Did the swiss create the ultimate pocket knife?

SAK:
1. Inexpensive
2. Low maintenance
3. Consistently well made
4. Instantly recognizable
5. Large amount of tools in a small package

SAKs are a great value and to be honest, I think the Alox series look good and wear well.
 
Well, as I can see, we have our fair share of traditionalists that love the old style but still see the utility of the SAK. I myself have several Vict. SAKs myself. My EDC is a Vict. Supertinker, a Boker USA 4" Stockman in a modified Uncle Mike's pocket holster and a Gerber Evo flipper I found cheap at a pawnshop.

I started on modern style OHOs but in later years got bit by the traditional style. When I bought my first SAK, I thought to myself "never going to use this"... Boy was I wrong. I have several now, started with a Tinker, then a Sportsman and now the Supertinker. My son ended up with a Classic SD. I had a Wenger SAK once but was disappointed. The Vict. SAKs are just a better overall breed to me.

As far as scout knives, I have two Camillus U.S. Scouts, an Irish campknife, a Bear Scout/Camp knife and a Kamp-King. Then of course there is all the Hawkbills, A Peanut, Electricians knives, and so on.
 
I never got the SAK and thought it was a bunch of gimmick until... I got my first one. I was stuck on North Camp MFO in the Sinai Desert for a year as I was permanent party, not a USBatt rotation. The force exchange had a few Old Timers and a SAK Champ on hand. I'd already bought the OTs just to have some sort of connection to back home and to what I considered "down home" things. Nothing left to get cutlery wise in the FX, but that SAK Champ. So I did.

Then. Then I got it. Very well made and the tools were precisely made. The few cheap, crappy imitations I'd handled before that caused me to go, meh, were and are an insult. I found that done right all those tools and gadgets on a Vic SAK (and Wenger too, I'm just biased to Vic) actually work as intended quite well and even do some things they weren't intended too.

I actually found that of all the knives I had around when I was making some walking sticks that the SAK Swisschamp was the most useful and did the most for me. I'd rough shape a stick, usually an aged sapling found out somewhere and often cut off with the SAK saw, with the tomahawk then go to smoothing and shaving down with the SAK main blade. The thin blade cut well for minimal smoothing cuts, dug in if I needed it too, and the size of the handle, well it made a nice handle that gave great control of the blade for slicing, notching, or scraping. Sure, I may have needed to touch the edge up with a few wipes on a fine Arkansas blade or a ceramic stick, towards the end, but it was literally just a few strokes to bring it right back up. This after using it heavily and for a lot scraping with the edge instead of cutting.

I've also abused mine a bit, using the SC to hammer a battery terminal home on a car battery when all I had was the SAK SC with pliers to take it off in the first place for an emergency battery change out. I've even managed to use the pen enough to actually run it out of ink.

I will admit that I think the sapphire blue and emerald green translucent scales are prettier than the standard red ones. I'll even admit the Alox adds not only some extra wear ability, but an extra aesthetic touch, particularly in the colors, but there is something universal and comforting in the basic SAK look. It has a tradition all its own with the red handle stretching back a good ways.

They are a fine example of something built right, with precision and pride. When you consider the quality and the precision of the components (the scissors cut like real scissors, the wood saw like a real wood saw, and the metal saw really works) and the price the sell for, SAKs are pretty impressive knives with a very long history. Trying to use one of the knockoff copies is an exercise in frustration and futility. Using a real SAK is an eye opener.
 
I always have one of these in my pocket: Electrician, Farmer, or Electrician Plus. I prefer the feel in hand of the three-layer ones, but since I rarely need a saw in the wintertime I'm carrying the two-layer Electrician now. The Farmer is actually starting to get a little character from having some of the red worn away.

In reality, one of these and my little Vic Rambler can pretty much handle anything this retired guy needs to do. There's still something (a lot of things, actually) about a traditional knife that a SAK will never be able to replicate, and that's why I always carry (at least) one of each. :D


 
black mamba said:
I have been a pocket knife user and owner for over 50 years now, and just a month ago I bought myself a Vic Electrician for my first ever SAK.

….. The short, stout sheepfoot blade puts this way ahead of the Pioneer for my uses.
Click to expand...

:eek::eek::eek:

You sure picked a good one for your first, Jeff! :thumbup:

….. Not to mention the nail nicks both on the mark side. ;)
 
My Alox Farmer lives in my work-bag, it goes nearly everywhere with me and I get a sense of contentment from knowing it's there and that it has such versatilty. They are undeniably well-made, useful, durable and affordable, a lot to admire.

However, I've never used it as a worry-stone :D you need wood, bone, horn or stag to go there!
 
I do wonder though when people say they like a SAK, but in some way refer to it as not being a traditional knife. It may not look like an old Case or Queen, but that's like saying Douk Douk, or an Opinel, or a Pukka is nice, but it's not a traditional knife. Or that yellow or other Delrin handled trappers aren't traditional.

If you consider their widespread use by real people in real places for over 100 years, a SAK is a whole lot more traditional than some fancy Bowie knife since Bowies didn't see that much use by real backwoodsmen. Especially not compared to the worldwide use of SAKs for a century.

Just saying. Just because it doesn't fit the American traditional pattern of handle material and blade choice, doesn't mean it isn't a traditional knife. Maybe if you are talking the new Trekker styles and the German Army issue knives, now those are "moderns" in a sense. But the basic SAK in a variety of models is a traditional knife by most genuine definitions.
 
I have to really struggle not to carry my Vic Pioneer every single day but my Rambler is a constant companion. If I wasn't such a knife-nut, these two would be all I'd need or want. But that ain't the Case... ;)

core01.jpg


...because of knives like these... :)

bestfav01_zps405b2250.jpg


-Brett
 
Amos Iron Wolf said:
I do wonder though when people say they like a SAK, but in some way refer to it as not being a traditional knife. ….. the basic SAK in a variety of models is a traditional knife by most genuine definitions.
Click to expand...

Well said and guilty as charged, Amos. I guess the only reason I made a distinction is because there's a separate sub-forum here where SAK's are discussed - lame excuse, but it's all I got. ;) Your point still stands though.

Let us know - here or there - how you like your Farmer when it arrives.
 
coyote711 said:
Well said and guilty as charged, Amos. I guess the only reason I made a distinction is because there's a separate sub-forum here where SAK's are discussed - lame excuse, but it's all I got. ;) Your point still stands though.

Let us know - here or there - how you like your Farmer when it arrives.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I get a little cranky sometimes. I think it comes from hearing guys on another forum who think you have to have a $3000 custom handgun and a $400 beastly OHO, monster lockblade knife just to survive a trip to the mailbox. Makes my head spin. Especially when I remember Jackknife's stories about his Dad with his peanut and Woodsman.

I was just doing some online searching on the knives Gen. Yeager carried and came across an old thread on here from back in 2007 that talked about the knives a lot of the "pros" carried. Pros meaning those guys we respected from back in the day that actually worked and spent a considerable amount of time in the backwoods, savannahs, and bush, with no cell phones or any high speed, low drag survival packs, and just basic knives. What real men carried AND used. A fair good smattering of simple SAKs and Stockman patterns. Then to see all the over the top and excessive things carried to face down all the horrific condition we have to face daily now. I guess the envelopes got tougher that they were in those days. :D Guess you could say it gets my grump on.

Regarding the Farmer. I'm kinda scared about it. I'm afraid I will like it so much I might be tempted beyond my ability to resist to move it into the spot my Case smooth chestnut mini-trapper has been occupying for a good while now. If the Farmer feels anywhere as good in the pocket as the Tinker does, I'm in serious trouble. Though I would have liked the toothpick. So maybe there is still the search for the perfect knife (that I don't already have) after all.
 
Didn't sound cranky at all to me, Amos. I thought it was a well written, level-headed statement of the facts.

This piece directly above, however, did sound a bit cranky. :D I agree with ya, though. After reading about Carl's dad and everything he did with a Peanut, the current crop of mall ninja's just has to make you shake your head ..… well, getting a bit off topic here, so back to the Farmer …..

You just may have good reason to be scared of your inbound Farmer - it's one heckuva package! ;)
 
Amos Iron Wolf said:
Regarding the Farmer. I'm kinda scared about it. I'm afraid I will like it so much I might be tempted beyond my ability to resist to move it into the spot my Case smooth chestnut mini-trapper has been occupying for a good while now. If the Farmer feels anywhere as good in the pocket as the Tinker does, I'm in serious trouble. Though I would have liked the toothpick. So maybe there is still the search for the perfect knife (that I don't already have) after all.
Click to expand...

If you already know you're going to like it, why not try it?



Seriously, it's a great knife.
 
No they didn't, although they ended up with a real good one. I've carried an old model Huntsman for a lot of years and still do. But it seems, my old 61OT was better for cleaning trout and seemed to take a better edge. For specific tasks there are a lot of knives that are better for one reason or another. But, it fills the bill for all around usefulness.


IMGP0533.jpg
 
Woodrow, I'm already thinking I'll just let the Farmer replace the SAK Classic that's been in my left pocket for years. The scales pop off of that poor battered Classic most of the time I take it out. The spring for scissors is gone, and I carved the toothpick to hold a button on my uniform blazer that popped off literally a few minutes before the CEO at the time of Citigroup was arriving and heading into the door that I was guarding. Time to retire it with honor I think.

I've been carrying the Case mini-trapper in the left pocket recently while I test carried a medium stockman in the same scale material in the right. Might be time to retire the stockman to the pocket carry anytime approved group here. Not so many as you would think in that club as I'm a bit picky about it. Then move the MT back to it's proper spot and the Farmer to the old Classic's post.

Yeah, I'm not going to dump my MT immediately, but I think I'll definitely give the Farmer some pocket time as well. As Clint Smith says, "Two is one and one is none." It applies to knives as well as guns. ;)
 
Mattd, may have to take a look at one of those. Case may have a winner for folks that want a more traditional handle. Guess we'll see how strong they are or the tools wiggle.

It's the designs and the consistant quality that sells Victorinox SAKs to the point that I don't even give it a second thought that the one in the box (unseen) is exactly the same as the one I am considering buying.

Amos, good initial post on SAKs. For years I also believed them to be gimmicky and ignored them completely as being some sort of cheap scout knife that nobody uses or used by people that do really didn't know much about knives. Now, I am a confirmed Vic SAK person. I have a stack of them sitting in my cabinet in my office still in the boxes.
 
To get ready for the Farmer I moved the Case Medium Stockman out of my right pocket, the Case Mini-Trapper back from the left pocket to its original spot in the right, and slid my old SAK Tinker into my left pocket today to keep the place up while waiting on the Farmer to arrive.
 
Having had a few SAK's down the line from being a kid and hankering after the one with everything on it I've settled for the Alox Farmer. I gave my first to my brother, kept missing it and so picked up another:)

One of the things I really admire about them is the way they've tucked everything away with sunken joints. Very neat. I've made a couple of minor tweaks with this one, because the saw blade sits a touch proud I've rounded the spine. I've also rounded the lanyard eye.



Finally, I've attached an 'S' clip which hooks on the top of my pocket so the knife doesn't sit in the bottom of my pocket. Perfect:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top