Wenger Mike Horn.

[Chako]

Here is something a bit different. I just got the Wenger Mike Horn in the mail today. What follows are my first impressions and a few photographs with some quick sketchy comparisons thrown in for good measure.

I first noticed this model from a thread posted on MultiTool.org. Previously, I didn’t know it existed. What I saw was a striking eye catching design. I knew right then that I was going to get  me one of these. Of course, I asked myself…who is Mike Horn? The name seemed familiar but I could not place it. Well a quick net search answered that question. If you are in the same boat as I am , then click on this for a quick short biography on Mike Horn.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Horn


The Wenger Mike Horn is my third Ranger. I previously got a Wenger Rangergrip 178 OD, and a Wenger Ranger 172 Gardner. Of these previous two, the 172 is wide due to the inclusion of a nice pair of scissors or umm…clippers if you find the word scissors denigrating to those who cut plants for a living. Well the Mike Horn is even wider…if that was possible, and it is.

Let us take a closer look at these Wenger Ranger models…


From left to right: Wenger RangerGrip 178 OD, Wenger Ranger 178 Gardner, and Wenger Ranger Mike Horn.


You can see that the 178 OD is the thinnest, and the Mike Horn on the right is the fattest. Note the flat handle for both the middle clippers and the right pliers. Wenger has a very ingenious way of deploying the scissors and pliers. Some good cracking engineering went into these, making me appreciate them all the more.


Their backs just illustrate the difference in thickness between these 3 Wenger Ranger models.



The tool layout is rather interesting.:

The Ranger 178 OD is rather basic, with a one hand knife, saw,  bottle cap opener, can opener, awl with sewing hole, and a Phillips driver. This is a good all around non dedicated tool that mimics the Victorinox trekker/new soldier series in functionality.

The Ranger 172 Gardner offers a big pair of clippers, a two handed serrated blade, a saw, and a Phillips driver. The Ranger 172 is rather dedicated to gardening.

The Ranger Mike Horn offers a bit more.  You get both a one hand clip point and one hand serrated sheepsfoot blade, file, pliers, a better shaped awl with sewing hole,  and a can opener. The Mike Horn is dedicated to umm…well….survival on the ocean or land?  There is no denying that it has features that a sailor would want except for the strange absence of a marlin spike.

Time to compare it to another recently acquired heavy weight, the Wenger SwissGrip.


Here we have both with pliers deployed. The SwissGrip on the left has pliers that you can’t fold away for storage.  The Mike Horn pliers are smaller, but surprisingly not that much smaller. Especially when you consider that they fold up in the handle.


Here is a photo showing the pliers folded part way into the handles. I really like the way that Wenger has designed this bit of trickery. You just press on the handles like you would to fold away a blade, and the pliers follow suit around a pivot point. When you reach a certain distance, the back spring action takes over and it all snaps away in the handles nicely.


The reason why I am throwing in the Wenger SwissGrip is a similar feature that the Mike Horn shares with it.

Here, we see that both will accept bits in the handle. In fact, you can interchange the bits from each even though they are shaped slightly different; they are of the same diameter. You can generate a tremendous amount of torque in this fashion.


The Wenger Ranger Mike Horn showing the graphics and nice colouring of the handles.



You do get a few nice extras with the Mike Horn. Here you see the nice sheath and the two bits that come included with the knife. There is a pouch in the front for the bits.  I did notice that the bits are a little lose in there, and can easily fall out if you hold the sheath upside down.



Mike Horn showing the tools and design.

Conclusion
The Wenger Ranger series are huge 120mm Swiss Army Knives. The Mike Horn is thicker than the 172, which is a fat SAK by any standards. In the hands, the knife feels very comfortable due to the ergonomic shape of the thick scales. I am a big fan of the colouring. It is understated but sticks out from the rest. At least it isn’t red, black, or green. The addition of two knife blades is a big plus for those who like both a straight edge and a serrated edge. The awl is well designed and deviated from Wenger’s usually not very sharp design. In fact, this is what an awl should be. One thing to note is that all these Wenger Ranger models in this short review feature locking main blades. To unlock the main blade, you have to depress the Wenger Swiss symbol on the front as it is really a button on these models. On the Mike Horn, I was a bit disappointed in that the serrated sheepsfoot blade locks, but the straight edged clip point doesn’t.

Conclusion
There is no denying that the Mike Horn is a looker. It also has quite a few features that are unique. I can see why there was a buzz generated about this model. Of the 3 Rangers I currently own, this one is my favorite. I can easily recommend this knife if you are looking for a big knife with some big features. The sheath is well made even though there are some improvements that could have made the sheath better. Overall, I like this knife a lot.

Mike Horn
Pros:
-   Pliers fold in a very neat and ingenious way.
-   Locking main serrated sheepsfoot blade.
-   A really good awl.
-   Unique logo/colour/design makes it stick out from the crowd.
-   2 Bits added for functionality. There is nothing stopping you from buying more at the local hardware store to meet your needs.
-   Ergonomic handles…but then, all Wenger Rangers have the same scale shape.

Cons:
-   It is big and fat.
-   Bits fall out of the sheath too easily. May need to add more or find some way to secure them.

[Gareth]

Wow that is a excellent bit of kit.  I do find it interesting that it has two OH blades, one for your right hand and one for the left.

A question if I may; how well does the plain, non-locking, blade sit in place?  Is the backspring quite tight or a bit flabby?

[Chako]

It is rather weak. The locking blade snaps in place nicely. The non locking blade has very little snap.

[cliosguy]

excelente! so the plain edge blade doesnt lock and serrated does weird....anyway i still want one maybe for x-mas

thanks for the review

[Chako]

I believe it was made to Mike Horn's specifications. He must have his reasons for designing it that way.  Might be that Mr Horn prizes a serrated sheepsfoot over the plain edged blade. 

[nuphoria]

Hmm, peculiar choices with the locks. Apart from that, it looks great.

Definitely too big for me - I don't tend to carry my larger MTs, never mind a great big beast of a SAK - but the design and the layout of the tools is excellent. They should make a smaller version of it.

[duckman1975]

I have to admit I'm a little bit jealous of you 
Love the knife and the write up!

[max6166]

Thanks for the great write up, Chako! I have been looking forward to reading one for a long time! 

I wish we knew Mike Horn's reasoning that led to those design decisions. That would make fascinating reading!

[Mr. Whippy]

Hmm...

My initial thoughts:  It needs a saw (unless the sheepsfoot will work as a saw)

The file is too short

The possible loss of bits from their holder would be a disaster since there's no dedicated drivers on the tool.

I might hafta wait for a second had one.   

[J-sews]

Hmm...

My initial thoughts:  It needs a saw (unless the sheepsfoot will work as a saw)

The file is too short

The possible loss of bits from their holder would be a disaster since there's no dedicated drivers on the tool.

I might hafta wait for a second had one.   

Excellent observations. I wonder why such a pee wee little file on such a big knife??


I do really like the look of that awl on the backspring though. Is it a standard Wenger awl design?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I love the idea of them doing an OH slippy

But the design really need a saw

[ringzero]

Hmm...

My initial thoughts:  It needs a saw (unless the sheepsfoot will work as a saw)

The file is too short

+1

Replace the non-locking plain edge blade with a saw.

Make the file longer.

Guess it's OK as is, but those two changes would make it a truly outstanding outdoor/survival tool.

Of course Horn must know a little something about surviving in the great outdoors, and since this is his design...

.

[Gareth]

Hmm...

My initial thoughts:  It needs a saw (unless the sheepsfoot will work as a saw)

The file is too short

The possible loss of bits from their holder would be a disaster since there's no dedicated drivers on the tool.

I might hafta wait for a second had one.   

Excellent observations. I wonder why such a pee wee little file on such a big knife??


I do really like the look of that awl on the backspring though. Is it a standard Wenger awl design?

It's not a design of awl I've seen before from Wenger.

[max6166]

Hmm...

My initial thoughts:  It needs a saw (unless the sheepsfoot will work as a saw)

The file is too short

+1

Replace the non-locking plain edge blade with a saw.

Make the file longer.

I think the file is shorter because it is on the same layer as the can opener. A full length file would add an extra layer.

I was also really surprised that it had 2 blades instead of 1 blade and a wood saw.

I thought it would have been cool to have scissors instead of pliers too. I thought Mike Horn talked about that in the original announcement? Something about trimming his beard? 

[Gareth]

I suspect there isn't a wood saw for the simple fact that it wouldn't be that useful to Mike Horn.  Look at the areas he is known for; polar exploration, mountaineering and sailing.  Not that many trees involved in those fields.   Also the fact he has lost parts of his fingers to frostbite might explain why he likes the idea of two OH blades.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I suspect there isn't a wood saw for the simple fact that it wouldn't be that useful to Mike Horn.  Look at the areas he is known for; polar exploration, mountaineering and sailing.  Not that many trees involved in those fields.   Also the fact he has lost parts of his fingers to frostbite might explain why he likes the idea of two OH blades.

Ah I see

I'd still think it needs one though, as there fantastic saw's on the 120mm range

[Mr. Whippy]

I suspect there isn't a wood saw for the simple fact that it wouldn't be that useful to Mike Horn.  Look at the areas he is known for; polar exploration, mountaineering and sailing.  Not that many trees involved in those fields.   Also the fact he has lost parts of his fingers to frostbite might explain why he likes the idea of two OH blades.

I guess, although a lot of mountaineering involves hiking through forests/brush until you get above treeline.  Depends on the $$ you spend for your approach though...

Personally, I like and use a saw fairly frequently.  More than the file. 

But then again, I'm not Mike Horn 

[Gareth]

I actually agree, a saw makes sense to me as well, and while we're at it why not a fully OH saw at that.   Obviously Mike Horn has different priorities, and fair play to him, it's not what I'd have designed though.

I can easily see this knife with all the extra bits on it, saw, dedicated screwdrivers, scissors etc.  But as this already looks to be very thick then the process has to look at what his priorities are and getting rid of all the other stuff, just to keep this down to a manageable size.  Quite a few of the design decisions look to have been made to keep from adding any more layers IMO.

[Mr. Whippy]

For a Mike Horn type of expedition, I doubt there are too many cans which require a can opener.  More likely to be a bunch of pouches (lighter, pack better etc).  I'd dump out the can opener before the saw.

[Gareth]

For a Mike Horn type of expedition, I doubt there are too many cans which require a can opener.  More likely to be a bunch of pouches (lighter, pack better etc).  I'd dump out the can opener before the saw.

Fair point, but the can opener doesn't take up a whole layer to itself, a saw would have to.  Perhaps if the can opener was dropped then the file could be made longer or replace with a saw.  Like you, I suspect, I'd love to hear from Mike Horn himself as to why he made the design decisions he did.

[Benner]

I want one

[gafftapegreenia]

I think there should have been at least a backspring Phillips.

[HBlaine]

It is a beautiful knife, and I seriously, seriously debated ordering one.  But, in the end, talked myself out of it.  I have a Ranger 73 Electrician, and quite like it.  The big killer for it, like the Mike Horn, is no saw.  However, the 73 does have the dedicated drivers on it (the can opener/flathead and the back Phillips).  And, to be honest, I'm not a great fan of the one handed blades.  (I know...  Blasphemy... )  So....

However, it is a handsome and distinctive knife, and I'm sure it'll give great service.  It is, after all, a SAK at heart.   

[max6166]

Someone mentioned in other thread that the metal file works well for sawing wood. Anyone else tried it?

[Gadget Guy]

    

[Goatlord666]

Just a little article regarding the overall concept of the Mike Horn Ranger

http://gearjunkie.com/profile-mike-horn-swiss-army-knife

[JAfromMn]

Thanks for the great review and the link to the mike horn info chako

nice tool.

and thanks goatloard for the link.

[leigh.ratcliffe.5]

I think that the lack of a saw is a serious issue.

[Goatlord666]

I think that the lack of a saw is a serious issue.

and wenger came up with a serious solution to it called the rangergrip 90

[Nhoj]

Just a little article regarding the overall concept of the Mike Horn Ranger

http://gearjunkie.com/profile-mike-horn-swiss-army-knife

Thanks for the link that was very interesting