Carrying a Swiss army knife for EDC

Spartan gifted to me by my sister in law (after she got my name engraved on it at the factory), or an Alox farmer for outdoor jobs like small tree branch trimming and I carry that to work occasionally. The reamer/punch is great for taking off nasty edges on metal/ cut pvc pipes and cable tray.
 
pipedreams308 said:
Case would beg to differ!
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Yes, my bad and you're totally correct.

Case has hung in there, but only from making the beanie babies of th knife world collectables. With Elvis commemoratives and John Deer commemoratives, and commemoratives for country western stars and one hundred and one shades of bone for any taste no matter how garish, they've hung on. They still make a few models for working folks, with the good CV steel, but they're getting hard to come by as time goes on. I dearly loved my Case peanut, but I had to pick thorough a few at the store that still had Case, to find one with good fit and finish. Camillus, Schrade, Kinfolks, Inperial, Western, and rest are all gone. The names have been sold and sued by Chinese companies and that galls the ever lovin dog poo out of me.

Thank God for Victorinox. I'd give anything to have Wenger back in business.
 
Daedric Panther said:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Buck was still owned by the original family
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I think of Buck as a post war company. And they've farmed out so many model to china that I con't consider them anymore. Plus for the income they've succumbed to the tacticool trend. Hell, you can even buy a switchblade 110 now. You can play James dean and pay homage to 60's bikers in one fell swoop. The hight of ridiculous.
 
I’ve carried an SAK Camper, Waiter, or Spartan since the 60s. I currently EDC a Compact and a Laconico EZC. It’s easier to flip the blade out on the EZC for one-handed use. But the scissors and corkscrew are indispensable when you need one.
 
Wenger used to make excellent saks,about same quality as Victorinox,too bad theyre gone...(i guess they make some models under Victorinox logo now).Not too many pple here mention large size locking Saks,which are also very useful especially for outdoors,and work way better than many modern so called tactical knives.For price ,quality and overall usefulness,I think that Victorinox cant be beat,also their butcher-kitchen knives are excellent and affordable ,can be used for any tasks including bushcraft and camping and are at bargain price when you compare them to so called tactical bushcraft specific knives.Opinel is second company that also has some excellent offerings where they make inexpensive knives that are made to be used.With opinel i wish they changed from wood handles to some kind of hard plastic and it would make many customers happy,as their blades have geometry that all knives that are meant to be used should have.
 
lonestar1979 said:
Opinel is second company that also has some excellent offerings where they make inexpensive knives that are made to be used.With opinel i wish they changed from wood handles to some kind of hard plastic and it would make many customers happy,as their blades have geometry that all knives that are meant to be used should have.
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I love Opinels. Very inexpensive, they take a scary sharp edge, and are still family owned. Although I disagree about the plastic handles. That’s like putting a spyder hole and pocket clip on a Buck 110 it’s just not the same knife which has such a cult following.
 
Daedric Panther said:
I love Opinels. Very inexpensive, they take a scary sharp edge, and are still family owned. Although I disagree about the plastic handles. That’s like putting a spyder hole and pocket clip on a Buck 110 it’s just not the same knife which has such a cult following.
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I loved Opinels for a bit over thirty years, and fooled with them fora longtime. I loved the way they cut, and with some experimentation I got them to a point that 30 minutes total submerging was doable. Wax of any kind melted into the wood around the pivot worked very well, and on a cheap knife it was okay to spend a little time fooling with them. The locking ring needed work by being filed to allow it to move further around for a better secure lock up.

But when they became the same price of a Victorinox recruit or the Victorinox florist model, it was not as viable an option. Then when they changed the locking ring design and it was now needing a Dremel tool job, it was no longer a viable low cost effective knife for me. I'd rather they left off the whole locking ring and leave it as a friction folder like it was originally intended to be by Joseph Opinel himself. For 65 years the Opinel was a strait out friction folder, and it worked well at it's job; a low cost yet effective cutting tool.

The lawyers have screwed the pooch. From now on when I need a razor sharp thin edged knife, I'll use the Victorinox florist. It's right up there with the Opinel and needs no work out of the box.
 
Well,i think they should make other options available,along with wood,i like them all,i carry and use opinel garden knife daily and it still opens easily when it gets wet,as most of blade stays out of handle.I know opinel makes some options with plastic and stag,olive wood etc,but there should be options for all m9dels as they are excellent knives.btw ,my uncle,who is an excellent craftsman and woodworker is making me stag handle opinel no8,inox,he will only use blade from original opinel and ring.Should be an excellent knife to carry and use.
 
lonestar1979 said:
Well,i think they should make other options available,along with wood,i like them all,i carry and use opinel garden knife daily and it still opens easily when it gets wet,as most of blade stays out of handle.I know opinel makes some options with plastic and stag,olive wood etc,but there should be options for all m9dels as they are excellent knives.btw ,my uncle,who is an excellent craftsman and woodworker is making me stag handle opinel no8,inox,he will only use blade from original opinel and ring.Should be an excellent knife to carry and use.
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Stag would be awesome!

Has anyone ever tried disassembling an Opinel, relieving the wood in the pivot slightly, then inserting nylon or brass washers?
 
I agree with jackknife,victorinox is better option but I like opinels too much to get rid of them,along with some other more expensive traditionals.Jackknife,where i live ,that victorinox garden knife is around 50 dol,way too expensive for what it is,dont know why is that the price.I also use Victorin9x Alpineer,its single stack locking large sak with corkscrew and blade.Have used it and abused it ,and the knife is still almost like new,functions perfectly,just the blade is little smaller from sharpenings.Easier to carry than opinel of similar size,very light,blade is just razor sharp,stays that way for decent amount of time,and blade shape that is easy to sharpen with minimal or no equipment.Cant beat these knives for functionality and price.Sak steel is pretty good,i dont care what anyone says,the way it touches up in field is amazing,also doesnt rust,when you forget to wipe it off or dont have time for it.
 
Ps.one other inexpensive but pretty good knife is rough rider granddaddy barlow,4inch blade,bone handle and pretty good steel,this knife is very handy and reminds me of my alpineer every time i use it,easy to carry and good looking.Bottom line is Victorinox know what theyre doing.One other thing i like about victorinox is nobody will freek out when you pull one out and use it,even the large ones,and you can carry it alm9st anywhere and any country.I always travel with spartan on keychain,or carry my alpineer in pocket,used it exclusivelly as my only knife,had no need for other knives,even when i had them in my suitcase.Nowadays i carry opinel garden knife,pioneer alox in gold color,or my Alpineer.
 
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jackknife said:
I loved Opinels for a bit over thirty years, and fooled with them fora longtime. I loved the way they cut, and with some experimentation I got them to a point that 30 minutes total submerging was doable. Wax of any kind melted into the wood around the pivot worked very well, and on a cheap knife it was okay to spend a little time fooling with them. The locking ring needed work by being filed to allow it to move further around for a better secure lock up.

But when they became the same price of a Victorinox recruit or the Victorinox florist model, it was not as viable an option. Then when they changed the locking ring design and it was now needing a Dremel tool job, it was no longer a viable low cost effective knife for me. I'd rather they left off the whole locking ring and leave it as a friction folder like it was originally intended to be by Joseph Opinel himself. For 65 years the Opinel was a strait out friction folder, and it worked well at it's job; a low cost yet effective cutting tool.

The lawyers have screwed the pooch. From now on when I need a razor sharp thin edged knife, I'll use the Victorinox florist. It's right up there with the Opinel and needs no work out of the box.
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I straight up removed the locking ring on my original Opinel. The big advantage they have over Victorinox in my opinion is that they offer carbon steel on all their knives. SAKs in my experience are extremely rust resistant, but don’t hold an edge for nearly as long the carbon steel used by opinel.
 
lonestar1979 said:
.Jackknife,where i live ,that victorinox garden knife is around 50 dol,way too expensive for what it is,dont know why is that the price.
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:eek::eek::eek:

I don't know who's over charging by 300%, but theres at least two big knife sellers on the 'net that charge 17.95 for them, plus a few bucks shipping. I got mine at a local gun show where a guy had a lot of Victorinox stuff, and it was like 18.00 dollars. Anyone charging 50 dollars needs to be publicly flogged for outright fraud!
 
When i add the shipping ,duty taxes and everything ,it still is well over what it is worth.Thanx for the link anyways,remember this knife being about 15us before,in couple stores.
 
I used to have small spyderco ladybug on keychain,forgot to mention it,bought it maybe 20yrs ago,first production,without liners,that blade used to cut,pry,act as screwdriver,etc,being able to open and close it with one hand was big plus,opened many packages,even cut food with it.Back then they were inexpensive,now they cost about 3x as much,at least double.I lost that knife when i was moving,but it was maybe my most used spyderco.Thats only non sak that came close to Victorinox,i carry clasic on keychain now,but find it too small.pioneer alox is in my edc rotation :).Older wenger soldier alox i liked even better,but it got lost few years ago.
 
If i see florist knife somewhere on sale,ill get it,paying duty and international shipping and converting to us dollar works little too much for what the knife is worth,im sure its good knife,the other victorinox offerings i can get in half the price....the florist works out to be more than pioneer or even farmer alox.Id rather get farmer,and maybe i will.Gold alox pioneer is beautiful.
 
I located similar-same knife,in store near by,its 30 canadian,but it has 2 blades,otherwise the same knife,will check it out tomorrow,have looked at some other Canadian sites and the knife like yours is 40-50can,plus shipping.
 
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