I don't skin buffalo, I haven't seen any hostile Comanche's coming over the hill of late, and I don't hunt. It seems like my need of a large knife is a bit limited to say the least, but that's okay as I've never been one to carry a large knife. I'm probably the only person who looked at the new Buck 110 in 1964, and thought what did I need with a big clumsy single bladed knife like that for? But living in modern 20th and then 21st century suburbia, I seem to have needed a tool now and then, on a pretty regular basis. Opening an accursed plastic blister package that seem designed to defeat tooth and nail of most humans and a good many animals, a nice small sharp blade is a good thing. For most my life I've been a fan of SAK's and they ranged from the little classic that was a constant on my keyring to the old Wenger SI that has been my stand-by old war horse. It's amazing what you can fix if you just have a screw driver on hand. It seems to me that our whole world is now held together with small Phillips screws.
Growing up, I used to watch my dad fix all kinds of stuff with some really basic things. A sharp little pocket knife like his old Case peanut, a Sears 4-way keychain screw driver, and some of the black electrical tape that was the duct tape of his day. Oh, maybe a paper clip or safety pin. He expressed his thoughts that paper clips were made of some pretty good wire. Dad was one of those old Great Depression era guys who lived through some rough times, then went off to fight a world war and came home and just went about with the business of life.
Growing up like that, and dad giving me a Boy Scout knife when I joined the Scouts set me to the habit of always having a few tools on my pocket knife. When I got my first SAK, I was really hooked. I can't count the stuff I've fixed out in the middle of somewhere away from home because I had a small SAK or some kind of screws driver on hand, no matter if a Sears keychain screw driver, the butt end of a P-38, or in the past 4 years, a small Leatherman squirt. Clothes drier door latch, Vespa mortor scooter, trolling motor on a boat, door knob mechanism on a family members home down in Florida while visiting, not to mention fishing reels and other stuff. The screw driver tip of the nail file on a Vic classic, the tip of the can opener on a bigger SAK, the little flat chips of the Leatherman squirt. All handy.
But I have to admit, I used to scorn Leatherman. There, I said it. I still have little use for the big full size ones that weight as much as a small handgun, and cost almost as much. But about 4 years ago I got gifted a micra, and gave it an honest try. It was a good tool, but the thing annoyed me having to pull it open and find the tool I wanted. Then I got a squirt. Whole different ballgame. Just take it out and open like a normal pocket knife. All the tools out there on the outside for the picking, and a good choice of tools. I never expected the small pliers to be so handy, but I have fallen in love with them. Being an old fart with some arthritis issues in my hands from cranking on Bridgeport mills and on lathe handles for many years left it's mark, and the old fingers have a bit of trouble with fine grasping. The little pliers are great.
I used to be a knife nut. But in my old age I've sort of reverted to a very pragmatic view of life. I've taken to carrying what I really can find most useful in my day to day life as a retired old fart in nice warm Texas, doing a lot of fishing and short over night trips to explore my new home state. The little pliers have been used for things like reaching in and getting a hook out of a fishes mouth to cracking the pistachios that aren't split. The screw driver has sighted in firearms on the shooting range and installed little batteries in electrical devises. The scissors have trimmed fishing line and an occasional broken nail. The knife blade has opened all kinds of packages and cut all kinds of cordage.
But if there's one spot the squirt fails, it's in the role as a cutting tool. It's a great little pliers with a small knife blade tossed in to give it some cutting ability, but it's not a pocketknife. I teamed it up with a Victorinox executive and it makes a great team. The executive is a pocket knife with a little tool ability tossed in. With two knife blades and a weird little serrated blade and a larger scissors, it sort of takes over a role the squirt can't. They sort of go together like gin and tonic. Or maybe Holmes and Watson. The Leatherman is more tool while the Victoriox is more pocket knife. The squirt rides down in the bottom of my left front pocket and the executive rides in the coin pocket of my Wranglers jeans or shorts. The squirt pops open those cold Modelo's while the executive slices limes for the gin and tonics.
They seem to make a fine dynamic duo!
Growing up, I used to watch my dad fix all kinds of stuff with some really basic things. A sharp little pocket knife like his old Case peanut, a Sears 4-way keychain screw driver, and some of the black electrical tape that was the duct tape of his day. Oh, maybe a paper clip or safety pin. He expressed his thoughts that paper clips were made of some pretty good wire. Dad was one of those old Great Depression era guys who lived through some rough times, then went off to fight a world war and came home and just went about with the business of life.
Growing up like that, and dad giving me a Boy Scout knife when I joined the Scouts set me to the habit of always having a few tools on my pocket knife. When I got my first SAK, I was really hooked. I can't count the stuff I've fixed out in the middle of somewhere away from home because I had a small SAK or some kind of screws driver on hand, no matter if a Sears keychain screw driver, the butt end of a P-38, or in the past 4 years, a small Leatherman squirt. Clothes drier door latch, Vespa mortor scooter, trolling motor on a boat, door knob mechanism on a family members home down in Florida while visiting, not to mention fishing reels and other stuff. The screw driver tip of the nail file on a Vic classic, the tip of the can opener on a bigger SAK, the little flat chips of the Leatherman squirt. All handy.
But I have to admit, I used to scorn Leatherman. There, I said it. I still have little use for the big full size ones that weight as much as a small handgun, and cost almost as much. But about 4 years ago I got gifted a micra, and gave it an honest try. It was a good tool, but the thing annoyed me having to pull it open and find the tool I wanted. Then I got a squirt. Whole different ballgame. Just take it out and open like a normal pocket knife. All the tools out there on the outside for the picking, and a good choice of tools. I never expected the small pliers to be so handy, but I have fallen in love with them. Being an old fart with some arthritis issues in my hands from cranking on Bridgeport mills and on lathe handles for many years left it's mark, and the old fingers have a bit of trouble with fine grasping. The little pliers are great.
I used to be a knife nut. But in my old age I've sort of reverted to a very pragmatic view of life. I've taken to carrying what I really can find most useful in my day to day life as a retired old fart in nice warm Texas, doing a lot of fishing and short over night trips to explore my new home state. The little pliers have been used for things like reaching in and getting a hook out of a fishes mouth to cracking the pistachios that aren't split. The screw driver has sighted in firearms on the shooting range and installed little batteries in electrical devises. The scissors have trimmed fishing line and an occasional broken nail. The knife blade has opened all kinds of packages and cut all kinds of cordage.
But if there's one spot the squirt fails, it's in the role as a cutting tool. It's a great little pliers with a small knife blade tossed in to give it some cutting ability, but it's not a pocketknife. I teamed it up with a Victorinox executive and it makes a great team. The executive is a pocket knife with a little tool ability tossed in. With two knife blades and a weird little serrated blade and a larger scissors, it sort of takes over a role the squirt can't. They sort of go together like gin and tonic. Or maybe Holmes and Watson. The Leatherman is more tool while the Victoriox is more pocket knife. The squirt rides down in the bottom of my left front pocket and the executive rides in the coin pocket of my Wranglers jeans or shorts. The squirt pops open those cold Modelo's while the executive slices limes for the gin and tonics.
They seem to make a fine dynamic duo!