SAK blade snapping?

[Dave Budd]

I'm working on a project with a friend that involves Swiss Army Knives, specifically Victorinox SAKs. My friend is a little worried about the durability of the knife (described as 'a bit wussy'). I know what they mean, it does seem thin and has the look of being more delicate than say a leatherman blade. But, i've never broken one and i can't think of having seen on break either.

The blade on the large locking versions is 3mm thick and despite having very little metal on the tang around the pivot hole, is very well supported in that area (by surrounding blades). I suspect if it were to snap then it would be where the full flat grind meets the ricasso in a fairly straight and sharp plunge cut.

So, i wonder, has anybody here actually broken a Victorinox SAK blade (or any other tool)? If so, how did you do it?

 

[plastic-ninja]

I'm working on a project with a friend that involves Swiss Army Knives, specifically Victorinox SAKs. My friend is a little worried about the durability of the knife (described as 'a bit wussy'). I know what they mean, it does seem thin and has the look of being more delicate than say a leatherman blade. But, i've never broken one and i can't think of having seen on break either.

The blade on the large locking versions is 3mm thick and despite having very little metal on the tang around the pivot hole, is very well supported in that area (by surrounding blades). I suspect if it were to snap then it would be where the full flat grind meets the ricasso in a fairly straight and sharp plunge cut.

So, i wonder, has anybody here actually broken a Victorinox SAK blade (or any other tool)? If so, how did you do it?

I snapped the corkscrew on a SAK once. It was an old bottle & the cork was very stiff. Totally the wrong tool for the job but all I had. I twisted, it snapped off about 2/3 of the way down.

 

[British Red]

I've sliced muddy nylon carpet off the drum of a flail cutter with a SAK blade. It did need sharpening afterwards but nothing more

 

[Jared]

Never broken one. Seen tips broken but that's people prying with the blade, basic laziness not to use the bottle opener for that kind of thing.

 

[gra_farmer]

I have snapped the tip off the end of the blade on a Swiss Champ and a horticultural victorinox pruning knife, and completely snapped the blade off near the handle when open of a victorinox mini key chain, neither were abuse.

The tip damage was from carving, and forgot to say a failure on a back spring. The horticultural blade was from a pruning bud wood for grathing, and hitting a wooden bench hard, tip stayed in the bench.

As for the mini classic, I was cutting boxes, and thick card, just snapped, no obvious reason, was always kept sharp and no effort in the cut, just a bit of resistance and snap???

On each case the blade had a dull grey colour and a viable grain in the metal where snapped.

I did accidentally snap a saw, that was pushing it to hard.

All were repaired without question

 

[gra_farmer]

I have destroyed more leatherman tools, but pushing them hard, I have shattered two plier heads iand bit holders, and bent the handles in on use of the pliers.

When the older plier heads shatter, it is quite sudden and sharp bits.

Again, replaced without issue.

The warranty on both leatherman and victorinox in UK is brilliant. That's the reason why I am not afraid of using them.

 

[Broch]

I have broken the wood saw blade when cutting a slightly larger than I should stick and put a bending load on it - Victorinox replaced it for free despite the fact the knife was years old!

Let's be clear though, I do not consider any of my SAKs to be heavy duty knives and could only imaging breaking one by applying side/bending loads that they're not designed to take.

 

[Toddy]

'colleague' trying to tidy up a trench face for the photos borrowed mine to cut off a protruding root that had sprung free once the soil was removed. He then proceeded to stab the opened knife into a 4 x 2 we were using for shoring. Then he grabbed the knife and pulled sort of sideways to yank it out.
The blade snapped.
Total abuse, not the fault of the knife. Local ironmongers replaced the blade and I gave the numpty the bill. I'm still waiting for him to pay for it over twenty years later. Forlorn hope methinks.
They are really good handy tools, but they're by no means pry bars, levers or bombproof....that said though, do the EOD folks not carry them ? or is that WW11 apocryphyl ?

M

 

[Stew]

Nope never snapped one and have been quite rough on them. A few tips maybe but not a proper snap.

 

[John Fenna]

I have never broken anything on a SAK - a mate (?) of mine borrowed my Leatherman and broke the serrated blade trying to get into a coconut!

 

[gra_farmer]

Simply, it is possible to break anything, I have experienced tool failures with normal and hard use. I have done both, and use a multi tool every day.

The warranty to me makes the difference, particularly UK warranty, and find that I baby any tool that is difficult to get repaired or sorted out. I have eese blades, but I would use a buck harder, as the warranty in the UK is easy, just send to a UK based rep and done.

I honestly wouldn't worry about leatherman or victorinox tools, as UK warranty is brilliant.

 

[slowworm]

I've had the lock bar snap on the lock knife of a SAK. I don't recall ever mistreating it , the lock stopped working and when examined the bar had broken.

 

[Laurentius]

I have snapped the tip of the reamer on my SAK farmer, but I filed the remainder back to a point. I have had the spring on a pair of scissors snap but replaceable, and have bent a corkscrew and bent it back. Never had a blade snap, the blades on the Alox models are quite substantial. Oh yeah, have I ever batoned with an SAK? Yes, just to see if I could, and no harm came to the blade or the backspring.

 

[Dave Budd]

All sounds like i was right then, tougher than they look our little red friends!

I fully expected people to say broken tips and maybe corkscrews, so that's good too. I did break the back spring in one when i was a kid and still thought beating a knife through a bit of wood was a clever thing to do, but to me that counts as abuse.

The locking saks seem to employ 2 different mechanisms for the locking: liner lock and a sliding latch into the side of the tang. Both types have a back spring, so even without a lock the blade will snap opened and work properly. The liner lock is quite robust and is double ended, which means the screwdriver at the other end also locks open (nice feature). The side lock has a tiny spring inside the handle, which when you drop the knife from a tree can pop out and vanish, it would seem. But you can still lock it manually if you are careful not to then unlock it in use.

Thanks for the input folks. All validating what i had in my head about their actual fragility (or rather, lack of!)

 

[StevieE]

Again, corkscrew was the only thing that got bent out of shape but easy enough to fix.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I've been using the same Victorinox SAK since 1980. I broke the tip off the main blade many years ago. I don't remember how but it was certainly doing something stupid with it. I just belt sanded the end into a rounded point & it has been fine. The saw has been unbelievable........I have sawn many things I shouldn't have with it & it's still sharp & straight. It's best to keep in mind that they are only pen knives & not heavy duty tools. I do have a newer one but it's useless as the blades are so stiff I need a pair of pliers to open them.

 

[Minotaur]

I have broken the tips off 2 blades on 1 of my Huntsmen. I was cutting a cord on a post and think there must have been a nail or something in the post.
As a minor point, SAK has a lifetime guarantee on its knifes however I am still waiting for them to return my knife.

 

[Mesquite]

Only thing I've broken on an SAK has been the scales and that was because I dropped it from height onto a load of rocks

 

[ged]

I've broken lots of tools that nobody here would be interested in. I broke a German stainless machete which snapped clean when I battened with it. The blow that broke it was fairly gentle, with a tree branch of green willow about 2" diameter. Practically no bending force on the blade. I was astonished that it broke and a little bit gutted as I really did like that machete. It was a cheap one, I never bothered talking to the manufacturer.

I've never broken a SAK but I did once wash mine with meths and the scales started to dissolve! I quickly dunked it in water and no noticeable damage was done, but be warned.

 

[Kadushu]

The only blade I've ever broken right off was a no-brand folder from Thailand with a Spyderco style hole, so you can guess where it broke.

I broke a few mm off an Opinel by using it as a screwdriver and recently melted the tip of another no-brand knife while using it to jump start a lawnmower. My SAK remains unscathed despite bearing down on it a few times for some pretty hard cuts.