The Mountaineers

ThundahBeagle · **Reply #60 on:** May 27, 2018, 04:07:41 PM

As a matter of some interest (to me, at least), my Mountaineer happens to be the oldest Swiss Army Knife I have. Not the one I have had the longest, in fact, I only acquired I'd late last year. But it seems to be the oldest.

Im guessing it falls between 1975 and 1982. VSSR, small v, cross and crossbow, NO eye in the awl, has fluted corkscrew, no parcel hook. Full height center liner, and no bottle cap opener half stop.

What I noticed early on, but am just getting to posting now, is the fact that the "craw", or mouth of the bottle cap opener seems to have a blemish. The outer layer of metal seems like it never formed fully covering the inner layer. Same for the can opener.

They work fine, however.

I wonder if this is an indicator of the manufacturing process used during a specific time period, such as immediately after a change was made to the cap lifter/ large SD, or if this is just a flaw that made it past Quality Control.

Anyone else ever seen this on one of theirs, whether a Mountaineer or not?

I may cross post this to another thread to cast a wider net.

ThundahBeagle · **Reply #61 on:** May 27, 2018, 04:08:49 PM

Can opener

Don Pablo · **Reply #62 on:** May 27, 2018, 07:02:05 PM

It’s common on old SAKs. And is it not an unpolished bit?

WaynejG · **Reply #63 on:** May 28, 2018, 02:25:36 PM

I only have 2 SAK's. My first one is the Mountaineer. Also no half lock on the screwdriver, the scissor pivot has a screw and my awl has the eye in it. This was Christmas gift from the wife and probably got it somewhere in the mid nineties if memory serves me. Mine has no blemishes in the openers.

glenfiddich1983 · **Reply #64 on:** May 28, 2018, 03:50:48 PM

Here's my Mountaineer

And yes, it really is a Mountaineer

Thunderpants · **Reply #65 on:** May 28, 2018, 04:44:35 PM

I think Wenger were just picking names out of a hat most of the time... I mean that's an awesome SAK, especially the pointy blade, but how many times do guys perish on Mt. Everest cos they forgot to bring a wood saw?!

Don Pablo · **Reply #66 on:** May 28, 2018, 04:46:44 PM

Sheesh, it’s for amputating frostbitten limbs.

Thunderpants · **Reply #67 on:** May 28, 2018, 04:49:10 PM

Damn, I should have spotted it was a bone saw, not a wood saw!

Don Pablo · **Reply #68 on:** May 28, 2018, 04:54:31 PM

Dammit Jim, I’m a bone saw, not a wood saw!

shadowrider · **Reply #69 on:** May 28, 2018, 08:32:12 PM

Is the chisel ever found on regular Mountaineers?

Thunderpants · **Reply #70 on:** May 28, 2018, 10:42:16 PM

Sadly not. They could easily have put a chisel or a screwdriver on the back of the Mountaineer's metal saw (or indeed the Huntsman's wood saw) but they decided not to.
"We'll save it for the Mountaineer Lite, and sell MILLIONS of them!" they said, overestimating sales by several orders of magnitude.

Fast Bill · **Reply #71 on:** May 29, 2018, 08:07:43 AM

Hmmm. Been a while since my Mountaineer got some air time. Must do something about that

Thunderpants · **Reply #72 on:** May 29, 2018, 10:07:13 AM

Ey up lads, here's a raunchy pic of some Mountaineers' bottoms.
The Lite isn't that much chunkier. One or two millimetres gets you a phillips screwdriver and an emergency lamp! Ace. A great SAK, crippled a bit by a ridiculous price tag. Nobody likes the clip I added, but it's useful!
I still don't like the blue scales... one day I will smash them off with a sledgehammer and replace them with something more magnifique. Actually those titanium Swiss Bianco scales might look good.... hm. Something to think about as I mow the grass in the blistering sun.

Fast Bill · **Reply #73 on:** May 29, 2018, 12:52:32 PM

Quote from: Thunderpants on May 29, 2018, 10:07:13 AM

Ey up lads, here's a raunchy pic of some Mountaineers' bottoms.
The Lite isn't that much chunkier. One or two millimetres gets you a phillips screwdriver and an emergency lamp! Ace. A great SAK, crippled a bit by a ridiculous price tag. Nobody likes the clip I added, but it's useful!
I still don't like the blue scales... one day I will smash them off with a sledgehammer and replace them with something more magnifique. Actually those titanium Swiss Bianco scales might look good.... hm. Something to think about as I mow the grass in the blistering sun.

Enough with the Raunchy ! It's bad enough I bumped into a Mountaineer Lite with a discount online but now this ?!

I'm not with you on the blue scales. I rather like them ... oh dear .... but it does look, er, "amply proportioned"

Thunderpants · **Reply #74 on:** May 29, 2018, 02:46:59 PM

Never mind Swiss Bianco, I remembered I once bought an orange Spartan with the intention of transplanting those gorgeous scales. Of course, once I saw how beautiful that Spartan was I hesitated to mutilate it...
until now.

(That greenish bit under the corkscrew is just a blade of grass that got caught in there.)

Fast Bill · **Reply #75 on:** May 29, 2018, 03:05:44 PM

Crikey Tpants that's mighty Jaffa and no mistake ! Impressive

I guess Orange would be a better warning colour than blue if you're in the mountains ? But I do feel for the poor old Spartan ... is that feeling a bit blue now?

Thunderpants · **Reply #76 on:** May 29, 2018, 03:16:28 PM

The Spartan is still naked... I could squeeze the blue scales on, I suppose, but I already have a Spartan with an ugly clip on it and I am not sure I need another... they're kind of impossible to remove.
It was always my plan to Orangize the Mountaineer Lite - I'm just glad I managed to do it without wrecking the scales (though I did manage to wreck the pen that went with the blue scales!)

Barry Rowland · **Reply #77 on:** May 29, 2018, 07:39:07 PM

Fast Bill · **Reply #78 on:** May 29, 2018, 07:53:54 PM

Quote from: Barry Rowland on May 29, 2018, 07:39:07 PM

+1

ThundahBeagle · **Reply #79 on:** April 03, 2020, 05:17:20 AM

Um...

Max Stone · **Reply #80 on:** June 10, 2020, 11:38:50 PM

New club member. c1980 small VSSR model with the eyeless awl, screwed scissors with no hook, no 90 deg stop on the flat, full height middle liner, keyring on spacer and grooved CS. Also has the rough stamping on the inside edge of the cap lifter ‘mouth’ so this was clearly a feature of the production process at the time.

This one needed a full strip-down and was rebuilt with buffalo horn scales and external rivets.

I think the Mountaineer deserves a little more love. For urban carry, the metal file is probably more useful than the wood saw, making it a better choice than the Huntsman.

I also prefer the smoother hookless design, and having carried this a couple days, I also prefer the flat without the 90 degree stop. It’s smoother and easier to open.

RF52 · **Reply #81 on:** June 11, 2020, 12:23:13 PM

Nice!

Sent fra min FRD-L09 via Tapatalk

Max Stone · **Reply #82 on:** June 11, 2020, 01:03:29 PM

Thanks RF52

Gareth · **Reply #83 on:** June 11, 2020, 01:48:18 PM

Those buffalo scales are lovely Max.

Max Stone · **Reply #84 on:** June 11, 2020, 06:01:08 PM

Thanks Gareth

A pic from today.

Jothra · **Reply #85 on:** August 27, 2021, 10:44:24 PM

I took a Nelson Custom Works Huntsman, swapped out the saw for a metal file stolen from a broken-down Ranger, cut an ugly but serviceable nail nick into the hook, then added a SwissQlip I had lying around.

The custom came with a reamed-out keyring hole, which didn't co-operate with the clip, so I replaced the spring. Drilling that out with my cheap metal bit took an awfully long time.

The SwissQlip mangled the end of another SAK's cellidor scale, but it's working fine with these titanium scales.

Gareth · **Reply #86 on:** August 28, 2021, 12:54:16 AM

Nice!

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