Keychain SAK?

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Aug 19, 2020
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I'm just looking for suggestions on a keychain swiss army knife. The three that have caught my eye are the classic sd, swiss lite, and the rambler. I feel like it would be pretty much perfect if I could get the rambler with a led but I see that's not an option.

Does anybody have a sak with a led light? If so, how effective is it compared to a cell phone flash light? Any other suggestions? Thanks
 
I know it’s not exactly what you asked about but I pair a plain old Classic with a NiteIze Microlight which is considerably brighter on it’s high setting (and about the same as the SAK’s on it’s low one) without adding all that much extra weight/bulk to my keyring.

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And to answer your other question: Neither will give anywhere near the light output of a cellphone flashlight - they’re really just suited to helping to locate a keyhole or read a map and the like.
 
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midnight mgr for sure - imho it's great

simple small tool selection, relatively thin & small, light is not as good as cell phone of course, but still quite decent

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Don't forget the "Signature". Same size and blades as the Classic SD, but sacrifices the toothpick for a retractable ink pen.
If you prefer the toothpick over the tweezers, you can swap a toothpick into the same slot the tweezers go in. That's what I did on mine.
My Signature has blue ink. I don't know if they made it with black ink, or if black ink refills are available.
After ten years, the pen on mine is still writing. The ink hasn't dried out in that time.
 
midnight mgr for sure - imho it's great

simple small tool selection, relatively thin & small, light is not as good as cell phone of course, but still quite decent

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Looks like a solid choice but it's a shame it has a pen instead of tweezers or a toothpick lol. I also just noticed that in the description of the swiss lite it says it has tweezers and a toothpick but I don't see a slot on the led side.
 
Get a Rambler and forget about it. Your cell pone has more light than an SAK.

My Rambler would be the last "knife" you'd get out of my pocket.
 
Don't forget the "Signature". Same size and blades as the Classic SD, but sacrifices the toothpick for a retractable ink pen.
If you prefer the toothpick over the tweezers, you can swap a toothpick into the same slot the tweezers go in. That's what I did on mine.
My Signature has blue ink. I don't know if they made it with black ink, or if black ink refills are available.
After ten years, the pen on mine is still writing. The ink hasn't dried out in that time.
I don't really like the idea of the pen because it wouldn't be very useful to me plus it seems that any models with a pen are thicker.
 
Get a Rambler and forget about it. Your cell pone has more light than an SAK.

My Rambler would be the last "knife" you'd get out of my pocket.
The rambler does seem like the best all around sak for my needs. I just like the idea of having a convenient flashlight that I could use hands free if needed.
 
tbh, I wish they made an alox handle with led light... I've never seen one yet and it seems such a simple slamdunk
 
Get a Rambler and forget about it. Your cell pone has more light than an SAK.

My Rambler would be the last "knife" you'd get out of my pocket.

What he said.
 
I have had a Classic of some type on my Keys for as long as I can remember. The current one is a limited edition called the Black Ice. It has a nice DLC coating on most all the metal parts. I have been carrying this one for about 4 years I think. I definitely use it more than any other knife I have.

i-zbjH6Xj-XL.jpg
 
I don't really like the idea of the pen because it wouldn't be very useful to me plus it seems that any models with a pen are thicker.
I can understand the pen not being useful. However, I forgot my pen a few times ...
As for being thicker tho ... the Signature I have is the same thickness as my Classic SD :)
 
tbh, I wish they made an alox handle with led light... I've never seen one yet and it seems such a simple slamdunk
I noticed all the alox models lack any features on the scales. No led, no tweezers, no toothpick and no pen.
 
The rambler does seem like the best all around sak for my needs. I just like the idea of having a convenient flashlight that I could use hands free if needed.

The SAK keychain knives with LEDs are not "hands free". The "switch" is the Victorinox logo, and it's a simple push switch that turns off when you stop pushing.

If you want a keychain flashlight, I have 2 schools of thought - either get a AAA powered light or a rechargeable one.

There's a myriad of rechargeable keychain flashlights out there, and you should be able to find one that suits your size limits and brightness needs. The Nitecore TIP is only $20, puts out 300 lumens, and can either have a UV side light or a red LED. RoyVon makes a bunch of fantastic lights too (I suspect the same manufacturer makes the TIP, as they have some obvious similarities). I have a RoyVon Aurora that puts out an absurd 650 lumens (turbo burst), but is smaller than almost any AAA flashlight. Plus it glows in the dark. The obvious advantages are that they're rechargeable by USB and output will be better than any that run off of regular batteries.

The other I recommend is one that runs off of regular AAA batteries (or AA if you want to go bigger/brighter). Except for one that are designed to run off 10440 lithium ions, they'll never approach the brightness of the rechargeable keychain lights or 123A powered "tactical" lights. However, the 70-120 lumens they typically put out is more than enough find your way down a dark path, find your fuse box or the bathroom in your house during a power outage, or help your friend find their keys they dropped under their car. The one advantage such lights have over rechargeable keychain lights is that you can use any AAA battery. Most of us have some lying around somewhere, and in an emergency, you can always cannibalize from other devices; TV remotes, toys, that fancy no-contact thermometer you bought during the pandemic, etc.

Or you could be a weirdo like me and keep both a rechargeable and a AAA flashlight on your keychain.

I'm personally not a fan of coin cell keychain lights. They do have the advantage of being very small, but they're not very bright, they don't stay bright very long, and the batteries aren't always easy to find unless you buy a bunch on eBay and even then changing them is a chore.
 
I don’t care for a knife on my keychain but, if I have to do it, a Cadet is the way to go.
 
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