Let's talk SAK's !

Reading this thread got me pumped up on SAK's again! :):) I just ordered a outrider and a huntsman. :eek: Thanks! :thumbup:
 
DavidZ said:
Reading this thread got me pumped up on SAK's again! :):) I just ordered a outrider and a huntsman. :eek: Thanks! :thumbup:
Click to expand...
It had the same affect on me. I ordered a Wenger journeyman.:thumbup: I don't know how I ever got along without a sak.
Jim
 
Guilty as well. I have one already a never used gift. Too thick I think it is an Explorer. I ordered a Pioneer Harvester with sheath and steel.

One thing this thread got me reflecting upon was the number of SAKs I have lost over the years. 3 or 4 I guess. I think what happens, eventually I quit caring about it. The only one I really miss is the safari. I didnt get another because i just dont like the looks of the cap lifter on the saw blade.

Before I joined the forum I never thought of modifying one to be only just the tools I wanted. Now it seems like the most natural thing in the world, so much so that I'm now a bit shocked now that Victorinox does not offer such a service. With the assistance of a program like The SAK Selector to help guide you through what will work and what wont; it would be easy for them to implement. Two knives I really dig are the Yeoman and the Wilderness.

One thing I've kinda decided if i should ever do a mod is get rid of the main blade. I'm here at Bladeforum so heh I am more likely to have a knife with me, much more so than tiny scissors or an awl, and they have already proven to be one of the first things I loose so no sense relying on one as a backup blade
 
I know the thread says "S"AK :), but I picked up a neat GermanAK in a recent trade, just the basics, but very well made

GermanArmyCCMknife.jpg
 
I like the fieldmaster too. There some others that are more elaborate and have magnifying glasses and what not, but the fieldmaster has all the tools that I really want. The new digital camo huntsman is pretty cool, but it doesn't have a phillips head screwdriver, although it has a blade for phillips screws on the bottle opener (not sure how well it works). I currently have some knock off model that I grabbed from my old man's place, but maybe ask for a fieldmaster for an xmas present--the one I have doesn't have a saw, and guessing the genuine victorinox model is built better (though the knock off seems to be about as good as all of the ones I have handled in my time).
 
I was just looking over there and saw it was gone. i wanted it bad lucky for you not bad enough. hope it serves you well cheers
 
mtwarden said:
I know the thread says "S"AK :), but I picked up a neat GermanAK in a recent trade, just the basics, but very well made

GermanArmyCCMknife.jpg
Click to expand...

I have a Victorinox "Mauser" knife that looks a lot like that. It has an additional clip point blade though. I do keep one of the small screwdrivers in the corkscrew.

Bruceter
 
just looked it up- very similar indeed :)

Victorinox-Mauser-Lg.jpg


good idea on the screw driver- got me thinking w/ the saw cover I might be able to add small tweezers to it- I'll have to give it a try
 
I just got the blue one the other day. It is a beauty. Apparently there were only 42 of these produced. Old crosses are my favorite. ...and if it is blue and does not have some stupid logo. Ohh man. Might be talking grail knife. The farmer in red is one of my favorites of all time as well. Got that for cheap because it was gummed up. Cleaned and oiled it. Now it snaps like a brand new one.

Best quality for price ratio in the knife world. Hands down.
 

Attachments

  • old cross.jpg
    old cross.jpg
    57.5 KB · Views: 50
mtwarden said:
I know the thread says "S"AK :), but I picked up a neat GermanAK in a recent trade, just the basics, but very well made.
Click to expand...

mtwarden- Victorinox's civilian version of your GAK was my first SAK almost 30 years ago. The only difference is that the scales are red. There are some who consider these to be the perfect survival knife. I picked two of them up (the red "Trooper Safari") a few years ago from ebay for $12 or so. I'll occasionally toss one in my pocket for nostalgia's sake. I also pull them out to loan to visiting kids for making marshmallow sticks. If I didn't like my Farmer so much, I'd still be EDCing one. They have all the tools I need and fit well in the hand and pocket. :thumbup:

Edited to add: There's a few on ebay now. Search for: victorinox trooper
 
Last edited:
After complaining about my Farmers in a previous post in this thread, I decided to sacrifice one in an experiment and see how I could do. Turned out fully servicable, snaps to and no wobble. Pretty clean except for a bit of boogery-looking heads on the back side but I know what to do the next time. The marring on the scale is feom not knowing the pin diameter before drilling and I had to swage some brass into the excess gap. Won't happen next time because I now know the size of the pins. The oversized hole was only a few thousandths deep in the scale so everything is good and tight.
FARMER03.jpg

FARMER04.jpg

FARMER06.jpg

FARMER01.jpg

I coul knock the pins back out and make them look better but I will play with it for a while first. Thanks to Kaleb Reynolds for encouraging me to jump in and test my methods. I had ideas to try out and most worked. What didn't, I learned from and can do better on the redo.
FARMER02.jpg
 
You did a nice job but why would you sacrifice 2 useful tools for a minimal difference in thickness?
 
tholiver said:
If you ever go to buy a Vic multi-tool go for the Victorinox Spirit!
Its very finger nail friendly as the nail-nicks are all slightly raised outside the body of the frame.
I have Leathermans SOG and Victorinox multi's, the Vic Spirit by far has the the easiest to open tools!
I love my Victorinox Swisstool X as well but the nail nicks are deep set in the frame. In that regard the Swisstool X is not as good as the Vic Spirit but still better than most Leathermans and SOG's.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. I own a bunch of Leathermans, out of which I carried one or the other almost 10 years, and also an original Swisstool. But for me, the best multi is the Spirit S. And your observations of it are spot-on and a major reason why the Spirit is my go-to multi-tool.

As far SAKs, I always carry a Vic Executive. If I'm not carrying the Spirit S, I will also carry an alox Soldier. It pairs well with the Executive, and I have uses for all of the implements on them. I even use the Soldier's large screwdriver blade as a *light* prying tool. If I were going in the outdoors, I would replace the Soldier with a Farmer, not only because of the addition of the saw, but also I have the option of using a lanyard attachment to my belt loop to avoid losing it.

Jim
 
Stelth said:
You did a nice job but why would you sacrifice 2 useful tools for a minimal difference in thickness?
Click to expand...

Stelth, thanks for the compliment.:thumbup:

It wasn't all about the .107" difference in thickness and 26% reduction in weight (I figured someone would want to know this). That was simply a happy side efffect of losing a couple tools that were doing ME no good to tote around. Yeah, it's noticably more compact and will get carried more too though.

I have a multi-tool in my pack in case I need a screwdriver, so no sense having extra screwdrivers in my pocket. The can opener was terrible at best, comparatively speaking anyway. I am a child of the "c-ration days" and I have a P38, plus a backup, at any given time and it works beautifully. The bottle opener, well, I might just be lazy, but I am not lugging glass bottles of anything out into the woods and then dragging the empty bottles back on top of that. Besides, there is a bottle opener on my multi-tool in case I decide to go back on my word.;)

And for my biggest complaint about the Farmer - the lanyard ring mount that digs into my hand when I use the saw or the knife blade - GONE and GOOD RIDANCE! Man, I loved the idea, but once I started using the knife, I decided it really should have been a good ol' fashioned and bulky bail.

Now that I figured this out, I will watch for an old, beat up electrician's knife at the flea market and grab it to salvage the bail if I want to put a "dummy cord" on my SAK.

:foot:Now, if anyone is offended by my outspoken derision of the parts I removed, please don't be. These parts served me no useful purpose, especially that lanyard thing. The Farmer is a great knife, but I saw in it an out-in-the-woods tool that could do a LOT of what I need to do out there and it's trim enough to slip in along with other stuff and always have it with me.

By the way, this was not my idea. I saw it somewhere, maybe on SOSAK. There is a fella who does professional mods on SAKs for folks and this is a popular mod. Also, I needed to goof off for a while. Been a long time and it was nice to work on something that didn't HAVE to be done NOW.
http://www.sosakonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=318&Itemid=0

Again, thanks to my friend Kaleb for the help. I could have let him do it, but I just have to mess with stuff. Next one will be perfect.:thumbup::D
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top