Love that awl on my pioneer!

As a firemen I am in need of a quick water supply, be it fire or a coworker running their jib. The awl is perfect for the latter. It bores a precise hole in the cap of a water bottle for expedient evacuation of the contents.
 
Jabe1 said:
I've been carrying a Pioneer since the early '80s, same one, the Awl is the most used tool on it.

I wish I had the forethought to buy a few more at the time. I love the brass liner models.
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Hope I'll be carrying my Pioneer in 30 years as well :D
 
Today, the awl on my 03 Soldier kept my hands clean.
During an uphill climb my bicycle chain slipped off the sprocket. Instead of coating my fingers with a layer of grease in order to put it back on, I used the Vic's awl to guide the chain back in place. I didn't have to wipe the grease off my hands, on my pants, break lever, handlebar grip or anything else I touched until I was in the presence of soap and water. That handy little awl slipped the chain back on the sprocket in less then 20 seconds, including the time it took to clean it with a leaf so I could put it back in my pocket.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself on the rest of the ride.
Not having seen anything quite like this mentioned, I thought I'd share yet another of this versatile tool's use.
 
tomsch said:
I carry a 05 Soldier every day and never really used the awl much until the last few months. Once I started using it I managed to find so many uses that I was shocked! It was great cutting tape on Christmas boxes, drilling starter holes in sheetrock to mount a carbon monoxide detector, cutting out plastic to remove the old detector, poking holes in potatoes before they go into the oven, and a long list of general poking, cutting, and scraping that the awl seems just so perfect for. I find that using the awl takes a lot of use away from the main blade leaving it sharp much longer for real cutting jobs. I also have been touching up the awl edge on my Sharpmaker every time I sharpen the main blade. A few stokes on each side and the awl is back to working sharp. Amazing tool!!
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This has been my experience with the awl, not just as a hole punch, but as an auxiliary cutting tool. The single bevel chisel grind edge is great for all those things that you just know will mess up a good blade edge. Stripping wire, starter holes for wood screws, trimming a bit off a cut pice of molding for a more precise fit. And the chisel edge is easy to touch up with a small pocket hone on just one side.
15122752599_e38a68d99f_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by Carl Levitan, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
I use the awl on my Pioneer for scraping that waxy stuff that is used to coat apples, especially red ones.

I really like the Pioneer/old Soldier awl, but I find the one on the cellidor models like the Spartan/Tinker, etc., that opens on the back nearly useless. Maybe in my case it's user error, but I also found the back-opening awls don't drill holes as effectively. After losing more weight, I needed an extra hole in my leather belt, and the one on my Spartan was not penetrating the leather. I wanted to try that one to see how efficient it would be, but gave it up after awhile. The Pioneer's awl took only seconds to make a precise hole in the belt.

Jim
 
You are totally correct, James. The back mounted awl is not nearly as effective as the soldier/pioneer/Wenger SI.

I don't now if it's the angle, the T-grip, or what, but if I need to make a hole, I grab my alox.
 
Had to replant some tomato starters into 5 gallon buckets. The Farmer's awl kicked butt making holes like it was butter!
95mZcio.jpg
 
I absolutely agree, the awl is my most used tool on my Pioneer!
 
jackknife said:
This has been my experience with the awl, not just as a hole punch, but as an auxiliary cutting tool. The single bevel chisel grind edge is great for all those things that you just know will mess up a good blade edge. Stripping wire, starter holes for wood screws, trimming a bit off a cut pice of molding for a more precise fit. And the chisel edge is easy to touch up with a small pocket hone on just one side.
15122752599_e38a68d99f_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by Carl Levitan, on Flickr[/IMG]
Click to expand...

All right Carl, spill the beans, how'd you take that picture:confused::D

I too use my awl the most on my Pioneer:thumbup:
 
I love the awl too. If the Cadet had one instead of the worthless nail file
I'd carry it more.
 
jackknife said:
You are totally correct, James. The back mounted awl is not nearly as effective as the soldier/pioneer/Wenger SI.

I don't now if it's the angle, the T-grip, or what, but if I need to make a hole, I grab my alox.
Click to expand...

jackknife,

IMO, the angle is certainly a big part of it. I think another big difference is the simpler, more effective grind on the Alox model's awl. The T-grip cellidor awl has that weird, narrow concave grind on the nail nick side that I think negatively affects it during use (for me).

Jim
 
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