Finally broke down

Lee D

Lee D

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And ordered a Rambler. It seems to be a popular model, so I had to give a try. I finally understand (slow learner lol) how useful the 58mm Vic’s are…of course I will continue to carry my larger Vics, but it’s nice to to have options…and more SAKs 😉

And to top it off, I ordered a pair of black G10 scales for it. If they’re a let down, I will have no problem sticking with the factory cellidor, just thought I’d give them a try.

Lee
 
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I'm sure you'll love it.
I went with the jetsetter myself because I didn't need the blade, but the rambler would have been my choice otherwise.
 
Lee D said:
And ordered a Rambler. It seems to be a popular model, so I had to give a try. I finally understand (slow learner lol) how useful the 58mm Vic’s are…of course I will continue to carry my larger Vics, but it’s nice to to have options…and more SAKs 😉

And to top it off, I ordered a pair of black G10 scales for it. If they’re a let down, I will have no problem sticking with the factory cellidor, just thought I’d give them a try.

Lee
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Lee, welcome to the world of the little SAK's! Once upon a time, in 1995, I was also very skeptical of the 58mm's, and thought them a joke. A teeny tiny knife fit only for the vest pocket of the CEO to open his mail with. The joke was on me.

The 58mm classic quickly became my most used urban pocket knife, and even today, its one of my most used. They are sooooo handy for modern urban/suburban life that I consider it too important to leave home without one. In fact, in my day to day life, the 58mm is often my regular EDC, and sole EDC pocket knife. It opens all kinds of packages, cuts twine, opens my mail, cuts tape, plucks thorns from between my dog's paws, plucks splinters from my own fingers now and then, deals with lose screws, keeps my nails looking good, trims fishing line, has adjusted the cylinder on the storm door so it closes a bit more gently, replaced the door latch on a Sear's Kenmore clothes drier, and got a conked out motor scooter going again on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and too many other things to list.

Its failings are very few; it can't do food duty like cutting a large sandwich in half, slice a loaf of bread, or do wood processing. But if I am in my kitchen, I have kitchen knives. If I go camping, I have a buck sheath knife on my belt. If I have to process wood on a camping trip, I have a saw.

But for the mundane job of going around day to day in my pocket, opening all kinds of packages sealed in plastic, including those plastic blister packages that defy tooth and nail and small amounts of explosive, its a great pocket tool.

I may carry. larger dedicated knife now and then, but mostly I used the classic. The 58mm will handle 98% of what you need, and take up very very little space while riding along with you. The mini tool leaves room for other more important stuff, like cell phone, keyring, wallet, firearm, RONCO pocket defibrillator in case of vapor lock.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I'm sure you'll love it.
I went with the jetsetter myself because I didn't need the blade, but the rambler would have been my choice otherwise.
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I considered the jetsetter, but I’ve learned to like that little blade. It comes in handy when I don’t want to use my other knife for easy chores like opening the mail or a bag of snacks for my granddaughter.
 
Lee D said:
I considered the jetsetter, but I’ve learned to like that little blade. It comes in handy when I don’t want to use my other knife for easy chores like opening the mail or a bag of snacks for my granddaughter.
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That little blade is soooo capable if more than one would think formats small size.

When I was a kid, I didn't understand the old guys with a little penknife thing. It wasn't until late middle age that I finally "got it." It was all about macho and attitude. The old guys were past all that, and knew what they really needed, and didn't bother carrying anything more. I think the 58mm SAK's fall into that category. So maybe its an age thing, that we finally understand 'just enough will do."
 
jackknife said:
Lee, welcome to the world of the little SAK's! Once upon a time, in 1995, I was also very skeptical of the 58mm's, and thought them a joke. A teeny tiny knife fit only for the vest pocket of the CEO to open his mail with. The joke was on me.

The 58mm classic quickly became my most used urban pocket knife, and even today, its one of my most used. They are sooooo handy for modern urban/suburban life that I consider it too important to leave home without one. In fact, in my day to day life, the 58mm is often my regular EDC, and sole EDC pocket knife. It opens all kinds of packages, cuts twine, opens my mail, cuts tape, plucks thorns from between my dog's paws, plucks splinters from my own fingers now and then, deals with lose screws, keeps my nails looking good, trims fishing line, has adjusted the cylinder on the storm door so it closes a bit more gently, replaced the door latch on a Sear's Kenmore clothes drier, and got a conked out motor scooter going again on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and too many other things to list.

Its failings are very few; it can't do food duty like cutting a large sandwich in half, slice a loaf of bread, or do wood processing. But if I am in my kitchen, I have kitchen knives. If I go camping, I have a buck sheath knife on my belt. If I have to process wood on a camping trip, I have a saw.

But for the mundane job of going around day to day in my pocket, opening all kinds of packages sealed in plastic, including those plastic blister packages that defy tooth and nail and small amounts of explosive, its a great pocket tool.

I may carry. larger dedicated knife now and then, but mostly I used the classic. The 58mm will handle 98% of what you need, and take up very very little space while riding along with you. The mini tool leaves room for other more important stuff, like cell phone, keyring, wallet, firearm, RONCO pocket defibrillator in case of vapor lock.
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I’ve been carrying my Alox mini champ (in my pocket) nearly every day for long enough to see the usefulness of that little blade, and ITS ALL YOUR fault. 😂
The mini champ has proven to be more than capable for the things I encounter day-to-day, but I wanted to cut back a bit…some of the tools on my mini go unused, and unnecessarily add to thickness. So I am going to give the Rambler a shot. It is equipped with the mini tools I use the most, so it just makes sense. It’ll get “banged around” in the bottom of my pocket, so I decided to give a set of G10 scales a try. They cost about the same as the little SAK, but because on my OCD I don’t like scratched up cellidor. Lol
 
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jackknife said:
Lee, welcome to the world of the little SAK's! Once upon a time, in 1995, I was also very skeptical of the 58mm's, and thought them a joke. A teeny tiny knife fit only for the vest pocket of the CEO to open his mail with. The joke was on me.

The 58mm classic quickly became my most used urban pocket knife, and even today, its one of my most used. They are sooooo handy for modern urban/suburban life that I consider it too important to leave home without one. In fact, in my day to day life, the 58mm is often my regular EDC, and sole EDC pocket knife. It opens all kinds of packages, cuts twine, opens my mail, cuts tape, plucks thorns from between my dog's paws, plucks splinters from my own fingers now and then, deals with lose screws, keeps my nails looking good, trims fishing line, has adjusted the cylinder on the storm door so it closes a bit more gently, replaced the door latch on a Sear's Kenmore clothes drier, and got a conked out motor scooter going again on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and too many other things to list.

Its failings are very few; it can't do food duty like cutting a large sandwich in half, slice a loaf of bread, or do wood processing. But if I am in my kitchen, I have kitchen knives. If I go camping, I have a buck sheath knife on my belt. If I have to process wood on a camping trip, I have a saw.

But for the mundane job of going around day to day in my pocket, opening all kinds of packages sealed in plastic, including those plastic blister packages that defy tooth and nail and small amounts of explosive, its a great pocket tool.

I may carry. larger dedicated knife now and then, but mostly I used the classic. The 58mm will handle 98% of what you need, and take up very very little space while riding along with you. The mini tool leaves room for other more important stuff, like cell phone, keyring, wallet, firearm, RONCO pocket defibrillator in case of vapor lock.
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You nailed it!
 
I've had my Rambler on my keys for a bit over a month now, and I love it. The added function of the dedicated Philips driver has come in handy quite a bit now.

I used the small blade a few times now to cut up an apple, and it worked beautifully.

I also love that the knife and scissors are on the opposite end of the keyring, since they're the tools I tend to use the most.

I think the only thing holding the Rambler back is price and availability. If not for those two factors, I think it would easily outsell the Classic.
 
StuntDouble said:
I think the only thing holding the Rambler back is price and availability. If not for those two factors, I think it would easily outsell the Classic.
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I think that same thing is what killed the 74mm executive and ambassador. I will always wonder if Victorinox had pushed the executive as much as the classic, would it have eclipsed the smaller SAK? The executive was like almost three times the cost of a classic, was almost impossible to find in a store, and had to be ordered online. Expensive and hard to find.

The humble little classic was even at Walmart for under 10 dollars until fairly recent, now its all of 11.95. Like you said, price and availability.
 
jackknife said:
I think that same thing is what killed the 74mm executive and ambassador. I will always wonder if Victorinox had pushed the executive as much as the classic, would it have eclipsed the smaller SAK? The executive was like almost three times the cost of a classic, was almost impossible to find in a store, and had to be ordered online. Expensive and hard to find.

The humble little classic was even at Walmart for under 10 dollars until fairly recent, now its all of 11.95. Like you said, price and availability.
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The Executive is one of my favorite models, and it really is a shame they couldn't find more to do with that size. It really had a lot of potential with a more versatile toolset. What's interesting to me is that it feels so solid, compared to even the 58mm and 91 mm models.

I sometimes wonder if the market would shift if you could find the Rambler at Walmart for $17 or 18. Even at that price, I think you'd get a lot of takers.
 
Lee, I think the Rambler is the ideal 58mm. I especially like the Phillips screw driver it has. I have a Classic on my work key chain and in both of my vehicles, but the boat has a Rambler. Fishing reels have small screws and the little Phillips may save me a headache someday.
 
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StuntDouble said:
The Executive is one of my favorite models, and it really is a shame they couldn't find more to do with that size. It really had a lot of potential with a more versatile toolset. What's interesting to me is that it feels so solid, compared to even the 58mm and 91 mm models.

I sometimes wonder if the market would shift if you could find the Rambler at Walmart for $17 or 18. Even at that price, I think you'd get a lot of takers.
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Yes, I do think the market would shift if Victorinox made the Rambler as available as the classic for a fairly close price. That mini Phillips and cap lifter is a winner!

But for business reasons I can't begin to comprehend, Victorinox has chosen to make the classic the Bic pen of the keychain knife world. The executive had sooooo much potential, but it was pretty much ignored my the marketing people at Victorinox for some reason. With a better tool set, the Executive could have taken over as the most popular SAK in urban/suburban settings. The combo tool like on the ramblers, would have changed the whole thing. But most people never knew the executive even existed. You never saw it in any store, and unless you looked online, it was like Bigfoot. Then they killed it. 😢
 
Lee D said:
OCD I don’t like scratched up cellidor. Lol
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Make sure you remember to take it out of your pocket... Mine has gone on a whirlwind ride in the washing machine and gotten wedged under the drum twice. Resulting in the loss of the shield and some pretty deep scuffing. Some day I'll tack a new set of scales on an order somewhere.
 
Wild Willie said:
Make sure you remember to take it out of your pocket... Mine has gone on a whirlwind ride in the washing machine and gotten wedged under the drum twice.
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I habitually dump my “pocket junk” on the dresser at the the end of the day without thinking about it, so I’ve managed to avoid that. If these G10 scales work out I’ll send you the factory ones.

*hoping I didn’t just jinx myself lol
 
I usually empty my pockets of their contents on the kitchen counter when I get home (mostly knives and sawdust). The little bugger tends to avoid detection on occasion. Especially after a few beers and games of foosball at the shop.1639241826608159129364.jpg
It's really not that bad. I agree that the initial few scratches on cellidor kind of look like caca, but after some more pocket time I think it ages rather handsomely. I'm really eager to see how your g10 scales work out, and thank you for the offer of the scales!
 
Hickory n steel said:
That's why I'm often carrying one of my Buck 305's as my knife for the week.

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I can’t quite make out the shield on that little buck, was it a limited run? I’m fond of the 300 series Bucks, they remind me of my youth..I carried one nearly every day.
That’s a purdy little slip joint 👍
 
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Lee D said:
I can’t quite make out the shield on that little buck, was it a limited run? I’m fond of the 300 series Bucks, they remind me of my youth..I carried one nearly every day.
That’s a purdy little slip joint 👍
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Yes a limited edition brown jigged bone from 1998.
 
I carry the Rambler everyday. I have titanium scales from Etsy. I like thin and slim, it’s always in my ‘watch pocket’ or whatever the small pocket on jeans is called. I also carry a larger folder, but hardly ever use it because the Rambler is usually all I need.
 
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