Opinion on Swiss Army Alox Soldier vs Farmer vs Electrician?

coyote711 said:
I think everyone should start with and own an alox Soldier ..... PERIOD! Ya gotta figure if this was the official knife of the Swiss Army for almost 50 years, there's a whole lot that's right with this knife. This knife is the standard by which all other SAK's should be judged and compared.
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The Victorinox Soldier was also the Dutch army knife for several years. If I am correct it started in the 80's and ended half way the 90's. The models they used before were lookalikes, with a Wenger style can opener and made by Amefa.
 
If I recall correctly the Alox models went up a notch in the fit and finsih department in the very early nineties, the Dutch alox models stayed the same rougher finish.
The awl on these Alox models is fantastic!
 
Frostyfingers said:
But what would have happened those handful of times if you hadn't had the SAK's can opener? I prefer the can opener "just in case" over a smaller blade. The main blade of my farmer does all the cutting. ;)
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Worst case, something like this happens:

... when George drew out a tin of pine-apple from the bottom of the hamper, and rolled it into the middle of the boat, we felt that life was worth living after all.

We are very fond of pine-apple, all three of us. We looked at the picture on the tin; we thought of the juice. We smiled at one another, and Harris got a spoon ready.

Then we looked for the knife to open the tin with. We turned out everything in the hamper. We turned out the bags. We pulled up the boards at the bottom of the boat. We took everything out on to the bank and shook it. There was no tin-opener to be found.

Then Harris tried to open the tin with a pocket-knife, and broke the knife and cut himself badly; and George tried a pair of scissors, and the scissors flew up, and nearly put his eye out. While they were dressing their wounds, I tried to make a hole in the thing with the spiky end of the hitcher, and the hitcher slipped and jerked me out between the boat and the bank into two feet of muddy water, and the tin rolled over, uninjured, and broke a teacup.

Then we all got mad. We took that tin out on the bank, and Harris went up into a field and got a big sharp stone, and I went back into the boat and brought out the mast, and George held the tin and Harris held the sharp end of his stone against the top of it, and I took the mast and poised it high up in the air, and gathered up all my strength and brought it down.

It was George's straw hat that saved his life that day. He keeps that hat now (what is left of it), and, of a winter's evening, when the pipes are lit and the boys are telling stretchers about the dangers they have passed through, George brings it down and shows it round, and the stirring tale is told anew, with fresh exaggerations every time.

Harris got off with merely a flesh wound.

After that, I took the tin off myself, and hammered at it with the mast till I was worn out and sick at heart, whereupon Harris took it in hand.

We beat it out flat; we beat it back square; we battered it into every form known to geometry — but we could not make a hole in it. Then George went at it, and knocked it into a shape, so strange, so weird, so unearthly in its wild hideousness, that he got frightened and threw away the mast. Then we all three sat round it on the grass and looked at it.

There was one great dent across the top that had the appearance of a mocking grin, and it drove us furious, so that Harris rushed at the thing, and caught it up, and flung it far into the middle of the river, and as it sank we hurled our curses at it, and we got into the boat and rowed away from the spot, and never paused till we reached Maidenhead.
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Best case, I open the can with a better knife than those three men (To say nothing of the dog) had.

Needing it once every 3 or 4 years is not enough reason to prefer a SAK with a can opener over one that doesn't in favor of another tool I will use. That said, I do wish that the models with a bottle opener but no can opener did have the Compact-style combo tool, to get the best of both worlds.
 
Coyote, thanks very much for that link-really useful!

I don't carry the Farmer in my pocket but it goes in my work-bag or day pack every time. I have found ALL the tools handy at some stage, including the tin opener. A saw is a must have.....
 
I have a Farmer and love it. I looked at the Electrician also, and while I did like the small blade over the can opener, the lack of split-ring option sent me quikly back to the Farmer. I don't think the Soldier has a split-ring either.
 
randomlooker said:
Worst case, something like this happens:



Best case, I open the can with a better knife than those three men (To say nothing of the dog) had.

Needing it once every 3 or 4 years is not enough reason to prefer a SAK with a can opener over one that doesn't in favor of another tool I will use. That said, I do wish that the models with a bottle opener but no can opener did have the Compact-style combo tool, to get the best of both worlds.
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That is why I always think a can-opener is important to have in a pocketknife. I get this Looney tunes image of Daffy Duck on a desert island trying to open up a can of food without a can opener.

That said, there is a way I saw(one of those post apocalyptic survival series on the History channel) which looked promising:

It essentially involved rubbing the top of the can on a hard surface like a brick or cement wall. If done with some elbow grease, it apparently abrades off enough metal enough to take the lid off. (a video may be found here)
 
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hey all, posted in a couple other threads asking this question, and got some good info...this one seems worth trying too:

I'm torn between soldier/pioneer vs electrician. i'm not really concerned about not having the can opener as much as i am concerned about having the smaller screwdriver. however, the sheepsfoot blade seems very useful as a secondary blade. is that sheepsfoot blade chisel ground? i've read it's chisel ground, then one owner said the curved/wire scraper part is chisel ground, but the blade edge is saber ground he thought. if any part of the blade is chisel ground, is it ground for right hand use (beveled edge facing up when used in right hand)?
help me decide...any other input on electrician's secondary blade vs can opener/small screwdriver?

for what it's worth, I already have a camping SAK model which has the can opener/screwdriver and saw...but looking for one more for EDC, hence the alox models, which is why i'm still considering the soldier/pioneer as i don't routinely carry the camping model as an EDC.

thanks a bunch!
 
Harayasu said:
The models they used before were lookalikes, with a Wenger style can opener and made by Amefa.
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I had one of those soldiers made by Amefa. It was quite well made but the blade let it down in my opinion as I found it very hard to get it to take a good edge, unlike a Wenger or Vic blade, perhaps I just had a bad one I don't know.
 
EricVR said:
I vote for the farmer, i might not use the can opener much but i do use the small screw driver tip a lot and i love that saw!
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I never thought I'd use the saw but it has surprised me. I like the key ring as well...Farmer is my EDC SAK
 
xbxb said:
Well why in the heck did they stop making it?:confused: It really kinda bugs me.
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+1 I know we still have the Wenger Soldier and the Pioneer and I've a good stash of both, but I think there's still room for the Vic Soldier, it's the most comfortable in the hand of the three. Luckily I bought 4 before they got hard to get and expensive. :)
 
I had one of those soldiers made by Amefa. It was quite well made but the blade let it down in my opinion as I found it very hard to get it to take a good edge, unlike a Wenger or Vic blade, perhaps I just had a bad one I don't know.
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Yes, I also experienced that the blade on the Amefa models is hard to sharpen. I had a few and noticed that they got blade play after a lot of use. Never had that with my Victorinox models.

Victorinox stopped making the old alox Soldier because of the new Soldier. I think they want to reserve the name "Soldier" for the knives that are really issued. I wonder how long they will keep producing the Wenger SI. That's a great model too and I like the bail. It reminds me of the old Dutch army knives that Victorinox supplied, they had such a bail too. In 1987 the Dutch army started using the Pioneer.
 
I own them all , some of the finest mass produced slip joint folders ever . Which you prefer depends on your personal applications .

Chris
 
for me, the best sak is the Mechanic. 2 blades, 3 screwdrivers AND the pliers. everything you could ever need and it fits in the pocket. it might not fit on a key chain, but that really shouldn't matter

it's kinda funny, i am a farmer but i still side with the Mechanic. the pliers are so damn handy to have
 
I think that for MOST people MOST of the time, the Alox Soldier/Pioneer is about as close to the perfect pocket knife as one can find. For those with special needs, there are other models available with different tools and blades. That, after all, is what makes SAK's well.......SAK's.

I've toted the same Pioneer (or occasionally a Soldier) for 26 years or so. Were it only that I had a greenback for each time I've used the different tools over the years. With a little experience and some imagination, the tools on the Pioneer/Soldier are capable of some interesting accomplishments, like the time I.......... :D

I always carry two knives. One of them is a Pioneer or Soldier.

Like Carl, I've stashed away a goodly supply of NIB Soldiers and Pioneers as backups.

dan
 
Except for the Electrician plus, I have all of them and I choose the Farmer.

Being Eoropean(I guess) I have nothing with multi bladed knives.

And just look at the top of the Farmer. No rubbing tools, all of them neatly placed with Swiss precision. Unlike the Pioneer/Soldier.

I love the extra thickness for the grip and I may hardly use the saw but you never know when it may come in handy(just like carrying a pocket knive in the first place.)

As the matter of fact I just bought a new silver Farmer because I screwed up the action of the awl somehow by removing the bail.:grumpy:

It's a lot more weight to carry after my 2 week's stint with only my Alox Bantam but I feel more peace of mind like now.

Now only save up for and find a couple of red ones:p
 
Vic Alox SAKs:I carry the Soldier every day to work and around town,don't really need a saw for that.When I head for the woods the Farmer tags along.For red (celinid?)handled Vics I often pack the Huntsman in a leather sheath.My Alox Soldier gets the most pocket time though.
 
I have to admit that I don't understand the need for the electrition.

If there is wire stripping to do, and you don't want to mess up the ege of you knife blade, just use the edge of the awl. It's chisel ground, very sharp, and works well as an auxilury blade. It's why the cutting edge is on there from the Swiss Army Design guys.

I never have had a farmer. Way back when I was a boy scout, we had this ex-marine scout master, and he showed us how to take down a small sappling or cut a branch off a tree by cutting a V groove around the wood to act as a stress line, then just bend it till it breaks off right where the groove is.

I guess I've always got by with my old Wenger SI. It's the sak that's the closest to my old Camillus boy scout knife I grew up with.

Carl.
 
That technique with making a V groove works great, I use that too if I don't have a saw with me. But using a saw works a bit more convenient, in my experience, especially if the piece of wood to cut is thicker and you don't carry an axe.

I like the bail on the Wenger SI. Victorinox should have left the bail on their Soldiers too, IMO. It gives the knife a nice classic look and is very handy too.
 
spydutch said:
I love the extra thickness for the grip and I may hardly use the saw but you never know when it may come in handy(just like carrying a pocket knive in the first place.)
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I agree. I much prefer the extra thickness provided by the saw layer of the Farmer. It greatly improves the grip of the knife. I don't always need to carry a knife with a wood saw, but with the better grip of the Farmer, I carry it all the time. And when I'm out in the woods, where a knife with a saw is more useful, I like to rely on the muscle memory of the knife I use everyday.

It's a Win/Win situation :thumbup:

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If the Electrician Plus had a keyring or bail, it would probably be my knife of choice. But I just can't get myself to rely on a folder when outdoors, that isn't tethered to my side.
 
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