Love the Scout Knife

I love the Scout pattern with the tool selection that is the mainstay, and most desired, by millions around the world. Victorinox, who manufactures about 26 million knives per year (over 71,000 per day:eek:) has stated that of that 26 million knives, over 25% of their sales is the Soldier/Pioneer,Camper (Cellidor) pattern; that speaks volumes when it comes to the "Scout/Camper pattern, which traditionally is a main blade, a can opener, and cap lifter, and an awl...the perfect combination, and uber utility required by the millions who buy the Soldier/Camper/Pioneer; and if you are one of those who want more than just eating your cake, you can have the pinnacle/capstone/apex of utility/multi-tool nirvana in the Pioneer with a saw, aka the Farmer.;)
 
The scout pattern is still as perfect a tool as it was 50 years ago. Yu get a nice wide flat ground blade that cuts as well as an Opinel if sharpened up right. You get the can opener, which last time I checked, is useful on at least the half of cans that do not have pull tabs. The can opener on the SAK is very useful for phillips screws, that last time I noticed, are still the number 1 fastener around. The screw driver bottle opener is useful not only as a screw driver, but opening cans like glazing putty or Plastic wood. The screw driver on the pioneer makes a nice small putty knife for corner areas like in shower stalls when you re-caulk around the top of the tub. It serves as light duty pry tool.

The awl, one of my favorite tools. With the one sided sharp bevel, it's a great stripper of insulation of the wire when re-doing an electrical project. It makes a great whittling tool for shaving off thin layers or making a hole. It works for drilling whole on a base for a fire bow drill kit in bushcraft. And if something breaks, it's very nice to have a small sharp awl to make a hole so it can be stitched together with dental floss, a paper clip, inner strand from a piece of paracord or jute twine. The awl makes a nice small neat hole, and the little tip serves to push the fiber through said hole. Then you have a repair. And without the awl, it's very hard to make the alcohol stove out of a Sprite or Coke can. You need to put all those try small holes around the top.

The basic scout knife has survived for 100 years because it does serve a certain nitch. Evn though the American companies like Schrade, Camillus, Imperial, are gone, Victorinox is selling tons of pioneers, farmers, cadets, for some mysterious reason. They keep making them and people keep on buying them. Strange. :confused:

The scout knife is still as viable today in the 21st century as it was for boy scouts or soldiers in the 20th century. As much as I lovely traditonals, the old Wenger SI is still carried and used very often. And I still find uses for the tools that have little to do with what they were designed for.

But then, YMMV!

Gratuitous scout pattern pic;
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willgoy said:
Mine are only modest, but both Red! RR and Schatt&Morgan, stainless.

Few years ago, Weidmannsheil Germany offered a nice looking Scout Knife, some were Green Bone others Ram's Horn I seem to remember, carbon steel.

Thanks, Will.

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Could anyone add a mini-review of the S&M scout. It's a looker, but the price sets some high expectations for quality. How does it compare to a SAK?
 
I'm a happy camper, so to speak. My first, now lost 50+ years ago, was an Imperial just like this one:
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Then I got this Ulster for $10 at a knife show (bail since removed for easier pocketability):
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And I'll even carry camper-patterns from the Army of the Helvetian Confederation:
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(Vic Rucksack, Vic Pioneer, Wenger SI, Wenger Evo 18, Vic Classic)

Last weekend in a shop in Globe, Arizona, I picked up another camper-sort-of: a Wenger Commander, but with black celidor scales (which seem to be unusual). Sorry no pic yet.

The camper pattern may be obsolete as some have argued, but I find its tool assortment works just fine for me.

Edit addition: Forgot to mention that I have four (I think) army "demo" knives, which of course are all camper-pattern. I just don't carry them very often — not as pocket-friendly as the others.
 
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AreBeeBee said:
Edit addition: Forgot to mention that I have four (I think) army "demo" knives, which of course are all camper-pattern. I just don't carry them very often — not as pocket-friendly as the others.
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Ya know, those MIL-K knives, AKA 'demo' knives, had quite a value in Vietnam. They could be traded in some back streets for, well, lets just say they could be traded quite easy for goods and services. Stateside, the supply room had plenty of them. Over there, the supply sergeant kept them in a lock box so they all wouldn't disappear. Strange times!
 
jackknife said:
Ya know, those MIL-K knives, AKA 'demo' knives, had quite a value in Vietnam. They could be traded in some back streets for, well, lets just say they could be traded quite easy for goods and services. Stateside, the supply room had plenty of them. Over there, the supply sergeant kept them in a lock box so they all wouldn't disappear. Strange times!
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I remember when a "demo" knife had a higher value then trading MPC's for Piastres.
 
Alnamvet68 said:
I love the Scout pattern with the tool selection that is the mainstay, and most desired, by millions around the world. Victorinox, who manufactures about 26 million knives per year (over 71,000 per day:eek:) has stated that of that 26 million knives, over 25% of their sales is the Soldier/Pioneer,Camper (Cellidor) pattern; that speaks volumes when it comes to the "Scout/Camper pattern, which traditionally is a main blade, a can opener, and cap lifter, and an awl...the perfect combination, and uber utility required by the millions who buy the Soldier/Camper/Pioneer; and if you are one of those who want more than just eating your cake, you can have the pinnacle/capstone/apex of utility/multi-tool nirvana in the Pioneer with a saw, aka the Farmer.;)
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I would be interested to learn if that "over 25%" is growing or shrinking.

What I see on the trails is that the 4 blade camper has basically disappeared. In the 60s and 70s, Harvey Manning (author of Backpacking One Step At A Time and Freedom of the Hills) advocated a simple camper. So did Colin Fletcher (author of The Complete Walker) in the 80s and 90s. But by the mid 90s Fletcher brought on a co-author who favored a Leatherman.

When I visit both brick and mortar and cyber retailers servicing backpacking and climbing, I still see a few SAKs but I see much fewer and I see more multitools.

Camping is very different than the 70s. Canned food very rarely gets carried in lieu of dehydrated foods. Equipment repair means heavy sewing and zipper and stove repair. Scissors, pliers, a selection of drivers and a file are all more useful with modern equipment.

For non backcountry EDC, I experience similar changes. I need sciccors more than a can opener more often. That's an easy change. I keep a camper on my work bench and most days you'll see it with the awl left open. But in fairness, I use it as a scraper not a drill. I would easily trade it for file blade with a 2 prong Phillips head driver.

I'll keep buying campers as a collector because I'm fond of the memories. But I think there are more useful 4 blade combos possible today. I vote for a Case camper with scissors
 
Alnamvet68 said:
I remember when a "demo" knife had a higher value then trading MPC's for Piastres.
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Heck, a large can of coffee from the mess hall had a higher value than MPC's! Especially depending on the date of the MPC! Toss in a Demo knife and you'd get enough iced down "33" to stay loaded all the leave time.
 
jackknife said:
Ya know, those MIL-K knives, AKA 'demo' knives, had quite a value in Vietnam. They could be traded in some back streets for, well, lets just say they could be traded quite easy for goods and services. Stateside, the supply room had plenty of them. Over there, the supply sergeant kept them in a lock box so they all wouldn't disappear. Strange times!
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I can see why: they're certainly robust so long as you don't half-open two blades on the same spring... And the big bail would let you tie a reasonably thick line to it and fling it up and over something.

And they are stainless, instead of the usual carbon steel most ordinary campers had.

While everyone on this thread probably knows about this site, just in case you don't: http://www.scoutknives.net
 
I do not know if scout patterns are rising or falling in camping circles but they are, in the enhanced Vic/Wenger versions, the ultimate travel choice. I carried a Champion for nearly 3 months traveling/backpacking in Europe back in 1980 and it met every need. Almost every tool was used at least once including the fish scaler to dig the mud out of boot crevasses. My buddies both had Vic Explorers and had no problems.
 
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Schrade Walden Sportster - 917

One of the more unique knives I've owned - Circa early 1950's

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leghog said:
My rule with all knives with two blades/tools on one spring --- open only one tool or blade at any time.
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That's wise and I follow the rule too. It was a backspring snapping on a 1969 Camillus demo knife that brought that mistake home to me. It happened a couple of years ago and (the now late) Tom Williams, formerly of Camillus, replaced the backspring, and the knife is as good as new again.

So, the Golden Rule of Slip Joints: Open only one blade at a time and open each fully.

I get twitchy when I see photos of campers, even in this thread, with two blades half-opened on the same spring. People, please, you're dicing with old metallurgy. When the spring goes, it goes with no warning.
 
AreBeeBee said:
I get twitchy when I see photos of campers, even in this thread, with two blades half-opened on the same spring. People, please, you're dicing with old metallurgy. When the spring goes, it goes with no warning.
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Often the best why to take a pic.
 
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