Recommendation on a Swiss Army knife please

J

J Buck

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Jun 10, 2011
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I would like some advice from the experienced and learned gentleman on this forum. Although I love my traditional bone handle pocketknives, I am considering purchasing a "traditional " looking, red-handled Swiss Army knife for carrying in my pocket when fishing from my bass boat. I would desire a stout blade, with just a few of the tools, stuff that may be useful but not trying to replace a tool kit. Stuff to maintain a fishing reel in an emergency,etc. 3 inches + I think would be a nice size to get a grip on, older arthritic hands you know. Input on brand would also be appreciated. I bought my dear wife one several years ago (also bought her a beautiful little p'nut), but I don't ever get to see it! I have limited experience with SA knives short of the little promotional knifes given away by vendors. Anyone out there who can offer me a little advice on brand and model selection? Thank you in advance. :)

jeff
 
I don't know about special tools that might help with the fishing chores, but one of my favorite "all round" SAKs is a Vic Tinker. It is a great size (2 layers), with 2 excellent blades (1 large and 1 small), and just the right number of tools to suit me, all for about $20 shipped. The only thing I didn't like on mine was the lanyard loop, which dug into my palm. I solved that by carefully grinding it off, and now I'm a happy camper (make that happy tinker, I guess).

Andrew
 
Thanks for your reply, I'll give that one a look. The lanyard ring might be useful on a boat, I'm bad to drop stuff!
 
Two of my favorite models are the Wenger Matterhorn and Zermatt. The have two blades, and a folding carabiner for attaching it to gear.
 
I wouldn't buy anything else than a Victorinox. Check their website; they have a tool finder where you can select the array of tools you'd like for your knife, and they suggest the model(s) that matches your selection. Watch out: SAKs are like Lays chips...you can't have just one ;)
 
If you are looking to fix a fishing reel I find most Swiss Army knife screwdrivers too stout. I have a Vic Farmer, Rucksack, Ranger, and a Director which is a fancier version of the Victorniox Executive, I just used it to take apart and rebuild a reel, the screwdriver fits all the small screws in a reel perfectly. In a pinch you can also use the tip of the nail file as another small phillips head screwdriver. The Ranger has a small screwdriver but the location on the center of the back makes it difficult to use in tight places.
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It also fits your 3" request.
The scissors are handy for trimming line.
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I'll second what Defaultuser said about Victorniox I prefer them over Wenger, it's just a personal preference.

So I would recommend the red handled Victorniox Executive plus it's the knife Chuck Yeager uses trout fishing :-)
 
if you want a slightly stouter blade, then you are looking at either a 111mm Victorinox or a 120mm Wenger 'ranger' series. Most imaginable tool combos are available, a Victorinox 'Outrider' for example has scissors, saw, slide-lock blade plus various screwdrivers and openers (4 layers). Both brands offer one hand opening models e.g. Vic soldier (I know that OHO is not to be spoken of on the trad forum, but the poster wanted an easy opening blade) Some of the Wenger Rangers even have a set of large functional pliers, which work well. Maybe this is getting too big of a knife for you.
 
At the risk of going non-traditional, I would suggest none of the above.

I would suggest a traditional knife for dealing with fish. I really wouldn't want to clean a fish with an SAK. I prefer a small fixed blade in the tackle box or something like a toothpick fishing knife like this:
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For cutting fishing lines and having smaller screwdrivers to deal with small screws, the very non-traditional Leatherman Micra is amazing. Carries in the pocket like a Vic Classic but the scissors open so much more easily and are much stronger. IMO, some like that is a great back up to a more traditional knife for cutting.
 
I'll go under 3 inch in my recommendation, don't kill me :D
For cutting line, and very small to medium screws, a rambler would be my ideal. Very easy to open tools, of course, it's a 58mm model, so you get just a small blade. But packed with a dedicated fish blade, you get a lot of utility in a very small and light package.
 
What tools do you want on it? I use to do quite a bit of fishing back home in TN and pliers are something I always want so I usually carry my Victorinox Deluxe Tinker(scissors come in handy too), but with want you said in the beginning this is probably more tool then you'll want.
 
jacktrades_nbk said:
I'll go under 3 inch in my recommendation, don't kill me :D
For cutting line, and very small to medium screws, a rambler would be my ideal. Very easy to open tools, of course, it's a 58mm model, so you get just a small blade. But packed with a dedicated fish blade, you get a lot of utility in a very small and light package.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more! With its little regular and phillips screwdriver and scissors (plus a beer bottle opener!), the Rambler would be perfect. Especially coupled with some sort of lanyard affixed to your belt loop. That way, it's accessible in a pinch, but won't go flying overboard.

Then, for larger-knife duties, get a cheap (but fantastically capable) Mora fixed blade.

-- Mark
 
Jacktrades & mnblade when you fellas suggested the Rambler I thought that the phillips might be a tad small, but my wife carries the Midnight Manager and I checked the phillips on it and it does indeed fit all the screws on a Shimano reel & a Shakespeare reel I had sitting here at home. Rambler would definitely work as a repair tool for freshwater reels.
 
I'd go with a Victorinox alox model. Their awl makes a much better line pick than any other option.
 
The SAK I carry every day is a Cybertool 29. It's basically a Spartan with the same tools/blades, but with a bit driver and 4 dual-sided interchangeable bits. It is without any doubt the most useful tool I've ever owned. The small phillips screwdriver is small enough to repair eyeglasses (along with the corkscrew jeweler's flathead), and all the other bits will handle most jobs short of needing specialty tools...although probably some of those as well. It has a T8 and T10 TORX bit, which happens to be the sizes of the pivot screws on most modern pocket knives. I don't know what type of screws fishing reels might use, but maybe the Cybertool will help.

If you're putting the knife in a tool/tackle box, rather than pocketing the knife, it might be worth looking at the Cybertool 34 or Cybertool Lite instead, as they add pliers and scissors, something that is no doubt useful to have during fishing. The extra thickness makes it a bit large to want to carry it in the pocket though, which is why I suggest the 29 for pocket carry, or the others for tool box use. I compliment my Cybertool 29 with a Leatherman Squirt PS4 (which has both pliers and scissors) on my keychain.

I really can't recommend the Cybertool enough; it has honestly "saved the day" more times than any knife or tool I've ever carried, even a Leatherman. All SAKs have a couple screwdrivers on them, but the Cybertool doesn't force you to compromise with them since chances are that you have the right tool for the job, and not just one that might do in a pinch.

If you don't want the extra thickness of the Cybertool, or don't want to mess around with the fiddly driver bits (they can fall out and get lost), it's hard to beat a Solder/Pioneer. My favorite is the Pioneer Rancher, which replaces the can opener with a short pruning/hawkbill blade. The nicest tool on the Soldier/Pioneer is the awl/reamer. It is far, far superior the one on the plastic handled SAKs. I used to drill holes in pennies with one when I was bored in school. Be it wood, plastic, leather, or soft metal, it's hard to find a better tool to put a hole in something.
 
pinnah said:
For cutting fishing lines and having smaller screwdrivers to deal with small screws, the very non-traditional Leatherman Micra is amazing. Carries in the pocket like a Vic Classic but the scissors open so much more easily and are much stronger. IMO, some like that is a great back up to a more traditional knife for cutting.
Click to expand...

I second that recommendation (sorta), I LOVE my Leatherman Style CS, it is very small and light, but has a very strong pair of scissors instead of the usual pliers, and has a small single bevel blade that is useful for cutting thick (50lb+) mono and other chores. It has a carabiner/ bottle opener built in, but I attach it to a zinger using one of the holes in the frame. The Stlye CS doesn't have a small screwdriver though, so it may not be right for you. It is used for cutting line 99% of the time so I think you may want something else.

Tight lines,
Connor
 
I'd go for a fieldmaster. The scissors are handy for cutting line and you have a saw to clear out branches or make a stick fish holder thing. (forget the name lol).
 
I've always found the Farmer to be credible and really versatile. Having a saw is a great asset.
 
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