Just can't warm to SAKs

[tongueriver]

The SAK SONG:
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
But don't feel sad
Cuz 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

 

[SAK Guy]

The SAK SONG:
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
But don't feel sad
Cuz 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

You are so beautiful, to me
You are so beautiful, to me
Can't you see, you're everything I hoped for
You're everything that I need, you are so beautiful, to me

You are so beautiful, to me
You are so beautiful, to me
Can't you see, you're everything I hoped for
Everything that I need, you are so beautiful, to me


[video=youtube;lPsFr0svG_w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPsFr0svG_w[/video]

 

[Captain Howdy]

Sterile? Cold? I see saks as neat clean and timeless, they can develop a soul with age and wear. Someone hear put it well in another thread saying something to the effect of "a sak electrician is very much like a stockman with a main blade a wharnie and a cap lifter instead of a Spey. I would trade a Spey for a cap offer any day." I agree with this assessment and the fact that a sak is accepted anywhere on this planet, inexpensive, and well built for over 100 years makes me a fan.

 

[pinnah]

I may be checking out the ideas put forth here.... I think they are ugly little things, but I do appreciate a useful tool. I am hoping to do perhaps 160 mile section hike on the Appalachian Trail next Spring with my brother. I am approaching my 70th year and I am not crazy for carrying a heavy load. We are counting grams, not ounces, and I may be looking into this odd SAK thing.... Thanks for the interesting thoughts.

<this thread fork should probably be handled in the Outdoors sub-forum>

For real ultralite, gram counting backpacking, I think the choice is between the Victorinox Classic (which I used for many years for this purpose) and the Leatherman PS2 Squirt (which I now carry on UL trips). Assuming you are carrying shelter and stove and assuming that you are using prepackaged food, then cutting tasks reduce to:
+ Opening food and cutting cordage (handled by a pen blade)
+ Shaping bandages, cutting fabric and thread when making repairs (scissors)
+ Repairing stoves & zippers and driving needles through heavy fabric (pliers)
+ Repairing other equipment like headlamp (battery changes) and hiking pole straps (screw drivers)

If you really, really need a bigger knife for food prep, there are plenty of light options like the Opinel.

But, I consider scissors and small pliers to be necessary for UL backpacking. Good luck on the hike!!

 

[tongueriver]

Thank you, pinnah!

 

[meako]

For many of us the SAK is /was/will be the first stepping stone to world of knives trad or otherwise.
So thats gotta be good.

 

[Alnamvet68]

...and for those planning on a 160 mile trek across Appalachia, a portable, a sub 85 gram Scout kife, of which there is no equal, and doesn't require hands like Tinkerbell to manage and be usefull (Squirt??? c'mon...), or hands like Godzilla to make you feel like you have, well...something in your hand, like an Opinel, I bring you....

[video=youtube;F-9LihiP_sA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9LihiP_sA[/video]

 

[pinnah]

...and for those planning on a 160 mile trek across Appalachia, a portable, a sub 85 gram Scout kife, of which there is no equal, and doesn't require hands like Tinkerbell to manage and be usefull (Squirt??? c'mon...), or hands like Godzilla to make you feel like you have, well...something in your hand, like an Opinel, I bring you....

[video=youtube;F-9LihiP_sA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9LihiP_sA[/video]

Alnamvet, fun video but not relevant to ultralight backpacking in any way.

Like I said, the Victorinox of choice for UL backpackers is the Classic. If you would like to discuss why, let's move this to the Outdoors sub-forum.

NOTE: extreme UL hikers and trail runners often only carry a razor blade or Xacto blade.

Glad you love your Farmer!

 

[harronek]

The more I think about it I wish that more people would have trouble warming to SAK's .
It seems the price of older Alox models even in the short time I've been interested in them is rising everyday .
I think it would be a good idea if those who have never experienced them left it that way

Ken

 

[Woodrow F Call]

The more I think about it I wish that more people would have trouble warming to SAK's .
It seems the price of older Alox models even in the short time I've been interested in them is rising everyday .
I think it would be a good idea if those who have never experienced them left it that way

Ken

You're right, SAKs are awful..... especially the Alox models.

 

[jackknife]

You're right, SAKs are awful..... especially the Alox models.

Liar, liar, pants on fire!!

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Liar, liar, pants on fire!!

Awful Wenger sir.

 

[Alnamvet68]

B

The more I think about it I wish that more people would have trouble warming to SAK's .
It seems the price of older Alox models even in the short time I've been interested in them is rising everyday .
I think it would be a good idea if those who have never experienced them left it that way

Ken

I, and for purely selfish reasons, prefer that folks stay away from all alox knives, especially the 84mm to 93mm models, as well as all colored models. I would go even further to encourage all these Doubting Danny's to rid themselves of any and all alox knives they may have abandoned in their sock drawers, glove boxes, buried in the cess pool of their mold riddled back packs, and give them to the many dummies who carry, use, and collect alox SAK"s.

 

[Mark in Oz]

what fantastic model is this please?

 

[Alnamvet68]

what fantastic model is this please?

It's a terrible, extremely heavy, not fit for hikers or trail running weight weenies, disgustingly worn out and poor example of a SAK Farmer that has been PhotoChopped to give the illusion that it is a useful hiking tool, by adding a metal file. Carrying such a knife would most assuredly drag your Spandex down to your ankles, or expose your buttocks should you carry it in your rear jeans pocket, even when wearing leather suspenders along with a Sam Brown belt.

 

[leghog]

The only knife I've ever engraved was my Vic Farmer. It has my initials on the scale. When I had it engraved, I knew I would never give it away. Nothing has changed my mind. I'll likely engrave the spearpoint blade too --- with, "Right tool for the job". The wife and kids can figure out what to do with it when I'm dead and gone.

 

[Capt. Spaulding]

It's a terrible, extremely heavy, not fit for hikers or trail running weight weenies, disgustingly worn out and poor example of a SAK Farmer that has been PhotoChopped to give the illusion that it is a useful hiking tool, by adding a metal file. Carrying such a knife would most assuredly drag your Spandex down to your ankles, or expose your buttocks should you carry it in your rear jeans pocket, even when wearing leather suspenders along with a Sam Brown belt.

I like modified Farmers. :thumbup:

 

[cards94]

I'd like to buy a red or black Pioneer but I'm not going to pay more than retail for one. If one pops up at a good price I will buy it, and if it doesn't I can live without one.

 

[coldmrk]

I don't know about you guys but I don't hand over the knives I take really good care when someone says "anyone got a knife?!"

For this reason I love my cadet, and the screwdrivers are much more apt to prying than the tip of my benchmade.

 

[Alnamvet68]

I like modified Farmers. :thumbup:

That's one disgusting modified Farmer...it just leaves me real cold. I would like it more if it had an even more disgustingly frigid and sterile set of Allen or TORX screws in place of the rivets.:thumbup:

Have I ever mentioned I love frigid climates...Alaska in mid-winter, and spending the holidays in Bangor, ME are my fave times of the year. The colder it or anything is, the more I want it...ice, and plenty of it, just warms the cockles of my heart.