Realizing a SAK IS traditional has helped

[jackknife]

My kitchen knives are Opinel right now. I have the chef knife, bread knife, and a paring knife. They do the trick. Only thing I dislike about the Opinel paring knife is, if you don't pay close attention, you can find your self cutting with the wrong edge and having a finger or thumb on the sharp side. It's tough to tell the difference if you pick it up without looking. I may replace them with Victorinox someday, but cannot justify the cost to exchange. If I could do it over however...

Executive uses thus far today, scissors to cut paper, orange peeler for an orange . Work is extremely slow. I'm a family physician and only work in an office nowadays. I used to only work in the hospital and icu, but office life is much better for the family. No more missing weekend ball tournaments and Holidays. With the current climate, we are moving as much as possible to telehealth to keep patient's out of the office and protect them. I good portion of my job is protecting people from themselves .

Opinel's are great kitchen knives!! nothing to sneeze at wth them. If I didn't already have the Victorinox kitchen knives, there'd be an Opinel chef's knife in the drawer right now. As it is, theres an Opinel number 8 left open that is in one of the slots in the drawer and gets used for its extremely clean cutting on some media. I had an on and off love/hate affair with Opinels for thirty years, and I respect their cutting abiltiy greatly. But the folders are just too finicky and needing of fine tuning for me. Not to mention single purpose like most knives that are just a knife.

But if you have Opinel kitchen knives, I myself wouldn't bother to change over to Victorinox, as they are great knives. For the paring knives, take a small mill smooth file and use the edge to file a couple of shallow groves in the top of the paring knife handles where your thumb needs to go. You'll get used to feeling the grooves under your thumb when you grab it for some one cutting/trimming. It will orient the knife handle right off by feel.

Most people have too many knives in the kitchen. All you really need is a good chef's knife and a few good paring knives and that will do 99% of what you need. A chef's knife is the most versatile kitchen knife in existence. And Opinel makes a very very good one.

Besides, I like the catchy tune they have on the youtube video of the factor tour of the Opinel factory. Good piano work!

 

[shopdoc]

Opinel's are great kitchen knives!! nothing to sneeze at wth them. If I didn't already have the Victorinox kitchen knives, there'd be an Opinel chef's knife in the drawer right now. As it is, theres an Opinel number 8 left open that is in one of the slots in the drawer and gets used for its extremely clean cutting on some media. I had an on and off love/hate affair with Opinels for thirty years, and I respect their cutting abiltiy greatly. But the folders are just too finicky and needing of fine tuning for me. Not to mention single purpose like most knives that are just a knife.

But if you have Opinel kitchen knives, I myself wouldn't bother to change over to Victorinox, as they are great knives. For the paring knives, take a small mill smooth file and use the edge to file a couple of shallow groves in the top of the paring knife handles where your thumb needs to go. You'll get used to feeling the grooves under your thumb when you grab it for some one cutting/trimming. It will orient the knife handle right off by feel.

Most people have too many knives in the kitchen. All you really need is a good chef's knife and a few good paring knives and that will do 99% of what you need. A chef's knife is the most versatile kitchen knife in existence. And Opinel makes a very very good one.

Besides, I like the catchy tune they have on the youtube video of the factor tour of the Opinel factory. Good piano work!

Good advice on the file work. I'll do that tonight.

I love Opinel #8s. When it comes time to cut down a cardboard box, I still do the following:

Grab 3 of my one handed folders for a cutting competition. All three cost more than I'd like to say. I get pissed off at each one of them in turn. I put down the knives, go upstairs to my night stand or in my garage, grab an Opinel #8, and finish off the boxes...always commenting on how scary sharp they get. Next I sharpen the Opinel which takes all of 3 minutes. I'll then carry it for a day or so, but get tired of the bulge in my pocket and place something more pocket friendly in there. They are finicky and I have a process for each new Opinel that takes about a day. Involves drying out, placing in a mason jar of mineral oil overnight, getting rid of excess mineral oil. If carbon, forcing a patina. It works very well, but it is a process.

I can hear that jingle as I type this. They do very well with advertising. Simple, elegant, rugged. Makes me want to go hike the alps and have a picnic with some cheese and fancy salami. SAKs are still more useful, but I'll always have a place in my heart for Opinels and occasionally get miffed at myself for spending so much money on fancy folders when my Opinel does EVERY cutting job better. Trim small limbs that hit me in the face when mowing, prepare dinner/picnic lunch, garden, and break down cardboard boxes. I saw a post you typed about the SAK floral knife being just as good of a slicer. Those are strong words...very strong. I might have to purchase one now for a cardboard competition.

 

[jackknife]

Good advice on the file work. I'll do that tonight.

I love Opinel #8s. When it comes time to cut down a cardboard box, I still do the following:

Grab 3 of my one handed folders for a cutting competition. All three cost more than I'd like to say. I get pissed off at each one of them in turn. I put down the knives, go upstairs to my night stand or in my garage, grab an Opinel #8, and finish off the boxes...always commenting on how scary sharp they get. Next I sharpen the Opinel which takes all of 3 minutes. I'll then carry it for a day or so, but get tired of the bulge in my pocket and place something more pocket friendly in there. They are finicky and I have a process for each new Opinel that takes about a day. Involves drying out, placing in a mason jar of mineral oil overnight, getting rid of excess mineral oil. If carbon, forcing a patina. It works very well, but it is a process.

I can hear that jingle as I type this. They do very well with advertising. Simple, elegant, rugged. Makes me want to go hike the alps and have a picnic with some cheese and fancy salami. SAKs are still more useful, but I'll always have a place in my heart for Opinels and occasionally get miffed at myself for spending so much money on fancy folders when my Opinel does EVERY cutting job better. Trim small limbs that hit me in the face when mowing, prepare dinner/picnic lunch, garden, and break down cardboard boxes. I saw a post you typed about the SAK floral knife being just as good of a slicer. Those are strong words...very strong. I might have to purchase one now for a cardboard competition.

I think thats what finally burned me out on Opinels, 'the process" . I got tired of having to go through the process every time I needed a new Opinel because someone needed a knife and I'm generous by nature. SAK's are way way easier and they cut almost as good. I didn't have my Opinel on me when I went over and bady sat my sister in laws house when she was expecting a sofa that she bought on line to be delivered. They delivered it alright, wrapped in a cocoon of double thick shipping cardboard and packing tape. All I had on me was my SAK tinker and I cut. Then I cut some more. When my hand got tired I still cut some more. I had to work carefully so I didn't cut her new sofa, but I finally got it all un packed and then had to break down the cardboard to fit in the outside recycle bin. A few times I thought the edge was gone because the tinker was dragging badly, but it was just glue build up. Some alcohol hand sanitizer and a paper towel cleaned the gunk off the blade so I kept on cutting. Everytime I cleaned the gunk off the blade, it was cutting just like when I started. At the end, job done, the tinker was still fairly sharp, and just needed a minute of stopping on the bottom of a coffee mug. Yeah, the Opinel would have been a little better, but not by much. That so called mediocre Vic steel cut like the dickens that day, and I had no complaint. It went above and beyond what a normal EDC pocket knife would encounter.

The Victorinox garden knife is right up there with the Opinel, but a flatter package that is much more pocketable. The blade is a chisel grind, carried down to a very thin edge that cuts like an Opinel. Having metal liners and nylon slab handles, its totally moisture proof from the get go. No oil treatment needed. Just drop in pocket and go, like any SAK. And I love the sheep foot blade profile. its an old timey blade shape that goes way way back in pocket knives to the early 1800's. Look up the pocket knives pictured from the wreck of the river steamer Arabia, and see how many of the knives were a sheep foot. Its a very very effective shape for a wide range of cutting jobs for a folder. The Victorinox garden knife has become my standby dirty work knife. I keep one in the center console of my car, and another on the shelf besides the workbench out in the work shop building out back. But...if you're going to get one, do it now, Victorinox has announced they are discontinuing the model for a more expensive model. They even come in colors like yellow, purple, pink, (Get one for the better half!) and the normal red. Some places are out of stock, but the big knife store in the smoky mountains just got them back in stock. About the same price as an Opinel 8 or 9.

 

[Pomsbz]

I'm all Victorinox in the kitchen also. Two serrated paring knives, a straight edge paring knife (which I do wish had more belly), a boning knife and an 8" chef's knife. Spartan on my belt, Camper in my outdoors bag. I also have a SAK Floral which I use as a hobby knife. As our Victorinox ambassador above ( ) mentions, the fact that every single Victorinox you buy is a known value, sight unseen, never mind their low price, is incredibly comforting.

From an EDC perspective, if I lose it, no biggy, if I fly, there can be one waiting for me and I know that it will be good and sharp, it's easy to sharpen in general and a huge plus for me, I can simply run it off under a tap, shake and back in the pocket never ever having to worry about corrosion. Even my CPM154 knives can't say the same.

 

[lonestar1979]

Opinel blade in victorinox handle would be awesome,i love opinels,but theyre they in kitchen and around the house,stainless ones have excellent blades,its just the wooden handle that they should change or give us other options,but flatter handle with a spring would be nice.Opinels and victorinoxes are very easy to sharpen and still hold decent edge,especially stainless opinels,do not need almost any equipment to get them sharp and maintain it,any stone ,ceramics,or plate will do.

 

[lonestar1979]

4 inch serrated victorinox paring knife is the one i use to cut anything,from cardboard packages,to meat,fruits,even in garden.This knife is awesome,i i touch it up on sharpmaker and its its razor sharp,shaves hair even though its serrated.Cuts anything with ease.For 7$ us its maybe the best knife you can get for this amount of money,and plain edge version is awesome too,but like serrated better.These serrations can be sharpened,and are very usefull.Performance wise ,this knife,along with all victorinox knives do better than most ,"modern"tacticals and whatever types of knives that are made mostly for show and to sit on shelf.Thin blades with decent heat treat do way better than super steels with sub optimal heat treat ....that cost 20x more,its just ridiculous.At least you should be getting what you pay for from these companies,but in most cases you do not.

 

[Pomsbz]

I sharpen the serrations on my Vic paring knives with a sharpmaker, really fast and easy and they get screaming sharp. To be frank I also prefer them to the plain edge version of the same knife, they're just that good. I keep the plain edge for more delicate tasks but 95% of the time I reach for the serrated version.

 

[James Y]

The Vic kitchen knives I have are a 7” santoku, two paring knives (a 3” plain edge and a 4” serrated), a small hooked fruit knife, and a serrated, blunt-tipped “utility” (I think it’s called that). My most-used are the Santoku and the two paring knives. I especially love using the red-handled serrated paring knife. What an amazing cutter, and for so little money.

I recall one time reading a forum member’s post who said he gets Victorinox paring knives, and because they’re so cheap (inexpensive), when they lose their edge, he just throws them away and buys another. WHAT??? Why?? Like Pomsbz, I use a Sharpmaker, and it usually takes only seconds to restore the edges to scary sharp. I don’t get the whole lazy “throwaway culture” just because something is inexpensive. In Victorinox’s case, “cheap” means inexpensive but high quality products that can last years, if not a lifetime, with minimal care. What more could you ask for?

I’ve also seen videos on YouTube where someone touts their high-end folder’s capability as a survival tool by opening a can of beans or canned vegetables with the knife blade, and showing their knife has minimal damage to the tip and edge. If you have a $15 to $25 basic Victorinox SAK with the can opener, you can accomplish that same feat every day, multiple times a day, with zero damage, and do it safer, faster, more efficiently and more cleanly than with a knife blade. And a basic 2-layer SAK takes up little space to carry.

Jim

 

[jackknife]

I’ve also seen videos on YouTube where someone touts their high-end folder’s capability as a survival tool by opening a can of beans or canned vegetables with the knife blade, and showing their knife has minimal damage to the tip and edge. If you have a $15 to $25 basic Victorinox SAK with the can opener, you can accomplish that same feat every day, multiple times a day, with zero damage, and do it safer, faster, more efficiently and more cleanly than with a knife blade. And a basic 2-layer SAK takes up little space to carry.

Jim

Plus with that basic SAK like a recruit, tinker, spartan, you get two knife blades instead of just one. Having a second knife blade is never a bad thing!

 

[Pomsbz]

Plus with that basic SAK like a recruit, tinker, spartan, you get two knife blades instead of just one. Having a second knife blade is never a bad thing!

Yup, it's why however much I like the Pioneer's, I just can't carry one. I use that little blade constantly! It does all the dirty work leaving the big blade for food or packaging.

 

[Stelth]

Yup, it's why however much I like the Pioneer's, I just can't carry one. I use that little blade constantly! It does all the dirty work leaving the big blade for food or packaging.

Alox solution: the Victorinox electrician

 

[jackknife]

Actually, the awl on the pioneer/Wenger SI is like a skinny chisel ground blade. Its very very sharp and can do splinter duty, blister lancing, wire stripping, as well as cutting all kinds of cordage and plastic zip ties. I've used it as a second blade many times.

 

[lonestar1979]

These knives cut meat and soft materials better than any of the fighting knives too,have victorinox boning knife with ergonomic handle that doesnt slip and that blade shape cuts and stabs better than 99 percent of combat knives on market for about 20 $ us.These knives are strong enough for camping and bushcraft or whatever,if you use them like knife should be used,i never broke one.i sharpen mine on sharpmaker,folding dmt or norton stone,and few swipes is all it takes,because out of factory,theyre ground with thin edges,and mostly thinner stock,that performs.Also full flat grinds perform well.If you break one in end,its iasy to buy another one lol.Same as with their pocket knives.

 

[shopdoc]

These knives cut meat and soft materials better than any of the fighting knives too,have victorinox boning knife with ergonomic handle that doesnt slip and that blade shape cuts and stabs better than 99 percent of combat knives on market for about 20 $ us.These knives are strong enough for camping and bushcraft or whatever,if you use them like knife should be used,i never broke one.i sharpen mine on sharpmaker,folding dmt or norton stone,and few swipes is all it takes,because out of factory,theyre ground with thin edges,and mostly thinner stock,that performs.Also full flat grinds perform well.If you break one in end,its iasy to buy another one lol.Same as with their pocket knives.

Once our quarantine is over, I will be spending some time at the post office selling off some knives.

Thin, full flat ground blades have served many a cook AND mountain men well in the past.

 

[shopdoc]

Actually, the awl on the pioneer/Wenger SI is like a skinny chisel ground blade. Its very very sharp and can do splinter duty, blister lancing, wire stripping, as well as cutting all kinds of cordage and plastic zip ties. I've used it as a second blade many times.

I've used my Pioneers awl as an awl and a scrapper in the garage, but not as a blade. Good idea. I need to make a list of alternative uses for the different tools on a SAK.

Today I used the little blade on my Executive several times. What a great little rasor sharp blade!

 

[shopdoc]

The Vic kitchen knives I have are a 7” santoku, two paring knives (a 3” plain edge and a 4” serrated), a small hooked fruit knife, and a serrated, blunt-tipped “utility” (I think it’s called that). My most-used are the Santoku and the two paring knives. I especially love using the red-handled serrated paring knife. What an amazing cutter, and for so little money.

I recall one time reading a forum member’s post who said he gets Victorinox paring knives, and because they’re so cheap (inexpensive), when they lose their edge, he just throws them away and buys another. WHAT??? Why?? Like Pomsbz, I use a Sharpmaker, and it usually takes only seconds to restore the edges to scary sharp. I don’t get the whole lazy “throwaway culture” just because something is inexpensive. In Victorinox’s case, “cheap” means inexpensive but high quality products that can last years, if not a lifetime, with minimal care. What more could you ask for?

I’ve also seen videos on YouTube where someone touts their high-end folder’s capability as a survival tool by opening a can of beans or canned vegetables with the knife blade, and showing their knife has minimal damage to the tip and edge. If you have a $15 to $25 basic Victorinox SAK with the can opener, you can accomplish that same feat every day, multiple times a day, with zero damage, and do it safer, faster, more efficiently and more cleanly than with a knife blade. And a basic 2-layer SAK takes up little space to carry.

Jim

We need to make a video. First using a tactical folder and hammering the blade into a can of baked beans to open the lid. Pan to the next guy who casually pulls out a Spartan, opens the can opener, and makes quick work of the baked bean lid.

 

[lonestar1979]

Same as with battoning wood with knives lol,just buy cheap hatchet or axe ,knife is for cutting mostly,prybar knives do not cut well,period.Small hatchet of good quality is way more useful for wood processing than any knife.

 

[lonestar1979]

Some folders and fixed blades are excellent,and made 9f quality materials,etc,but this stuff is way 9ver0riced and doesnt 0erform much better than simple swiss army knife,hatchet or butcher knife,f9r fraction of price.And some of modern tactical stuff is just useless,made for pple that never use or have used knife in field or sharpened it.

 

[jackknife]

These knives cut meat and soft materials better than any of the fighting knives too,have victorinox boning knife with ergonomic handle that doesnt slip and that blade shape cuts and stabs better than 99 percent of combat knives on market for about 20 $ us.These knives are strong enough for camping and bushcraft or whatever,if you use them like knife should be used,i never broke one.i sharpen mine on sharpmaker,folding dmt or norton stone,and few swipes is all it takes,because out of factory,theyre ground with thin edges,and mostly thinner stock,that performs.Also full flat grinds perform well.If you break one in end,its iasy to buy another one lol.Same as with their pocket knives.

In 2000 I was pretty done with motorcycling, but I didn't want to sell the bike before I did a coast to coast trip. I had never done that, and I wanted that to be my last ride. So I left Maryland and headed west on Rt 50, that runs from Ocean City Maryland to Sacramento California. Told my boss that I'd take unpaid leave of absence and he wished me well and told me to send post cards. I took a month for the round trip, and ended up in Bay City Oregon, then headed home.

On the way I hit some great museums. The John Browning museum in Utah, and the mountain man museum in Grand Junction Colorado, and Bents Old Fort trading post east of Pueblo. It was educational as heck. In the mountain man museum they had real artifacts and reproductions, but what I noticed right off the bat was, all those old skinning knives they carried were just plain old Butcher knives like what was found in a great many kitchens. I looked very very close at them, and they were just large thin bladed plain old butcher knives with slab wood handles. If they needed a back up weapon for that single shot muzzle loader rifle, then thats what the tomahawk was for, and maybe a pistol with a bore matching the rifle.

There were some simple folding knives there, friction folders that looked sort of like Opinel's without the locking ring. No Bowie knives, daggers, combat type knives, just plain old thin bladed butcher knives. Since the Green River knives were not around that early, most of the knives on display were of English manufacture, with a smattering of real Russells Green River knives at the tail end of the fur trade era. Its pretty sobering that those old fur trade era mountain men went into the Rockies for the winter with nothing but a muzzle loading rifle, skinning knife, and tomahawk to survive while harvesting beaver pelts and live to see the spring rendezvous for re-supply.

 

[Pomsbz]

I have carried a Farmer for a while, heck it's still in my bag, but I never found the awl able to replace the small blade. Not close. It's great at piercing or scoring or opening packaging (especially the dreaded plastic shrink wrap) but for any detail work, food, anything requiring a little bit of belly or the full height of the blade - not even close.

I have often thought of the Electrician but I use the can opener a whole lot these days. Both as a phillips head screwdriver and as a 'metal fingernail'. Even though I (sacrilege) don't like the SAK can opener for cans, much prefer a rear opener such as on a Leatherman. Not many cans requiring it these days anyway to be honest. I also really wish they made the sheepsfoot blade in the Electrician a full length straight blade. I've been tempted to get a Rancher and perhaps reshape the blade. It will have to wait though, we're all having to be careful with cash right now right? Especially for stuff we only want but in no way actually need. Some big storms on the horizon.

I carried a Pioneer Pruner for a year, the pruner blade was great (packaging would leap open in fright just at the sight of the thing and very useful with cable ties) but it was still limited as a tool. I find a small pen to be my ideal second blade. In fact the combination of big pen and small pen blades is my ideal combination overall and although I originally eschewed the opener layer in the mods I did, keeping it a traditional pen knife setup - I'm now loving the use of those tools. Just yesterday one of the kids blocked up the drain in the bath with a toy coin. Out comes the bottle opener, prise it out, rinse the whole thing off, shake out over the sink and back in the pocket. Nothing else out there can do it like that, the steel in my Leatherman Charge steel certainly can't.

Although I love the Pioneers for their looks, grip, and cool factor, I've pretty much settled on the 91mm line being my personal carry tool. Either a Spartan or Camper. The two pry/screwdriver/opener tools I've grown to find indispensable, the two pen blades, the corkscrew (I use for knots and even wine on occasion!) and I still get an awl. With the ecoline nylon scales they're very grippy in hand. Best of all, they're just so very reliable, cheap and light.

Here's a pic of my two Pioneers.