Well said jackknife, and the operative term should be subjective bias, as some of these posts obviously do a poor job of hiding the poster's blatant disregard of all the positive features of a SAK.
But then, YMMV. Especially for those people with a subjective bias against SAK's.
Guys, it's OK, you can refer to me by name if you want instead of oblique references like "some posts" and "those people".
As for "blatant disregard" and "subjective bias", this is a forum where we share our experiences, not a peer reviewed scientific journal for heaven's sake!
At best, the whining about "blatant disregard" and "subjective bias" are examples of the pot calling the kettle black. You guys have your preferences. I have mine. Upnorth has his. You guys can keep re-hyping your favorite knife, or perhaps just accept, like Upnorth said in his OP, that knives like the Farmer don't provide the best utility for some of us and just leave it at that. Or not.
With respect to objectivity, I can say this...
I've had a 4 blade camper (most were Ulsters, a few Camillus) since 1970. That's <counting on fingers> nearly 45 years of experience with that pattern.
I've had full sized MUTs since 1990 so about 25 years of experience on that front.
I've got my first Victorinox Classic around 1990 and carried them (they broke often and got replaced) continuously for about 10 years.
I've been a Leatherman Micra for around 15 years (5 on key chain, last 10 in LFP).
I have a nice Ulster Camper sitting on my dresser. A memento that means something to me. Keep another one on my work bench were it continues to be used.
So, when I head out the door with a single blade knife and a Micra, or into the woods with a single blade knife and a PS4 Squirt, it may be my personal bias, but it's based on literally decades of direct experience with the various alternatives.
If either of you guys have carried a single blade knife/Micra combination for 10 years, or even 5, then I'd find your charges of "blatant disregard" or "subjective bias" more interesting. I believe I've carried the different options in actual use longer than you have.
And canoe camping I still find a can or two to open.
We only use cans car camping and just have a dedicated can opener in that kit.
For bike touring, I just toss a folding military style can opener in with my stove kit.
Other than that, for camping/outdoor stuff, cans just don't show up any more for us.
As for the awl, if you have a sprite or coke can around, the awl is great at making those tiny holes around the top on an alcohol stove that has zero moving parts that need fixing, like you complain about on the MSR. Use a soda can alcohol stove and never have a stove malefaction agains. The awl is also great for making a hole to receive the end of the shaft for a Bow drill fire maker. The design of the awl is such that it's a good cutting/chisil/whittling/shaping tool. LIke most of the SAK tools, it has much more uses than just an awl.
I've used the awl on my SAK for cutting lots of zip ties and whittling. The sharp edge can do a great job of small delicate cutting jobs if you use it right.
In all my years of backcountry travel, including several winter trips most years, I've never once needed to rely on building fire (I know how, just haven't needed it) and certainly haven't had a need to drill holes in wood or make a Dow drill for fire starting. Cool trick to entertainment, I guess, but I'm not carrying an awl for that.
<aside on stoves>
I carry a Trangia burner with a Mojo stand for 3 season use, a Batchstovez 1.0 for ultralight 3 season use, a Svea 123 for winter camping and an Emberlit wood stove for XC day trips. Homemade alcohol stoves coke can stoves are a fun hobbyist thing, but can't compete with the durability of a Trangia or combination of durability, light weight and efficiency of the Batchstovez 1.0, IME. My Svea has never failed in the 30 years I've been using it but I do continue to carry tools to repair stoves of my partners and yes, I do think poorly of MSR stoves and vastly prefer Optimus stoves for white gas.
</aside>
Extra small screw driver? It's right there on the tip of the can opener. I've used it for both small flathead and Phillips screws.
We're talking about something different here. By small, I mean can easily deal with eye glass hinge screws small. The Micra has this. The Farmer does not.
I find the basic scout knife layout much more convenient than a small multi tool. Bu then I much prefer a knife with a few tools added over a pliers with a knife blade added. Somehow all those decades the scout knife was popular, lots of people found it very good. It still is for those who appreciate it. But like you said, YMMV. For my milage, I still find the alox SAK/scout knife a very relevant piece of gear.
This is close to accurate and very close to the center of the reasonable difference opinion.
I think it's better to say you prefer to carry a single tool and if you are going to carry a single tool you prefer a Scout over a butterfly/Leatherman style tool.
I prefer to carry 2 tools, not 1. I prefer the ergonomics and performance of a single blade knife over both a scout pattern folder or a Leatherman tool. When I'm working with food, I prefer a longer blade and have since I got my Buck 110 in the late 70s. I've got XL hands and I can't get a good enough grip on small scout patterned knives when doing hard cutting. When doing a long period of wood working, I prefer a knife that fits my hand better than a multi bladed small slip joint.
And yes, I very, very much prefer having scissors with me (a must) and pliers available and when I do, I vastly prefer the ergonomics and strength of the Micra scissors/shears than others (the scissors on the LM Blast aren't horrible).
Here's an example... A ski tour several years ago. My buddy hadn't checked the status of his ski poles and blew a strap several miles in. This is a big problem as it slows down the entire party. Having a combination of screw drivers and pliers allowed us to make the repair and continue. The Farmer with its awl and saw and can opener would have been no help to us.
OTOH, The small saw may not be useful in a shop, but much so in the yard to get out small saplings and other unwanted vegetation along fence lines that regular sized saws can't get at. An awl has so many other uses than punching holes in leather that I won't buy a multi-tool that doesn't have one...wood screw guide, boring holes in plastic plant pots for drainage, fire starting striker, reaming out corroded pipes, and more (top of my head right now), and can opener for scribing, opening packages and... would you believe... opening cans when away from my kitchen.
If one prefers a smaller framed knife like on the Farmer (compared to a larger folder), then I can see the utility of the saw. With a larger knife in my pocket, I just slice/bend cut through limbs and saplings up to an inch thick, no problem. Faster than a saw. But, I can't do that with a Farmer sized knife easily as I just can't get the grip on it.
