Anyone edc a 108mm?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I think I'm gonna do a 85/91/93/108/111mm feld test myself in the next few days cause of this thread. Not that I don't trust you Al. I just got interested.

I'd be interested in the results of that too mate

[trailmaster]

I have a used Victorinox 108mm GAK, which i bought from a german military surplus some time ago. I take it often with me and it is great. especially in woods settings. 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Well I've ordered a Victorinox Safari Trooper with red scales for my son to give to me on my birthday later this month, and I'll keep it on wood's duties

[enki_ck]

I think I'm gonna do a 85/91/93/108/111mm feld test myself in the next few days cause of this thread. Not that I don't trust you Al. I just got interested.

I'd be interested in the results of that too mate

Videos uploading. It's boiling hot here again so I decided to postpone the trip to the woods for the fresh green wood test and went with a 3,5cm thick dried acacia tree. Not so smart in a furnace of a workshop


 Results were .... wait and see

[enki_ck]

Saws used: Wenger Master, Victorinox Ranger (both 5 layered with saw in the middle layer), Farmer, GAK, Outrider, Spirit X and LM Wave.

The multitool saws did the worst. The GAK saw on dry wood confirmed what Al said, which surprised me as I always had good results with it as far as I can remember. But I did always use it in the woods on green wood so the jury is out on that one. The can opener part did annoy me, it kept getting stuck.  The 93mm Farmer and the 111mm Outrider didn't do bad but to my surprise the shorter 85mm Wenger and the 91mm Vic (same saw as the Farmer though) did the best. I contribute this to the fact that they were both the widest handled tools used and provided better grip. So the length of the blade was less important than the good grip these two provided.

Conclusion, if you're going to the woods or camping take a folding saw. They are lightweight, strong and much more useful. (I can't believe I'm recommending a dedicated tool but at least it's folding, right? )

[Marius]

Saws used: Wenger Master, Victorinox Ranger (both 5 layered with saw in the middle layer), Farmer, GAK, Outrider, Spirit X and LM Wave.

Excellent test and videos!

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Cracking test there mate, thanks!

[AimlessWanderer]

Good show Nikola 

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who struggled so much on dry wood with the GAK blade. So frustrating  and it was very interesting to see how difficult that was in comparison with everything else. At least I now know it wasn't me being useless 

My conclusion was the same (use a folding saw) when I did a test on a CS4, Swisstool and Swissgrip (I think it was mky CS4 vs Deluxe Tinker thread). I was surprised to see the Outrider didn't do better with the longer saw blade. I have high hopes for my Rangergrip 90 when it lands for that reason, but I do accept it's still going to struggle against my Bahco Laplander - superb bit of kit

Top job mate 

[theonew]

Very interesting, thanks

I had a Safari Trooper in my sights but will take a pass now. While I accept that a multitool implement is usually not even close in performance to a dedicated tool, it should at least perform reasonably well and that's not what I would call reasonable

In both dry and wet wood I've yet to find a multitool saw which performs better than the one on my Juice KF4. But of course it's no match for my Silky Super Accel

[AimlessWanderer]

Very interesting, thanks

I had a Safari Trooper in my sights but will take a pass now. While I accept that a multitool implement is usually not even close in performance to a dedicated tool, it should at least perform reasonably well and that's not what I would call reasonable

In both dry and wet wood I've yet to find a multitool saw which performs better than the one on my Juice KF4. But of course it's no match for my Silky Super Accel

I don't find many redeeming features about the Juice line, but the saw is definitely one of them. It's such a thin blade, and with the teeth set cut cut on the pull stroke, it certainly does cut extremely well for such a modest size

[theonew]

Thinness does seem to be one of the overarching factors in terms of performance and quite logically so.

[AimlessWanderer]

Agreed, and for me a big part in the downfall (thus far) of the 108mm combo blade. My Bahco Laplander has a blade thickness of just 1.15mm and even factoring in the set of the teeth only comes to 1.75mm. No wonder it flies through everything I attack with it

Nikola, you're going to have to do some green wood testing soon matey as it's all looking very grim for the 108 so far 

[enki_ck]

The bad results of the 108mm and the not as good as expected results of the 111mm are still bugging me. I'll redo the test on dry wood tomorrow and try to go to the woods in the afternoon for some green wood tests.

[AimlessWanderer]

Well I got the same results as you on the 108, and to be honest was actually relieved to see you struggle as much as I did - but I don't have a 111 to comment on.

I look forward to the green wood tests 

[qwotchi]

Excellent vids Enki, thanks a million!

This thread inspired me to bring my Trooper with me at the weekend while I visited my in-laws down the country.

I used the saw to clear a couple of branches that were getting in the way of the narrow footbridge across the river and I had no bother, it was short work, but I had the advantage of it being green wood and also gravity was kind enough to pull the branches downwards while I sawed.









I also have to recommend the bottle opening prowess of the combi opener, a while back I tested it along with the 91mm and 93mm openers and the 108mm was most effective, I tested it quite a few times, just to be sure.

It also looks like a mad camel with a stretchy neck, so bonus points.

Gareth, my wife is a vegetarian so we use a 108mm Solo just for preparing the fruit and veg while we're away.
 

[enki_ck]

sorry for the delay guys, I twisted my thumb on Saturday somehow, I'm not even sure how I did it, I just woke up with an ooouch, so tests are postponed. 

Great pics, qwotchi

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Good to see that sak getting a proper work out

[AimlessWanderer]

It also looks like a mad camel with a stretchy neck, so bonus points.

 

[Marius]

I also have to recommend the bottle opening prowess of the combi opener, a while back I tested it along with the 91mm and 93mm openers and the 108mm was most effective, I tested it quite a few times, just to be sure.

It also looks like a mad camel with a stretchy neck, so bonus points.

Exactly! The bottle cap opener on this nasty looking (but so cool, IMHO) combo tool to me is the best one by far compared with all other cap opener SAK tools that I had the chance to try, on Vic's 111, 93, 91, 84 and (as the least effective, for emergencies only) 58 mm as well as Wenger's 130 and 85 mm. Or at least this was my limited experience. And I am happy that I am not alone here.

 

[ICanFixThat]

Saws used: Wenger Master, Victorinox Ranger (both 5 layered with saw in the middle layer), Farmer, GAK, Outrider, Spirit X and LM Wave.

The multitool saws did the worst. The GAK saw on dry wood confirmed what Al said, which surprised me as I always had good results with it as far as I can remember. But I did always use it in the woods on green wood so the jury is out on that one. The can opener part did annoy me, it kept getting stuck.  The 93mm Farmer and the 111mm Outrider didn't do bad but to my surprise the shorter 85mm Wenger and the 91mm Vic (same saw as the Farmer though) did the best. I contribute this to the fact that they were both the widest handled tools used and provided better grip. So the length of the blade was less important than the good grip these two provided.

Conclusion, if you're going to the woods or camping take a folding saw. They are lightweight, strong and much more useful. (I can't believe I'm recommending a dedicated tool but at least it's folding, right? )

Excellent Tests.  Thank you for doing these.  I guess I'll keep the folding saw handy, but I don't get out much any more where I need them. 

I'm very surprised on the 111mm performance.

I can't wait for the next round.

[enki_ck]

The bad results of the 108mm and the not as good as expected results of the 111mm are still bugging me. I'll redo the test on dry wood tomorrow and try to go to the woods in the afternoon for some green wood tests.

Due to a freaky thumb twisting I'm a bit late with the tests. It's still not healed properly but I did redo the dry wood tests on 108mm and 111mm. Both did better (may have been the heath during the first try getting to me) but the 108mm still doesn't get good grades, to much sticking and a very rough finish. You can compare the cuts and see the differences. I used the same wood used in the initial test. I still feel the thicker handled 91mm and 85mm saws did the best.

[Syph007]

Wow I didnt realize the 108 was so bad, but I guess it does have a fairly short cut length.  For any sawing around the house I use a japanese (silky something) tree pruning saw and it cuts through branches like a light sabre through a jawa.  So I never really use the SAK ones much.  I think I used a farmer saw once but thats about it, Im not a big saw user on a pocket knife.

[Rahmed]

Of course

[Steinar]

Pwetty! 

[Northern Geek]

Of course

(Image removed from quote.)

Lovely scales!

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Lovely job there mate

[Waterlander]

I did a (subjective) saw test myself, with the knives I have.
And no users - only those with fresh saw blades (except for the Spirit and Elinox).
All sawing was done on the same broomstick, clamped in a vice.

Here are the votes of the dutch jury:

At first place:
- Victorinox Rucksack (111mm, ironwood, 3 layers)

Second place:
- Victorinox Spirit (stainless, multitool)

Third place:
- Victorinox Officier (91mm, blue cellidor, 5 layers)

Fourth place:
- Victorinox Farmer (93mm, blue alox, 3 layers)

Fifth place:
- Victorinox Lumberjack (84mm, blue nylon, 2 layers)

Sixth place:
- Elinox Lumberjack (84mm, red cellidor, 2 layers)

Seventh place:
- Victorinox Lumberjack (84mm, plain alox, 2 layers)

Eight place:
- Victorinox Trooper (108mm, bocote, 2 layers)

(top to bottom in pic)

I will tell you my findings later on. 

[Pignut71]

It's a funny thing, but I find the 111 and 91 SAK saws really good (can't comment on GAK's as I've never tried one). Couldn't get on with the LM Juice saw but like my Blast saw??

Great thread!

Atb, Jon.

[ICanFixThat]

Oh nice another Saw test.  What/Whom comprised the Dutch Jury?  Is it time for you to give us your official verdict?

Was there really any difference between the lumberjacks?

[Zed]

I edc'ed a Gak for a while and really liked it , i got it after the gak passaround that was done here on MTO, i liked it but ended up going on the hunt for all the different makes and it started to get expensive so i sold them all, stupid really as i should of kept atleast one of them, well got another on the way so ill give it more of a chance as a nice knife,