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- Aug 23, 2004
- Messages
- 382
There was apparently a great deal of concern in Germany a half century ago that American fishermen would not be adequately equipped to pursue their favorite sport. Knives, pliers, and combinations thereof specifically designed for fishermen seemed to abound from the famous cutlery makers in the town of Solingen. They made numerous variations of long, skinny, folding filet knives, often equipped with gaff hooks or weight scales or some other fish-related attachment, which were then exported for sale to this country. Chapter 1 in this series covered the ABCo tool, which was a set of folding pliers produced specifically for the tackle box, while Chapter 4 only briefly touched upon the dozens of variations of “German Fishing Pliers.”
All of these multi purpose devices were manufactured in Solingen, Germany, and all were attempts to give the fisherman a lightweight, convenient-sized device that could handle as wide a variety of tasks as possible.
In yet another endeavor to produce the perfect fishing tool, the industrious Germans came up with this clever piece of equipment:
Produced in Solingen, the tool pictured above was distributed by the Hoffritz company of New York. Other virtually identical tools exist with Bonsa or PAL markings instead of the Hoffritz logo. With many of the same capabilities as other German Fishing Pliers, this tool has the advantage of being able to fold up into a more compact package. (A definite plus if your tackle box is as crammed full of gear as mine is!)
But is it a SAK, or is it a multi tool? I guess that depends upon your definition of each. I tend to think of a Swiss Army Knife as mostly “knife,” with fold out tool(s). Whereas a multi tool is mostly “tool,” with fold out knife blade(s). It can be a fine line, which certainly does become blurred at times. If anything, I would consider this Hoffritz tool to be the missing link between the two species.
Along with its clever folding plier mechanism, the Hoffritz fishing tool featured quite a number of other capabilities. A substantial 3-1/2” knife blade, a combination hook disgorger / 3” ruler / bottle cap lifter/ fish scaler blade, and a Phillips screwdriver blade were its other folding implements. The pliers themselves were spring-loaded, and were equipped with a lead shot splitter and a hard-wire cutting notch. Unfolded, the total length is just under 8". There was a sharpening stone embedded along one side of the tool, and almost forgotten, a small pair of tweezers tucked under one of the handle scales. (Oops, not shown in any of my photos.)
Overall construction was solid, but the clever folding plier mechanism gives up a bit of ruggedness in trade-off for its ability to be compact. The handle liners are brass, along with the blade pivot pins. All metal surfaces are nickel plated. I do not know the exact date of manufacture, but given that other German Fishing Tools from Solingen were being chrome plated by the mid-1950’s, I would say that this tool is older than that.
Pictured above alongside the ABCo fishing tool from Chapter 1, you can see a definite family resemblance. The plier jaws appear almost identical. The difference in the two tools simply being the means by which they fold up into a more compact package.
The Hoffritz fishing tool came generously equipped with multiple functions, and would have left the mid-twentieth-century fisherman well prepared to deal with the average lakeside or streamside crisis. So what’s your opinion? Is this old Hoffritz fishing tool a multi tool, or is it a SAK?
~Bob
All of these multi purpose devices were manufactured in Solingen, Germany, and all were attempts to give the fisherman a lightweight, convenient-sized device that could handle as wide a variety of tasks as possible.
In yet another endeavor to produce the perfect fishing tool, the industrious Germans came up with this clever piece of equipment:
Produced in Solingen, the tool pictured above was distributed by the Hoffritz company of New York. Other virtually identical tools exist with Bonsa or PAL markings instead of the Hoffritz logo. With many of the same capabilities as other German Fishing Pliers, this tool has the advantage of being able to fold up into a more compact package. (A definite plus if your tackle box is as crammed full of gear as mine is!)
But is it a SAK, or is it a multi tool? I guess that depends upon your definition of each. I tend to think of a Swiss Army Knife as mostly “knife,” with fold out tool(s). Whereas a multi tool is mostly “tool,” with fold out knife blade(s). It can be a fine line, which certainly does become blurred at times. If anything, I would consider this Hoffritz tool to be the missing link between the two species.
Along with its clever folding plier mechanism, the Hoffritz fishing tool featured quite a number of other capabilities. A substantial 3-1/2” knife blade, a combination hook disgorger / 3” ruler / bottle cap lifter/ fish scaler blade, and a Phillips screwdriver blade were its other folding implements. The pliers themselves were spring-loaded, and were equipped with a lead shot splitter and a hard-wire cutting notch. Unfolded, the total length is just under 8". There was a sharpening stone embedded along one side of the tool, and almost forgotten, a small pair of tweezers tucked under one of the handle scales. (Oops, not shown in any of my photos.)
Overall construction was solid, but the clever folding plier mechanism gives up a bit of ruggedness in trade-off for its ability to be compact. The handle liners are brass, along with the blade pivot pins. All metal surfaces are nickel plated. I do not know the exact date of manufacture, but given that other German Fishing Tools from Solingen were being chrome plated by the mid-1950’s, I would say that this tool is older than that.
Pictured above alongside the ABCo fishing tool from Chapter 1, you can see a definite family resemblance. The plier jaws appear almost identical. The difference in the two tools simply being the means by which they fold up into a more compact package.
The Hoffritz fishing tool came generously equipped with multiple functions, and would have left the mid-twentieth-century fisherman well prepared to deal with the average lakeside or streamside crisis. So what’s your opinion? Is this old Hoffritz fishing tool a multi tool, or is it a SAK?
~Bob
