Getting hooked on SAKs

J

jec88

Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
833
I don't really consider myself a collector, I'm just always looking for the perfect knife, but my wife and I enjoy going to flea markets and I've always kept a lookout for Buck 110's and Buck 112's.
Just lately gotten into Saks. It started with a new soldier, then I decided since i bought it new and it had a date stamped, it might be nice not to use it and keep it new. Then I found a camper cheap and an older Swiss Champion.
Well, this weekend, me and my son had been looking in flea markets and my wife and daughters went looking in clothing stores. Me and my son found zero knives and my wife and daughters came out of a Merle Norman makeup store and she said they had all kinds of Swiss Army knives in there. lol I was skeptical.
So me and my son go in there and they have all this makeup and travel bags and a big selection of SAKs since I guess men never go in there, they were new old stock. I came away with a brand new in box 2005 alox Soldier(Charles Elsener etched blade) with a nice book all about SAKS that was packaged in a box as a gift set and then an alox cadett 2 which I later looked up online and found was discontinued as well, so I was pretty happy. They have several other red knives I might go back for.
I'm kind of hooked on the alox now though. I was wanting to edc the alox soldier, but I'm kind of hesitant since it was in a collectors set. The Cadet 2 feels a little small to me for EDC, like i might lose it. They did have 1 more soldier gift pac that I'm kicking myself for not buying, but I figure if it's been there since 2005, I can pick it up the next time my wife needs new makeup.
But it works out real good, my wife was all for me getting any knife I wanted as long as she could get the makeup :)
 
Great find. My favorite SAK to carry is the Alox Soldier. I picked up a couple off of ebay, you should be able to get a good user there if you don't want to use the signed one.
 
That was indeed a nice find. Who would have guessed Merle Norman is the place to go for SAKs? Congratulations!
 
If you like the Alox Soldier, you prolly should give the Farmer a try... the saw blade is excellent.
 
Well, I had went ahead and done just that this morning. Ordered a farmer for edc, so I can just put the soldier and cadet 2 up.
Don't really know when I'll get it. Ordered from knife center and it said it would ship in 5-7 days when I orderd it, then after I ordered it, I got an email saying it should ship in a "few" weeks when victorinox ships them some knives. So that sounds like it could be awhile.
 
I've discovered the appeal of SAKs too lately, and now I'm wondering how I acquired so many. And I haven't even bought an alox yet -that might be an addiction I should try to avoid. :eek: :)
 
I like SAKs! Alox is what got me hooked though, but I do have a few of the regular plastic scaled ones too. I think Ive only 'collected' alox though, I wanted a pioneer in every color. :D
 
BerkshireHunter said:
I haven't even bought an alox yet -that might be an addiction I should try to avoid. :eek: :)
Click to expand...

My thought exactly. Besides the many cellidor handled Vics, I do have a couple with nylon handles and like them. So far I have resisted the urge to try the alox!
 
I have been carrying the Mountaineers and the Super Tinker for a few years as backup in my bag until I discovered the Farmer a few months, then the Electrician, then the Harvester, then the Cadet, then the Bantam, then the.......so additive.
 
SAKs = the crack of the knife world. So cheap to get a fix, but you're never fully satisfied...
 
That's a great score jec88! I've been hoping to stumble across a NIB Cadet II for quite some time.

Jeff
 
For me, the alox soldier is the quintessential sak.
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It seems like a SAK collection multiplies exponentially over the years.
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Just added a "Soldier" to my collection, will post a pic soon.
 
I got hooked on a Tinker model. Then started using a Soldier. For the last five years or so I have been hooked on the Advernturer model. I like a bigger pocket knife. As you can see, all of these knives are very similar.

I have probably 10 SAKs that I haven't used much. I like some to the three level SAKs, but they are just too thick for me to carry in my pocket comfortably. But they are about my limit in comfortable thickness and might carry something like the Dual Pro and One handed Trekker. Maybe I'll switch to one of those.... but I really like having a tweezers and tooth pick. Useful.
 
It's hard notot get addicted to SAK's. Ounce for ounce, you can't really find a more effective pocket knife, but then a SAK is not really even a pocket knife. It's more of a small pocket tool that can handle more jobs than a 'real' knife. In an emergency, it's surprising what can be done with just a few tools to give you some options. And options are nice to have. The only thing a SAK lacks is aesthetics. It may not have the beautifuljigged bone of my favorite traditional pocket knife, or the cabon blade that developes anice gray patina, but under some circumstances that may be it's advantage. I've had a SAK that was exposed to sea water with no ill effects, and the plastic scales of a SAK will not crack and loose a chunk if dropped on a hard sidewalk or cement floor in a machine shop.

A SAK is a rugged, versatile tool for everyday carry or an emergency, and has tools that cah really fix something. I've repaired a twist grip control on an electric trolling motor out on a very large lake, a stalled out dead Vespa on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, a ceiling fan in a bathroom, and other minor repairs with just a tinker or other small to medium SAK. Without the tools on the tinker, it would have been a long paddle back against the wind, or a long walk pushing a dead motor scooter. Both times a little investigation and tinkering with the tinker, (Sorry, I couldn't resist) got me going again.

Yes, SAK's can be addictive. But then, shouldn't everyone have a couple of SAK's to choose from?

Carl.
 
I have a cybertool 41. 7 layer. Something about a fat SAK. Never had one before. I love the feel of this big rectangular chunk of steel when held in my hand! Wasn't there some movie in the 80's where a guy in a prison camp had a SAK, escaped, and used it in the jungle? I wanna say it was a big one like a swisschamp.
 
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