SAK Mini-Champ vs. Manager

[flyfishrman]

Stopped by the local knife shop today and picked up the Mini-Champ. I've edc'd a SAK of some sort for about the last 15 years. about a year ago I switched to the Manager. Great knife, with the addition of the phillips driver, and pen. I use the pen more than just about any other feature. In fact last week at Lowes the phillips driver removed the rear panel off of a fridge since he salesman didn't have the right tools on him. Anyway as I'm walking through the shop today I spotted the mini-champ. I've seen several posts, and always assume that the mini was the same length as the swiss champ, but with fewer options. I didn't realize it was so small and functional. The addition of the wharncliff, fruit peeler(for my daughters oranges) and 3.5cm micrometer are awesome. I work in medical devices and the micrometer will come in handy. The additional weight and thickness are marginal in light of the handy tools packed into this little package. If you currently carry a Manager, Midnight Manager or any other variation of the small SAK's give the Mini-champ a look. I think you'll appreciate the added functionality for only a few more dollars.

Sorry for the poor pics, the wife is out of town with the camera and I had to use my phone.

 

[Suerte]

I've always wondered about the thickness between the Rambler and Mini-Champ. Your contrast picture with the Manager helped a lot in seeing the actual difference.

 

[flyfishrman]

Glad to help. I EDC's the rambler for a good year or so before switching to the Manager. Now I've moved on to the Mini-champ, but I can't imagine going too much bigger in a suit. Not sure how useful the cuticle pusher (my wife likes it) will be, but I do like having a second blade now.

 

[wudnme]

I bought mine the same time as realstag. He turned me on to the SAK with the manager and I have carried one ever since. I would like to have a tweezer,ink pen, & LED light in a knife that size.

 

[Eyegor]

Well, the midnight manager gives you two out of three.

 

[Nimbo]

Be careful if you're buying the mini-champ. The one in the pictures is the mini-champ II. The original mini-champ is going for cheap at ebay and other places. It does not have a pen or micrometer.

Problem is, most stores sell one or the other but the label says mini-champ on both. Be sure to check the various bits before committing.

 

[Crocodilo]

I own a MiniChamp II, and really could do without some of its implements, like the second blade, cuticle pusher, ruler and orange peeler. Looking at the pics, I wish I had bought the Manager instead...

 

[tholiver]

I'm a SAK-aholic (own 50-ish of them) but i prefer the 84mm and up sizes.
I've almost bought a minichamp two or three times though.
I have a few classics kicking around and have been wanting a minichamp.
But really beyond the blade/scissors/toothpick/tweezers theres are no extra tools on the Manager or Minichamp that i really want.
They are well made but if only they could shoehorn a can-opener (or canopener/bottleopener combo tool) into the classic frame size and the executive frame size.Thats kinda my pet peeve with the smaller saks, lol.
Guaranteed i'll buy one anyway though, its just a matter of time.

 

[tholiver]

Camera phone eh? No worries the pics are good! Better in fact than some I've seen on some websites actually selling SAKs!

 

[flyfishrman]

Nimbo, thanks for clarifying that this is the mini-champ II. I just figured this out the hard way. I won a bid for 2 minichamps on ebay and when I got them, no pen! I wasn't happy and was a bit confused thinking the seller posted the wrong description. I didn't realize there were different versions. I also agree that the cuticle pusher is a bit useless, but I've put it to work prying can tops and it does that well. I actually use the orange peeler and micrometer a fair bit though and like the fact that there is a second blade.

 

[simp]

i 've got an midnight manager,and it was very usefull,but i discover that the light was not really bright enough for me(you cant even see the floorground) and the blade was a bit to small for food preperation.
the bottleopener,the nailfile and the pen were often in use for bottles,lite prying and quick notes.

so i get an executive-size moneyclip and exchance the scissors with the bottleopener of my manager.

thats my EDC now.

get the size: