Did your SAK save the day today ?

oldmanrunning

oldmanrunning

Joined
Apr 22, 2013
Messages
1,114
Well my small Tinker saved me squeaking all the way into town this morning when the rear brake on my bicycle needed tweaking, just opened the screwdriver/cap lifter blade , a couple of turns and job done, then i remembered something to go on my shopping list and out with the pen in the Manager i now carry in my coin pocket ( what i used to call my Peanut pocket ) . Of course that is not up there with performing an emergency Tracheotomy or cutting someone out of a jammed seat belt, but it is satisfying all the same. It would be interesting to read any accounts of your SAKs doing what they are made for.

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From the time I was 12 years old to the present day, I have carried one or another SAK almost every single day, would no more leave the house without my wallet than a SAK (true fact; I have forgot my wallet a couple of times, never a SAK.) They are endlessly useful for all sorts of small fixes and tweaks that gadget lovers like me somehow find popping up all the time. That said, in decades of carrying them, only once did a "save the day" situation come up. That was during a traditional wet dream of SAK enthusiasts, a group outing in the boonies with a bottle of wine and no corkscrew. Rising to the occasion, with a flourish I drew my Swisschamp from its belt pouch, flung out the corkscrew and proceeded to bugger up the cork :o . But I did get it out without getting pieces of cork in the wine, and so retained my hero status.

OTOH, although carrying Leatherman tools for a shorter length of time, they have on several occasions "saved the day" for me. But that's another topic. ;)
 
My explorer plus saves the day almost everyday. Used the magnifying glass on some really small print. Open mail all the time. The screwdriver comes in handy. When I need a pen, the one on my knife is a bitch to write with, but when it's all I have, it's great to have it. Is there a day a SAK doesn't save?
 
Not today, but there has been ties in the past when a SAK did save the day. Or at least a good part of it.

One of my hobbies is old Vespa motor scooters. Love them. But they can be a bit finicky.

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A few years back, I was out riding in the country by myself, and exploring a little dirt road that led somewhere. In the middle of nowhere, the motor started to sputter, miss, and then died. Nothing around but fields and woods. No life in the scoot. No lights, ignition, nada. The lights were a clue, so I started at the spark plug and worked my way back. I found that the positive lead of the battery had worked loose from the vibration of the rough road, and my SAK screw driver tightened it up and it lived. I kicked it over and went on my way.

So many times just having a screw driver on hand lets me tinker and finagle it and fix a small problem. To me, the SAK is like Doctor Who's sonic screw driver.

Today, it just helped fin a fireplace door slide mechanism. It was right there in pocket and I didn't have to get a tool. :thumbup:
 
The other day my miniature macaw "Birdie" (small parrot) got his leg tangled in a piece of string and panicked. He was screeching and flailing around and I heard him, so ran to see what was wrong. I saw what had happened and restrained him (getting bit HARD a couple times in the process due to his hysteria). I could not let him go and had both my hands busy holding onto him so he didn't injure himself with his flailing around. Luckily a friend was over visiting, so I instructed him to remove my Farmer from the belt sheath on my right hip and cut the string that was around the bird's leg... Bingo! This saved the day and Birdie is OK (his leg was obviously sore for about an hour though as he "favored" it for awhile, but now he's just fine. :thumbup:

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A SAK has certainly saved my butt a few times or at least allowed me a quick response rather than a trip to the hardware store in some out of town place that I don't know if they even have a hardware store.

The SAK is in my pocket. Used today and everyday. SAKs are one of those knives that I depend on and I find it hard to understand why many others see them as toys. But I felt that way when I was a kid too. Wanted a real knife.
 
Used my Vic Spirit to rescue my nephew from a locked bathroom at a zoo once. Credit card and cap lifter was all it took. He was 4 at the time, and the lock was faulty. Would have taken the zoo superintendent an hour to drive out and unlock the door. So I was the hero of the day. He just recently came out to spend a few weeks with me (he's 12 now), and I gave him that same Spirit as a gift.
 
My red Farmer saved the day this past Friday in the office. We have a centrally controlled aircon that blows cold air through ceiling vents in a large open plan office. The temperature is set to an almost happy medium, because the women always complain that it's too cold, and the men that it's too hot. As a result the office manager chose a temperature in between, and no-one is allowed to adjust it, in fact the controls are locked in a server room.

Anyways, we had a cold day outside, and everyone in my area was moaning about cold air blowing from the vents, even the men. These vent openings can be adjusted by turning a central screw to close a damper, but no-one had a screw driver... Out came the Farmer, I closed three of the vents 90%, which solved the problem in our immediate area, but spread the problem to the other vents! I still feel sorry for the poor SAK-less schmucks who were freezing their nuts off under those vents! :D
 
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The other day at work we needed to untie a big bundle of prussic cords for retirement. Some of them had been very well loaded, so the double fishermans were pretty tight. We didn't want to cut them if possible, so we were trying to just untie them. a buddy of mine started with the philips on his trekker, which was working, and I used the mystery hook on my climber, and it worked really well on the 6mm cord. One cord needed the pliers from my skeletool but we shredded the sheath on that cord, did the job but too well.
 
Let's face it, SAK's rule. I've seen a lot of times when people only have a one blade knife or a 3 blade whittler try to use a knife blade for a screwdriver and end up ruining the tip. I couldn't own a pocket knife without at least a screwdriver and bottle opener combo. Of course my Explorer plus keeps spoiling me as I'm sometimes wondering what I ever did without the magnifying glass and other times there's no pen to be found. As hard as it is for me to write with that skinny little pen on my knife, when it's the only one available I sure do like it. I retired my Tinker Deluxe for the Explorer because I wanted the corkscrew again, which is handy undoing knots. Also I didn't like the philips location but the Explorer has it right. There's not a tool on my Explorer that doesn't get used. How some people get by with a non utility pocket knife or no knife is beyond me.
 
bt93 said:
Let's face it, SAK's rule. I've seen a lot of times when people only have a one blade knife or a 3 blade whittler try to use a knife blade for a screwdriver and end up ruining the tip. I couldn't own a pocket knife without at least a screwdriver and bottle opener combo. Of course my Explorer plus keeps spoiling me as I'm sometimes wondering what I ever did without the magnifying glass and other times there's no pen to be found. As hard as it is for me to write with that skinny little pen on my knife, when it's the only one available I sure do like it. I retired my Tinker Deluxe for the Explorer because I wanted the corkscrew again, which is handy undoing knots. Also I didn't like the philips location but the Explorer has it right. There's not a tool on my Explorer that doesn't get used. How some people get by with a non utility pocket knife or no knife is beyond me.
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They sure do! I love my Farmer and it's a rare day that I leave home without the Farmer or Pioneer.
 
Farmer saved the day on a recent camping trip.

I had to cut a round Euro power plug to fit into a local narrow socket to power the battery charger for the 12V fridge/freezer. It was a scorching hot day, and after a 6 hour trip my battery was nearly completely discharged when we arrived at the camp site. I had to recharge it asap, only to discover that the new multi-plug adapter I brought was not compatible with the power adapter on my battery charger!

The plastic was a hard type that was impossible to cut with a knife, but the saw worked well.

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I rarely use the saw on the Farmer, but on the few occasions that I needed it, it was the only tool that could accomplish the task.
 
Just tightened wall plug cover screws, door backing plate screws etc. The main reason that I carry a SAK at work is in case someone hangs themselves and I have to cut them down. Some clients are also ''cutters'', so I need something small and secure that they wont find, like my Farmer on a Vic. belt hangar. Cutters don't need a visual trigger so discretion is important.
 
Worth re-posting IMHO ....

Earlier this year, my wife and I took the kids to Austria for a ski trip. During lunch one day, our youngest daughter and I were sitting at a long table in the restaurant at the bottom of the slopes, digesting our meal and resting. I took my sunglasses off my head to put them away and one of the ear pieces came off. The little screw (which had been coming loose) popped completely out and, as luck would have it, it bounced and came to rest on the table right in front of me. "No problem!" sez I, as I knew I had my Victorinox Tourist in my pocket ...



... Of course it's armed with one of those little eyeglass screwdrivers in the corkscrew. I took it out and tried to fix the glasses. My 46-year-old eyes must not be what they used to be, so I couldn't see well enough to get the screw started into the joint. So I took out my iPhone and turned on the flash light. My daughter, 6, carefully held that in place while I fumbled with the screwdriver, the tiny screw and the glasses. At last, success!!!

I gave her a big handshake and, as I did that, an elderly Austrian -- or German? Who can tell! :) -- couple at our table gave us a round of applause. :D I held up the SAK and gave a smile. The gentleman gave me an approving nod and smile. I didn't ask him to empty his pockets, but something tells me if he did, I would have seen that tell-tale little red tool.

Not exactly a MacGyver moment, but it put a smile on my face. :cool:
 
arizonaranchman said:
The other day my miniature macaw "Birdie" (small parrot) got his leg tangled in a piece of string and panicked. He was screeching and flailing around and I heard him, so ran to see what was wrong. I saw what had happened and restrained him (getting bit HARD a couple times in the process due to his hysteria). I could not let him go and had both my hands busy holding onto him so he didn't injure himself with his flailing around. Luckily a friend was over visiting, so I instructed him to remove my Farmer from the belt sheath on my right hip and cut the string that was around the bird's leg... Bingo! This saved the day and Birdie is OK (his leg was obviously sore for about an hour though as he "favored" it for awhile, but now he's just fine. :thumbup:

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Awesome image. Need a "pets with knives" thread. More interesting than knives stuck in apples. I don't have pets but do have some pet knives. I like birds though and wouldn't mind having a crow. A lizard with a SAK would be badass. I'm glad Birdie is doing OK!
 
Nothing glamorous at all but my 2015 Steel Blue Pioneer removed a broken EZ close toilet seat. No pictures as my hands were full:o:D
 
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