In Praise of the Alox Farmer-Is there Anything it Cannot Do?

znapschatz said:
As I remember, before Hanks boarded the airplane he had a good sized SAK on his keychain that he handed over to his wife because he didn't want to bother detaching it. It was a cellidor model, I don't know which.
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Interesting, something to look for next time I catch it on :)
 
I got inspired by this thread to do a sound check of my beloved Alox Farmer. During the last week I moved into a new flat and I had to use the Farmer a lot. So I decided to oil and clean it with Ballistol and I realized afterwards that it was really smooth again and that the springs made a nice sound. I thought you guys might enjoy it too:

[video=youtube;xvDD1HnzzVw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvDD1HnzzVw&list=UUc2u8fc2XwgFW4egT_Mp9tA[/video]
 
Phil29 said:
Thank you very much! I use my Nikon D3200 with the kit lens (18-55mm). This was also the first video I filmed in my new light box and I'm quite happy with the quality.
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Nice...can you show us your light box, I've been thinking about getting one for general photography.
 
Its funny. I find this similar to the sound a zippo lighter makes when opening/closing. Not the actual tone of the sound, but the identifiable nature of the sound. I bet if someone who owns many Victorinox was played just the sound without the picture they would be able to tell you it was a Victorinox being opened/closed. Maybe i'm just a Victorinox addict. :D
 
Phil29 said:
I got inspired by this thread to do a sound check of my beloved Alox Farmer. During the last week I moved into a new flat and I had to use the Farmer a lot. So I decided to oil and clean it with Ballistol and I realized afterwards that it was really smooth again and that the springs made a nice sound. I thought you guys might enjoy it too:

[video=youtube;xvDD1HnzzVw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvDD1HnzzVw&list=UUc2u8fc2XwgFW4egT_Mp9tA[/video]
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Cool video. Shows very well how we look at these things.
 
....well, there really is only one.:D

[video=youtube;K2bmh8_XJIs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2bmh8_XJIs[/video]
 
There's a good video on youtube with Ray Mears using a saw to split large firewood. You saw halfway through, and then bang the wood against a tree on the opposite side of the saw cut, and the wood splits down the grain and pops loose. A small saw like the farmer will let you harvest wood larger than you think possible.

Farmer; the little woods tool that can.
 
I must be going to the wrong woods or doing it wrong...

I try to restrict my wood harvesting and processing to what can be done by hand. And if not, I reach for the Silky Pocket Boy.
Winter fire tools by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
pinnah said:
I must be going to the wrong woods or doing it wrong...I try to restrict my wood harvesting and processing to what can be done by hand. And if not, I reach for the Silky Pocket Boy.
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You are, but that can be corrected with you ridding yourself of all those silly tools that don't fit in a pant pocket, get a Farmer, plus a simple Brunton compass to lead the way.;)
 
pinnah said:
I must be going to the wrong woods or doing it wrong...

I try to restrict my wood harvesting and processing to what can be done by hand. And if not, I reach for the Silky Pocket Boy.
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Lately I've been thinking on a Silky. Which model is that, and large or medium teeth, please?
 
It's a PocketBoy 170 with medium teeth.

Generally speaking, I can run my Emberlit with hand processed wood and occasionally splitting with a fixed blade.

I generally only carry the Silky Boy on winter XC trips where I'm going with no white gas stove. The Emberlit + knife + SilkyBoy combo is a bit lighter and gives the possibility of much longer prolonged burns, which is a comfort.

The SilkyBoy will cut wood up to about 4", which about as thick as I want to split with a 5" knife but still thick enough to guarantee a dry center.

I should emphasize that I very, very rarely rely on the Emberlit and instead, almost exclusively use either white gas or alcohol. Given this, I've never, ever had a need for a saw when traveling in the backcountry (outside of feeding a wood stove).

I can see small 3" saws as being useful for shop use and in that light, see their use on a knife like the Farmer, which is why I'm happy that my Leatherman tools have saw blades. But, I use the pliers so much for me, for shop use, the MT wins out over the Farmer no question.

For EDC... Never need a saw. But that's YMMV territory.
 
The Farmer is a fantastic knife. I waffle back n forth as to which I love more - the Pioneer or the Farmer??? When push comes to shove it would have to be the Farmer if you could only pick one of the two for an "only pocket knife" as an outdoorsman or handyman. That saw is far more effective than a casual glance reveals. It's far from the preferred method of harvesting firewood or building a shelter, but hey for a pocket knife it's pretty ingenious. Those saw teeth are impressive.

ED2D7C96-732A-47E1-9D25-C1A3A0B0D1ED_zpsqzea6jjj.jpg
 
Oh red farmer. You lucky dog, and some nice wear on her to boot. I'm with you Arizona love both the farmer and pioneer but gun to my head I'm taking the farmer. The pioneer for me is ideal for bottle cap poppin at BBQ's.
 
I've lost count how many things a SAK, especially a Farmer, on the number of things that it can do....

 
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