30 day Climber Challenge

[Refrigerator]

Someone will have to do a 30 day swiss champ challenge soon

...someone named Refrigerator. ;-)

If you don't, then I will borrow my brother's Swisschamp and do it myself for December.

What do you say?

I haven't brought myself to buy one yet! If you do one it might tempt me

[Smaug]

I used the Climber yesterday to cut up a steak. I'd brought it to work as a left-over from the previous night's dinner. Grabbed a plastic fork and butter knife. I'd overcooked the steak,  so it was tough enough that it was very hard to cut it with that plastic butter knife. So I whipped out the Climber.

I was playing chess while eating lunch, and didn't want to go full-on geek at that moment, so no pix, sorry.

I pained me to have to wipe off the blade and leave some grease residue on it, but that's part of why I hold back this large blade as the "food blade." The small "utility blade" was still clean and sharp.

Later, I used some hot tea to clean the grease off of the large blade.

Oh, and by the way: You lot who said: "I'm out, because I accidentally grabbed the xxx on the way out." I'm not sure I buy that. We are not the type who pick an MT/SAK without knowing what it is, are we? 

[Smaug]

I haven't brought myself to buy one (Swisschamp) yet! If you do one it might tempt me

Now that it is as cold as a witch's tit here, it dawned on me that I don't necessarily need to carry it in my pants pocket or belt pouch; I can just carry it in my jacket pocket.

The only fly in the ointment is that my bro's Swisschamp needs work. It needs

• A scissors spring
• A pen
• An eyeglass screwdriver
• A sharpening

I guess I could replace the scissors spring and just borrow the other missing parts from one of my SAKs. I have never given the Swisschamp an honest shot. I like the idea of having a file, but don't really need the pliers, fish hook disgorger, or wood saw. I like the idea of having a chisel though.

Typing that out reminds me why I bought a CyberTool 34. I think maybe a CyberTool Lite might be my "Ultimate non-locking Thick SAK." 

[Smaug]

The Climber just served Steak Knife Duty again today, and I'm just brewing the tea now to clean the blade.

[Ross]

Day two was a dead end as far as an Climber action - Day three on the other hand started with a little battery replacement for my baby's toy, My first though was nooooooo I don't have a phillips screwdriver - Who needs one of these when you can use the small flat head 



Then a little package to open - just a old Farmer I picked up hahaha

[Smaug]

It's been a slow couple of days for the Climber. I used the toothpick many times. I seem to have round teeth that attract food to stay between them. I also used the toothpick today to clean pocket lint out of the joints of the knife. It builds up FAST when it is carried every day and still has the factory oil in it...

Yesterday, I opened a package of ground turkey with the utility blade. (attached)

Today, I used the reamer as a fork for fruit. (attached) I have a plastic spoon here at my desk, but some of the pieces are too big or slippery for a spoon.

I went to open another bottle of wine yesterday, (  )but it has a twist-off cap. Corkscrews will soon be obsolete in ADDITION to can openers, it seems. 

[Thunderpants]

How strange...I bought a penknife a few years ago, which I lost. I thought it was a Huntsman - for some reason I remember there being a saw on it. I just found the damn thing in a box of tools and it turns out it's a Climber! No saw. I must have imagined it!

So now, halfway through the month, I can join in the 30 day challenge. Or I could. Somehow in the last few hours I've lost it again. Maybe I'll find it again tomorrow...

I did take the opportunity to compare it with my Spartan. That extra layer really makes it look chunky. Just for scissors? (And the parcel carrier, hahahahah! Lot of use that is.) It seems quite a bulky knife, but then compared to my trusty Bantam, anything looks chunky.

[Thunderpants]

PS mine looks the same as Smaug's. Black, but more scuffed and missing toothpick and tweezers. So if anyone sees it lying around...

[Lynn LeFey]

I did take the opportunity to compare it with my Spartan. That extra layer really makes it look chunky. Just for scissors? (And the parcel carrier, hahahahah! Lot of use that is.) It seems quite a bulky knife, but then compared to my trusty Bantam, anything looks chunky.

I find the Climber at just about the maximum thickness for me. I had an explorer (4 layer) that I thought was a bit much, and the 6-layer Handyman is WAY too thick, IMO, for everyday carry. Although... man, it's crammed with tools.

Today, my scissors got to trim down a bag of chips I was grazing from, opened a beer bottle, and opened my can of soup for lunch. Also, used the small blade to cut open an uncooperative 12-pack of Becks beer bottles for my Brother-in-law.

My husband was picking up a suit from Men's Warehouse yesterday and I asked them for a straight pin which is now riding in my Climber. I don't know if it's extra thick or what, but it's an extremely tight fit in the handle, but it's in there securely, and I can remove it without too much effort.

So far, minus some jewelry modification which required TWO tools with pliers, the Climber has handled every task I've needed tools for since I've been here.

[Thunderpants]

I misread that as "Also, used the small blade to cut an uncooperative 12-pack of Becks beer bottles from my Brother-in-law"

So I wondered for a moment if he'd frozen to death or something, clutching the beers. But I'm glad it wasn't that dramatic!

[sawman]

I misread that as "Also, used the small blade to cut an uncooperative 12-pack of Becks beer bottles from my Brother-in-law"

So I wondered for a moment if he'd frozen to death or something, clutching the beers. But I'm glad it wasn't that dramatic!

I had pictured something similar 

[Lynn LeFey]

I did neglect to mention that I used the large blade to 'procure' the beer FROM him.     

[sawman]

I did neglect to mention that I used the large blade to 'procure' the beer FROM him.     

I don't doubt that! 

[Lynn LeFey]

I'm just going to go ahead and skip 'opened beer' on my daily updates. But, just so you know, it's still happening.

We are digging through the house of my recently deceased father-in-law. The small blade on the Climber is cutting open multitudes of old boxes.

Also used the flathead driver to help assemble a crib for the soon-to-arrive 2-year-old nephew, showing up today with my sister-in-law for the viewing tomorrow.

The scissors trimmed down another chip bag.

[Thunderpants]

Talking of cribs, I had to disassemble one today (we had it up for some visitors  - well, their kid) --- but it was held together with big fat hexagonal screws, so Victorinox let me down big time on that one. Makita and Bosch came to the rescue.

Re-found my Climber though! Already used it for uh, nothing, apart from wondering why it's called a Climber. Do Climbers clip their nails more than the rest of us?

[Lynn LeFey]

Yesterday, the scissors got a work-out on various tasks.

The last of them was to remove a plastic toy horse from a package for my nephew. It was held in place by about a hundred little plastic ties. snip-snip-snip... then I got to a 'tough one'. Uuuummmm.... it turns out there was a wire in it, and... sad to report, I notched the scissor blade so badly that the tool wouldn't close. I had to take the file from the Handyman to remove the bur on the scissor blade. They still work well enough, but have a defect very near the tip now. There you go, the first real beating-up-the-tool test on my 30-day challenge.

[Monrogue]

Yesterday, the scissors got a work-out on various tasks.

The last of them was to remove a plastic toy horse from a package for my nephew. It was held in place by about a hundred little plastic ties. snip-snip-snip... then I got to a 'tough one'. Uuuummmm.... it turns out there was a wire in it, and... sad to report, I notched the scissor blade so badly that the tool wouldn't close. I had to take the file from the Handyman to remove the bur on the scissor blade. They still work well enough, but have a defect very near the tip now. There you go, the first real beating-up-the-tool test on my 30-day challenge.

I thought all those little plastic ties had wire in them?  Either way, I hate the smurfing things   They make sure you're not going to get the toy out without a fight.  At least they provide us with a reason to use our MTs/SAKs   Although I'm sorry you ended up with damaged scissors, especially since the scissors are your most used tool (if I remember correctly ).  Although it sounds like the bottle opener has proven rather useful lately

[Smaug]

Lynn, I'm sorry to hear of yours and your husband's loss.

Glad to hear that the Climber is making things a little easier to cope with. I've got a couple of photo updates coming, but no time to do them now. Later this evening, probably.

Similar to Lynn, I've done the wine & cheese routine a few more times with my Climber. I was thinking a similar same thing to what Thunderpants was: The Climber has a corkscrew instead of the T-Phillips of the Super Tinker. Does that mean climbers drink more wine in Switzerland than handymen?  No, it is just a fun name for the knife that mostly fits the tool needs of that kind of hobbyist.

[Smaug]

I used the Climber a bit ago during my lunchtime walk. We had storms and 35 mph winds this weekend. There were some yellow plastic police-line-style banners between some barricades in the parking lot here at work, and some of those were blown all over the place.

One of them was blown off of the barricades, and was half in a tree and half in the weeds, right across the walking trail.

Out came the Climber, and I cut that "police line" with the large blade. No need to pick it up, as it was still held fast by the tree and weeds. One of our facilities guys will clean it up when he cleans up the rest of the carnage, I'm sure.

[Smaug]

• Removing a fuseholder to check the fuse rating and certification info
  
• Removing the Phillips screws to remove the cover of a step-down toroidal transformer case
• Opened a can of evaporated milk for this awesome Bacon Swiss Meatloaf recipe.

During my grocery shopping, I was buying some canned fruits and vegetables. I had to stay away from Del Monte, because they have pop tops, and if I had those, I wouldn't need my trusty can opener. ;)

[Smaug]

Tonight, I ran out of wine. So I figured I would go out for some exercise.

I grabbed my courier bag, hopped on my bicycle, and rode down to the grocery store. Picked up 6 bottles of wine ranging from $4 to $6 per bottle. (10% discount when one buys 6, and a free wine bag)

This place is too expensive to buy produce usually. But this time, I'd had a light dinner of meatloaf and wanted dessert. So I also picked up a fresh Honeycrisp apple. ($0.55) Sorry for the dark pic; my crappy phone doesn't have an LED light. You can just make out the tops of the wine bottles in my bag.  The Climber is hiding in the shadows, and the apple practically is glowing in the dark, it is so bright by comparison.

Outside the store, I peeled that with the Climber and ate it on the spot.

Then, rode home and deployed the Climber once again to de-cork a bottle of California merlot, which I'm sipping now. (refer to earlier pix for the decorking process)

[firiki]

I went to open another bottle of wine yesterday, (  )but it has a twist-off cap. Corkscrews will soon be obsolete in ADDITION to can openers, it seems. 

I guess I'd better stock up some more SAKs with these features while I still can, then. 

[Ross]

Very quick update on Days 4 5 6 7 and 8 - I have been a little bit busy to write up full accounts but this is what my and my trusty friend have been up too -

Using the small flat head to remove some power sockets (like the light switches from Day 1) -

I then used the large flat head and small knife to scrape alot of paint from my door bell (the people who owned the house before me decided not to take care while painting the walls) and this took me an age as it was a mix of matt and gloss but I must say its come up like new.

Opened a couple of boxes from Amazon, for the other half - She does not ask me to do this I just do  (an excuse)

And this morning I used the hook to take my rubbish from the garden to the front of the house for collection - Its starting to get cold and wet and I hate taking the rubbish out getting wet hands.

I am really having a lot of fun in this Challenge - Its actually nice to use one knife all the time for a set amount of time. 


I almost for got I used my main knife to cut up my rack of ribs 

[kmanct3]

Finally something other than the usual steak and salmon cutting, removing trim plates and airbag connectors on a Mercedes seat that I need to remove

[kmanct3]

Cut my apple and cheese at lunch while reading Vic stories

[Smaug]

Finally something other than the usual steak and salmon cutting...

Just out of curiosity, how are you cleaning the large blade after cutting something greasy when you're away from home?

I've been using hot tea. The highly-polished blade doesn't seem to require soap to get clean, most times, even with something oily!

[kmanct3]

Baby wipes or I usually keep a couple alcohol pads like you find in wiper blade packages in my wallet.

[Smaug]

Baby wipes! Brilliant! Lord knows I have enough of them floating around...

[Lynn LeFey]

I cut a bunch of bubble wrap to help my sister-in-law pack a bunch of china. Main blade did the job smartly.

I used the can opener blade edge yesterday to pry open a very tight fitting lid on a stack of silver coins. It was perfect for the task.

[kmanct3]

I used the hook today to pull the storm windows out and to pull up my steamer filled with broccoli and string beans. sorry no pics