SAK Heresy!!!

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

I just PM'd Steve about an idea I had for a SAK mod, but what I suggested might be considered heresy by SAK purists!

Here's my heretical rant... The small blade and can opener are the two tools on a SAK I use the least; if the small blade can be replaced with the combo bottle opener from a Bantam, it could replace the regular bottle opener, so you could remove both it and the can opener and eliminate an entire layer in the knife.  (So, would a SAK without the bottle opener and can opener still be a SAK?)

Anyway, do this mod with a Cybertool 34, so the bits and driver will take the place of the small and large flathead drivers on the can opener and regular bottle opener.  I still get the flathead driver functionality, the two sizes of phillips driver I use the most, scissors, SAK pliers, a regular 91 mm blade, and a bottle opener, not to mention the stuff on the backside.  And, it's a full layer thinner!

What do you guys think?

PS: hey boss!!!  Can I have "The SAK Heretic" as a label in my user info?   

[Mr. Whippy]

Should be doable.

You can add your custom label (I believe) in the Profile settings.

[AimlessWanderer]

I sought out a Yeoman over an Explorer for this reason. I think the combo tool is great, and wished they'd us it to drop the can opener layer more often. Fewer and fewer people use them now, I can only think of Mr Whippy who uses them regularly on here. The combo tool opens beers better than the regular cap lifter too.

For me the can opener is the second least frequently used tool after the hook. All hail the combo tool

[ducttapetech]

I like the cap lifter and can opener layer. I us the can opener all the time. As for as the mod goes....sounds cool.

[magentus]

Harumph! This is Heresy!

No - really though it's a good idea, but I use my tin opener a lot, I would say that about 70% of the tins in my kitchen cupboard don't have one of those rings. Same at work (though I do the shopping for work so maybe it's just what I buy).

I've used the hook a few times too. It was really useful when I was fox proofing our chicken coop - I used it to retreive cable ties threaded through netting, and I was stretching behind a chest of drawers to pick something up off the floor, and the hook gave me the couple of extra inches I needed.

I am intrigued to use the combi tool - I don't have one on any of my SAK's but no doubt I'll come across one some day.

Good thread, and be sure to show pics of the finished item; THE HERETIC (great name!)

[GigaHz]

Like this?

[enki_ck]

Why would this be considered Heresy? It's one of the most frequent mods done around here, except adding scissors to 93mm SAKs. And there are some official models that have this too like the 84mm Golfer, Voyager, Compact, Yeoman.

Only you can't use a Bantam, you need a 91mm Combo tool, like from the Compact, making it a bit expensive.

[Reinier]

not to mention the stuff on the backside.

You would lose the awl though.

[jerseydevil]

Burn the heretic!  Heinz must be purified by fire!    Actually, I like the sound of that mod......I use the can opener a fair bit at work, opening tint cans and cans that have rusted shut solid to draw samples, but for out and about after work I like the idea.

[ducttapetech]

You can use the combo tool as a can opener, i dont think it works as well but it does work.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Awesome!  Thanks for the feedback/info guys!  Now I know that I haven't totally lost my marbles!

GigaHz... that looks pretty much exactly like what I was thinking of!  I see great minds think alike!   

Losing the reamer/awl would be a bit of a drag though... could it be swapped into the hook's position instead?

[jerseydevil]

You can use the combo tool as a can opener, i dont think it works as well but it does work.

Yes, I've used the one on my Compact before.  Not the easiest thing in the world.......

[rickinFL]

I like the combo tool for opening cans more than the regular.  I eat lunch out of cans everyday so maybe it's the practice. 
Swiss Bianco seems to have a really nice series in the yeomans with the combo tool.  Pricey but nice. 

[Ombudsman]

So it will be like a +B Yeoman Mechanic sans the Magifiying/Philips layer ?   



I always thought that philips was kinda redundant

[Syph007]

Your mod idea is exactly what I want for my EDC except on the 93 mm frame.  You can use an 84mm combo tool fine, it just sits a tad lower but works fine.

[Santos]

Like this?(Image removed from quote.)

When i read this thread i was thinking... didnt see this already done amongst the photos and the creator called it a sak 33 or something 

I was really into the idea of losing the opener layer with the Combotool in several configurations... i have hoarded quite a few 84 and 91mm combo tools for the purporse.
 BUT now i find myself using both screwdrivers fairly often`and the little one works so well as a flat phillips so i am thinking to go the other way and loosing the blade layer since i usually have small fixed blade anyway

[Steinar]

... so i am thinking to go the other way and loosing the blade layer since i usually have small fixed blade anyway

Now that is heresy! Burn the unbeliever!  Btw, +B did a bladeless SAK like that a few years ago, IIRC.

There's something inherently wrong about a SAK with no blade. Multitool Built From The Frame Of A Swiss Army Knife doesn't have the same ring to it. 

[Espen]

I like how the thread-starters name is Heinz and how he doesn't like can openers.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

So on further reflection, I'm thinking that if I need to cannibalize a Compact for this to work, rather than also use a CT34, that a CT29 would be a better choice.  No pliers, but for a pocket EDC, I could live with that. 

So now I'm thinking take the bit driver and holder out of the CT29 and transplant it into the Compact.  Seems the simplest way to do it.  The CT29 then becomes a Spartan when you put it all back together.

[Eyegor]

The combo tool is the reason I bought the Hunter when I was forced to replace my Rucksack. I liked the idea of the gutting/rescue blade as well. After EDCing it for over a year I am still undecided. I like the rescue blade but I've used it hard and it is not quite as good as it was. The combo tool is a pretty good opener, both bottle and can, but I find it subpar as flathead driver and almost impossible to use the corner as a phillips. I think in a do over I would probably get another Rucksack but it really is a 51/49% thing. In closing, while I like the idea of saving a layer or adding a different tool by using the the combo tool, you do lose the full functionality of the full opener layer. Kinda what MTs are all about to begin with; compromise.

[Reinier]

I like how the thread-starters name is Heinz and how he doesn't like can openers.

So on further reflection, I'm thinking that if I need to cannibalize a Compact for this to work, rather than also use a CT34, that a CT29 would be a better choice.  No pliers, but for a pocket EDC, I could live with that. 

So now I'm thinking take the bit driver and holder out of the CT29 and transplant it into the Compact.  Seems the simplest way to do it.  The CT29 then becomes a Spartan when you put it all back together.

I think, I think, you need to add an extra liner for the bit driver to fit properly. Therefore, your modded CT would not much thinner than a regular CT29. And you would lose the awl which won't fit in the scissors layer (or at least it won't fit very well). And keep in mind that the combo tool is a bit thinner than the normal openers so it's less suitable for heavy work.

[Syph007]

I like how the thread-starters name is Heinz and how he doesn't like can openers.

So on further reflection, I'm thinking that if I need to cannibalize a Compact for this to work, rather than also use a CT34, that a CT29 would be a better choice.  No pliers, but for a pocket EDC, I could live with that. 

So now I'm thinking take the bit driver and holder out of the CT29 and transplant it into the Compact.  Seems the simplest way to do it.  The CT29 then becomes a Spartan when you put it all back together.

I think, I think, you need to add an extra liner for the bit driver to fit properly. Therefore, your modded CT would not much thinner than a regular CT29. And you would lose the awl which won't fit in the scissors layer (or at least it won't fit very well). And keep in mind that the combo tool is a bit thinner than the normal openers so it's less suitable for heavy work.

Yep the combotool liners are 0.050 inch thick about double the thickness of standard liners.  I'm still thinking about this mod too and I want some variation of it, but not sure what.  I'm still waiting for parts to come in, I have a cybertool driver layer on the way.  I still have to make a bit holder for the 93mm frame too.

[GigaHz]

Like this?

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Like this?
(Image removed from quote.)

Yeah, that sure looks like it... 

[GigaHz]

Like this?
(Image removed from quote.)

Yeah, that sure looks like it...

My very first mod a couple a months ago.

[Reinier]

Never mind my posts about an extra liner. I think that is irrelevant if you also have scissors

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

The combo tool is the reason I bought the Hunter when I was forced to replace my Rucksack. I liked the idea of the gutting/rescue blade as well. After EDCing it for over a year I am still undecided. I like the rescue blade but I've used it hard and it is not quite as good as it was. The combo tool is a pretty good opener, both bottle and can, but I find it subpar as flathead driver and almost impossible to use the corner as a phillips. I think in a do over I would probably get another Rucksack but it really is a 51/49% thing. In closing, while I like the idea of saving a layer or adding a different tool by using the the combo tool, you do lose the full functionality of the full opener layer. Kinda what MTs are all about to begin with; compromise.

Have you thought about an Outrider?  Mine has been very reliable and a great tool overall.  Steve modded it for me by just taking out the saw and I'm even more in love with it now, it's just a little big.  That's why I'm pondering some kind of mod with a bit driver.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Like this?(Image removed from quote.)

When i read this thread i was thinking... didnt see this already done amongst the photos and the creator called it a sak 33 or something 

I was really into the idea of losing the opener layer with the Combotool in several configurations... i have hoarded quite a few 84 and 91mm combo tools for the purporse.
 BUT now i find myself using both screwdrivers fairly often`and the little one works so well as a flat phillips so i am thinking to go the other way and loosing the blade layer since i usually have small fixed blade anyway

You know, I think removing the knife layer is an interesting idea.  So yeah, I guess I am a SAK heretic after all!

I mean, if you already carry a folder, and I usually have at least my Dragonfly 2 in my bag, if not my pocket most of the time, then what's the blade on the SAK going to do for you, except be a less capable back-up?  And perhaps more heresy, but let's face it, a 91 mm SAK blade isn't going to be up to the same kind of jobs I'd consider doing with my DF2, IMHO.

So that's another idea... bit driver and holder, scissors, and pliers, and whatever would work on the back side with those layers.  I suppose for good measure you could throw in a file too.  That seems like it would be a pretty neat tool. 

[Syph007]

It's not crazy to remove the blade layer if you always pair it with a folder.  Nice combo if they are together really.  I wouldn't call it heresy, but then again, it's no longer a swiss army knife, but a swiss army tool... but I say do whatever works!

[sawman]

I'm not really qualified, as I don't own a SAK with the combo tool nor have I ever used a combo tool, but I too would definitely would miss the awl.