Rambler (or Manager) vs Executive (or Director)

[AimlessWanderer]

I've noticed people tend to be either a huge Rambler fan or Executive fan

For me the Rambler/Manager is the big winner. Not only is it a more compact size, but that combo tool is sublime. I do have a Director, and to be honest I find it too large for keys and too small for the pocket with an odd toolset

So which camp are you in, and why?

[powernoodle]

To me, moving up from 58mm to 74mm doesn't really add much utility, so I'm definitely more of a Manager guy.  I also carry so much EDC cr@p that I'm forced to find the most efficient use of space, and am constantly trying to balance size/weight vs. utility.  Plus, the little stuff is just more fun.   

[Northern Geek]

I don't have either of them but I'd really want a Rambler or a Manager.

The Executive's lack of a bottle opener is a deal breaker for me, that's usually one of my most used tools on my SAK's. There's basically no screw top bottle caps over here.

[Reinier]

I agree, there should be a bottle opener (or combo tool) added to the 74mm line. Of course you can always add a 58mm opener to a 74mm SAK like Neil did

[Santos]

I carry an executive with a quatro-screwdriver. I have had a rambler in the past.

The thing about the executive is the large blade. Its big enough for apples/oranges and other things whilst still having a small blade for field surgery.  The scissors are that extra bit bigger too.

I do wish the little blade was a Wharncliffe shape. Also would like to see the combotool /philips in the 74mm frame. I have one somewhere that was drilled out to 2mm so i could do a mod but 4 months of chemo has left me with no idea of where i put it

[Wootz]

Or pair the 74mm by putting a Swiss Utility Key on your keyring. It has a bottle opener, serrated blade and small philips too 

I find the 58mm just too small to peel an apple for instance.

edit: cross posting Santos - great minds think alike 

[PTRSAK]

currently on my "To Do" list is shuffling tools around on an Executive to put the nail-file and orange peeler on the same side of the one layer and a Rambler's combo tool opposite them.
A slightly thicker but much more functional Executive.
I have an Ambassador as a donor for the extra backsprings and to replace the heavily sharpened blade in the exec'.

[PTRSAK]

damn...   do we sound like a bunch of booze-heads or what??  that bottle-opener in some form or other is just sooooooo important

[kkokkolis]

I prefer the Minichamp over the Executive. Executive is quite plain vanilla and less "effective" for it's size. So I prefer a 58 & 91 duo for EDC instead of an anorexic 74mm.

[Reinier]

Yeah baby:



http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,10066.msg186498.html#msg186498

[jerseydevil]

The bottle opener isn't all that important to me anymore, and anyway there's a Gerber Shard on my keys.  I like the Executive a bit better, larger and easier to use.    I do have to agree that the combo tool on the Rambler is sweet though.....

[dks]

Went from a Micra to a Minichamp, to a Manager Lite and finally to a Manager and stayed there since....

[Syph007]

The manager is my favorite of the little SAKs.  Great little tool.

[sir_mike]

My vote is for the Rambler as I like the philiips on the combo tool.  I have one on my keys so it gets used daily.

[Buzzbait]

I have both a Rambler and an Executive. I love them both, but if I had to choose just one, it would be the Executive. It has larger scissors, a nice big usable blade for basic stuff, a smaller blade that I reserve for medical work, a flat out awesome nail file (head and shoulders above the 58mm SAK file), and the infamous orange peeler. I don't use it to peel oranges, but the peeler tool makes a great box opener, so my main blade doesn't end up covered with adhesive and bits of packing tape.

The Executive makes for a great combo when used along side the Pioneer, Farmer or SI.

[Monrogue]

I have the Executive (it was actually my very first SAK) and it's great.  Now that I've gotten more SAKs and vary up my EDC, the Executive has been added to my keys.  I do find it's a bit too large for that, but it will stay there for now. 

I've been eyeing the Rambler/Manager/Midnite Manager lately to go on my keychain though.  I figure a light would be more useful there than toothpick/tweezers.  However, I would rather just have an Alox Rambler as it would be more durable for living with the keys. 

So I would like either one, depending on the purpose.  Rambler for keys, Executive for an EDC combo. 

[WiSAKfan]

rambler on my keychain that's not going anywhere...

[powernoodle]

I've been eyeing the  . . . Midnite Manager . . . I figure a light would be more useful there than toothpick/tweezers. 

Note that the red LED used on the Midnight Manager is so dim its almost worthless (in my view, anyway) but Victorinox may have gone to a white LED thats a little brighter.  The standard Manager is my favorite of the 58mm class.

[kirk13]

I have both.

I'm never without a Rambler/Manager.I've carried the 74mm twice.

The 74 lacks utility for the size,and has no Philips,and is too cumbersome for keyri...I'm just repeating what Al already said

[Monrogue]

I've been eyeing the  . . . Midnite Manager . . . I figure a light would be more useful there than toothpick/tweezers. 

Note that the red LED used on the Midnight Manager is so dim its almost worthless (in my view, anyway) but Victorinox may have gone to a white LED thats a little brighter.  The standard Manager is my favorite of the 58mm class.

Oh I wasn't aware it was a red LED.  I would want a white one.  I technically don't need a light anyway as I already have a bright LED light on my keychain.  The standard Manager would be fine for me, but I would probably like the Alox Rambler, but those aren't cheap. 

[Monrogue]

I have both.

I'm never without a Rambler/Manager.I've carried the 74mm twice.

The 74 lacks utility for the size,and has no Philips,and is too cumbersome for keyri...I'm just repeating what Al already said

The end of the Executive's nailfile works as a phillips for light duty.  That nailfile is actually one of my favorite implements on the Executive

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

I had a Rambler but gifted it away; too small for my fingers and in general the tools on it were just too small to be of much use.  I had a hard time getting the tools out; sometimes I had to pull the tweezers or toothpick out to use in the nail-nick of the other tools.  The only reason I kept it as long as I did was because of the combo tool on it; I agree, there really needs to be a 74 mm version of it. 

I prefer the Exec for many of the same reasons already listed;

-larger and more useful blade, works much better for opening envelopes, slicing up fruit, and so on.

-best nail file on any SAK i've ever had, works on fingernails as well as small bits of flash on plastic and the like, while the tip is a passable phillips driver.  Since I spend a lot of my workday at a keyboard, the file is a great tool to have for me.

-I actually do use the orange peeler for oranges, it also makes a good box/clamshell opener, and the tip works as a fine point flathead driver as well.  It also makes and excellent staple remover too.

-I also prefer its size for pocket carry, not nearly as big as a 91mm frame, and I don't have nor can get any 84mm model with scissors, which are an absolute necessity for me.

The lack of a bottle opener on it isn't a big deal to me; I honestly don't open bottles much anymore anyway.  I long ago gave up drinking soda (which really doesn't come in in glass bottles much anymore anyway), and I'm not a huge beer drinker either.

All of this said, I've found that I have come to prefer my Squirt S4 to my Exec, primarily because of the excellent scissors it has, which I use even more than a blade.  The crapola blades on the little Leatherman tools are my biggest gripe about them, and I've actually started carrying my Exec and my S4 together as they do compliment one another very well.

I keep my new Wenger Evo 88 on my keychain now as backup, and it's a good balance between the capabilities of both my Exec and S4 so that if I have at least something if I'm stuck without my other pocket tools.

[enki_ck]

I love both, but I do miss the bottle opener on the Manager. I have a Rambler on my car keys and the Executive often sees pocket time as a light office carry. Every SAK entusiast should have at least one of each.

As for the bottle opener on the Manager, I think I'll do a bit of dremel work on one of mine soon and add a bottle opener. I can't find a Dovo anywhere.

Member Sunshineinwinter posted a scale one on one of those and I fell in love with this Manager lookalike.


http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,37509.msg603180.html#msg603180

[dks]

I've been eyeing the  . . . Midnite Manager . . . I figure a light would be more useful there than toothpick/tweezers. 

Note that the red LED used on the Midnight Manager is so dim its almost worthless (in my view, anyway) but Victorinox may have gone to a white LED thats a little brighter.  The standard Manager is my favorite of the 58mm class.

Oh I wasn't aware it was a red LED.  I would want a white one.  I technically don't need a light anyway as I already have a bright LED light on my keychain.  The standard Manager would be fine for me, but I would probably like the Alox Rambler, but those aren't cheap.

The newer midnite Managers have a white, still dim but not too bad, LED.
They changed them a while back. The red was supposed to be better for when your eyes were used to the dark or something, but they were really last resort emergency use only.

[WiSAKfan]

I've been eyeing the  . . . Midnite Manager . . . I figure a light would be more useful there than toothpick/tweezers. 

Note that the red LED used on the Midnight Manager is so dim its almost worthless (in my view, anyway) but Victorinox may have gone to a white LED thats a little brighter.  The standard Manager is my favorite of the 58mm class.

Oh I wasn't aware it was a red LED.  I would want a white one.  I technically don't need a light anyway as I already have a bright LED light on my keychain.  The standard Manager would be fine for me, but I would probably like the Alox Rambler, but those aren't cheap.

The newer midnite Managers have a white, still dim but not too bad, LED.
They changed them a while back. The red was supposed to be better for when your eyes were used to the dark or something, but they were really last resort emergency use only.

yes the red light doesn't effect night vision the way a white light will.

[kkokkolis]

A dim red LED is standard need for amateur astronomers. I put red filters to all the internal lights if my car and to several flashlights. I also use a special red screen with my iPhone.
Perhaps they should produce an "Astronomer lite" SAK with red light, a Cybertool with lots of philips and hex bits, a magnifier, a compass/ spirit level, a 5mw Green Laser Pointer, a dust brush and a blower, a bottle opener and flat driver and a nice image of Saturn or Andromeda on the scale.
Sorry for off topic.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

A dim red LED is standard need for amateur astronomers. I put red filters to all the internal lights if my car and to several flashlights. I also use a special red screen with my iPhone.
Perhaps they should produce an "Astronomer lite" SAK with red light, a Cybertool with lots of philips and hex bits, a magnifier, a compass/ spirit level, a 5mw Green Laser Pointer, a dust brush and a blower, a bottle opener and flat driver and a nice image of Saturn or Andromeda on the scale.
Sorry for off topic.

All of the red lights available on the market for astronomy right now that I know, save for one, are not true night vision red lights.  They are typically in the 620 - 630 nm range of the visible spectrum, which is technically the 'red-orange' range.  A true night vision red needs to be in the 660+ nm range to be out of the range of the wavelengths that the rods are sensitive to, with their peak response occurring at frequencies of 505 nm in wavelength.

The only true deep red light that I know of that's on the market today is made by a company called Rigel Systems.  I forget what it's called, but a quick Goo-fu session should find it.

With respect to night vision issues in general, our dark adapted vision, when we're operating only on rod based input, only occurs in extremely low levels of light.  The visual information transmitted by rods is color blind, despite their maximum sensitivity being at a wavelength that corresponds to teal or turquoise.  In other words, when truly dark adapted, in what's called scotopic vision, we are literally color blind.  Thus, any light, as long as it's of a low enough intensity, will suffice to protect dark adapted scotopic vision.  The quick rule of thumb is that for any light you're using while dark adapted, is that if you can see the color of the light, it's too bright and you are activating your cone systems and going into photopic vision, thus undoing your dark adaptation.

[kirk13]

I have both.

I'm never without a Rambler/Manager.I've carried the 74mm twice.

The 74 lacks utility for the size,and has no Philips,and is too cumbersome for keyri...I'm just repeating what Al already said

The end of the Executive's nailfile works as a phillips for light duty.  That nailfile is actually one of my favorite implements on the Executive

So I've heard mate,but it was a complete fail for me at work.

As much as I hate to say it,I could probably get away with a Rambler as my only SAK  at work.Not going to,but I could...

[firiki]

Alox Rambler for me. Were there a #1 Phillips combo tool on the Executive then I'd be all for the Executive, again with alox scales. I wonder if there would be a risk of over-torquing the combo tool on a 74mm frame. I think there wouldn't be, not without abuse anyway.

Ideally, I'd like an Executive with the combo tool and a slightly larger small blade with either a wharncliff or a clip point pattern, clad in red nylon scales. That way I could finally EDC tweezers and toothpick on my person without a Swisscard that I don't care about but I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon, which is a shame because I find tweezers and toothpick very handy. An Executive like that would be an excellent companion to my EDC Pioneer that I don't like to whip out in public unless it is absolutely necessary.

However, I think the Executive might be the ideal SAK for my wife. I know she likes the Classic I got her so it might be worth a try.

[microbe]

Sometimes I throw an executive in my pocket for light carry days, or as a people friendly knife if I carry a larger blade. I recently picked up a Wenger Eloxi, it is a little larger and knife only, but it serves the same purpose. The 58mm alox Minichamp on my keyring has got all the small tools if needed.