Which Swiss Army Knife?

Add another name to the Huntsman. Picked up a plus this summer, been carrying it since.

Was rotating with a wenger commander, which is on my desk right now with olivewood scales clamped to it. Still trying to figure out if I want to swap the phillips off an old sak for the corkscrew before I epoxy the olivewood to it.
Only been sitting there for the last couple months.
 
skammer said:
Swiss Army FIreman model. I EDC it.

RAtional: It has 2 large blades in case one snaps, remember redundancy.;)

SKam
Click to expand...

Imperial Mil-K is my oldest, 1964 and the blade hasn't snapped yet.

Codger
 
I use the Explorer & a beat-up Huntsman that Im in the process of doing up. Gonna re-grind the broken blade & replace the broken & patched scales (with Araldite!) with either hardwood or carbon-fibre .
 
Codger_64 said:
Imperial Mil-K is my oldest, 1964 and the blade hasn't snapped yet.

Codger
Click to expand...

Thats great!

I like to plan for the unknown not the known, its what the theory of redundancy is all about.

Is the Mil-K a different steel to modern SAK's out of curiosity?

Skam
 
I am pretty sure they are 400 series stainless. But you can bet they are thicker. That does make a world of difference. Pick one up and try it. The Camillus are plentiful, and a bargain for the money. Every Mil surp place has them, and of course fleabay (maybe Quartermasters and cheaper than dirt). You don't like it, toss it in the glovebox for an emergency. It is tough enough to break out a car window and function still.

Codger
 
Like the above post, Outrider has just the right mix of tools and it complaments my Leatherman Core, I sometimes carry both of them together.
 
I would say the following website gives a very nice assortment to look at and choose from:
http://www.swissarmy.com/multitools/Category.htm?category=lockblades&

I guess everyone needs to decide if they need a pliers and/or scissors and/or file??? After that decision, I think it will be pretty easy to figure out what you need. I suspect that if you carry a leatherman or similar then the question/s above are pretty much answered by what type of leatherman you carry; thus determining what you will need in your SAK!
 
Codger_64 said:
I am pretty sure they are 400 series stainless. But you can bet they are thicker. That does make a world of difference. Pick one up and try it. The Camillus are plentiful, and a bargain for the money. Every Mil surp place has them, and of course fleabay (maybe Quartermasters and cheaper than dirt). You don't like it, toss it in the glovebox for an emergency. It is tough enough to break out a car window and function still.

Codger
Click to expand...

Codger, these are great knives. I got my Dad's after he died, it's dated 1967 and built like a tank, like you say. One of the ways that I honor him is to use his tools.

As for SAK's, what I like it a huntsman in the woods, a deluxe tinker in the city, and a manager 2 as an edc. Gave one to my sister before she took a 3 week trip to China, and it was incredibly useful (along with the photon 2 microlight). Good stuff!
 
I have one of the Camillus utility knives. It's seen a lot of use over the years and doesn't have much snap left in it. When I got my first SAK with a saw, the Camillus seemed a bit lacking, so it got retired to an old cedar box I keep on the dresser.
 
I've got to say that I still use every tool in my old (and sadly discontinued) "Champion" model.
The new (for me) SwissChamp model is just that much too big for me. Plus, I really need to have my pliers seperate from my knife. This way I can hold something with my pliers and use my Vic Champion to turn a screw, or saw it or whatever.

I have purchased 2 more of these babies to replace my current one when wears out.
 
I've carried an Executive every day since '85 - absolutely my all time favorite for EDC - but it's not designed for heavy work. I keep a Climber in the truck - use it for slightly heavier work and so my wife can prepare food on-the-go without me digging out my Executive. In my PSK I keep an alox Pioneer Harvester. It's a heavy duty folder with a pretty good little wood saw and other tools that I use now and then.
 
Difficult to say.
Swisschamp has it all, but it is so large that it is difficult to use and clean it.
Picknicker has long blade and works perfectly with Swisschamp in pair, but I consider it too long for keychain. Also, I like using this knife in the kitchen (I never use kitchen knives) and do not like taking things from keychain before using. It is probably my most used knife.
Climber is good on keychain, but does not have all tools, so it is the second most used knife after Pickniker.
So, they really perform different tasks.

Wenger is also a good knife company, I would like to get myself Ranger, but until I have Picknicker I won't buy it just because of my principle never to have things I do not use - I have enough reserve of good knives, so cannot justify as for PSK (but this year I plan to travel to Kyrgyzstan and Picknicker will probably become someone's present there ;) and then I will get myself Ranger).
My wife loves her Wenger Basic for travels and Victorinox Classiс for keychain. I also like her Basic, I used it before, so it is about 8 years now. But I found Classic a waste of money for a man - 2 years ago I worked on an island in Persian Gulf. Since we did not know rules of travel to islands, I did not take any of my knives, except Classic. It was my only knife for 1 month and, while it was reliable, I found it too short for comfortable use and did not want to use for serious work.

It is difficult to say which one is my favorite, I like them all, except Classic. And my wife loves Classic because it is cute.
Regards,
 
I EDCed a Victorinox Mauser Officer's knife for some years, found it pretty good, but no lock and no scissors. I like the Victorinox Hunter, but it's 4" blade makes it a bit big for ED UK carry, particularly with the lock. I find the Victorinox SwissChamp and it's Wenger equivalent, the Major, too bulky for EDC. Most of the time if I'm carrying a SAK I'm also carrying another knife, so I usually go for the Wenger boy scout knife (I used to get given all this stuff): locking main blade, scissors, corkscrew, etc, saws a bit short. Generally I prefer Victorinox, but this small Wenger knife generally does the job.
 
Been carrying a Ranger for a while, and just picked up a Tinker off of ebay. The Tinker's scales are a different kind of plastic (matte rather than shiny) and the logo is stamped on rather than inlayed. Don't guess its a fake, as the tools look the same.

I'm still experimenting as to which SAK will work best for me, and how to carry it. I thought this Tinker would be small enough for keychain use, but it seems full sized (91mm?). I carry so much other junk (flashlight, folder, gun, cell, etc.) that I'm running out of space. :)
 
.diablo. said:
Which S.A.K. do you prefer and why?
Click to expand...
So, I own a SAK mechanic (had for 10 years), a SAK "Pocket Pal" (small folder with two blades & no tools) that I have had since Boy Scouts...use it for carving, I own a SAK "classic". I own a LM Blast & a Micra. I will probably obtain a SAK locking folder. I too am unsure which I will need/want. Though, I can get by with my LM Blast & Micra.

I guess as an EDC, the question is how much do I want/need in my pocket? Do I need a scissor? Do I need a plier? Those two questions are the major issue. The truth is that the scissor on my micra is by far better then most of the others. The pliers on my LM Blast are better then the SAK. Really, I think I will just want to go minimal. I can probably get away with one of the following in place of my LM blast for EDC (urban carry):

Locksmith
Jumpmaster
Adventurer/centurion
Forester
Fireman
Nomad

Any of those will probably do for my needs. I think it will just come down to nit picking. I will carry my Micra and likely one of those. I don't really need the SAK pliers and I am not sure I will want to trust it anyways...seems tiny.
powernoodle said:
...scales are a different kind of plastic (matte rather than shiny) and the logo is stamped on rather than inlayed...
Click to expand...
I would prefer that myself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top