- Joined
- Jul 2, 2013
- Messages
- 7,037
Thanks! My RA is reminding me of mileage and year model. I could never live up north these days....
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Just can't warm to SAKs
- Thread starter stargawker
- Start date
Thanks! My RA is reminding me of mileage and year model. I could never live up north these days....
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2013
- Messages
- 2,493
I suspect you northern hemisphere guys don't know what warm is at the moment .
Where I am in the " Land Down Under " its already 102 degrees F at 10.20 am .
I hate to think what it will be after lunch .
Here's the Farmer hiding in the shade of the truck trying to stay cool .
Ken
Where I am in the " Land Down Under " its already 102 degrees F at 10.20 am .
I hate to think what it will be after lunch .
Here's the Farmer hiding in the shade of the truck trying to stay cool .
Ken
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2013
- Messages
- 3,544
I don't care if it's 100 degrees centigrade belwo zero, just looking at the pics in this thread makes me hotter than authentic and original chunky picante sauce from New York City.
This thread has become a mile long! A mere blade or two on hand is no big deal (why not just buy a box cutter with disposable or snap-off blades and get it over with) but having a SAK (and mine has only ever been the minimal Spartan version) is like carrying an entire tool box with you. You learn to become amazingly creative and inventive with one of these! There's been one in my pant pocket since 1966 and Leathermans (multitools) nor any other sort of spiffy folder arrangement has ever 'cut the mustard'.
If in fact SAKs do nothing for you that's OK but don't look for any sympathy from my end!
Man, I wish I could have had that attitude way back when. I'd have saved a heck of a lot of money figuring out early in life all I needed was a SAK in my pocket. But if all other knives are a box cutter, then I've had some really great box cutters!
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2006
- Messages
- 44,239
I'm sorry, but a pocket knife is not a box cutter and an SAK does not replace my tool box. If you think otherwise, bully for you. But do not provide me with a soap box oration as to why what I like to carry in my pocket is wrong.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2006
- Messages
- 219
I guess SAKs are okay and I have a dozen or so. My "favorites" are the Alox editions only because of the looks but I don't see any of them in my pocket. For everyone that loves 'em, y'all go on ahead without me, I'm just fine with my Camillus 72 Frankenknife.
Old Hunter
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2012
- Messages
- 10,120
"Just can't warm to SAKs"........me either, but I have tried. I think a SAK is a fine tool, like my Plumb hammer is a fine tool, my Benelli shotgun is a fine tool. On the other hand my traditional pocketknives (Case, Buck, GEC, etc.) are both art and tool, my pre-64 Winchester's are both art and tool, etc. - they seem to have some individual "soul" that the identically perfect items lack to me. OH
A SAK certainly is that. The only reason I carry any knife is for its utility as a tool as I've never been one of those who treats knives as jewelry or a men's fashion accessories. I certainly have a hard time defining anything factory made in the thousands or millions (whether knife, shotgun, or rifle) as art. I like knives. A lot. But they are tools. Certainly a traditional knife can be aesthetically pleasing, but any knife that I'd truly classify as art I'd not buy as I would be unable to use it as a tool.
Last edited:
Yes.
Reminds of this quote, from Bob Loveless. "A knife is a tool, and if we don't treat our tools with a certain familiar contempt, we lose perspective. - Bob Loveless"
Thing with tools is that different people have different needs and thus legitimate different choices in tools.
Once I set aside the romanticism of the SAK and regard it just as a tool, I find that for me and my purposes, they fall flat.
Currently, I vastly prefer the ergonomics and performance of a larger single blade knife and find the LM Micra to offer a better, more focused set of tools that better meet my EDC needs than any tool combination offered by any SAK, all in a small and much more durable package.
I've nothing against others choosing an SAK over a Leatherman if the utility value is better for them and the work that they do. How could I?
I suspect, though, that more SAKs are sold and carried on the romantic hope of utility and less on actual utility, if you know what I mean. And that's fine too and just as legitimate as carrying a pretty traditional knife just because it's pretty. People can have different tastes in art and carry knives for the sake of art. In this respect, the Victorinox SAK is a pinnacle of modern consumer art, and I mean that with total respect. What they've achieved with branding is really astonishing. They rank right up there with Coke and Nike as being among the most recognized global brands. This is why I think the Victorinox Classic is a much better gift for strangers than the better (in terms of utility and durability) Leatherman Micra. For about $20, somebody can have that global brand experience, and all the warm feelings that go with it.
Pirsig correctly noted that quality is that which produces peace of mind, and the Victorinox brand creates a state of peace of mind among many people (but not for others).
5K Qs
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2014
- Messages
- 15,830
The last few posts (as well as many others in this thread) give me a lot of philosophical food for thought. Thanks for sharing your opinions, folks.
There's a blast from the past! I should read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance again to see if it makes as much sense to me now as it did 35 years ago, or whenever I first read it. Thanks for the reminder, pinnah.
- GT
There's a blast from the past! I should read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance again to see if it makes as much sense to me now as it did 35 years ago, or whenever I first read it. Thanks for the reminder, pinnah.
- GT
There is an eternal truth there that you don't hit on. Global recognition usually goes to objects that have, on a world wide stage, achieved a universal recognition of quality and reliability. Nike is a brand that, you can be anywhere on the earth, and if you need some footgear quick, you can find a store with Nike athletic shoes that will be comfortable and serviceable, and be just as good as the last pair you had. They may not b e the best quality, but they will do for what you need. Look at all those National Geographic articles and photos from places as different as the mideast to sub Sahara Africa, to Southeast Asia to Northern Europe. It has gotten amazing how universal some clothing has gotten.
Victorinox has achieved what Nike and Coke has done. They set an international standard of expected quality. You can buy a Victorinox in Mumbai, Rome, Bangkok, Yokohama, or New York, and it will be exactly the same as one bought anywhere. Same quality, same performance of the blade and tools, same reliability of out of the box performance. They are low cost enough that you can buy one wherever on earth you are, use it, and then gift it out when you leave to someone who will be very grateful to get it. As much as I like Case, Buck, even GEC, you have to pick through them to get a effect one. But any Victorinox out of the box will do fine. As the biggest knife company on earth, they have QA second to none. Kind of like Bic products.
In 2000, our older boy had been sent to San Jose, Costa Rica for his companies business. He rented an apartment since he'd be there for 6 months. Being the wonderful son he is, he arranged for Karen and I too come visit. Knowing we are both avid nature watchers, he also surprised us with a 5 day rain forest trip with a guided tour group. This involved hiking by day, and camping at night at a new campsite very night. The cvamp set up by the guides in advance of our arrival. On our day hikes to the new camp, we'd have our binoculars to view all the different wildlife. I noticed all the guides had a 12 inch machete sheathed on their hip, and used these for a very amazing amount of cutting jobs. The guide on point carried a much longer machete of course, but the trails seemed to be well traveled.
But I also noticed that each guide had a pouch on the belt. Some were nylon and velcro, some were leather. They all held a SAK of some type and a Bic lighter. The SAK's were used for small cutting jobs, a saw now and then, can opening, a screw driver here than there. The Bic's were used to start the campfire, light cigars. I was still in my Zippo carrying stage, and I asked them why the Bic. I will never forget the answer of the one guide who spoke pretty good English. "Because they always work."
Like the Victorinox SAK, the Bic lighter was the hands down choice of the guides in the Costa Rican jungle, because they were recognized as a product that was not going to let them down. I though about all the times my Zippo had run dry on me, or left a nice red burn on my leg, and I tossed it into the sock drawer where it still sits. Since 2000 I have used a Bic, and like a Victorinox SAK, has never let me down. I can buy one anywhere, and I know it's going to work. No, the Bic does no thane the cachet of the Zippo, but when I want to light my pipe, I don't feel like having a lighter that may work.
As far as romantic vs actual utility, one would have to be delusional to deny the real world use of a SAK. Being stuck by the side of the road with a dead motor scooter, or at the far end of a long winding lake with a trolling motor that has come apart, is not romantic. Yet the SAK on hand let me fix things well enough to go on. The Vespa and the trolling motor both were repaired with the SAK, and having that SAK on hand made all the difference between a very long walk, or a very long paddle, and not. The tools on the Victorinox SAK do work at their intended job.
Worldwide recognition is for a reason. And it's not just marketing.
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2013
- Messages
- 3,544
SAK's are regarded by the best informed that they are a tool chest for your pocket. I find that for me and my purposes, they do more than expected, and/or what they were designed for.
I prefer the ergonomics and performance of SAK knives, alox in particular...they offer the best compromise and combination of tools that better suit the overwhelming needs of ten's of millions of consumers worldwide, as well as exceeding the EDC needs of any multi tool combination offered by any other manufacturer; and all this in a small and much more durable package.
I've nothing against other multi tool brands, it's just the sheer numbers of SAK's in the wild that speaks volumes in regards to its superiority over any other pocket tool.
I suspect that more SAKs are sold and carried by the most educated of knife consumers, collectors, and aficionados due to superior construction, limitless utility, limited only, and I mean only, by the imagination of its user, and simply because they've just been around so gosh darn long; and not once have they faltered when it comes to manufacturing and supplying superb utilitarian knife/tools for 130 years. Think about it, what romance do you know of that has endured for 130 years, and continues to demonstrate that this is one brand that's just entering its honeymoon phase?
I prefer the ergonomics and performance of SAK knives, alox in particular...they offer the best compromise and combination of tools that better suit the overwhelming needs of ten's of millions of consumers worldwide, as well as exceeding the EDC needs of any multi tool combination offered by any other manufacturer; and all this in a small and much more durable package.
I've nothing against other multi tool brands, it's just the sheer numbers of SAK's in the wild that speaks volumes in regards to its superiority over any other pocket tool.
I suspect that more SAKs are sold and carried by the most educated of knife consumers, collectors, and aficionados due to superior construction, limitless utility, limited only, and I mean only, by the imagination of its user, and simply because they've just been around so gosh darn long; and not once have they faltered when it comes to manufacturing and supplying superb utilitarian knife/tools for 130 years. Think about it, what romance do you know of that has endured for 130 years, and continues to demonstrate that this is one brand that's just entering its honeymoon phase?
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2013
- Messages
- 5,713
I think there is art in a well executed, well made, thought out product as well. Simple clean design is art as much as fancy bolsters and fine wood or jigged bone. I guess, the thing I really like about traditional knives is that they take me to a simpler time. I understand that it's a bit of a romantic view, but I can still see me hunting, fishing, camping with that old Case, Buck, GEC.... or even a SAK, and that makes me happy.
Careful. Don't put words in my mouth.
I was careful to point out that people of good conscience can have different needs which are met by different tool selections. That is entirely YMMV.
If you're in Europe with an old VW van and armed with an SAK, you might get so frustrated by the lack of pliers that you "invent" your own Personal Survival Tool, as Tim Leatherman did. That's not a put down of SAK, so please don't turn it into one. It's a simple recognition that for some us, when we look at an SAK simply as as tool, we find them lacking, both in terms of functionality and durability. If an SAK works for you or for your son or for your jungle guides, that's awesome. Honestly. Doesn't make them useful for me though.
As for worldwide recognition for mass marketing in a consumer market, you need a combination of good QA, non-offensive design and reasonable price. Nikes are the most popular running shoe, not the best running shoe and certainly not the best for all feet. Budweiser (or maybe it's Beck?) is the most popular beer world wide, but it's not the best and certainly not the best for all tastes. The Corolla is (among) the most popular cars globally but that doesn't make it the best and certainly not the best for all drivers.
I'm not trying to upset you or any other happy SAK owners. You all should just love the heck out of them if they do what's needed for you tool wise. But please don't point to their world wide popularity as a proof of their superiority.
Almanvet68 said:
See? That's just nutty and over the top evangelism. Honestly, I look at their web site occasionally and can't find a single offering that is compelling to me as a tool. It's not like I haven't tried them. Perhaps you can tell me the best car to drive, beer to drink and coffee too?
Cory Hess
Basic Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2014
- Messages
- 2,117
I'm curious now to find out if you find McDonald's to be superior over every other restaurant.