This is my Vic. Spartan, there are some like it, but this one is *MINE*!

M

MacTech

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Jan 7, 2006
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Today was the first day of Septemberfest at Kittery Trading Post, it's their traditional big sale week, all sorts of promotions, discounts and the like, it runs for a week, I normally don't go on opening day as I hate crowds, but I needed to stop off anyway to pick up some 20 gauge shotgun ammo, turns out it's a good thing I stopped

Victorinox was there with their "Airstream" trailer, showing a bunch of their knives (including the SwissChamp XXL! that is one MASSIVE multitool!), there was even an original style (as in the *original* Victoria Swiss knife) in a nice presentation box

The highlight of the Victorinox trailer, though, had to be the promotion they were running, if you bought $40 of Vic. product, you could......

BUILD YOUR OWN VICTORINOX SAK! :D

....Of course, there were some limitations to the promotion, as in, you could only build a Spartan, and you couldn't customize it :(, but the fact remains, you got to use the official Victorinox assembly press/jig thingy that the Vic. employees use to build quick runs of a certain model, it's the only Victorinox press/jig in North America

Technically, you're really only *assembling* your knife, but the fact remains, it's still pretty cool to be able to build your own SAK on official Victorinox hardware with instruction from a Victorinox staffer

So, without further ado, here's *MY* MacTech-Made Victorinox Spartan
(Yes, I realize I had the toothpick and the tweezers in the wrong openings after I took the pictures, they're fixed now...)
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The scales have a "soft touch" finish on them, according to the rep, they haven't yet put the soft-touch scales on the 91mm SAK's yet, so for now, the soft-touch scales are unique to this particular model, and the blade is etched with the "Your Companion for Life on the Road" logo, making this model's blade unique for the series

The walk-and-talk on my MacTech Made Spartan is just as good as a production knife, all blades and tools open with an authoritative *SNAP*, this shows how precise the parts are machined to, and how consistent the assembly jig works, if someone like myself, who has never even disassembled a SAK, can build one with the same walk-and-talk as a production knife, it really speaks to the quality construction of the Victorinox knives

It took about 5 minutes to assemble the knife, and it was dead easy, the jig basically does all the alignment and loading of the backsprings for you, all the operator does is position and align the parts, blades, and spacers, and drop on the bushings, and once the knife is together, cut the brass pins down to size and peen them in place, then press on the scales with a padded vise

Now, the real question becomes, do I treat this SAK as a shelf-queen, or put it to use, after all, it's a basic spartan, nothing special in the line, just a good, basic knife, but it *DOES* have the soft-touch scales and etched blade, which make it identifiable as a "build your own" model Spartan, and more of a collectible, so, do I treat this knife as a collectible, or put it to use?

I should have bought a second Vic knife so I could build another Spartan, that way I'd have one for collecting, and one for use, and since the Build-It-Yourself promotion was just for today, I won't have a chance to build another one...
 
That is so cool! Anyone know a link to that lists the cities and dates for the North American tour? I would love to take my kids to have them build their own SAKs. I really like those black soft touch scales! :thumbup:
 
That is awesome, I would have loved to do that.:thumbup: I think I would put the knife up and buy a production model to put into use.
 
I say use it. You assembled it!! How awesome is that!!
I wouldn;t worry about the blade etching, or the scales (they'll be common one day). It's "your" knife. Use it in good health.
 
I am glad for you buddy! One of my wish list in life is to visit victorinox in switzerland,but your experience is closest to that! I personally only use a sak if i have more than one.. To bad you dont have 2 of those. Heck,i will built 3 saks if i got that chance!
 
That's really cool. I would probably put it on a shelf, maybe even give it a nice place in the living room. Although the Spartan is a very common SAK, this particular SAK isn't, it's one that you assembled. Probably it won't have much value for others, but it has for you. On the other hand, I can also imagine it gives you a warm feeling when really using your MacTech made SAK. :)
 
I would use it. You built that knife yourself. Everytime you use it, you're using a knife you made. And you know it was made correctly, how it was made, and that it's solid, which is all a good trusting knife needs in it.
 
I've owned my SAK Spartan for over 15 years and that makes it pretty special..glad you have one special to you... I use mine all the time, and I enjoy using it much more than any other multi-tool
 
Very cool!

If I were you I'd be using it. The true value of that knife isn't measured in dollars anyhow, not when its unique to you like that. One thing I really love about my SAK's (or any knife for that matter) is the memories of using it and how it's always been there for me. That and I love the looks of the wear over time, i'd choose a beat up old SAK that could tell 1000's of stories before a brand new one.
 
is the shield logo metal or white paint?... thanks for the info... they're surely looks great!
 
Good for you!

The scales look nice, I hope they don't show scratches as easily as the current shiny ones.
 
Use it my man. I've lost 3 Spartans already, but luckily the last one came back after two years in the seat of a car.
 
The shield is metal.
and no, I will not use it ;-)
For me, this is a collectors piece.

I build it myself and in this configuration there are few. Just the ones made during the Road Show.
 
I remember with my Spartan switching the toothpick and tweezers too :o, then I stopped taking them out the same time, problem solved...though I did eventually lose the toothpick.. I'll have to pick up another one and fill that empty space
 
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