Your first SAK?

[tinkertailor]

I'm sure someone else has done this kind of thing before on MTO, but I think it'd be wonderful to hear what people have to say about the SAK that started it all for them--their first. So: tell me all about it. How you got it, what model, how old you were, the adventures you two had. Tell me everything, good or bad. I wanna know. Was a SAK your first knife? Do you still have it? If not, what happened?
Tell. Me. EVERYTHING.

[twiliter]

Super Tinker, abt 16-17 (hazy), loved it and carried it and used it everywhere. Lost in the Abyss years later when I upgraded to a Deluxe Tinker. Honestly can't remember what ever happened to it, the only one I can say that about. Also in my collection (150 +/-) of SAK's, I still haven't replaced it. 

[Rich S]

An old Champion (that I still have put away). Carried it backpacking in the mountains for years. When I couldn't do that anymore, I switched to a Deluxe Tinker or Tinker (if pocket carried).
Rich

[twiliter]

I will also add how satisfying it was when my friends had their Case peanuts or Old Timer trappers, while I could break out with SUPERKNIFE. Very empowering as I recall.

[SAK Guy]

A Champion bought new at an Army/Navy surplus store in '73. Carried it camping/hunting/backpacking and EDC for years. Lived with it in Europe on a 3 month travel/backpack trip. It was lost in the '06 fire. 

[kosmo]

Mine was a Wenger when I as about 14 y.o. or so.  Some kind of standard model, probably two layer.  I think I still have it somewhere, but I haven seen it.  I didn't get another one until many years later on a trip to Switzerland and I got a Champion.

[windson]

Swisschamp bought at the age of 9, 30 years ago. Sent it back to Switzerland to the spa this year and it came back all new and made me remember when I first bought it. Good times!

[Zed]

Mine was a spartan,my aunty got it for me around 1981ish,she was and is the reason i collect stuff,she took me too markets,carboot sales etc,sadly she passed away from cancer 5 years ago,i really miss her,luckily i still have that spartan, 

[firiki]

Mine was a Excelsior I got when I was 11 or 12, soon followed by a Classic.

I lost the Excelsior a few years later in the woods and had the Classic confiscated at the stadium's entrance at age 14.

[firiki]

... ,luckily i still have that spartan, 

Nylon scales?

[Zed]

... ,luckily i still have that spartan, 

Nylon scales?

its the wrong picture, i cant change it now,i tried,

[firiki]

... ,luckily i still have that spartan, 

Nylon scales?

its the wrong picture, i cant change it now,i tried,

You can edit the post and select the pic to be removed.

[Fast Bill]

I was given a Vic Fisherman on holiday in South Africa. Must've been 1974. Proper inlaid metal fish *sighs nostalgically* and the fish scaler pointy prod/poke tool. Loved the multi-toolness of it before that became a proper word. Lost it at school a few years later. Still looking out for another ...

[Zed]

... ,luckily i still have that spartan, 

Nylon scales?

its the wrong picture, i cant change it now,i tried,

You can edit the post and select the pic to be removed.

Fixed 

[firiki]

... ,luckily i still have that spartan, 

Nylon scales?

its the wrong picture, i cant change it now,i tried,

You can edit the post and select the pic to be removed.

Fixed 

[tinkertailor]

A Champion bought new at an Army/Navy surplus store in '73. Carried it camping/hunting/backpacking and EDC for years. Lived with it in Europe on a 3 month travel/backpack trip. It was lost in the '06 fire. 

So sorry for your loss, of the knife and any other beloved item lost in the fire...

[tinkertailor]

Mine was a spartan,my aunty got it for me around 1981ish,she was and is the reason i collect stuff,she took me too markets,carboot sales etc,sadly she passed away from cancer 5 years ago,i really miss her,luckily i still have that spartan, 

What a beaut!

[kirk13]

Tinker. My dad bought me it when we were in Switzerland on a tour. Had from being 12 to my late twenties when it got stolen,and I'm still bitter about it.

Last year Terry was able to grab a SmallTinker of the same spec for me of eBay,so,I at least have much the same type again

[sir_mike]

My first was the actual/original "Boy Scout" type knife that was sold right where the Boy Scout uniforms were sold back then when I was 11 or 12.  It looked like it has black/brown wooden scales and the tools like a Pioneer and a bali.  I carried that for a short time til a weekend camping ordeal and I loaned it out but never got it back.  I then picked up the Tinker (small one) shortly after returning from the camping trip and carried that Tinker for like 25+ years til it developed too much play in it to be safe to use.  I think it is still around here unless I finally throw it out cause I didn't want to spend like $20 to ship it to them and back.

Now I will have to hunt for it and see if it is still around! 

[Edward Scissorhands]

Mine was the Woodsman, purchased in 1984 after I learned I would be expected to cut things myself on a new job. Sadly, I don't have a picture and it's long gone, gifted to a coworker friend of mine. To get an idea of what it looked like, consider today's Huntsman. What a gloriously useful thing it was! I didn't part with it until I'd acquired a Champion.

[hiraethus]

My first was a Spartan, bought with a day's wages from the hardware shop I worked in when I was a teenager (in 1993 or 4, I guess).  Carried it every day for seven or eight years through school, university and my first job and still have it now.

[classicrock]

Swisschamp! My dad bought it around 1987 and gave it to me in 2001. At that time I used to carry the SC as daily EDC, but since I carry 2 to 4 layers SAK, I leave my SC at home.

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[Modern SAK]

Didn't even touch a sak until a couple years ago. Maybe it's just Texas, but I've never even seen one or someone use one. My first knife was a Kershaw and I'm still a fan. Had a couple leathermans. Older guys had stockmans. All my stuff came from sporting goods stores. As I got more into knives I started going online and I realized that the perfect pocket multitool had been hiding from me my whole life. Without ever seeing one, I instinctively knew what it was. I knew macguyver used it! I knew the boyscouts needed them.

So I got a classic sd because I was enjoying my leatherman juice s2 and all my other knives. Got some ramblers. Then I figured I should go all out and get an alox minichamp haha.

Then I noticed the cadet. Silver. Oh how I admired that little thing. I think thats been my favorite knife to date. I tried a few others, I really loved the small tinker. Enjoyed the delemont evolution 11 too. Would like an evogrip 16 to play with. I prefer a smaller tool for my pockets. But yeah the classic sd was my first.

Since discovering Saks, the only places I've noticed them is the academy sports and outdoors, and a certain knife store. Neither store had the cadet. The academy only had 3 or 4 models. Target has none. I avoid Walmart, they might have a classic. Saks should be in every gas station. There should be a sak kiosk in the mall.

[classicrock]

Didn't even touch a sak until a couple years ago. Maybe it's just Texas, but I've never even seen one or someone use one. My first knife was a Kershaw and I'm still a fan. Had a couple leathermans. Older guys had stockmans. All my stuff came from sporting goods stores. As I got more into knives I started going online and I realized that the perfect pocket multitool had been hiding from me my whole life. Without ever seeing one, I instinctively knew what it was. I knew macguyver used it! I knew the boyscouts needed them.

So I got a classic sd because I was enjoying my leatherman juice s2 and all my other knives. Got some ramblers. Then I figured I should go all out and get an alox minichamp haha.

Then I noticed the cadet. Silver. Oh how I admired that little thing. I think thats been my favorite knife to date. I tried a few others, I really loved the small tinker. Enjoyed the delemont evolution 11 too. Would like an evogrip 16 to play with. I prefer a smaller tool for my pockets. But yeah the classic sd was my first.

Since discovering Saks, the only places I've noticed them is the academy sports and outdoors, and a certain knife store. Neither store had the cadet. The academy only had 3 or 4 models. Target has none. I avoid Walmart, they might have a classic. Saks should be in every gas station. There should be a sak kiosk in the mall.

Lucky me! It was easy to find a lots of SAK here. Of course at the mall



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[NetsNJ]

My uncle bought me a Wenger Serrated Toolchest for my thirteenth birthday, (15 years ago ).  I've loved SAKs, and have had a weakness for Wenger ever since.

My first Victorinox, later that year:

[kirk13]

Didn't even touch a sak until a couple years ago. Maybe it's just Texas, but I've never even seen one or someone use one. My first knife was a Kershaw and I'm still a fan. Had a couple leathermans. Older guys had stockmans. All my stuff came from sporting goods stores. As I got more into knives I started going online and I realized that the perfect pocket multitool had been hiding from me my whole life. Without ever seeing one, I instinctively knew what it was. I knew macguyver used it! I knew the boyscouts needed them.

So I got a classic sd because I was enjoying my leatherman juice s2 and all my other knives. Got some ramblers. Then I figured I should go all out and get an alox minichamp haha.

Then I noticed the cadet. Silver. Oh how I admired that little thing. I think thats been my favorite knife to date. I tried a few others, I really loved the small tinker. Enjoyed the delemont evolution 11 too. Would like an evogrip 16 to play with. I prefer a smaller tool for my pockets. But yeah the classic sd was my first.

Since discovering Saks, the only places I've noticed them is the academy sports and outdoors, and a certain knife store. Neither store had the cadet. The academy only had 3 or 4 models. Target has none. I avoid Walmart, they might have a classic. Saks should be in every gas station. There should be a sak kiosk in the mall.

Lucky me! It was easy to find a lots of SAK here. Of course at the mall

(Image removed from quote.)

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So many yellows

[AimlessWanderer]

After many years of just being a pocket knife user, I decided to give multitools a try, and as part of the research I ended up on a forum for every day carry. Thankfully someone rescued me from that forum and brought me here. It seemed lots of people kept going on enthusiastically about the Swiss Army Knives. I'd come across these things before, and a couple of friends had them - cheapish uninspiring little red plastic handled thingies. How can you get all excited about those?

Eventually, having been seduced by the brand by buying a Swisstool CS Plus after my Gerber Suspension was so disappointing) I succumbed to temptation and got myself a Tourist. Wow! Excellent little pocket tool. I didn't conquer the world with it or anything, but now I could see what all the fuss was about. Next stop was Leatherman to see what all the fuss was about there. Huge disappointment! Back to Swiss army knives again, but this time I wanted scissors. Why was I so stupid to buy one without scissors the first time? Enter the Deluxe Tinker. My first "meaningful" contribution to the forum was a comparison between this and a Juice CS4. Victorinox won!

After that I started trying all kinds of different tools, knives, SAKs, everything. I learn't a lot, not just buy owning and trying different stuff, but listening to people here. People from across the world in different walks of life, finding different pros and cons to different tools. I have given away the Gerber Suspension and the (first) CS4, and have just sold the Swisstool CS plus. I traded away the Deluxe Tinker too. The little Tourist, crippled by it's lack of scissors is still here, and still gets occasional carry.

That Tourist knife is really nothing special, other than being the key to unlocking a whole new outlook, and the first lesson that cheap isn't always bad. It was the gateway drug that got me hooked. Since then I have tried an embarrassing amount of different tools and carry options, made many friends across the globe, but always struggled to get rid of the surplus tools. I'm just in the process of fixing that, and getting rid of pliers tool, SAKs, and oodles of other stuff.

That little Tourist is staying put though. It's earned it's place here, even if it's abilities are limited. It's still worth much more in the pocket than converted back to currency

[cody6268]

My first knife was an USA-made Schrade Old Timer stockman, which was a knife my grandfather carried.  Several more came in that two year period, mostly more beaters from my grandfather's collection and cheap new ones from local stores.  Then came my first SAK, the Fieldmaster in '06 or '07. My next was the Classic SD, which I hated.  It was too tiny for anything I really needed to do. This year, I've bought almost a dozen more (mostly cheap and used), ranging from the MiniChamp (which has regained my trust in the 58mm frame size), all the way up to the brand new Soldier '08 (I paid $40 for it! Yikes!).   The Fieldmaster has largely been upstaged various other SAKs and Leathermans, and a pair of lineman's pliers for when I have to cut heavy wire (Leathermans fail on the 60 plus year old fence wire and barbed wire on the property). 

The Fieldmaster and Old Timer are usually no longer carried since it has great sentimental value, and the Fieldmaster has been replaced with a Craftsman, since it has many more tools, and was already used when I got it, and since I paid $15 for it, not a great loss if something happens to it.   

[MadPlumbarian]

There she is, a swiss champion plus, this can be a long story so I'll make it short. My grandfather had one and I sooo wanted it, so he bought one for me as a first when I turned 12(long ago!) I even collected his when he passed. Three years ago my older son turned 12 I bought him the same thing for his first, and two weeks ago I bought another since it was on sale because the little guy turns 12 in March! Can't wait!
JR

[detron]

My First real SAK was a CyberTool 41 with Sapphire scales.  I bought it in 2006, and I still have it today.
It is a great SAK, and I carry it from time to time, and feel well prepared when I do carry it.