the EU.

I am a logger but finished my course to teach English as a foreign language.
Click to expand...
Just out of curiosity, where are you leaving and hope to emigrate to?
 
I'll be working on my passport issues (hopefully) Monday& speaking to a Dane in Harrisburg Wednesday.
 
jackknife said:
Okay, I understand Denmark, and I get Sweden and Norway. Beautiful countries and very nice people.

BUT...Russia??????
Click to expand...
I'm afraid to answer this completely, but we've been lied to about Rssia, China, and quite a few other countries.
 
I'm finally home, & have access to my windows XP.
My conclusion about the Alox classic is that even after "unretiring" my p38 & 4 way screwdriver for this test, it is much to dedicated of a tool.
The file is nice for sharpening my pencil lead, I have no use for scissors, the blade is too small to be of practical use.
I tried to slice a bagel with it, it sort of worked, same with a slice of rye bread.
I can see why a woman would carry this on her purse strap (my gf's sister loaned me hers).
But she also carries a stockman inside her purse.
Which brings me to another question, namely who else carries more than 1 knife?
For me in town It's my Victorinox Cadet, in the bush it's my Pioneer.
Butchering critters, it's a stockman.
 
The victorinox classic is a pen blade and as such it does pen blade stuff really well, as an added bonus its also a pretty durable blade--- however it does have its limitations.
An example of mine i cut my baseball cap in half (including the bill) with a classic, I was careful and knew how to do it, it took about 10 minutes but afterwards the pen blade had pivot to pivot play in it, even though i made meticulous linear cuts and never twisted, while understandably this was an odd thing to do i wanted to see how it fared.
It is too small for food prep, it will work in cutting a bagel but due to the length of the blade its not suitable for food, its not suitable for game dressing/fishing, its not really suitable for gardening. It is however good with mail opening, string and paracord cutting, cloth cutting, package opening and so forth.
Pen blade size = pen blade tasks
(Edited to add) it can dresss small animals/fish [I'm sure]
but it will for sure need cleaning afterwards, so in my opinion still not suitable
 
ShaiHulud said:
The victorinox classic is a pen blade and as such it does pen blade stuff really well, as an added bonus its also a pretty durable blade--- however it does have its limitations.
An example of mine i cut my baseball cap in half (including the bill) with a classic, I was careful and knew how to do it, it took about 10 minutes but afterwards the pen blade had pivot to pivot play in it, even though i made meticulous linear cuts and never twisted, while understandably this was an odd thing to do i wanted to see how it fared.
It is too small for food prep, it will work in cutting a bagel but due to the length of the blade its not suitable for food, its not suitable for game dressing/fishing, its not really suitable for gardening. It is however good with mail opening, string and paracord cutting, cloth cutting, package opening and so forth.
Pen blade size = pen blade tasks
(Edited to add) it can dresss small animals/fish [I'm sure]
but it will for sure need cleaning afterwards, so in my opinion still not suitable
Click to expand...
This!

The classic is a keychain pen knife with some other tool capacity. But, that's it. A pen knife. It's not a wood working tool, it's not a kitchen knife, it's not a survival knife. It's a handy little keychain pen knife for opening mail. opening Amazon packages, cutting a piece of jute twine for our garden out back, and some other small utility jobs. Snipping a burr out of the long coat of our Australian shepherd, or the tweezers plucking a sticky out from between her paw pads. Or even adjusting the sights on a firearm. The little SD tip pf the nail file tool fits the screws of a Williams Fool Proof peep sight well as it does the screws on a Smith and Wesson revolver with adjustable sights.

For larger jobs, you need a larger knife/tool. Thats why I very often team up the classic with my Old Wenger SI. The Wenger SI is a Victorinox pioneer with other branding, and is a flat compact tool. It rides nice in a flat nylon belt sheath just in back of my right hip, and in back of a holstered Ruger LCR or Smith and Wesson J frame revolver on the right hip. If I need food capability while out someplace, the Wenger will handle that, as well as any other heavier duty job. But often go whole days without needing the larger SAK in the belt sheath. I've come to the conclusion that 98% of what most of us living in a suburban/urban environment do, can be handled with a small keychain pen knife sized tool. Actually, I think most my knife use is those infernal cursed plastic blister packages that defy tooth and nail. But the sharp little classic blade slides right through them to free the trapped item. Each to their own and their uses.

So, yes, the classic is a keychain pen knife with some tool capacity built in, and will handle 98% of what we need to handle in most urban environments. If you need a bigger knife, then carry a bigger knife. Simple.
 
A.L. said:
Please move to Russia then. 😃
Remember to pack some gear for the frontline.
Click to expand...
This is an example of how the censorship of news here is impacting peoples grasp of reality.
Ukraine is seizing passports & pressing foreigners into the army.
Ukraine is firing suicide drones at the Kursk NPP.
Ukraine field rockets into a kindergarten (luckily the kids were on a field trip), then the next day at a park & coffee shop at noon.
How do I know you ask?
I have about 1/2 dozen friends (American& British) who tell me this via email (they live in Russia).
I remember the 1980's at Catholic grade school we bought Pravda just to see how the soviets reported world event.
Try to get on a Russia media site here, & your computer crashes.
 
My quadriplegic friend (I call her the quad) has a nurse.
I borrowed her nurse's SAK to undo a massive knot in a new pair of boot laces (don't ask).
The corkscrew is perfect for it, not the reamer of my Pioneer, nail file on my Cadet, or even dedicated marlinespike.
She didn't know what the model was, she bout it when she graduated from Nursing school & bought herself a bottle of wine.
It measures 85mm, has a main blade, small blade, can opener, bottle opener, on the opposite side is has a sewing awl, & corkscrew.
Any ideas?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top