SAK's Suck??

F

frediver

Joined
Nov 10, 2000
Messages
178
Why on earth do SAK's have such a poor can opener?? European design is not always better! What am I doing wrong am I the only one to complain about the can opener?<><

[This message has been edited by frediver (edited 05-19-2001).]
 
Hi guys,

I disagree 200%, perhaps you guys don't know how to work with it but the can opener on every Victorinox !! SAK works perfectly even when normal can openers can't "round the corner" my Victorinox works.

One thing you go forwards with the SAK Victorinox can opener and not towards you!

Best scouting wishes from Holland,

Bagheera


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My SAK canopeners work perfectly, but then again so do my P-38's. Guess it's just a matter of technique and determination to get at the food.

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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
I started a thread about can-openers once (the search function can find it).
I had tested a Wenger, Victorinox, and P38.
The P38 worked the best for me, and the Wenger worked 2nd best.
But all of them worked just fine.
So, I think that you must be doing something alittle different. Over the years I have discovered that when you are opening cans or bottles of wine with a SAK, you don't exert alot of effort or strength. It's all in the technique.
Of course if you can't work them, just use the main blade.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
aknife.gif


 
I know how to use an SAK can opener. I probably did so several thousand times before I discovered the P38. I'm not trying to imply that it doesn't work, just that it seems quite inferior to the P38, as well as inferior to the Leatherman can openers. From my experience, it seems that--once you've mastered them both--the P38 stand out above the SAK can opener. I can open a can of tuna in about 15 seconds with a P38, it takes probably two to three times as long with a swiss army knife, while just feeling more awkward.
 
The SAK can opener works so well for me, I quit carrying the P-38 and even use it in the kitchen in place of the big hand opener!!


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Plainsman
primitiveguy@hotmail.com
<A HREF="http://www.plainsmanscabin.com" TARGET=_blank>
Plainsman's Cabin</A>
 
If you described whether you were using a Wenger or Victorinox SAK and how you used your SAK can opener we could make better suggestions. When I first used a Victorinox SAK I thought it was impossibly stupid. I was used to using the parrot's-beak-shaped can opener on my Scout knife. I was used to doing long levering cycles and rotating the can away from me (sort of like moving the can opener back towards me).

This is two wrong things to do with the Victorinox combination can opener/small-screwdriver. By doing a long lever stroke I would force the squared-off screwdriver tip into the can where it would tend to get hung-up. By rotating the can forward or the knife backward I would have to pull the knife out of the cut and plunge another opening about a half-inch away. This was slow and gave a very ragged cut.

The solution was to use the device the way it was intended. Use relatively short levering strokes and rotate the can towards you (sort of the knife moving forward). The short stroke does not push the screwdriver tip into the can and you never tip the openers blade out of the cut. With continuous forward pressure the progression of the opener makes a smooth continuous cut in the lid. If you work the opener in quick short strokes you get a lid cleanly taken off without much thought or delay.

Oh yeah, as I recall they are also designed for right-handers. The cutter is not symmetric.


[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 05-19-2001).]
 
I've never had a problem with my Victorinox.
I have used my P-38 more though.

If I get a really stubborn can, I just use my
Battle Mistress E.

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"There are more things on this planet with fangs, claws, poisons and scales than
there are things that are warm, fuzzy, and full of love. It's a simple fact."
-James Keating-
 
My Victorinox can opener has always worked well for me, as has been said above, I think you just need to adjust to it. I imagine if you are used to using the beaked openers it is different.

I myself am used to my Vicky opener to a degree that I have difficult times with others
smile.gif


I've carried many knives over the years, but I always have my Victorinox SAK on me, since I was in cub scouts. Perhaps that just makes it what I know.

Best.

Todd (edgedance)
 
Agree with the majority here. The P38 is real good, but also a more specialized. I have no problem with the Victorinox style can opener. It does take longer than the P38, but it is always with me. Technique is definately the key. Short forward strokes. You move forward into the can lid only about 1/8" or 3/16" per stroke. Takes a lot of strokes, but it gets you there.
 
I've had trouble with both the P 38 and SAKs. I finally went down to Wal Mart and picked me up one of those electric ones. Of course, I also had to get an extra long extension cord for hiking.
smile.gif
 
Never had much trouble with the SAK can opener. Now the combo tool on models like the Scientist and the Yeoman is truly worthless as a can opener.

I have taken cans with me for overnight trips. But anything longer that that, I usually open the can at home and dump it's contents in a wide mouth Nalgene bottle to save weight. And you don't have to pack the cans back out.

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Clay Fleischer
clay_fleischer@yahoo.com
AKTI Member A000847
 
I must make a comment to the people who are "informing" that one must go forward with an SAK can opener, and make small strokes (implying that perhaps the reason some people don't like SAK can openers is that they're using them wrong).

You're treating your fellows like morons. It's uncalled for, and it's rude. Next you're going to be telling me which direction I'm supposed to face when I try to sit down in a chair, or which end of a fork I'm supposed to hold.

I'm not trying to start a flame war. I just want you guys to consider the difference between giving useful information and condescendingly trying to inform someone of something this obvious.
 
When in my home, I use the best manual can opener I could find. It is, however, too heavy for hiking. But guess what? SO ARE CANNED FOODS! Sure, my SAK opener will work if I find a need in the field, but I can't remember the last time I actually carried canned goods when hiking or backpacking. My legs just do not appreciate it. If I'm using a snowmobile, ATV, or other vehicle for my journey, and I bring canned goods, my Cadillac can opener comes along.
Regardless of how well it compares to others, the SAK opener works well enough when there are no other options. And that's what it's for... use in a pinch. SAK's are great little knives, and the can opener is just a part of a safety net, IMHO. Plus, since I have one with me often, I find it works great when I need it most, at parties, when opening clamato juice cans. These are the true emergency situations, anyway.

BTW, my CS Trailmaster and I have mastered opening champagne bottles, so the SAK corkscrew is of little use to me.

JET
 
The SAK opener has worked fined for me, I have opened thousands of cans with them. I don't own any other type of can opener. (there is an electric thing under the cabinet for my wife, I've never used it and can't stand the noise it makes.
smile.gif
)
I have also used the leatherman opener about a gajillion times and it works equally as well for me.
I would venture to say that the can opener is my most used feature on a multi tool, I use it several times a day (kids and ravioli seem to go together).
Yours in SAK can opening,
Chad

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Wicked Knife Co.
Hoods Woods
chad234@email.com
 
Hi All,
I use my SAK's in the kitchen and out. For me (left-handed) all can openers are ackward, but that P-38 is a real POS as far as I'm concerned and I've tried them on and off for the last fifty years. I also can't stand those electric abomanations at all.

The can openers on the SAKs and on the various multi-tools work the best for me, even though I have to use a "cross-draw" action to operate them.
Dan
 
Sorry Evolute, I understand what you are saying, but what is obvious to one person, might not be to another. I appreciate these kinds of comments, but no offense intended or taken.

Ok Jimmy, how does your trailmaster open champagne bottles? You've definitely got my curiosity piqued...
 
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