Victorinox SAK Disappointment!

E

EdgeMeister

Joined
Nov 5, 2024
Messages
17
Had to put a small hole in a piece of wood today. I proudly whipped out my new Vic Ranger to save the day! (I may have even hollered "Ta-DAH!" as I produced the tool that would come to the rescue. Unfortunately, the reamer/awl on my Ranger failed! Or I failed. It kept wanting to hyper-extend, or snap closed when I applied the slightest bit of pressure. If I wrapped a finger around each side of it to stabilize it, one of my fat fingers was against the (sharp!) blade. Owie. It might be a dandy sewing awl, but as a reamer it was incredibly lame. I remembered my old Kamp King as a kid... I made tons of holes with its reamer, but this SAK just wasn't up to the job. Out came my old Camillus US military issue folding knife (the military's adult equivalent of the old Kamp King), with a heavy-duty, all-business reamer that folded out to an end (not the side). With a few quick twists, the hole was right where I wanted it. Quick and easy. And I didn't have to cut the side of one of my fat finger to do it! I made the next hole with my ancient Leatherman multi-tool, again with an awl that folds to the end, not the side. The Leatherman's awl was ridiculously tiny, but it did the job nicely. Both the Camillus and Leatherman reamers folded out solid as a rock. The Victorinox was a wobbly, dismal failure. Not wobbly side-to-side, mind you, but in the "hyper-extend or snap shut" sort of way. I can't imaging making holes with it like I could with the Camillus, Leatherman, or even my childhood Kamp King. It was a bummer. I really WANTED the new Ranger to kick butt, but it was just dramatically inferior to both of the other choices. Hopefully the OTHER features of the Vic Ranger aren't as disappointing! :-(
- EM
 
I can't say "I disagree with your assessment of Vic's back tool punch/reamer/awl."

While I pretty much always have a Huntsman or Hercules on my belt (in addition to whatever knives are in my pocket) I keep at least one 4 blade Scout/Camp/"Demo"/ Utility type knife with a regular inline punch/awl/reamer with-in reach for when I need that tool.

For actual use of that blade I find the inline much better, especially when scribing a line, deburring PVC and copper/brass pipe/tube, and removing 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 goathead thorns from my bicycle tires ... hopefully before they reach through the tubes ...
Reaming a hole with Vic's bottom tool punch/reamer/awl isn't quite as bad, since it gives you a (low clearance) "T" handle.
That said, I would estimate I use a 4 blade Scout type knife for tasks requiring the punch/awl/reamer blade at least 99% of the time.

To be honest, my most used SAK "blade" is the scissors, followed by the saw.
 
I've also been disappointed by the backside awl on 91mm SAKs. It's better than nothing in a pinch, but it's short and awkward to use and I don't find it to be very effective.

On the other hand, the inline awl on the 93mm Alox series is the best awl I've ever used, bar none.
 
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