SwissTool Serrated Blade Workout

[Travis Autry]

I'm not sure if it qualifies as abuse or just hard use, but my EDC SwissTool's serrated blade got a real workout over the last two days.  As an Audio Visual Technician at a small university here in North Carolina, my SwissTool is prized as part of my EDC.  The other two guys carry Leatherman Kicks, so when it comes time for sawing, light prying, hammering and other rough chores, they call on me.

Yesterday and today we were installing multi-media lecturn systems.  The project required removing the old systems.  During the course of that we found nearly a dozen coils of cable that led to nowhere.  I was assigned to clean it up.  Due to the way it was set up, the only choice was to cut it out.

The only shortcoming I've found with the SwissTool is the relatively small wire cutters.  Even with basic speaker wire or cable ties, I have to make two cuts to completely sever.  So, I went with the serrated blade.  I made countless cuts on multiple strands of wire and the blade kept cutting.  This morning I touched it up with my diamond rod and found no nicks or damage.

Today I had to cut a bunch of cable ties and chose the serrated blade again.  It worked flawlessly.  Before we finished we found two more large cables that had to be removed.  My boss reached for his Kick.  Since the cables were aproximately the diameter of my index finger, I handed him my SwissTool with the serrated blade out.  Once again, the blade sawed through the cable in short order.

While the serration pattern may not seem as aggressive as Spyderco or Leatherman, I've found the Victorinox pattern to be more worthwhile than both.  In my experience the two-step serrations seem to hang up in material worse.  They are also more difficult to sharpen.

[crls1]

SwissTool Rules!

[Anthony]

The serrations on Vic knives aren't as brutal as other brands, but they cut better for it.  There are really no pointy teeth, so there's no "biting" into something...the serrations on SAKs cut naturally.

What kind of cable were you cutting?  I always assumed cutting any kind of metal waould dull/ding a blade really fast.

[Travis Autry]

Most of the cable was mutiline phone and ethernet type cable, about 1/4" diameter.  Essentially it was all insulated copper wire.  The last two contained 3 or 4 of the 1/4" cables.

As for dulling, I did notice a bit of drag late in the day yesterday.  I spent about 5 minutes with the diamond rod this morning and the drag was gone.

I left out that cutting the wire came after using the serrated blade to make a starter holes for the saw in some drywall.  But that is another story. . . don't get me started on how great the saw is!

[Anthony]

I left out that cutting the wire came after using the serrated blade to make a starter holes for the saw in some drywall.  But that is another story. . . don't get me started on how great the saw is!

That's what the awl is for!

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I hate serrations as a general rule, but I've got to admit that the style vic uses are the best of the breed

Glad to see the swisstool coming through for you mate

[Dunc]

While the serration pattern may not seem as aggressive as Spyderco or Leatherman, I've found the Victorinox pattern to be more worthwhile than both.  In my experience the two-step serrations seem to hang up in material worse.  They are also more difficult to sharpen.

Your spot on about that  I couldnt agree more

Dunc

[jock1]

Can't beat that Swiss precision

[Fishnuts2]

I agree that the ONLY shortcoming of a Swisstool is the small wire cutter.  I cut coaxial cable many times a day, and the tool I use now for that is a Gerber 800 or 600.  (I carry a sidecutter pliers in my kit, but that is no fun!)  Otherwise, I EDC a Spirit.