Should I stuck with Bantam?

[jackknife]

Actually I am not sure I will like the Alox more, and I definitely have enough confidence in my Bantam. I am more curious somebody to share experience of carrying a Bantam for a while, and then switching to another 84 mm SAK (I just like this size).

I have carried and used a bantam quite a lot in years past. Its a great little knife with a very wide mission capability. Its so flat and light in the pocket it fits my requirement of being totally unnoticed while going about my life until need it. The cellidor bantam worked well, and I had one for about a year, but gave it away to someone who didn't have any pocket knife at all. My alox bantam has been carried a lot as well. Used daily for the usual pocket knife jobs, with the ability to deal with flat and Phillips screws and opening a condone when the job was over. With the bulk of a stick of gum, you don't even know its there, but in a pinch it gives me more blade than my keyring classic for slicing a baguette and some cheese.

The only thing that knocks the bantam out of my pocket is the cadet. With not much more bulk, the cadet gives me a compact package that closely duplicates the tool set of my Wenger SI. I don't mind loosing the awl, but the nail file point works very well on tiny Phillips screws, and on soft material makes a mediocre awl. The nail file also works well at taking the rough edges of cast plastic parts. Plus...and this can be a deal breaker for some...the cadet has the keyring. Have zero idea of why in the blue blazes of hell, Victorinox chose to not put a keyring on the bantam, but keep one on the cadet. The bantam is far more capable of being a keyring knife than the cadet. I'd love to know whoa at Victorinox is in charge of making these decisions like stopping the executive, no keyring on the bantam, and not making nylon scales the standard material.

The only 84mm SAK's I have are the bantam and cadet, and I love them both. I will still carry the bantam if I'm going in dress pants or very light weight shorts in Texas summer. Its capable of much more than you would think formats small size and light weight. Teamed up with the classic for scissors and tweezers, they make a dynamic duo. With a bantam in my pocket and classic on my keyring, I wouldn't feel under equipped to set off on a cross country trip.

Oh wait a minute..I already have on a number of occasions.

 

[Cattaraugus225]

SAKs are one of those knives, that I know are good knives, but I just don't personally care for. Opinels, Puukkos and Moras, automatics and Gerber type multi tools are some more. People swear by all of them, and I take their word for it. (I do own all of the tools I mentioned) I have never needed a pair of mini scissors, a toothpick, or a fingernail file or corkscrew enough to carry them around every day. I would rather have tools that do one thing, very well, than multiple things poorly. My attitude may be a little odd because I do like traditional four blade campers, but that is more a nostalgia thing. I can open a can or pop a cap with a single blade knife.

Thank goodness opinions don't have to be proven or make sense.

 

[Lee D]

I have an alox Bantam and it’s too darn slim in my hands to use for anything more than opening the mail. I really like the 84mm Vics, but need 2-3 layers for comfort.

L-R Bantam, small Tinker, “mini” Pioneer X

 

[vinprom]

Granted, I've never had the Bantam model, afaik. If it is flimsy compared to my usual 91 mm Hiker or Tinker (I think they're called - lg. blade, sm. blade, scissors or saw, can opener, bottle opener, corkscrew, awl), then the original criticism may well be justified. Always expected them all to have the same build quality.

T TC , I really have no idea how did you figure out that Bantam does not have the same build quality as yours Hiker and Tinker? If my lousy and ambiguous writing triggered such an impression - I would like to be excused. Maybe you are right, I do not know. Hopefully somebody who has yours and mine knives will clarify.

 

[TC]

T TC , I really have no idea how did you figure out that Bantam does not have the same build quality as yours Hiker and Tinker? If my lousy and ambiguous writing triggered such an impression - I would like to be excused. Maybe you are right, I do not know. Hopefully somebody who has yours and mine knives will clarify.

Hey, don't sweat it, no big deal. I didn't figure out anything, I just took your assessment at face value and based my comments on that. Your writing is good enough to make sense of, and your subjective opinion of quality is as valid as any other's.

 

[Hashishiin]

Poor Bantam, after me describing it as looks and feels cheap (what else, you tap the blade with your fingernail and the vibrating and hollow sound is quite disappointing, add the lightweight, my Case Peanut is heavier, and the plastic - none of these do not do any help), now an implication the knife is not a real one . Anyway, I fully agree that Bantam is great, I love this knife, and I carry it.

Oh, I see what you mean Let me explain - I meant a "dedicated" pocketknife. By that definition in my comment, no SAK of any mm below the large lockers is a "real" pocketknife, haha. I like to carry a SAK, for the knife, tools, everything, plus, a dedicated knife that doesn't do much but cut things.

Here it is:

Yep. Was debating putting this knife in a "Super SAK" (described in my sig). How is the blade? Especially compared to a Vic pruning hawkbill, if you have one? Is it flexible with give, or taut like a normal SAK blade?

 

[NG VI]

Some years ago, I read a market survey about brands that were the top international recognized. Coca Cola was one, then there was Bic, and Victorinox.

For good reason, they have made more, and more consistently high quality, knives than any other company. They're not top end cutmasters or great beater workers, but they're awesome at what they do and they keep the price a winner too

 

[vinprom]

After more than seven weeks the Bantam still finds way to get into my pocket. Maybe soon I will get a Walker or Recruit, probably Walker. Interestingly, I do not entertain the idea of having any Alox or 91mm SAK.

 

[vinprom]

Nearly six months later, I also have Walker and Recruit, all in cellidor . I like the Walker more than Recruit, but Bantam is unbeatable. My question is about the saw- how much different from my Walker's saw are the ones in the 91mm and 93 mm models?

 

[dogstar]

Nearly six months later, I also have Walker and Recruit, all in cellidor . I like the Walker more than Recruit, but Bantam is unbeatable. My question is about the saw- how much different from my Walker's saw are the ones in the 91mm and 93 mm models?

It's just a little shorter saw, that's it.

 

[eveled]

I have a deep respect for Victorinox knives. I’m amazed they can mass produce knives that are so consistently flawless. The blades nest together perfectly, with no wasted space. The blades open easily. They snap closed.

My first knife at age 6 was a Victorinox. (I was MacGiver, before MacGiver was.) It was made in the 50’s. Has darker red solid plastic handle scales. It used to have a solid bail, not a split ring. The new ones seem cheap in comparison.

Are we talking about a genuine Victorinox here? Because if we are, that doesn't make much sense to me. OK, all SAKs I've owned over the past decades were standard red plastic. To me, at least, they never looked or felt cheap.

I now favor bigger knives, but SAKS are special in their own way.

The Camillus whitler I got new in the early eighties. The four blade scout knife is my Dads Dwight Devine from the 30’s

 

[Dr Rez]

Have you used the alox cadet?

 

[vinprom]

Have you used the alox cadet?

No

 

[Dr Rez]

No

It is one of the oldest and imo nicest Saks. Bantom sized but has the tools of a larger one. You can sharpen one corner of the nail file as well and it functions like an awl. Basically like having a small Sak Pioneer in your pocket. I love it, highly recommend! Comes in red alox also which is dope.

 

[vinprom]

It is one of the oldest and imo nicest Saks. Bantom sized but has the tools of a larger one. You can sharpen one corner of the nail file as well and it functions like an awl. Basically like having a small Sak Pioneer in your pocket. I love it, highly recommend! Comes in red alox also which is dope.

Not interested in files, scissors, Phillips screwdrivers, owls, and alox handles.

 

[eveled]

The scissors are by far the best part of carrying a SAK. Stray threads, fishing line, trimming flies. All much easier with the little scissors than a big knife

 

[Henry Beige]

I used to shy away from the alox when I was just putting SAKs in my moto tool kits. I thought tha Alox was just an unnecessary expense. Now that I carry one, I prefer the feel of the Alox. I carry an Electrician daily, or a Farmer in the woods, but I prefer a 2-layer knife in my pocket.
For scissors, I prefer the Micra in my left pocket. I have too many SAKs with broken scissors springs. I have a higher regard for Benchmade Omega springs, which have held up better for me.

 

[vinprom]

Yesterday I got a Camper from a store. Held a few SAK, and after brief hesitation between Camper and Pioneer, picked the Camper. I do not understand why the Pioneer is seemingly more popular. Now, with this new knife and the Esee-cr2.5, I am all set for outdoor adventures.

 

[lonelyronin]

I carry the Waiter which is a Bantam with an added corkscrew. Not so much for the corkscrew itself, although it’s really handy in untying knots. I really like those small screw drivers that you can place into the corkscrew.

I would also love if Victorinox offered their Alox models with tweezers/toothpick/pen and corkscrew. I would never buy cellidor again.

 

[NG VI]

I grew up in Bulgaria, at this time a communist country with no reason for advertisement since all companies were government owned. Even in big grocery stores there was not a single product in plastic that i can remember. Loafs of bread were bare and not sliced of course (and it was considered really rude to be touched with the finger to check how old they are),in the butcher and diary sections the meat or cheese were cut to the asked weight and wrapped in special laminated paper, and no plastic bottles. Nowadays I am really confused with the initiatives in some locales of no plastic bags at the check out, but in the same store most of the things are wrapped in plastic.

We can't just obsolete such a ubiquitous and unfortunately useful material overnight, so we have to reduce our production of it by eliminating it from any use where a suitable replacement material exists, such as limited use shopping bags, while developing and broadening the availability of alternative materials in the roles where plastics still offer significant advantages, like in food packaging.