Not to be a jerk, but why are SAKs so popular?

bdmicarta said:
Same here. I have a collection of Leathermen that I choose from for EDC. Leatherman products are well made, use good materials, and are strong enough for real use. I get the impression that people that buy SAK's are the people that don't believe in carry of real knives.
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Leatherman tools are MUCH larger and heavier than most SAKS. I have never been impressed with LM fit or finish, or the tools themselves. Mostly no spring lock, just friction, try to pull a tool out and all the others come out to wave hello, no thank you. And most of the "tools" seem to be slot screwdrivers, that's not really "multitool" to me, that's cheap and lazy manufacturing.
 
Crazy ol pootnanny said:
Better multi-tools exist. Better knives exist. Better small knives exist, and I don't understand why SAKs have such a high rep on a forum built around knife-owners who know more than the average sheeple. Why are they so popular when I see no reason for them not to be replaced by a higher quality substitute that can get the jobs done better? :confused:
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I don't get what you don't get. SAK's offer great value both for the $ and in size or weight. Granted if you want a folding blade for cutting ONLY then there are lots of other options. But what are these "better multi tools"? Name one that can do pound for pound what a SAK can. Yes there are other multitools, I have one (by Victoronox too), it's great (and IMO beats Leatherman by a mile) but is WAY bigger and heavier, is not to compare. Considering their volume the quality of SAK (I am talking Vic, don't know Wenger) is pretty great.
 
MassMatt said:
Leatherman tools are MUCH larger and heavier than most SAKS. I have never been impressed with LM fit or finish, or the tools themselves. Mostly no spring lock, just friction, try to pull a tool out and all the others come out to wave hello, no thank you. And most of the "tools" seem to be slot screwdrivers, that's not really "multitool" to me, that's cheap and lazy manufacturing.
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You might want to take a look at them again. I bought a Juice, Charge and Skeletool this year and I was amazed at how well made they were. Each little piece was very nicely made and finished, and they fit together well. The tools in the Charge lock into position when you fold them out, the Charge and Skeletool both have linerlocks on the knife blade(s). They are heavy because they are solid metal but I have confidence when using them. I had a smaller Gerber that was made more like a SAK. It was light but also not very strong. Leatherman makes some small tools too but I have never handled one of them. I consider my Juice to be an in-between. It is fine for pocket carry but too big for a keychain. I don't recall what screwdrivers the Juice has but the Charge and Skeletool have 2 straight slot drivers and 2 phillips drivers each. The Skeletool and the Charge both appealed to me because I can carry them clipped to my pocket just like I do with a folding knife. I can take them out, open the knife blade with one hand, cut what I need to cut and close and put them back with one hand. In effect I could carry one of these and not carry a separate knife, but I have so many knives for EDC that I like that I still carry a folding knife anyway. The only quality issue I've seen with my new models relates to the blade grinds being uneven. But I don't think anybody is going to brag much on the typical SAK blade.

I bought a Leatherman PST about 14 years ago just for grins. I carried it when I thought I might need some tools and also when I travelled to a location where I thought the laws wouldn't allow me to carry my normal big folders. On two occasions I have used it to do auto repairs so we wouldn't be stranded out in the middle of nowhere. I got interested in multitools again this year and bought the 3 newer ones to play with.
 
When I was shopping for multi-tools (not SAKs) a couple of years ago, I found the Victorinox Swiss Tools to be smoother and more solid-feeling than the Leatherman brand tools. YMMV.

I'd like to compare them both with SOG sometime.
 
jacksterp said:
Name another "knife" where you can get a splinter out of your finger, a piece of corn out of your teeth, unscrew a screw, cut open a box or package, open a bottle of wine, whittle, strip a small wire and return the edge of the blade(s) simply by stropping.

Thought so...
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Agreed ... When I was 8 yrs old, I was given my first SAK for Christmas. Fast forward 18 years, many gift SAK to family/friends & countless styles (Spartan & Spirit are current favorites) and I'll probably be buying another here soon.

Amazing little knives and, more importantly, always around when you need them.
 
My three most common pocket knives of days gone by:

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The 110 was a woods pocket carry. The SAK was EDC when I still taught - often borrowed by everyone from the mousy lady fellow instructor to a burly campus HVAC guy. My only chagrin would be when one mousy lady handed it back saying, "That thing is dull... if you want, I could put a proper edge on it for you!". The Buck 301 was nice - but I often missed the SAK's accoutrements. And... the SAK was more fitting even then in a college environment. I can just see me pulling out my ZT-0561 in a faculty senate meeting of yesteryear - to clean my fingernails! They'd probably call campus security on me... again. The SAK just never seems out of place - like my Vic 'Smurf' (blue) Farmer:

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Yeah, quite a pairing, huh? The epitome of Victorian era firearm development - by the Belgian brothers Nagant - the Russian 1895 Nagant! Where else could you find an arsenal refurbed 7-shot revolver, lanyard, cleaning rod, screwdriver, and holster for $65 - delivered to your door, if you have a Curio & Relic ffl??

Stainz
 
I can just add this from a lifetime of having knives. I have always had a Swiss Army knife around, but they seem to stay in the background. When I was a young kid I had one in my tackle box and one in my room. Later in life I had one in the Marines and even today I have one in just about every vehicle and probably one or two in the junk drawer at the house. I probably have a few others that were gifts that aren't out of the box yet.

It was never a go-to edc especially for me since I hate carrying things in my pockets but, everytime I have ever been in a jam and nothing else works, you always pull out your Swiss Army knife and get the job done. That has been a universal truth since I can remember. I still get them as Christmas/birthday presents and love them.

I will say that when I was growing up (I'm 49) there were not as many options as there are today. There was no internet, money was tight, the only mail order kind of thing we knew of was the Sears catalog. Now things are much different and the multi-tool world is vast with Leatherman's, Gerber multi-tools and dozens of others that do the same things, and lots more. So people have choices and just like some people hate Fords or Chevys they also have their favorites in this category too. Still it is hard to fault the Swiss Army brand and rarely do you even hear this kind of question asked. They are and have always been a treasured gift and a great consistant high quality tool. They are not sexy, mean, trendy, big and rarely do you see someone send one off to Missionspec to get a camo job done, they are just a Swiss Army Knife, like it or not.
 
bdmicarta said:
The only quality issue I've seen with my new models relates to the blade grinds being uneven. But I don't think anybody is going to brag much on the typical SAK blade.
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I don't understand what your problem is with the SAK blades. They take a nice edge, they're easy to resharpen, even for a novice, and they generally cut much better than the comparable blade on any Leatherman model due to superior geometry. The X55CrMo14 is a pretty darn good steel for a general user knife, and I'm not a huge fan of 420HC. Sure, it's tougher than 440. But edge holding is nothing to brag about, and honestly, neither is toughness, in comparison to a decent folder that will cut much better. I like and use Leatherman, particularly the Wave. But for the smaller models, I've just not been impressed, because tool for tool in common, the SAK version generally outperforms. Not to mention, the F&F on a SAK is always head and shoulders above that on a leatherman. A SAK wouldn't look out of place at a high class function. A leatherman, on the other hand...
 
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Some of the huge ones are a bit silly, but they are designed that way on purpose as novelties. But some of them (Trekker/Soldier, cadet/bantam/farmer in alox) are actually very, very good. And they make cheap and well-received gifts, even for non-knife nuts.
 
Stainz said:
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Yeah, quite a pairing, huh? The epitome of Victorian era firearm development - by the Belgian brothers Nagant - the Russian 1895 Nagant! Where else could you find an arsenal refurbed 7-shot revolver, lanyard, cleaning rod, screwdriver, and holster for $65 - delivered to your door, if you have a Curio & Relic ffl??

Stainz
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Stainz, that's a fabulous pairing, and I have to admit I'm envious. I've always had an admiration for the design brilliance of the Nagant revolver. Your's looks in such pristine condition, do you shoot it?

Great pic, great combination of proven knife and handgun. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
I carry a Swiss tool spirit x to work with me everyday and I use it everyday. I went through three leatherman multi-tools before settling on the swiss tool. IMO it is a much better tool in quality and use ability. Don't knock it till you try it.
 
I love knives, i have spent more than what is probably financially responsible of spyderco, bencmade, case leathermans, but i also have two SAKs. i have two or three knives on me all the time and one is always a SAK even if i have a Leatheman with me. their small, light, convenient and very comfortable slice like crazy and i've put them through hell and they keep asking for more. I will always have one with me till the day i die if i have anything to do with it. SAKs are REAL knives no matter what elitists say
 
I recently brought a Alox Pioneer and I must say that I am very impressed with it and how robust it actually is. The Alox series are in my opinion, a totally different knife than the smaller plastic versions. I would have no worries depending on it as a folding knife for the majority of edc tasks (without being stupid) that you would normally expect of a folding pocket knife. In fact, I think I will try out a Farmer SAK next...
 
ive yet to find a better knife for the money than my Vic Sportsman that i paid $12 for. i have quite a few high end folders but the Sportsman ends up in my pocket most of the time.

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I like SAK. But about 3blades basic series, if the blade is sharpened, The point of shortened blade
will be exposed easily. The position of a blade at the closed is too shallow. I feel uneasy even if
the sharpening will be a few times.
 
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I've wondered the same thing. to me its like buying an MT without pliers, and that's the attachment I use the most, if they didn't have that function I wouldn't bother with them
 
stjames said:
Or "I'm just saying..."
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:) Yeah, I've always said that people feel they can say WHATEVER and then just say "I'm just sayin'".

"Hey, yo momma's house so dirty she wipes her feet before she goes OUTSIDE, I'm just sayin'."

On topic, I just got an ALOX Cadet at a yard sale for a buck.
It has a not small main blade.
I filed a snag on my nail at church with it today and felt comfortable doing it.
A bunch of people were just shot at a movie theater.

I'm just sayin'
 
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