I have a SAK ALOX question

M

Mike-The-Knife

Joined
Dec 6, 2011
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I have an old Elinox Pioneer and recently bought a new ALOX Farmer because I wanted the saw .

What I want to know is WHY are the silver ALOX Farmers around $40 and a red , orange , green or black one is like $140 ! It's PAINT , how much can it cost ?
 
The different colors are often limited runs made specially for certain markets exclusively. Yes you're right it is only color that is it.
But people will pay the prices just watch the "auction website".
 
Vic choosing to limit colors to certain markets, eBay driving colored ALOX prices up and, more importantly to me, how they "weather gracefully"...... :D

5XALOXGPA4_zps6883a318.jpg
 
Mike-The-Knife said:
I have an old Elinox Pioneer and recently bought a new ALOX Farmer because I wanted the saw .

What I want to know is WHY are the silver ALOX Farmers around $40 and a red , orange , green or black one is like $140 ! It's PAINT , how much can it cost ?
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I think it is not paint. It is a dyed anodize finish. This actually is more expensive than paint, though not $100 more. It is also a good deal more robust than paint.

SAKs are inexpensive because the manufacturing process is highly mechanized and standardized. Anything that requires segregation of part of the production for added special processing drives up the cost by a goodly bit. This is true for any manufactured item. Then, of course, special runs are "special" and folks are willing to pay more for the uniqueness of the item.
 
It doesn't seem to be the cost of anodizing that increases the cost, it is the rarity and desirability. You can find silver, red, and black Alox Cadets for all about the same price, mainly because they are all currently being produced so there is no perceived scarcity of one over another.

But if you want blue, green, or orange, they aren't making them currently, so you have to pay up. Things that are in limited supply that people want tend to sell for higher prices. It's how markets work.

But on the good side - I have a very nice silver alox Farmer that saws things just fine, and a silver alox Cadet is my daily companion. So get a silver one and use it. I think the basic silver looks classy anyway.
 
I have an Alox Cadet in silver and a Alox Classic in orange, overall I don't like coloured Alox because it always wears away. I like the Alox, just not the colour finish lack of durability.
 
I have bought the ALOX Farmer in the plain silver and I know the tools will work every bit as well as colored ones lol . I bought it as an EDC and not a collectable , so the price difference is not worth it to me . That said My old Elinox is a red one with the silver cross and I like how it has aged and has more character much like the 4 knives on the right in SAK Guy's photo .

SAK Guy , are those ALOX or Elinox knives ? My Elinox looks just like those but doesn't have the split ring attachment . It has a bail instead . Making it pretty rare I guess . Hey , maybe IT'S worth $140 too ! :D
 
I only have colored versions, just because I like them. I won't pay those $100+ prices for them though. I'll pay a little extra for the coolness of the colored versions, but it takes some patience and time. I've been gifted a few of the ones I have too.

I'd really like to see Victorinox just Case up the colors on the Alox knives, but they don't. If you can figure out where the colored versions are going (usually by country), you can get them much cheaper than what they sell for. Example: You might have to pay a little extra.... I think I paid $50 for my Black Farmer from Italy. I had to get Chrome to translate the Italian auction site's page into English, but my login worked fine. I waited about a month to get it too. One company in South Africa finally offered out of country shipping for theirs. It takes some internet/google-fu.

There is also Swiss-Bianco, which charges a little more, but not what you see at auction.
 
They are all Victorinox VSSR stamped.

Generally, any Elinox (or bailed Vic) is worth more than the newer equivalent. Depends on scarcity/condition. You might swap a collector (not me) that Elinox Pioneer for a newer red Farmer.

Some "scarcer" Elinox.

A no keyring Pioneer and bailed Woodsman (real scarce)
ElinoxDuo2_zpsfe283f8f.jpg


An Elinox Technician (not red but real scarce)
ET1_zps5f1625d4.jpg
 
As others have said, it almost all comes down to scarcity. There was one shop that did a run of orange Farmers which were sold for about a $6 premium over the regular colors. These now go for about 2x the original retail price because they were limited. Another retailer does many different colors but charges about a 2x premium themselves.

I won't pay that much for just a different color of the same knife. I like the regular offerings just fine, though I wish I could find a red Pioneer at a normal price...seems very strange that the typical SAK color isn't available as a standard on all the Alox knives.
 
I have over time snagged a few non-silver Alox SAKs when they were up for sale at a small premium to the silver. So far that's an orange Cadet, green Cadet, and black Pioneer. In the silver Alox variety I have a Cadet, Electrician, Farmer, and Rancher. I haven't carried any of the colorful ones so I guess they were a waste of my money, buy maybe in 20 years they'll fetch something at the estate sale.
 
jc57 said:
It doesn't seem to be the cost of anodizing that increases the cost, it is the rarity and desirability. You can find silver, red, and black Alox Cadets for all about the same price, mainly because they are all currently being produced so there is no perceived scarcity of one over another.

But if you want blue, green, or orange, they aren't making them currently, so you have to pay up. Things that are in limited supply that people want tend to sell for higher prices. It's how markets work.

But on the good side - I have a very nice silver alox Farmer that saws things just fine, and a silver alox Cadet is my daily companion. So get a silver one and use it. I think the basic silver looks classy anyway.
Click to expand...

jc57 got it right
 
jc57 said:
It doesn't seem to be the cost of anodizing that increases the cost, it is the rarity and desirability. You can find silver, red, and black Alox Cadets for all about the same price, mainly because they are all currently being produced so there is no perceived scarcity of one over another.

But if you want blue, green, or orange, they aren't making them currently, so you have to pay up. Things that are in limited supply that people want tend to sell for higher prices. It's how markets work.

But on the good side - I have a very nice silver alox Farmer that saws things just fine, and a silver alox Cadet is my daily companion. So get a silver one and use it. I think the basic silver looks classy anyway.
Click to expand...

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
It's the same as buying a GEC in stag....acrylic models cut the same...boils down to what you want in you want in your pocket. Most folks see SAKs as such a utilitarian tool that it seems crazy to spend extra when basic silver cuts the same.

The eye of the beholder drives the prices....
 
Here are pics of my Elinox Pioneer and ALOX Farmer , my only ALOX knives (so far) . Those old Elinox look pretty nice SAK Guy . I really like the Woodsman :thumbup:

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Mike-The-Knife said:
Here are pics of my Elinox Pioneer and ALOX Farmer , my only ALOX knives (so far) . Those old Elinox look pretty nice SAK Guy . I really like the Woodsman :thumbup:

P1070553_zps6f471ebe.jpg
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I like those clips attached to the split rings.
How are they called and where can one buy these.
Thank you for your help.
:D
 
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