SAK Hook

Razor

Razor

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 8, 1999
Messages
3,975
What is the hook on the center of the handle suppose to be for? Does anyone use them?
 
It's a package carrier. Think of a package wrapped in brown paper with twine tied around it,rather then dig into your fingers.
 
Except it's useless. I haven't seen a package tied in string in 20 years. The post office won't even accept them. The "hook" should be replaced by something more useful IMHO.

Rich S
 
Perhaps they still wrap packages in string in Europe? I've also used mine to tighten the laces on shoes where I couldn't get my finger under them. There's a video where a guy drops his glasses in the toilet and uses the hook to fish them out. I wish they would put the little nail file on all of them instead of just some of the hooks in the Compact model.
 
I heard the the Swiss postal service was (is?) required to wrap packages with twine, so hooks are very common tools.
 
BradGad said:
I've been glad to have it when carrying/moving hay bales and gallon cans of paint.
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Both the above, plus wire and twine tightly bound newsprint are all much easier to carry with the hook. In addition to those, I have also used mine as an expedient coat hanger. Not that the hook is one of my major implements, but it is far from useless.
 
For opening 1960s tents that have been zipped shut from the inside!

climber2.jpg

climber3.jpg
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(Anyone else see Moonrise Kingdom?)

:)

~ P.
 
I post this video every time someone asks about the hook.

[youtube]PVEZl-32iTE[/youtube]
 
Everything has a use, and I'm sure that if they still put it on their knives then someone has a need for it still.
 
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to snag out a wire or string from a tight space you will thank heavens if you have that hook on you.
 
pertinux said:
For opening 1960s tents that have been zipped shut from the inside!



(Anyone else see Moonrise Kingdom?)
Click to expand...

As soon as I saw the thread title I thought of that particular scene and was going to post a pic. You beat me to it.

I did get to reference Moonrise Kingdom in a thread about campaign hats over in gadget and gear, though.
 
You guys obviously know nothing about SAKs. The hook tool is NOT for ziplining, and it is NOT for carrying grocery bags. It is for giving yourself a vasectomy in the field. The SAK was invented in the early 20th century and made for European soldiers in a time of war, Cholera, and possible social stigmatization and shunning for births out of wedlock. Additionally, men were generally doomed to pay for sired children for life. Field hospitals were unreliable and unsanitary, contraception was unheard of (the condom wasn't even invented yet), and soldiers' pay was too low to support a family in every country where they fought. So Swiss engineers designed the hook so soldiers could perform the simple surgery in the field.
 
Magnaminous_G said:
You guys obviously know nothing about SAKs. The hook tool is NOT for ziplining, and it is NOT for carrying grocery bags. It is for giving yourself a vasectomy in the field. The SAK was invented in the early 20th century and made for European soldiers in a time of war, Cholera, and possible social stigmatization and shunning for births out of wedlock. Additionally, men were generally doomed to pay for sired children for life. Field hospitals were unreliable and unsanitary, contraception was unheard of (the condom wasn't even invented yet), and soldiers' pay was too low to support a family in every country where they fought. So Swiss engineers designed the hook so soldiers could perform the simple surgery in the field.
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Sounds like bs (at least the part about the vasectomy), but my knowledge isn't sufficient and relatively non existent when it comes to the history of SAK and the original intent of their tools. So I'll say this, interesting if true.
 
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bamahabir said:
Sounds like bs (at least the part about the vasectomy), but my knowledge isn't sufficient and relatively non existent when it comes to the history of SAK and the original intent of their tools. So I'll say this, interesting if true.
Click to expand...

Magnamoinous_G was making a joke. :)
 
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