locking sak vs slippy sak..Your thoughts..

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
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I have mutiple vic rucksacks and vic farmers...Love 'em, can't say enough good things about them..They have almost identical tools except the rucksack has the toothpick ,tweezers and a corkscrew which Doesn't get used much.the rucksack also has a large locking blade...but the farmer is infinitely more pocketable.. and the alox scales are bombproof.. what's your sak preference locking or slippy?? I usually solve my selection dillemma by bringing both. LOL
 
You done did it now!
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Good questiong Riley--as I have been contimplating this same thing. Believe it or not I do not own a SAK and was thinking about between the locking ruck or farmer or ranger for a slip becase of the saw feature. I'm thinking maybe more of a slippy style just because I have stouter lock backs already and I'm not sure about the sak steel since I have not used it myself yet.
 
diamond dog...THe sak steel is one of my favorite steels..First off the flat grind is spot on...slices and bites into wood with malice. It has decent edge retention and stayus shaving sharp with simple stropping in fact I've never taken a stone to any of my saks and they all have seen miles...PM me your address I'll send you vic farmer no strings attatched..I guarantee you'll be a believer
 
For about 20 years I have carried the Adventurer model locking SAK. For about 20 years before that I carried a Tinker model slippy SAK plus a Mercator Kat lockback. The Adventurer took the place of two knives.

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Like the Tinker that it replaced, the Adventurer is light and only two spring channels thick. I am on around my 4th Adventurer now and I have never had a problem with the durability of the blade or the security of the lock. It has all the tools that I use the most. While a saw might be nice, I'm not willing to go with a thicker model for my EDC.

My going to the Wilderness SAK is a large locking Locksmith model (which I had to buy from Switzerland at the time). It not only has a locking main blade it also has a locking screwdriver blade. It comes with both a saw and a metal file. With the saw and the file I particularly find the extra length an advantage. Longer strokes cut quicker. I don't think I'd want a saw on a short slippy SAK.

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I don't know about the Vic locks, but I'll say this on Wenger's locks. They are horrible. I've owned several and have never seen one that didn't fail under finger pressure.
 
If I'm going light, I'll take a Farmer...if I'm going for extended stays or heavy, I'll take my Outrider (love having the scissors). For me, it's the locking blade and longer saw blade. If I carry a folding saw (Bahco/Kershaw or Silky), it's less of an issue and the Farmer gets pocketed or put in my PSK.

ROCK6
 
Only a non-locking when it is absolutely imperative that I project as inert a presence as possible. My autonomous self wouldn't bother with them.
 
Trekker. I just got back from a week camping in Medicine Bow Nat'l Forest, and the Trekker was the most often used knife I had. It's big enough for most things, good, well shaped handle, positive lockup, and I can hang it from my belt by an alligator clip so I don't have to have it lumping around in my pocket.

The farmers and all are nice for street edc, but the larger SAK is a harder worker, IMO.

Andy
 
I carry a CLassic for "clean" use- food prep, cutting bandages/packages. Love the scissors & the tips of the tweezers have been pointed a little to fit small phillips.

Also recently started carrying the Trekker- I love a one hand opening lockback, the saw is awesome and I just used the reamer for openeing eyes on coconuts- perfect tool here. It does seem a little sensitive to grit- I was doing some landscaping and ended up with dirt in my pocket, caused things to bind but a few minutes flushing with water and it was happy again. I like the smooth edge down low with the serrations out near the tip- I can cut clean notches and fuzz stick & if I am cutting rope and it is not cut before the serrations--- it will be cut before the tip gets to the rope!

2Door
 
If I'm deciding between two SAKs, it's: Do I want a longer blade/saw, or will the smaller ones do? It's never: Do I need a lock or not? I treat them all as slip joints. As many times as I've cut myself over the years, I've never had a blade close on my fingers.
 
Non-locking sak's only.

I like small pocket knives. The locking saks are just too big for edc stuff, and if I need something bigger, or I'm afraid a blade will fold over, then thats what sheath knives and hatchets are for. Under normal use, I just don't feel I need a lock that may or may not fail. Safty devices are no replacement for proper knife handling.
 
Where can I find out how to make a lanyard like what is on the middle SAK in bearthedog's 4th pic?
 
I have a small collection of SAKs myself and like all of them. I just recently started carrying an Outrider as part of my standard daypack load out.

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I like the size and the selection of tools for everyday outdoors use, and the locking main blade is a nice feature. Given a choice between the Outrider and a slippy with the same selection of tools, I'll go with the locker. ;)
 
Right now, I have a Vic huntsman, blue alox scales, that has been carried for a couple months. I really like it. I have a LNIB alox Cadet that I had set aside for the trading block, but have decided to just carry it. I also take a One Handed Trekker with me when hiking or camping. Out of all of them, I prefer the OHT (green military issue version). Except for one thing.

The locking liner is for left hand carry, not right hand carry. I'm used to it by now, and understand why the liner is positioned like that, but would prefer a right handed liner lock.

I usually carry the huntsman with whatever single blade folder I have, except for when I have the OHT. Could be a Spyderco Native with the OHT. Or, huntsman with my Ritter Grips when I'm goofing off on the trail after work.
 
I prefer non-locking SAKs. Always have a locking blade or fixed blade paired with my Farmer, so the SAK is used for fine work or when there are annoyingly sensitive people around. Am also not very impressed with the locks on SAKs that I have seen.
 
I've been carrying a slip-joint SAK for most of my life. Never had any problems with it. Don't see a need, personally, for a locking SAK.
 
Check out the Electrician plus.Same as Farmer but no can opener. Small sheepfoot in stead==KV
 
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