What the heck can I use this for??

A

aramis

Joined
Dec 17, 2000
Messages
70
Here's my question for the SAK lovin' forumites out there:

Many of us don't live in the hills of Switzerland here and don't have THAT much need for a corkscrew. Has anyone dicovered an alternate use for it? MacGyver used it to climb up a wooden wall once :D
Interesting uses for the other tools on an SAK are welcome, too.
 
I carry mine in case I encounter an aggressive bottle of wine, as well as to carry the eyeglass screwdriver. It would also be useful for performing an emergency lobotomy on a politician.
 
This is a question I've puzzled over many times. I think the SAKs are probably the best known knives with a corkscrew, but a substantial number of other European knives -- including Lagoiules (I think I always misspell that word) have them.

I read/seen things that indicate that many Europeans drink much more wine than the average American. But, does that include when camping? I can't drink any more, but when I went camping, always took beer in cans. Nothing to break, not near so much potential for breakage, etc. What is the deal with all those corkscrews? Are they just "tradition" now?
 
They probably are mostly tradition now. So is the bottle opener. When was the last time you needed a bottle opener? Most bottles have plastic twist-off caps now, and the last crimped metal cap I encountered also twisted off with no trouble.

Many years ago, I was walking home through Central Park (in New York) one afternoon. I detoured along a hill overlooking the footpath, meaning to sit for a while in the rustic gazebo at the top. I found three winos there, struggling with a cork they had no tool to remove. So I laughed and offered to help them with my SAK. They were very pleased -- even offered me the first slug.
 
I have gone to gatherings before where everyone planned well for what food to bring, how much cutlery, etc., but the corkscrew was forgotten. Luckily I had my cheap SAK knockoff with corkscrew each time, and it did its duty well. The can opener worked well too when a can of coffee needed opening, and no other can opener was to be found.

P.S., long live bottle openers! Bottle openers are cool, twist off caps suck! Ever see any of those folders that are shaped like boots and the boot is used to open bottles? It is knives like those that make me appreciate beers that still come in non-twistoff caps :)
 
i would agree, non-twist-off bottle caps are much more fun. my favorite technique of opening is the fabled Lighter technique, using your fingers as a lever.

Pete
 
The combo can/bottle opener on the V-nox Compact model will open both cans and bottles. It also serves as a slotted screwdriver and the corner of it is a serviceable phillps. Oh yeah, it has a corkscrew, too. I have had several instances where the can and bottle openers and the corkscrew have saved the day.:) The parcel hook can be used to reach into places to small for fingers.

Paul
 
the victorinox sak i carry now doesnt have a corkscrew but when i was a wee lad in college in new orleans the corkscrew came in handy not only to open bottles of wine but to help fashion...uh....shall we say "paraphenalia" out of coke cans to smoke various substances by using the tip of the corkscrew to punch many tiny holes to act as a screen and pipe bowl combined

i have also used the corkscrew on sak knives to be inbeded into various objects and then used the rest of the knife as a T handle for easy carry of that object

as far as the bottle opener is concerned despite esav's observation that many beverage containers are twist off i somehow tend to use my bottle opener on my sak or my micra at least once per day if not for myself then for some other person who somehow managed to get a non twist off cap....the bottle opener as well as the can opener also comes in handy if the pop top on your favorite canned beverage malfunctions and the little thingy that is supposed to open the can breaks off

i also have found that the can opener especially on the victorinox models are especially good as a field expedient panty dewadder when certain nurses get their panites in a wad so far up their crack a tool is required to dewad the mess and return things to normal....the design of the can opener is just the right length and has just the right hook to be extremely effective in this area;)
 
Thanks for the posts guys. I own about 15 SAK's, but only one Wenger (all victorinox). The wenger is the only one with a corkscrew, all my V-nox have phillips screwdrivers. I agree that twist off caps suck. Most of the time I'll pop it off with the bottle cap opener anyway.:D
 
Most (all?) of the larger Victronix SAKs have corkscrews. I have a "Tinkerer" model (the scaloped handle, locking blade, eyeglass screwdriver in corkscrew, etc). It goes almost everywhere with me, and if not on my person (a Gerber Multitool pouch fits it perfectly), then in my pack or what ever I am carrying. I have encountered situations at home and about where the can opener and bottle openers have come into play (non U.S. bottle caps are not typically twist off yet), and at a party, I always seem to open at least one bottle of wine in the course of an evening and am unable to find the host's preferred tool!

<b><i>As the blade signals the onset of humanity, the corkscrew signals the onset of civilization!</i></b>
 
I have used the cork screw to open knots when i did not want to cut the string.
But then i live in a place where your shoe strings
might have frozen solid with ice, and maybe your fingers are stiff with cold....

john
 
Crayola, PJenkins, bless you guys! I am an avid microbrew drinker. Ain't encountered a micro yet that didn't require alittle mechanical assistance to open.

DISCLAIMER: For my next blessing, I must make it unofficial, seein' as I don't partake in this specific corkscew usage anymore....

Feverdoc, bless you too. :D
 
Originally posted by aramis
Thanks for the posts guys. I own about 15 SAK's, but only one Wenger (all victorinox). The wenger is the only one with a corkscrew, all my V-nox have phillips screwdrivers.:D
Click to expand...

Carry an Explorer, which is the smallest SAK with a Phillips and a corkscrew. Need the corkscrew about 6 times a year to open a bottle of wine. Am not drinking Effete Rothschild, but get > Night Train Express. :-) Need the Phillips the same number of times a year for a computer or other piece of electrical equipment. This SAK also has, next to the corkscrew, a small blunt hook. What is this for? Have heard that it's a package hook, but that seems unlikely.

Happy Labor Day for those of us who have a day off.

Alan
 
We have a fancy cork remover in the kitchen drawer but I always grab my SAK corkscrew to do the job, and if I'm camping ( my wife and I always have a bottle of wine one night with dinner) I use it there also.
 
In most of Europe a wineopener is a indespensible tool. Not so much in sweden though. You also find a wineopener on the exklusive stag-line of folding hunterknives from Puma. I used to be amazed that German hunters seemed to come across wine-bottles while hunting.:confused:
When it comes to the bottleopener I think all European beer (is there any other kind ??) still has the pop off cap.
For you married guys there is also the ring-trick where you put the beer in your hand with the lid of the cap at the corner of the ring and just twist it off. I have stopped doing that since it tends to draw the evil eye from the wife.;)
 
Well, here in Germany loads of people bring wine to picnics and partys. I know some people who think that the corkscrew is the most important tool on a SAK. The new Victorinox Supertool has one too. I personally seldom drink wine but friends have already complained the my Leatherman Wave which I usually carry doesn't open wine bottles...
 
This SAK also has, next to the corkscrew, a small blunt hook. What is this for? Have heard that it's a package hook, but that seems unlikely.
Click to expand...

Why Alan? I think that is exactly what it is. In Europe, buying things in a box that is wrapped and tied with string is still common. The hook makes your SAK a handy go-anywhere handle for such things. I think it may also be used to assist in pulling high boots onto your feet if you wear such things. Also good for a pot handle for some kinds of camp cook gear. Alas my tinkerer does not have one of these. I wish it did, even though I don't wear high boots.
 
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