The 65mm SAK’s

J

Jrgn

Joined
Jan 17, 2023
Messages
42
Out of curiosity, does anyone regularly and intentionally use a 65mm SAK instead of a 58mm model like the Classic? The 65mm range is very limited in models and based on old Wenger models. I hardly ever read anything about these models.
 
The only one I have is the Executive 81 which despite the name is 65mm. It was on a yo-yo on my Trout bag,
Wenger style scissors.
The scissors worked well for monofilament. Opening snack-packs etc. I found they wouldn’t trim my nails, you may find different.
Edit: They'll trim my fingernails but not my thumbnails.
I feel the scissor s would work better in a slightly heavier gauge of metal.

The nail file is welcome though it lacks the screwdriver tip. (Alternative Point of View: Or you get the awesome pointy nail cleaner.)
The stippled part is slightly broader but not any longer than the 58mm classic, seems better because of the bigger handle.
A blade 41mm compared to 35mm on the Classic (cutting edge) not huge but nice to have.

But I still go with the 58mm Rambler.

On checking I can’t see any other 65mm models ?
Edit: nail-clipper!

EDIT The UK Price Exectutive 81 £25. The same knife called Wenger and badged Wenger £33! Classic SD £15.
 
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The Executive 81 is the same as the ‘Wenger’ model with the old Wenger logo on it. I never really understood this but it’s kind of cool Victorinox makes that model
 
I have a 65mm Wenger Esquire (blade, nail file, scissors, T&T) that I keep next to my recliner. I've had it for so long that I don't recall where or when I got it!
 
Jrgn said:
I hardly ever read anything about these models.
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And should be no surprise if the rumors of these on the Victorinox mass extinction list come true. Semi-reliable news from the Spanish youtuber.

I only use them as mini tin snips because of the Wenger style serrated scissors.
 
Jrgn said:
Out of curiosity, does anyone regularly and intentionally use a 65mm SAK instead of a 58mm model like the Classic? The 65mm range is very limited in models and based on old Wenger models. I hardly ever read anything about these models.
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I have a 65mm Money Clip, and I like the small size. However, I use a 74mm Vic Money Clip because I prefer the real (cut) file. Maybe I’ll put a real file on the Wenger.View attachment 2057351View attachment 2057352
 
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Regarding extinction list:
One of the problems for all the sizes between 58mm and 91mm, is that outside enthusiasts they don’t seem that popular.
I’m the only person I know with 65mm and 74mm Victorinox knives. (Outside of forums).

I quite like the 84mm Tinker, and Sportsman. I’ve never met anyone else who owns either, I don’t see the point of the Tourist. I was in love with the Cadet. But no, I don’t want a fat Cadet with scissors.

Even years ago when I was a Scout 77, 78… You didn’t even see many of the shorter Wengers. The Huntsman was no1 91mm.
I can understand Vic’s business point all that bitchin about 7mm 1/4” inch.
It carries so much better ! That extra 1/4 “ makes you impotent!
 
I carried a 65mm Executive for a couple of years and quite liked it. I fumble finger the 58mm's a little and struggle with them. Then I found the 75 mm and like it better. I carry that one almost every day. I do wish they were a little more readily available in the market place. I don't really know squat, but I bet if the 65mm were as easy to obtain as the 58's more people would buy them.
 
J Buck said:
I do wish they were a little more readily available in the market place. I don't really know squat, but I bet if the 65mm were as easy to obtain as the 58's more people would buy them.
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You could say the same thing about the 75mm executive and ambassador!

If the executive was as easy to find as the classic, and priced decently, I'd bet real money that they would've sold like hot cakes. I'll never fathom why Victorinox made the classic as prolific as they did, yet almost ignore the executive to the point most people didn't even know they existed unless they were SAK fans. I NEVER saw a 75mm in any store where they had lots of classics hanging on the peg.
 
Exactly! I know they may be kind of a niche item in the larger size, but not everybody takes the little 58 seriously. I resisted them for years.
 
jackknife said:
You could say the same thing about the 75mm executive and ambassador!

I NEVER saw a 75mm in any store where they had lots of classics hanging on the peg.
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I knew Victorinox made a 74mm series. Btw the Ambassador and Executive are 74mm models. Until now I did not know that some rare 75mm models exist, too.

I know the 58 series like Classic (SD). I have a 84mm knife. But never put my hand on those in between, be it Victorinox or Wenger.
 
Well, American math. I don't quibble over 1 mm difference..😁 If you get a chance, consider giving it a try.
 
Right, 1mm is no big deal. Sorry, I did not want to sound narrow-minded. I was surprised because I did not know that there is a 74mm and a 75mm series.
All those smaller models are underestimated. What a pity that most of them are discontinued.
 
Allegedly a number of the 84mm have been dropped this year too.
YouTube post by Mark Coffman. Sorry I have no link.
I don’t know how reliable he is. All the knives he seems to show on his channel are from the 70s&80s.
He might just not find them in the catalogue. Which in the past has meant little to nothing.
Not sure how he can complain about Victorinox discontinuing knives he doesn’t buy anyway.
 
willisoften said:
Small knives are always underestimated.
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Always!

My fondest memory is when at Home Depot one day, I was getting some of the 5/8 braided nylon rope for a backyard project. The clerk had measured out the amount with a yardstick, and he said 'let me go get something to cut it with' and I told him I've got a knife. I had pulled out my Vic executive and he said 'oh, that little thing isn't gonna cut that'. By the time he finished his negative statement, I had sliced right through the rope and was coiling it up.

His only comment was 'thats a sharp little knife.'

I just couldn't resist. I know I should have bu I could't. I dropped my dad's old line on him that I heard when I was a kid. I told him with a strait poker face ' it doesn't have to be big, just sharp."

Walked away and paid for the rope.
 
My father carried a small two bladed penknife all his life. No bigger than the Victorinox Pocket Pal or Excelsior. In al my days I never saw him stuck.

The Egyptians built the pyramids with bronze and stone. The romans built an empire on mild steel. The Industrial Revolution changed the western world with wrought iron and low carbon steel. Now we need a a full size, fast deploying, advanced powdered steel with a hardness of 65 minimum to slice paper on the internet.

J jackknife for cutting rope in pubic with a small knife is that feds I hear knocking?

EDIT - I too like the executive a great deal. Just at the moment though I'm pocketing the 58mm rambler, that phillips is working at least once or twice a week. It may be opening a battery hatch, it may be opening some Nigerian Guiness.
 
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willisoften said:
My father carried a small two bladed penknife all his life. No bigger than the Victorinox Pocket Pal or Excelsior. In al my days I never saw him stuck.

The Egyptians built the pyramids with bronze and stone. The romans built an empire on mild steel. The Industrial Revolution changed the western world with wrought iron and low carbon steel. Now we need a a full size, fast deploying, advanced powdered steel with a hardness of 65 minimum to slice paper on the internet.

J jackknife for cutting rope in pubic with a small knife is that feds I hear knocking?

EDIT - I too like the executive a great deal. Just at the moment though I'm pocketing the 58mm rambler, that phillips is working at least once or twice a week. It may be opening a battery hatch, it may be opening some Nigerian Guiness.
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I used to be the real die hard knife nut. Like I said before, I used Randall's, custom Jay Hendrickson's, (The master smith with the American Bladesmith Society that took over for Bill Moran as head honcho) and I was a knife snob.

BUT...there came a watershed moment were it all came down to a crystal clear focus and I realized how silly it had all gotten. The wife and were on a big around the country camping trip in 1997, and ht all the big ones. Badlands, Yellowstone, Arches, Grand Canyon. We got to Mesa Verde in Colorado and after seeing the cliff houses, there was a presentation by a park ranger on primitive technology. How they used stone tools to make everything from clothing to Yucca sandals.

But the biggie was when the park ranger was demonstrating how they used obsidian. He took a chunk of it and with a striker hit it and chipped off a flake. Then he went to a haunch of a road killed deer and started to skin it. It was amazing at how clean and easy the flake of obsidian sliced right through the hide and meat. I asked him if I could try that. He handed me a flake of obsidian about the size of a little finger. Using short overlapping cuts, it did a clean job like a scalpel. The obsidian blade was not bigger than the blade of my Case peanut or a Vic executive. In a short single moment, my whole knife thing got shattered. Who needs the big Buck knife or other wonder knife?

Being an aficionado or fan boy of a cult worship item, like we knife nuts, its easy to loose sight of reality. If a little flake of obsidian can cut hide, yucca fiber cordage, and more, how much bade do we need in modern suburban life? I've been going about my life since August now, with just the Vic classic as my EDC pocket knife. Occasionally my little Christy knife gets carried, but thats a sentimental option and salute to my dad, who when he retired his old Case Peanut and carried his Christy for the rest of his life. He did just fine with it as a retired gentleman of leisure doing a lot if fishing. The classic and Christy knife open packages, cut twine, slice snack food items just as well as any other larger cult worship knife. And they don't weight down the pockets.
 
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