Stockman or SAK?

Case Med Stockman in pocket.

SAK basic model and Leatherman Squirt & Micra & C4 in purse (2), car (1) , office (1) and pen repair tool box (1).
 
OTguy said:
Good question. My answer, as usual coming from a different angle, is almost always a trad slipjoint of some type. Nothing against SAKs at all, I love my SAKs, but I always have some type of multitool on me to take care of tool functions on a daily basis. Now if I couldn't carry a tool for some reason, and these days who knows?, I would have a SAK on me with some basic tools. One thing I've noticed about carrying a multitool everyday is that they seem to be very acceptable to carry and use in public, at least in my neck of the woods. I've gotten some "looks" when I've pulled out a full size trapper or big stockman a few times, but nobody looks twice at a multitool. Anybody else notice this?
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+1 :thumbup: ....multis seem to be able to tread silently where other knives would alarm the skittish amongst us.
 
While it's true that a SAK or one of the Leatherman-style tools doesn't raise any alarms, I've never found that my stockman bothers anyone either. I can't count the number of times someone has said, "Does anyone have a knife?"

I take mine out, open the appropriate blade for the task, take care of the job, then close it and it's back in my pocket. I've never sensed any uneasiness about it at all from anyone.

This is a Schrade 8OT, 4" closed, with a 3" main blade. It just doesn't cause any alarm. I keep it sharp enough to shave with, so any job I have to do is done with no effort at all, then it's back in my pocket before anyone really even notices.

My wife keeps one of the small Schrade stockman's knives in her purse. She's used it countless times, and has commented that women always ask her about it when she brings it out to do some cutting task. There seems to be more curiosity about a simple pocket knife than concern.

When asked, I always say something about having carried a knive like that since I was a boy, and that it is an extremely valuable tool, since there is always something that needs to be cut.
 
KeithAM said:
I'm conflicted on this. I now carry a yellow handle Case CV medium stockman about half the time, and a Victorinox small Tinker the other half. On Saturday I didn't carry the SAK, but wouldn't you know I ended up at a party where there was Guinness and Smithwicks, and had to look all over the place for a bottle opener. :rolleyes: So missed another chance to show my non-knife friends how handy a SAK can be.
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Good point, I always try to carry a SAK to parties for my Newcastles. The one in my shaving kit has a bottle opener and a corkscrew! This coming weekend in the Highlands NC, it will get plenty of use for cheese wine and a couple good bottles of beer.
 
SAK Pioneer or Farmer model.

I am tired of the classical folders with poor backsprings and side play in the blade. Vic SAK has a very consistant quality control that the stockman, trappers etc. cannot match.

Regards,
FK
 
Stockman. Currently it is usually a Queen #9.

If I do carry a SAK in my pocket, it is the Soldier.
 
I carry EDC Buck 301 Stockman in my right front pocket, underneath my Manix, and a Victorinox SAK (camper) in my briefcase. So I guess my answer is "both". My grandfather carried a 301 for years and years, and he swore by it. My dad has carried his 301 probably all my life, so I guess the Buck stockman is sort of a family tradition. I like it a lot. I recently bought a nice Case stockman and tried carrying that for a while, but I don't like the Case nearly as much as the Buck. It's very pretty, but kind of a pain in the ass to use. It's very hard to open, and doesn't cut all that well. I always keep the SAK around because I use the flat-head screwdriver constantly. I'm seriously considering the same mod my grandfather had on his 301. He cut down the tip of the sheepfoot blade and made it into a flathead screwdriver.
 
SAKs have never really appealed to me much for some reason. I do keep a Victorinox Classic SD on my keychain, but I don't use it often, although the little scissors can come in handy sometimes.

I also have a Seber Tool M4 on my keychain, but the only thing I use on it is the pliers.

Lately, I've been carrying a Case medium stockman (6318) in the fob pocket of my jeans. It's a good size and I think the different blade shapes are very useful.

I've been meaning to try out some other patterns in that size (3.5 inches closed). The Case Congress and Texas Jack (which comes in CV) look cool. Those bone handled, 1095 Queen Canoes at CKW sound great too! :)
 
I'm glad you like your SAK, FK. But I think you are wrong about classical folders. There are some beautiful, tight, reliable traditional knives out there!!
 
If I am out and about and with other people, then usually, I carry a SAK soldier.

On my own, or at work, I carry a Stockman, usually a Schrade 34OT or a Camillus or an old Joseph Rodgers that I re-handled in Rosewood.

The SAK is more versatile.

Last week, I was helping out by serving on the bar at a local fund-raiser, it was a make-shift bar, with no keg beer, only bottles........ I think my SAK must have opened about 150 bottles that evening.

But, really, I am happier carrying a Stockman. It sits in the pocket better.

It is more traditional, my grandad always carried either an old Sheffield-made barlow or a stockman on the farm all the time. It reminds me of him.

He was always using it for cutting baling string on straw or hay, opening sacks, cutting up fruit or slicing into potatoes to check if they were storing ok.
 
Like alot of you I tend to carry both. I have several saks but usually carry my fieldmaster on my belt. In my pocket I will carry one of a couple dozen pockets knives, which ever one strikes my fancy that day.
 
Karl5 said:
Now that is a knife I think is butt ugly. :eek:
And still it's a knife I love to keep in my pocket. One of the best user stockmans I've ever owned.
Kind of makes the butt ugly not matter. :D

/ Karl
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Ugly? Perhaps. Useful? Absolutely. On a deer-hunting trip to Wyoming, I forgot my fixed-blade knife in camp the first morning. Shot a nice big buck, then realized that I had left the knife in camp.

Never mind. I field dressed that buck with my ugly Schrade stockman. I did have to resharpen the main blade once. A handy piece of fine-grained sandstone I found near the carcass did just fine.

There are some benefits to carbon steel...for sure.
 
I agree. Like they say, pretty is what pretty does. I'm finding that I tend to avoid fancy knives for EDC simply because I don't like scarring them up. A plain Jane stockman or SAK is the way to go for me.
 
CATransplant said:
Ugly? Perhaps. Useful? Absolutely. On a deer-hunting trip to Wyoming, I forgot my fixed-blade knife in camp the first morning. Shot a nice big buck, then realized that I had left the knife in camp.

Never mind. I field dressed that buck with my ugly Schrade stockman. I did have to resharpen the main blade once. A handy piece of fine-grained sandstone I found near the carcass did just fine.

There are some benefits to carbon steel...for sure.
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Couldn't agree more!! :thumbup:
That's the very reason I like it a lot: It's extremely reliable and take almost anything I throw at it without breaking stride.
Gotta love that knife!

For eye-candy though... I have other "preciousssssssss" ones. :D

/ Karl
 
SAK is always with me no matter what.

My SAK is a very heavily worked item, but an old friend that never lets me down.
 
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