which SAK?

[EdS]

just to put the cat amongst the pigeons - what about a British army knife. Got a 1953 one and the SAK has not left the house since (except when I want a corkscrew). Great knives - check ebay for one.

Mind you that is in part because the blade on the Mauser knife is about 3.5 inches, so on the legal boarder.

 

[Scuba Pete]

You have given me alot to think about. I had no idea there was so much to SAK. You learn something new everyday.

The huntsman, ranger, farmer all look good. I like the idea of extra strength thou.

Is there a downside to the ranger?

Hmm, I will keep looking. I am interested to see there quaity. I think the one I had as a boy was a fake.

 

[Hoodoo]

Hoodoo, I was trying to say that the cutting and back edges are not parrallel through the main part of the blade. The blade widens towards the place when it curves into the tip. If that makes sense.
It is probably the same on all SAKs but as my other ones are smaller of knock-offs I'd never noticed it before.
It's effective though as my finger has only just healed up after cutting it with last week.

Ah, yes! I see what you're saying. That is normal for SAKs.

 

[Doc]

If you go for the Farmer then it will only be about £16 delivered from an American ebay trader, eg:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Victorinox-Fa...ryZ63801QQssPageNameZWD2VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Bushcraft often involves fire and insect repellent (DEET). Both melt the plastic handles - I would either go for an alox model or even considering rehandling aplastic model with wood. There is a company that does personalised wooden scales for red handled SAKs and they are an easy retro-fit. Pricey though. Some of the guys on BB have rehandled with wood themselves but it's beyond my skill level.
http://www.strassburgerweb.com/victorinox/customhandles/

 

[addyb]

Hoodoo,

The tip widening is a spear point, right? And what purpose does it serve?

Doc,

I read once on bladeforums that the nylon scaled Eurosport (economy) series are a little more DEET resistant than the cellidor ones. I also discovered that the rubber handles on my Clipper don't particularly care for insect repellent.

 

[Hoodoo]

Hoodoo,

The tip widening is a spear point, right? And what purpose does it serve?

I don't think so. I believe traditionally it's called a spear just based on the oval shape of the blade tip and the generally cental location of the point, whether the blade widens distally or not. If the blade had a spine parallel to the edge, it would still be called a spear point.

As for the purpose of the widening, it gives you a little more surface area for spreading peanut butter.

 

[Ratbag]

My vote is for the Compact: blade, can/bottle opener, scissors, corkscrew, tweezers, pen, pin, tiny screwdriver, toothpick and parcel hook.

It's got everything I would want day-to-day and few unused extras. If I could only change one thing I would swap the parcel hook for an awl. Does anyone even use a parcel hook these days?

I've found the scissors, tweezers and pin to be just as essential as the blade. I use them frequently for first aid, dealing with splinters and blisters.

Also its legal, nice and light, and easy on the wallet.

Regards

Rat

 

[addyb]

The parcel hook is great for tightening up frozen boot laces when it's twenty below zero and your hands are so cold that you can't do up the zipper on your parka.

And Hoodoo, c'mon man, give those Swiss guys a little more credit than that! Peanut butter? Plastic handles? Soft blade? If the SAK has been up Annapurna with Bonnington, used by NASA in space, been to the South Pole and even used to cut people free from car safety belts in emergencies, something tells me that they might just be on to something!

Adam

 

[Shinken]

I have ordered a Rucksack model. I thought about the forester because it looks better but i am going to rehandle in lignum vitae to match the rest of my knives :togo:

 

[wildrover]

You have given me alot to think about. I had no idea there was so much to SAK. You learn something new everyday.

The huntsman, ranger, farmer all look good. I like the idea of extra strength thou.

Is there a downside to the ranger?

Hmm, I will keep looking. I am interested to see there quaity. I think the one I had as a boy was a fake.

The only possible downside to the ranger might be the plastic handlescales as opposed to the allox scales.Though to be honest I've had mine for over 15 years and used it almost daily and it has only just lost a scale (which I will epoxy back on when I get a chance).
Ive never felt the need of a phillips screwdriver (you can take most screws out with a flat head ).
And possibly more importantly in addition to all the other useful features it has both a bottle opener and a corkscrew


Other than that it really is a perfect (legal) edc IMHO