This.
I find it hard to talk about post 1980 SAks in the traditional forum. During the 70s, SAKs lost their bails, lost their rivets and went on a tool binge. At the same time, a young American named Tim was bumming around in Europe and got fed up with the lack of functional pliers on his SAK. The rest, as they say, is history; which is why I think it's a lot easier to discuss the comparative virtues of the modern SAK over in the multi-tool forum.
I will say this... We took the kids out for 2 days of XC skiing this past weekend.
South View from Pine Island by Pinnah, on Flickr
On the first day, my daughter's new boots had a painful fold in the toe box. Using a pair of folding pliers, I was able to quickly work the pleather until it folded in a better manner and the day and weekend were saved.
On the second day, my son's binding lost a bail. A rivet had sheered a part of the head. Again, using a pair of folding pliers, I was able to put the bail back in place and turn the remaining bits of the rivet head enough to jury rig it, saving the day and avoiding a walk out of the woods.
I find this too. Every once in a while, I google for the hardness values of SAK's Inox. The highest reported number I've seen are in the 54-55 Rc range. If that's changed or if that's wrong, I would be grateful to learn that. Compared to Buck's 420HC and Opinel's treatment of Sanvik 12C27, both in the 58 Rc range, I'll stick with Opinel. And as fond as I am of the camper pattern (my first knife and all that), I've come to prefer the ergos of a single blade knife.
So? How to get the functionality of an SAK and the cutting performance of a good single blade knife? My solution..
Nearly every day
EDC Pair by Pinnah, on Flickr
When dress slacks are demanded
image by Pinnah, on Flickr
Sometimes, just because
Schrade 51OT by Pinnah, on Flickr
You know, out of the hundreds of knives I own and have owned, I don't recall one Victorinox. I have and have had some of the Century patterns Schrade tried to market briefly, assembled of German produced parts by Camillus, but they really didn't do much for me. I have several Kastor made knives well over a hundred years old and they have a certain... elegance.. like gentleman's pocket jewelry, but I don't carry them. I've always had one or more of the Imperial Kamp Kings and they serve well. I have a few Ulsters too and they are a bit more upscale in materials, fit and finish, but I really don't carry and use them either. When I feel the need to carry a utility knife to use, I carry a tank. An old military MIL-K-818.
They can be broken but it takes a lot of effort.
I would love to see a variant of this pattern revived. I think Leatherman would be the company to do it. Take a Micra, or a classic old PST, and open up full length like this and then put it side by each with an old Demo knife, like the one you've shown.
Micra whittling by Pinnah, on Flickr
Now, in you mind's eye, get rid of the scissor (or pliers head) in the middle of the Leatherman. Can you see a reborn Demo knife emerging? I can. The technical advance would be setting aside the traditional spring bar construction of a slip joint for a design that forms the scales and springs out of a single piece of stainless. Very thin, very light, very tough and offers up a lot of possibilities of multiple tool blades? Non-tradtional? I dunno. Call it a douk-douk or Mercator Cat combined with a Demo knife. A Demo knife competitor to the modern (non-traditional?) SAK? You betcha.
I've never lost a knife before that, though my wife insists that I've only "misplaced" it. Here's hoping it turns up soon <fingers crossed> In the meantime I'll carry my new glow-in-the-dark BSA scaled Deluxe Tinker 
