Groomsman gift: Spyderco Delica or Victoniox Farmer

[GlockandBalls]

Alox Victorinox with the engrave plate.

 

[Capt. Spaulding]

Alox Victorinox with the engrave plate.

What you have there is a DAK. Dutch Army Knife.

Not sure if that is yours or not since I found a thread with the exact same picture of the knife. The KM stamp on the DAK is kind of a mystery knife. They are normally stamped KL.

A DAK would not be readily available for groomsmen gifts.

 

[blades&wrenches]

I'd say delica with their names engraved on the blades. My brother did this for me and the other groomsmen with kershaw salvos. One of two knives I own that have never been carried/used. Much sentimental value.

 

[WuGod]

SAK for all the reasons mentioned, leather belt pouch for it and engrave that. Plus maybe one of those little keychain saks to get the non-knife guys heads around it being ok to carry a blade, and how often they come in handy.

 

[GIRLYmann]

IMHO, not everyone appreciates being given a knife.
But there is something magical about a Swiss knife.
Even Though it's called a knife,
It has other tools
Which might overshadow the main blade tool for
The non knife type person.
I thus think, only one who appreciates a knife
Would appreciate the delica for its sole purpose.
The quality of a fully metal pocket knife looks refined
As a commemorative for the event.
Good choices both.

 

[eb1118]

I'd give the Delica. My reasoning is, if you give them the Vic, then they'll say "oh nice, a Swiss Army Knife" but they'll never have a chance to get into knives, because they've probably encountered them before. But they've probably never seen Spyderco knives so it week get them thinking. In other words, Spyderco is a better gateway than Victorinox.

 

[pinnah]

About a month out from my wedding and need groomsmen gifts. I've got it narrowed down to these two. The best man gets a Domino as I love mine and wanted to award him a little better, and I know one other guy in the party will get into the knives and would appreciate the Delica, but the other two...??? I think they'd get more use out of the Farmer personally. The stainless Delica's are in my price range of about $75. I'd consider an Endura, but I think they're a bit large for EDC personally especially for possible non-knife guys.

So what say you? Delica or Farmers for the 3 groomsman? Anything good to pair the Farmer with if I go that route as I feel it's a little under my gift budget?

If the guys are typical, non-knife urbanites/suburbanites, an alox Victorinox is the safest knife gift you can give.

I would recommend either the Alox Cadet or the Alox MiniChamp over the Farmer though.

The Farmer isn't a lightweight knife. At 3 oz it's heavy and bulky and IMO won't be carried by a non-knife person. IMO, the Farmer is better suited for people who are already SAK fans and who are willing to carry extra weight to get the saw and who, for a variety of personal reasons, prefer a heavy SAK over an equally heavy and bulky Leatherman. If you really want to stay with Victorinox, the Trekker and One Hand Trekker make more sense to me than the Farmer does. My groomsmen were all outdoorsy types and I gave them a Trekker type of SAK. Several of them are still in use over 25 years later.

Anyway, back to the suburbanites, something like the Mini-Champ will easily go in a pocket (or on a key ring with an quick-release) and will give a wider selection of tools.

If the guys are tool guys already, I would go with a Leatherman Juice instead of a bulky SAK like the Farmer. The Juice are only 1.5oz more in weight and pack in a lot more tools. These aren't pocket tools, really. They're stuff them in your pack type of tools without the size and bulk of a full MUT.

Lastly and assuming something like a $75 budget... Another option would be walk back from the Delica and get a smaller thinner gentleman's folder paired with either an Alox Classic (prettier) or a Leatherman Micra (more useful). A Buck 501 paired with a Micra will come in at your $75 budget. Or, maybe a Tenacious plus a Micra. Here's an old Schrade with a Micra to give the idea.
image by Pinnah, on Flickr

I've had great success in giving the Buck 501 to non-knife people. It's tough enough to satisfy the inner man, nice enough looking to be used in office environments and thin enough to be carried in slacks without notice. If I had to do it again, I would go with the 501 and Micra combo.

 

[jackknife]

If the guys are typical, non-knife urbanites/suburbanites, an alox Victorinox is the safest knife gift you can give.

I would recommend either the Alox Cadet or the Alox MiniChamp over the Farmer though.

The Farmer isn't a lightweight knife. At 3 oz it's heavy and bulky and IMO won't be carried by a non-knife person. IMO, the Farmer is better suited for people who are already SAK fans and who are willing to carry extra weight to get the saw and who, for a variety of personal reasons, prefer a heavy SAK over an equally heavy and bulky Leatherman. If you really want to stay with Victorinox, the Trekker and One Hand Trekker make more sense to me than the Farmer does. My groomsmen were all outdoorsy types and I gave them a Trekker type of SAK. Several of them are still in use over 25 years later.

Anyway, back to the suburbanites, something like the Mini-Champ will easily go in a pocket (or on a key ring with an quick-release) and will give a wider selection of tools.

This is a very valid point! Who are the groomsmen? Their personalities and background will have a very marked background on the choice. Are they chicago urban office workers? Suburban types?

The Vic farmer may be overkill. The alox mini champ is a great little urban pocket knife that is small enough to go on the keyring, thus making it impossible to leave home without. Over the years I've gifted a lot of the small 58mm SAK's for the non knife people in my family and the non knife co-workers. In about 50% of the cases, they go on to become knife people because having something so small that they could find no objection to having it on their keyring, they did carry it. And with use, now and then, the light bulb would go on over their head, and they came to understand how a small sharp blade with a few tools is actually handy to have along.

I chose the farmer because that was the limited choice in the OP. Now that I think about it, an alox mini champ may be the better choice of these are non knife people in the Chicago urban/suburban area. Small and exquisite and very useful in the real world. Yet small enough that nobody could raise an objection, even in Chicago.

Yeah, alox mini champ engraved.:thumbup:

 

[Loulasher]

I bought all of my groomsmen case stockmans. They were just black with chrome bolsters and looked real classy. I know most of them dont carry knives, but for a non knife guy the case is something they can see is good quality and not threatening to use. I would have loved to be able to get them all real nice spydercos or benchmades or the like, but I figured if most of them will sit in a drawer then the flasks with booze would be a better gift.........
In your case I think the SAK would be a great gift coupled with a nice engraved flask....... seems like a proper gift....with some johnnie walker blue in the flask if you feel really fancy.

 

[BJE]

I dont see the Farmer or Delica being a great choice for the typical non-knife person living in urban chicago, rather a lighter and slimmer SAK such as a Pioneer or Tinker would seem like an option that would see more use.
Maybe a Spyderco Dragonfly, Kershaw Skyline, or a Chive would be good one hand openers.

 

[craytab]

I vote the farmer, a classic and most everyone would benefit from having one. Non-knife people seem amenable to the brand as well.

Yup, farmer. And for the above reason.

 

[VictorLouis]

A non knife person will look at a (insert any brand) and ask to himself, "What do I need a knife for" while thanking you. But a alox SAK is always cool, and I don't know many young men who won't appreciate having something to pop the top off a cold brewski! :thumbup:

I hope you don't mind the Change I made, because I think it's equally applicable. You're spot ON!