Sooo, we just got back from California where we spent the New Years holiday and my birthday at the daughters place. She lives in Mission Viejo California and I always enjoy the time spent with my granddaughter, Brianna aged 10 now. In the almost two weeks spent in California and two days each ay on the road, my only pocket knife was the little Victorinox executive.
Okay, let me correct that, it was the only pocket knife I carried. In my bag was my old war horse, the Wenger SI that never got used once. In California, we went hiking up in the Cleveland National wilderness area, fishing up at Lake Arrowhead, beach going, and bar hopping, and shooting over in the desert country. The Executive cut bait, trimmed fishing line, did a sight adjustment on a Smith and Wesson revolver so my granddaughter could use it, opened plastic packages, trimmed the end off some cigars that my son-in-law and enjoyed out on the patio after dinner, trimmed some fat off the beef cubes that were going on the grill for kabobs, and even used the orange peeler for peeling a California orange or two. The orange peeler also works well as a monofilament line cutter.
Heres the thing; I'm an old fart. I've carried knives for most my life. I've carried Buck stockman, Boker pen knife, Buck 309 companion pen pattern, Case peanuts, Opinels, Douk-Douk's, Randall fixed blades. I've carried all kinds of SAK's. Huntsman, tinker, spartan, hiker, bantam, cadet, waiter, fisherman, pioneer/soldier, classic (a personal favorite until July 2018) and others.
BUT...I've never had any pocket knife that took over my pocket like the executive. I loved my Case peanut, but age and arthritis made a small stiff spring half stop pocket knife a pain to handle, not to mention a bit dangerous. The other SAK's all were close, but had to be 'augmented' with another SAK or dedicated knife. But since July of 2018, when I was gifted the executive, it has taken over as my EC pocket knife to exclude all others. It's a little on the small size, but it works for its intended job just like the Case peanut and Boker 240 pen, but with more capability due to the few tools like the screw driver tip of the orange peeler and the small Philips screw capacity of the nail file tip when a small flat is filed on it. Not to mention the scissors and tweezers.
The two knife blades do all that my old Case peanut did, but with the easy Victorinox springs and smooth pulls, its far easier to deal with, not to mention that the danger of a fumble finger old fart cutting himself is great reduced. The executive gives me a blade that is just long enough to cut a sandwich in half, or a slice of pie. The small blade is the box opener, mail opener, twine cutter, blister package opener, and whatever needing a small sharp blade.
For over 20 years I carried a classic on my keyring in a leather pouch sheath I made for it. That tiny SAK, was a perfect example of how less, can indeed be more. It did 90 something percent of what I had to do with a pocket knife, and the other pocket knives I carried were more for my knife nut obsession. They had little to do with the real world.
For all my years growing up, I watched my dad get by very well with his little 2 inch bladed Case peanut. If he needed a screw driver or can opener, he had an old P-38 and a Sear's 4-way keychain screw driver on his keyring. The man was a walking lesson in maximum minimalism. I guess I grew up with a lot of that rubbed off on me, and many things in my life reflect that. Now as an old fart, I finally see the wisdom of his words when he said, "It doesn't have to be big, just sharp." My little executive has become my 'peanut', the little pocket knife that is the always present EDC, and seems to do all I need. On the few times I needed a better screw driver or can opener, the P-38 and Victorinox quatro in my wallet did just fine.
Its a strange twist of fate that at this stage of my life, the Victorinox executive has become what my Case peanut once was. It's small and light enough that I can drop it in my pocket and forget about it until I need it. But it has more capacity than my old peanut had.
It's easy to see how Chuck Yeager spent two weeks backpacking with a Executive.
Okay, let me correct that, it was the only pocket knife I carried. In my bag was my old war horse, the Wenger SI that never got used once. In California, we went hiking up in the Cleveland National wilderness area, fishing up at Lake Arrowhead, beach going, and bar hopping, and shooting over in the desert country. The Executive cut bait, trimmed fishing line, did a sight adjustment on a Smith and Wesson revolver so my granddaughter could use it, opened plastic packages, trimmed the end off some cigars that my son-in-law and enjoyed out on the patio after dinner, trimmed some fat off the beef cubes that were going on the grill for kabobs, and even used the orange peeler for peeling a California orange or two. The orange peeler also works well as a monofilament line cutter.
Heres the thing; I'm an old fart. I've carried knives for most my life. I've carried Buck stockman, Boker pen knife, Buck 309 companion pen pattern, Case peanuts, Opinels, Douk-Douk's, Randall fixed blades. I've carried all kinds of SAK's. Huntsman, tinker, spartan, hiker, bantam, cadet, waiter, fisherman, pioneer/soldier, classic (a personal favorite until July 2018) and others.
BUT...I've never had any pocket knife that took over my pocket like the executive. I loved my Case peanut, but age and arthritis made a small stiff spring half stop pocket knife a pain to handle, not to mention a bit dangerous. The other SAK's all were close, but had to be 'augmented' with another SAK or dedicated knife. But since July of 2018, when I was gifted the executive, it has taken over as my EC pocket knife to exclude all others. It's a little on the small size, but it works for its intended job just like the Case peanut and Boker 240 pen, but with more capability due to the few tools like the screw driver tip of the orange peeler and the small Philips screw capacity of the nail file tip when a small flat is filed on it. Not to mention the scissors and tweezers.
The two knife blades do all that my old Case peanut did, but with the easy Victorinox springs and smooth pulls, its far easier to deal with, not to mention that the danger of a fumble finger old fart cutting himself is great reduced. The executive gives me a blade that is just long enough to cut a sandwich in half, or a slice of pie. The small blade is the box opener, mail opener, twine cutter, blister package opener, and whatever needing a small sharp blade.
For over 20 years I carried a classic on my keyring in a leather pouch sheath I made for it. That tiny SAK, was a perfect example of how less, can indeed be more. It did 90 something percent of what I had to do with a pocket knife, and the other pocket knives I carried were more for my knife nut obsession. They had little to do with the real world.
For all my years growing up, I watched my dad get by very well with his little 2 inch bladed Case peanut. If he needed a screw driver or can opener, he had an old P-38 and a Sear's 4-way keychain screw driver on his keyring. The man was a walking lesson in maximum minimalism. I guess I grew up with a lot of that rubbed off on me, and many things in my life reflect that. Now as an old fart, I finally see the wisdom of his words when he said, "It doesn't have to be big, just sharp." My little executive has become my 'peanut', the little pocket knife that is the always present EDC, and seems to do all I need. On the few times I needed a better screw driver or can opener, the P-38 and Victorinox quatro in my wallet did just fine.
Its a strange twist of fate that at this stage of my life, the Victorinox executive has become what my Case peanut once was. It's small and light enough that I can drop it in my pocket and forget about it until I need it. But it has more capacity than my old peanut had.
It's easy to see how Chuck Yeager spent two weeks backpacking with a Executive.
Last edited:
