My three favorite knife companies these days, and for a long time, are Case, Victorinox, and Opinel. Case, for the knife I really love on a day to day basis is my peanut. I'm addicted the the Case peanut both as a nice little cutter, and as male pocket jewelry. Devon Thomas damascus steel goes well with amber jigged bone.
Opinel has an old world charm funky design. I love old world and funky. I drove a VW bug for 30 years and still love my old school Vespa PX150. The two stroke motor leaves a smell of oil in it's wake, but that's all part of old Vespa's.
Then there's Victorinox SAK's.
I guess I've been carrying a Victorinox SAK around longer than any other knife, and I've given some away, traded off others in a steady parade of SAK's that came and went in my life. I've tried all kinds of combinations of tools and number of layers, and came to a conclusion that simple is good. But, no matter what kind of knife I had, there was always a SAK around. A lot of things attracted me to Victorinox, like predicable quality, fit and finish. No matter where in the world you are, the SAK you pick up will be just like the SAK back home. No hand sorting of the on hand stock needed. Then there's the iron clad Victorinox warrantee. If something lets go, send it in to the service center in Shelton Connecticut and the problem is taken care of. You can buy a SAK almost anywhere, where you have to sometimes search for a knife shop or buy online for an Opinel or Case. Victorinox seems to be in any Dick's, REI, Lowes, Walmart, Target, or surplus store. I guess being the largest knife company in the world has it's advantages. Victorinox makes more knives each year than any other two, or even three knife companies together.
But when it comes to bang for the buck, they just may be in a class by themselves.
Like I said, I love knives, and have been a knife knut my whole life. But in the past few years, being much closer to the end than the beginning, I've downsized all my stuff. I just don't feel the need or have the want of much stuff. So, in this new found old age practicality, I fond myself looking for the best bang for the buck item to go down the road with. This past summer, when I was going on vacation to Key West Florida, I had to pick just one single pocket knife to mail to myself so I wouldn't be knife less in a sportsmans paradise of fishing and boating. My pick was a Victorinox recruit for 14.95 from Lowes, the big box hardware store. At the end of my vacation I gave it to the grounds keeper guy where we had been staying. Of course he was thrilled by the gift, and brings us to yet another SAK advantage. Instant recognition. Few products have the recognition of Victorinox, aside from Coke, Pepsi, and BIC.
As I said, I left a recruit behind in Key West, and I've had the vague feeling of missing it. Not like I would have missed my Case peanut if I had tried to takeit and it got lost. That would have been really a heart breaker. But still a vague feeling of something missing. I like the recruit model a lot, and it fits in with my minimalist view of things. Simple two layer SAK, my favorite kind. If I'm going out and I know I have some harder use or dirty deeds to do, I'll augment my Case peanut with a SAK. The recruit is one of my most reached for back ups. Looking at the recruit, I had the idea that it just may be the most bang for the buck pocket knife out there.
For the 14.95 they charge at Lowes, it's about the same price as an Opinel number 8, cheaper than almost any other pocket knife made by a reputable knife company, yet gives you two knife blades, two different screw drivers that work on flat or phillips, can opener and bottle opener, tweezes and toothpick. There's a lot of utility packed into that package, and may be very hard to beat the bang for the buck factor. Certainly a knife packing all that for the same price as a simple Opinel is like a free lunch.
Victorinox is a great bargain in todays world.
Opinel has an old world charm funky design. I love old world and funky. I drove a VW bug for 30 years and still love my old school Vespa PX150. The two stroke motor leaves a smell of oil in it's wake, but that's all part of old Vespa's.
Then there's Victorinox SAK's.
I guess I've been carrying a Victorinox SAK around longer than any other knife, and I've given some away, traded off others in a steady parade of SAK's that came and went in my life. I've tried all kinds of combinations of tools and number of layers, and came to a conclusion that simple is good. But, no matter what kind of knife I had, there was always a SAK around. A lot of things attracted me to Victorinox, like predicable quality, fit and finish. No matter where in the world you are, the SAK you pick up will be just like the SAK back home. No hand sorting of the on hand stock needed. Then there's the iron clad Victorinox warrantee. If something lets go, send it in to the service center in Shelton Connecticut and the problem is taken care of. You can buy a SAK almost anywhere, where you have to sometimes search for a knife shop or buy online for an Opinel or Case. Victorinox seems to be in any Dick's, REI, Lowes, Walmart, Target, or surplus store. I guess being the largest knife company in the world has it's advantages. Victorinox makes more knives each year than any other two, or even three knife companies together.
But when it comes to bang for the buck, they just may be in a class by themselves.
Like I said, I love knives, and have been a knife knut my whole life. But in the past few years, being much closer to the end than the beginning, I've downsized all my stuff. I just don't feel the need or have the want of much stuff. So, in this new found old age practicality, I fond myself looking for the best bang for the buck item to go down the road with. This past summer, when I was going on vacation to Key West Florida, I had to pick just one single pocket knife to mail to myself so I wouldn't be knife less in a sportsmans paradise of fishing and boating. My pick was a Victorinox recruit for 14.95 from Lowes, the big box hardware store. At the end of my vacation I gave it to the grounds keeper guy where we had been staying. Of course he was thrilled by the gift, and brings us to yet another SAK advantage. Instant recognition. Few products have the recognition of Victorinox, aside from Coke, Pepsi, and BIC.
As I said, I left a recruit behind in Key West, and I've had the vague feeling of missing it. Not like I would have missed my Case peanut if I had tried to takeit and it got lost. That would have been really a heart breaker. But still a vague feeling of something missing. I like the recruit model a lot, and it fits in with my minimalist view of things. Simple two layer SAK, my favorite kind. If I'm going out and I know I have some harder use or dirty deeds to do, I'll augment my Case peanut with a SAK. The recruit is one of my most reached for back ups. Looking at the recruit, I had the idea that it just may be the most bang for the buck pocket knife out there.
For the 14.95 they charge at Lowes, it's about the same price as an Opinel number 8, cheaper than almost any other pocket knife made by a reputable knife company, yet gives you two knife blades, two different screw drivers that work on flat or phillips, can opener and bottle opener, tweezes and toothpick. There's a lot of utility packed into that package, and may be very hard to beat the bang for the buck factor. Certainly a knife packing all that for the same price as a simple Opinel is like a free lunch.
Victorinox is a great bargain in todays world.
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