What to think..... The Polarizing Cap Lifter blade!

[supratentorial]

...The beer scout was the largest run of a single knife GEC has ever done, if I remember correctly. Something like 1200 or 1400 knives total and they all sold out right away...

Just for fun... If I recall correctly, Victorinox makes around 34,000 Swiss army knives every DAY (not including SwissTools and kitchen knives).

 

[Jsega51]

Yes I like the "combination blade, bottle opener/cap lifter with screwdriver" on some knives.

No I do not like the fact that it's wanted on the forum knives of late because it's been done before. I also don't want to see it on the next 77 run as many of the same people are wanting. We just had the beer scouts, I've seen enough of the "combination blade, bottle opener/cap lifter with screwdriver".

 

[philllll]

Just for fun... If I recall correctly, Victorinox makes around 34,000 Swiss army knives every DAY (not including SwissTools and kitchen knives).

Really puts things into perspective, eh?

Yes I like the "combination blade, bottle opener/cap lifter with screwdriver" on some knives.


No I do not like the fact that it's wanted on the forum knives of late because it's been done before. I also don't want to see it on the next 77 run as many of the same people are wanting. We just had the beer scouts, I've seen enough of the "combination blade, bottle opener/cap lifter with screwdriver".

I disagree. Put cap lifters on ALL the things! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Snipe 1]

I also don't want to see it on the next 77 run as many of the same people are wanting.

It would be like cargo pockets on a pair of wool dress slacks. Practical but not necessarily appropriate.

 

[roseskunk]

There are knives for everyone. "Practical?" I carry about six knives on me at a time, not including my SAK that's on my keyring. (Nutty, I know.) If I'm lucky, I get to cut something maybe twice a day... I love sunfish and whalers and just about every knife that GEC has made. (Don't own a ladyleg, and won't...) I'm fine with bottle-openers, probably not on certain knives, but I'm also not a stickler for what's "traditional." I mean, I'm pretty sure Bill Howard doesn't ride a horse and buggy to get to the office... knives can evolve, just like everything else... I love a good scout knife, bottle-lifter, can-opener and all. I mean awl.

 

[dpowers311]

The "caplifter" would be for the flat blade. Don't drink beer so the lifter is not needed. The ones that have been available since I started down this road have had blades that don't appeal to me.

Dave

 

[supratentorial]

In regards to cap lifters on knives, knives from GEC are a VERY small fraction of traditional knives.

I like keeping with what's traditional. I think cap lifters belong on some patterns but not on others. But GEC decides what they make. And GEC hasn't exactly been a stickler. For example, I am unaware of any old knife like the "Lumberjack". The old Platts knife didn't have a combination saw and screwdriver. I can't even imagine how they came up with that idea at GEC. ...or how AG Russell came up with the idea of a lockback version (minus the saw).

I think making more scouts/radio knives/crown lifters is inevitable. The last one that I saw on eBay was going for more than double retail. There are other patterns that don't sell for nearly as much on the secondary market. It would make sense for GEC to produce what the market demands. GEC had a few with spear blades at the Rendezvous and I think it would make sense for them to do a full run with spear blades.

 

[pertinux]

Nice! How about a harness jack with a cuticle pusher instead of an awl.

Sounds fantastic to me, although I think if we keep this up we will both soon encounter angry mobs of cutlery fanatics with pitchforks and torches.

oooooh! I wan' a traditional knife with a pitchfork and torch, too!

Once again, I have to say that I really am astonished to learn that so many of you say bottle-opener rather than cap-lifter! Where the heck did cap-lifter come from?! :grumpy:

I add my voice to those saying they'd never heard the term "cap lifter" until reading this forum. More to the point, who corrected your usage of "bottle opener"...? Someone has some 'splainin' to do!

Yeah ! They are bottle openers. Only an idiot would use it as a so called "cap lifter"!

The shirtlessness is a disturbing "nice" touch.

""

Its the flat blade screw driver that I find most useful on the "cap-lifter".

Likewise for me. When first diving into this forum, and the knives that quickly followed (funny, how that happens), I even started this thread:

...but I Still Miss the Screwdriver.

As others have mentioned, I welcome having a non-edged "utility" tool on my pocket knife, with the screw driver aspect seeing regular (if yes, light-duty) use.

There are many days when I do not need to cut something with the knife, knives, I have with me. There are even more days when I have no need of a screw driver. But when I do? How lovely, and fun, and affirming, and downright useful, to have one in my pocket, so I don't have to leave what I'm doing to go hunt one down.

But still? A vote for Maybe, regarding the poll on bottle-opening combination tool cap lifters-- because not every knife needs (or is bettered) by the presence of one.

~ P.

 

[rma100]

oooooh! I wan' a traditional knife with a pitchfork and torch, too!~ P.

Now you've done it! Started another Language War! Across the pond "torch" has a whole different meaning I believe!

 

[afishhunter]

howz about an eraser blade combined with saber clip or pruning combined with a budding or square point flourist?
The eraser blade has not been used "in a coon's age", the budding and square point florist are somewhat rare and/or unknown today. So is the cotton and corn blades, but I think Rough Rider or Marbles came out with a folding knife with the cotton blade, and of course Old Hickory makes a fixed blade cotton tester, and possibly a corn knife, too.
If we're going for uncommon blades, those might be worth consideration.

 

[JB in SC]

In a historical pattern, yes. The others no.

 

[jackknife]

I like a bottle opener not just as a bottle opener, but as a light pry tool, scraper, phillips screw driver (by using the inner corner of the tool) and general probing and poking tool. Aside from the blade, the screw driver/bottle opener is the most used tool on my SAK.

 

[Vinifera]

You gotta love the traditional forum where folks will argue about the proper terminology for something designed to be used to remove something which is used to seal a bottle. Even if folks agree as to the proper terminology for the thing which is placed atop the bottle (cap or bottle opener) then the argument is whether that there something which is designed to be used to remove what is used to seal the bottle should be on a pocket knife and whether such a tool should be included as a "blade" on a knife and if it is included on a knife whether it is traditional enough. Carry on.

 

[r redden]

I always thought a P38 would be a lot more useful than a bottle opener then again I don't drink so most of my bottles have twist off caps buy my cans not so much/

 

[arizonaranchman]

I love my #15 Radio Jack. It's one of my favorites. I don't use the screwdriver for screws, but as a scraper for the bowl of my pipe - and opening bottles of course.

 

[GaiusJulius]

Bottle openers (I have always known them by this name, too) are darn useful when you need one, and they're the perfect type of tool to always be kept on the person, because they are so simple and don't take up much space. Hence, they are a popular secondary blade for knives -especially, I think,today, when a lot of knife nuts habitually carry but find themselves lacking an opportunity to pull their chosen piece of pocket jewelry out and use it as often as they could wish. The bottle opener gives the knife a whole new realm of uses, particularly if you happen to enjoy the more upscale microbrew beers, which almost never seem to have screw caps.

Personally, for me, I would only like a bottle opener as a tertiary blade. If I'm carrying a jackknife, I am not keen to give up prime pen or coping blade real estate for a bottle tool, of which I have plenty in my kitchen. But I do see the appeal.

 

[Old Engineer]

Differant strokes for differant folks!!!! Nothing against a Bottle Opener or Cap Lifter . I just do not want one on my Barlow.

Harry

 

[Wurrwulf]

I think what we're seeing here is a vocal minority. The beer scout was the largest run of a single knife GEC has ever done, if I remember correctly. Something like 1200 or 1400 knives total and they all sold out right away.




It would certainly put some stress on the bolsters, all the more reason to put one on a barlow!

This is the problem, as I see it. I understand that GEC isn't a gargantuan knife maker, but if everything they make sells out immediately and immediately resells for almost double the original price, maybe do something to produce more knives? I'd love a sawcut chestnut Beer Scout for myself and my fellow-homebrewing brother, but I'm not going to drop $250+ on a pair of "used" knives that were originally, what, $75/pop?

BTW, I voted pro-cap lifter because as a homebrewer who bottle conditions, I can never have enough bottle openers around.

 

[tstaut]

I had a long response, but I think I'll just leave this here instead.

Ancient Beer Scout, IKCO (AKA Imperial), 1920's-1935
(according to what my research turned up on the tang stamp.)

So, what's the big deal then?

 

[knarfeng]

I carry a traditional pattern knife because it gives me a choice of several cutting blades, each optimally shaped for a different cutting chore.

I carry a mini-pry bar on my key chain that I bought for $6 at a big box hardware store. It has a bottle opener on it and several screwdriver-surfaces.

So for me a screwdriver blade or screwdriver/bottle opener blade would not be desirable and would be something to be eschewed.

synonyms: abstain from, refrain from, forgo, shun, renounce, steer clear of, have nothing to do with

In a word, "NO."