30-Day Victorinox Classic SD Challenge!

[getahl]

I love the 58mm sized SAKs, particularly the Classic. It's usually my only carry at work during the week. Really. The only thing it comes out for is to cut the plastic strap off the box of printer paper once every week or two.

[Jothra]

I imagine a Classic can probably hold its own until after work, when I get real.

So, the green monster thingy is Jothra and the scared dude is Little Mac?

It's simpler than that. The monster is a monster, the guy is me, and the knife in my hand is a yellow Classic. I call it "Jothra Getting Real."

Anyway, go ahead, show the coconut who's boss

Hopefully they have one in town. If not, road trip!

[ducttapetech]

Scared the smurf out of me. Thought you was suggesting a Classic 30 day for everyone.

Would be interesting challenge though, maybe a Rambler/Manager 30 day?

As for another one of Jothra's trademark 30 day adventures in abuse 

If it was for everyone, I would have failed in the first 30 seconds.

Nate

[cbl51]

I love it, a classic challenge!

The classic has long been a favorite pocket knife of mine, to the extent that I made a leather pouch sheath to put on my keyring, so I can't leave the house without it, but it's easy to access for use when I need it. I use the knife blade to open mail, packages, and cut any twine that I deal with. The scissors trim nails, clip coupons, trims nose and mustache hairs, and fine stuff. The SD nail file blade deals with both smaLL flat and phillps screws, lightly pries things that are too much for a thumb nail.

The classic is maybe the most under estimated pocket knife aside from the Case peanut.





Sometimes small is a good thing.

[Caranthanus]

May the Force be with you



 

[Jothra]

Day 1!

     There were no seriously difficult challenges on Day 1, which is probably for the best -- we wouldn't want to give the plot away to this unwary tool before we have a chance to get really cruel!
     I was, as you may recall, unsure the tool could cut a Standard Building Material Shaped Cheddar Cheese Block What You Find In Canada^TM. Good news! The blade is a little longer than half the width of the most likely cheese block culprit, as evidenced in what I assure you is not an action shot:

Not an action shot. Plus, it's too cheesy.

     I honestly thought that would be more puzzling. It dealt fine with one (1) standard Hutterite bun, as well.

These things are SO DELICIOUS YOU GUYS.
I mean the buns. Not the Classics.
That is a whole other 30-Day Challenge I don't want to be a part of.

     Also done today: fingernails! Toenails! No other kinds of nails! I cut and filed the fingernails, but just square-cut the toenails. The big toenail is one big toenail, but it is still no match for...
     ...wait a minute...
     ...the Classic doesn't have a name yet!
     There weren't a lot of suggestions (fair enough -- who names their Classics?), but here are the ones that trickled in:

• Joey
• Jesse
• Little Mac
• Homie (My sister's idea. She's a weirdo. I like that about her.)
• Vera (A friend's idea. I can't call him weird, because I know exactly where he got this idea.

     So after a little programming (again, because I never think to save the bloody PHP randomizification script), here are the names is the Computron Randomificationalizationobot's (Pat. Pend.) new and random order: Little Mac, Vera, Johnny, Jesse, and finally Homie.
     Little Mac it is! It's an apt name, though unbelievably (to some, I'm sure) I had no idea who Little Mac was until about a month ago, when I stumbled on him in a Glove and Boots short on the Youtubes. Mike Tyson's Punch Out? Try Mike Tyson's I'ma Eat Your Ear Off.
     So, as Little Mac sits smugly, thinking this means the whole month is going to be some kind of cakewalk (or piewalk! Yum!), we prepare for the horrors to come following Day 1!

[Jothra]

Just had a thought.

Postpone the 30 day Jothra challenge so we have time to beg, borrow or steal a 58mm and then Jothra can host a 58mm challenge concurrent with his 30 day. 

I must have missed this in the flurry of activity last night. I plan to go on with my challenge as-is, which puts my last day on February 9^th, and my Challenge Wrap-Up on February 10^th. However (there's a however), if there is enough interest to run a concurrent 30-Day 58mm Group Challenge, I will continue to pocket the Classic until the end of that challenge as well, and add a second wrap-up the day after that challenge ends. I'll totally do it, you guys. Either way, I'm good.

[HarleyXJGuy]

Just had a thought.

Postpone the 30 day Jothra challenge so we have time to beg, borrow or steal a 58mm and then Jothra can host a 58mm challenge concurrent with his 30 day. 

I must have missed this in the flurry of activity last night. I plan to go on with my challenge as-is, which puts my last day on February 9^th, and my Challenge Wrap-Up on February 10^th. However (there's a however), if there is enough interest to run a concurrent 30-Day 58mm Group Challenge, I will continue to pocket the Classic until the end of that challenge as well, and add a second wrap-up the day after that challenge ends. I'll totally do it, you guys. Either way, I'm good.

Ok so that seals the deal.

Jothra is hosting a 31 day 58mm challenge starting February 11th, thanks buddy.

[Jothra]

I'll set up another thread to avoid confusion. I might also suggest giving people a couple of days to find their victims.

[Breezy12]

I imagine a Classic can probably hold its own until after work, when I get real.

So, the green monster thingy is Jothra and the scared dude is Little Mac?

It's simpler than that. The monster is a monster, the guy is me, and the knife in my hand is a yellow Classic. I call it "Jothra Getting Real."

this might be my favorite post on MTo... ever.

[Caranthanus]

  fingers crossed for Little Mac

[Jothra]

Day 2!

     Nothing exciting happened today. All Little Mac did was cut a lot of Scotch tape for the book covers we made in school, cut some chicken at lunch, tighten a Robertson screw on an Ikea-style cabinet, and (with its toothpick) clean the charging contacts on my Fitbit. Nothing exciting at all.

     JUST KIDDING IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME YOU GUYS

     I did, in fact, do all the ordinary day-to-day things above (though the Fitbit contacts rarely need said cleaning), but I also managed to take care of one of the things on my Horrible List:

• I will, if I can swing it, open at least one can. Of all the things on this list, I think this will be the most difficult.

     I'm still not sure I believe this worked, but the evidence (i.e. the fact that it did, in fact work) suggests that it did, in fact, work. I used the scissors to open a can of refried beans. I decided the metal was probably thinnest and easiest to work around the sides, so I punched in a scissor blade, and did a pry-cut sort of thing around the entire can.

Finishing the initial incision.

The actual cutting part.

     It took something like a minute and a half to two minutes to complete the can, and holy crap it worked. Surprisingly, it didn't even destroy the scissors. I tried them on paper, and they both scissored and push-cut fairly well. Then I ran over each scissor blade five times with a small ceramic rod, and they behaved like new.

Left: Immediately after opening the can. Right: behaving like new. Hanging out: the ceramic rod.

     I'm not normally a video person, but I did catch the last 20 seconds or so of cutting with my cell phone. I've attached it to this post. I apologize for the vertical filming; I've never used this camera's video function before.
     The verdict? Victorinox Classic: it can uncan. It's slower than anything, and it's probably not good for the tool, but it is absolutely possible to open a can with it in a serious (and I mean serious) pinch.

     Day 2 is Cansday!

P.S. Edit: Don't ask me why the video does that weird size-changing transition thing. I don't recall telling it to do that.

P.P.S. Edit: I learned how to upload to Youtube for this. I feel dirty.

[Monrogue]

It will be very interesting/entertaining to see what level of abuse the Classic can handle  

[Higgins617]

Well you've already shocked me.....

[Jothra]

I imagine a Classic can probably hold its own until after work, when I get real.

So, the green monster thingy is Jothra and the scared dude is Little Mac?

It's simpler than that. The monster is a monster, the guy is me, and the knife in my hand is a yellow Classic. I call it "Jothra Getting Real."

this might be my favorite post on MTo... ever.

Thank you! It was a lot of fun.

It will be very interesting/entertaining to see what level of abuse the Classic can handle  

I seriously didn't expect this to work.

Well you've already shocked me.....

I've already shocked myself.

[Etherealicer]

 

I'm speechless... poor Little Mac. Great test, great tool that definitively boxes outside its weight class
Now we need to persuade Lynn, so she tests all the other scissors (91mm, Micra, CrossCut...)

[DazMechanical]

I thought the scissors would be totally ruined after that, i thought the scissors would break before they could get half way around the can... I guess not. Great work Jothra

[mrog]

I love the classic so much! What a great thread. I plan on reading every post Good to know it can open some tuna in a survival situation :p

[SAK Guy]

[Grathr]

Holy smurf!
A very ingenious way to open a can!


Sent from a device made from star dust using tapatalk

[Caranthanus]

SAK rules, Jothra as well

 

[Fast Bill]

So far so Can-tastic !

[Jothra]

Day 3 was pretty boring. I'll lump it in with today's Day 4 report.

[Etherealicer]

Day 3 was pretty boring. I'll lump it in with today's Day 4 report.

I fear a bit for our little friend...

[RT1969]

I like this challenge! 

But as it is everywhere with theory and execution: I totally failed to open a bottle cap with my Classic. 

I tried to bend the sides outwards with the nailfile. (Does this explanation make sense?)
But there was so much torsional flexing going on and the file did fold three times without bending the cap loose enough. So I decided that the safety of the tool and my fingers was paramount, and used a normal caplifter. 

I am not sure whether I should call myself a participant, but I try to use my EDC Classic for the next month - Maybe I get some good pictures and stories uploaded at least.

[Etherealicer]

I like this challenge! 

But as it is everywhere with theory and execution: I totally failed to open a bottle cap with my Classic. 

I tried to bend the sides outwards with the nailfile. (Does this explanation make sense?)
But there was so much torsional flexing going on and the file did fold three times without bending the cap loose enough. So I decided that the safety of the tool and my fingers was paramount, and used a normal caplifter. 

I am not sure whether I should call myself a participant, but I try to use my EDC Classic for the next month - Maybe I get some good pictures and stories uploaded at least.

This is on my to try list. Supposedly, there are 31 ways to do it without cap lifter

[RT1969]

Oh Bugger, I just realized I posted in the wrong thread

Sorry Jothra, my post should have been in the Group Challenge thread. I had no intention of hijacking your thread. 

[Jothra]

     Okay, so Day 3 was mostly a montage of construction paper slicing. I was folding sheets into horizontal quarters, and slicing them apart with the main blade. It was mightily effective. Also there was cheese. Cheese is the tasties.

     It was Day 4 that the scissors were at it again.

Day 4

     At work, Day 4 was more of the same; slice, slice, slice, goes the paper! It was not exciting. I did not win any medals, or even a toaster oven.

     At home, though, I decided enough was enough. So I found a piece of MDF Ikea shelf that I will never use. Its most notable feature, aside from a decently applied woodgrain veneer, is its total lack of holes.

     I will be making a bad pun before this is over. You have been warned.

This mustn't 'er bin a churchgoin' board, 'cause it shore ain't holey.

That wasn't the pun.

     When it comes down to a choice between the scissors and the main blade for use as a reamer, the scissors seem like a better choice. Their blades are each about the same width as the knife blade, only with a scissorly chisel grind, which makes for a stronger edge (escpecially given my horrible plan). Also, while using the scissor blade with the direct-to-tool attachment point, the "floater" blade can act as a lever.

This looks worse than it is. Actually, no it doesn't.

     I basically turned the thing like a key until I had a hole as deep as the scissor blade could go. This just barely got me to the other side, so I reamed in from the opposite direction, as well. Here is the final result, in Camera Auto Focus Tries To Make Me Look Clever-o-Vision^TM:

There's Little Mac down there, looking sharp.

That wasn't the pun, either.

     I also decided to put a nice lanyard hole in my plunger handle, in case I ever decide to pocket carry my plunger.

Note my use of the free-floating blade to turn the active reaming one.

     I had to go in from both sides again, but it worked:

A little sanding, or maybe some rasping with the main blade, and this will be as pretty as a lanyard hole on a plunger can be.

     I will now use the magic of prolepsis to answer your next question: the blade is still 100% sharp. It's cutting like a dream. I just cut a toenail with it, not to mention ordinary, boring paper. I'm not even going to strop this thing.

     I knew you could do something like this with the scissors on a Compact, but I wasn't sure the smaller scissors could handle it. It could have been a disaster, but awls well that ends well.
     Yes, that was the pun.
     I'm sorry. And you're welcome.

     Here's to a successful Day 4! Now to borrow a page from Etherealicer's book and open a beer with the nailfile.

[Jothra]

Okay...I can see this whole "two cuts per slice of cheese" thing losing its quaint, country-house charm any minute now.

[Etherealicer]

So, on day 4 you PUNished the scissors again, that seems hardly fair

I'm surprised how well the scissors hold up. The tiny classic is doing a good job so far.