Your top "under appreciated" SAKs.

[Gareth]

OK, so here's my idea; everyone knows how good a Farmer, Explorer, Spartan or Huntsman is, but what about the less well known and appreciated SAKs?  Now, the fact we're looking at less well know SAKs might very well mean they're discontinued, but don't let that stop you.  Also I'm looking for you to make a case for a SAK that you think is good, not just odd.

I'll get the ball rolling with the Wenger Classic 132. http://www.sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Wenger+Classic+132


I remember back in the old SOSAK days a lot of people said they didn't carry a Wenger because they loved the Vic can opener and it's in-line Philips screwdriver.  Unknown to many, Wenger had a solution to that 'problem'.  Not the toughest of tools perhaps, but a lot better than nothing.

[gene stoner]

Wenger Pocket Tool Chest. In my opinion the best tool set on any keying size SAK.

[Lynn LeFey]

Easily the Rucksack.

Locking blade, but not OHO. With no OHO function on the blade, using it to saw with is a LOT more comfortable. A knife focused on saw and blade, I don't see a need for a monster strong bottle opener, so having what amounts to a opener layer the strength of a 91mm SAK is fine with me.

Red nylon scales give good grip and good visibility. And you retain the toothpick and tweezers. I would prefer a backside phillips to the corkscrew, but in fact, that corkscrew comes in handy for picking knots apart.

All this in a knife that is, as I recall, an ounce lighter than the Trekker/Soldier.

I don't hear about this knife much. I occasionally see it on ebay for what I feel is a pretty low price for such a good knife. I think because it's a less popular model, there just isn't the bidding competition for it, making it an even better value on the used market, which is how I got mine.

[Mechanickal]

Vic Mountaineer

Because urban carry is more likely to bring the need for a metal file/saw instead of a wood saw.

[Lynn LeFey]

Vic Mountaineer

Because urban carry is more likely to bring the need for a metal file/saw instead of a wood saw.

I keep hearing this, and... I kind of have to admit it's true.

[Fast Bill]

Vic Mountaineer

Because urban carry is more likely to bring the need for a metal file/saw instead of a wood saw.

I keep hearing this, and... I kind of have to admit it's true.

+1. I rate the Mountaineer for exactly this reason.

[Barry Rowland]

I nominate the Vic Handyman.  Everything you need in a pocketable package.

[cody6268]

I like the OH function on Vics, however, using anything but the blade gets uncomfortable. I usually carry a fixed blade when I'm also carrying my Fireman.

The Fireman. While not as suited to emergency response duties as the Rescue Tool, it's more comfortable in the outdoors. It's found itself as perfect as a farm work, camping, and fishing tool more than it has its intended use (shelf queen, as the knife was nearly ten years old when I bought it in 2016). The Classic is a close second--I think it's the most versatile small knife there is.

[Ron Who]

Fireman indeed. I don't have an OHO version and that's how I like it. The combination of plain blade, serrated blade and woodsaw does it. The Hunter XT has the same blades OHO but I like the Fireman better. Mine has had six or seven years of duty. Recently I replaced it with the 93mm Carver SW which has the  same three tools, and the inline awl.

[Lynn LeFey]

The Classic is a close second--I think it's the most versatile small knife there is.

I think, gram for gram, it might be the most useful multitool in existence. I think we tend to gloss over how great it is because they're so cheap and easy to come by. I, however, am a BIG fan. 

[Gareth]

I nominate the Vic Handyman.  Everything you need in a pocketable package.

I have to admit I kind of gloss over the Handyman in the Vic catalogue, but then I've never been quite sold on the pliers. 

[Thunderpants]

For me it's a toss-up between the Blunt Fieldmaster (AKA the Fisherman) and the Intergalactic Communicator (AKA the Mountaineer Lite)
The Blunt Fieldmaster's unique feature is its fish-scaler -  clearly a misnomer because nobody has ever used it for scaling fish. Its real raison-d'etre is as a multi-purpose massage tool. According to legend, when the great Mongol leader Ghengis Khan wished to please his wife Börte he would stroke the arches of her feet with a Victorinox fish-scaler; it was remarked that during the siege of Samarkand delighted giggles and moans of pleasure resounded from the royal gur, causing great unease among the garrison of that doomed city.
The Mountaineer Lite's super-power is its ability to generate a powerful stream of photons, brighter than a thousand suns, capable of illuminating entire rainforests and oceans. Strap one of these on a sub and they'd find that plane that went down in the Indian Ocean in no time. Recently, great bursts of energy have been detected from deep space. One theory favoured by astronomers is that extra-terrestrials are blinking Mountaineer Lites at each other, thus communicating across vast distances of space. Executives at Ibach have rejected this theory on the grounds that their Lite, powered by two tiddly 3 volt batteries, is barely capable of illuminating a shoe box. But what do they know.
All things considered, I'd have to pick the Mountaineer Lite. It's pretty rare - especially because Victorinox, erroneously thinking that there were no mountains in North America, never sold it on that continent. It's kind of a chunky SAK, coming in a few mm narrower than the Craftsman (another candidate) but there is nothing useless on it. Except perhaps on the back-side, where a Barbie size chisel resides.

[Padre]

Ambassador.

Blade and scissors in a flat package but for adult hands unlike Classic.

[Gareth]

For me it's a toss-up between the Blunt Fieldmaster (AKA the Fisherman) and the Intergalactic Communicator (AKA the Mountaineer Lite)
The Blunt Fieldmaster's unique feature is its fish-scaler -  clearly a misnomer because nobody has ever used it for scaling fish. Its real raison-d'etre is as a multi-purpose massage tool. According to legend, when the great Mongol leader Ghengis Khan wished to please his wife Börte he would stroke the arches of her feet with a Victorinox fish-scaler; it was remarked that during the siege of Samarkand delighted giggles and moans of pleasure resounded from the royal gur, causing great unease among the garrison of that doomed city.
The Mountaineer Lite's super-power is its ability to generate a powerful stream of photons, brighter than a thousand suns, capable of illuminating entire rainforests and oceans. Strap one of these on a sub and they'd find that plane that went down in the Indian Ocean in no time. Recently, great bursts of energy have been detected from deep space. One theory favoured by astronomers is that extra-terrestrials are blinking Mountaineer Lites at each other, thus communicating across vast distances of space. Executives at Ibach have rejected this theory on the grounds that their Lite, powered by two tiddly 3 volt batteries, is barely capable of illuminating a shoe box. But what do they know.
All things considered, I'd have to pick the Mountaineer Lite. It's pretty rare - especially because Victorinox, erroneously thinking that there were no mountains in North America, never sold it on that continent. It's kind of a chunky SAK, coming in a few mm narrower than the Craftsman (another candidate) but there is nothing useless on it. Except perhaps on the back-side, where a Barbie size chisel resides.

The Mountaineer Lite has been on my "want" list for a few years, but I've never snagged one. 

[Sawl Goodman]

I nominate the Vic Handyman.  Everything you need in a pocketable package.

I'll second your rating. I chose one to replace a lost Swisschamp. I carry it every day and use it nearly as often.

A common argument against it tends to go: "Well it's so close to the same size and weight as a SC, so may as well get a SC!" But it is appreciably thinner and lighter and definitely more comfortable to hold, and there isn't a tool on it I haven't found useful. Except for the inexplicable fine screwdriver on the back whose function is covered by the one on the can opener.

Crazy then that in my mind it isn't my favourite SAK. It comes with me everywhere, whether in cargo pocket or bag - yet I feel naked without an 84mm on me.

The Classic is a close second--I think it's the most versatile small knife there is.

I think, gram for gram, it might be the most useful multitool in existence. I think we tend to gloss over how great it is because they're so cheap and easy to come by. I, however, am a BIG fan. 

Come to think of it, there's always a Classic on our living room table, always within reach for those cutting jobs at hand, always taken for granted.

[Gareth]

Ambassador.

Blade and scissors in a flat package but for adult hands unlike Classic.

Good call IMO.  I've nothing against the Classic, but the Ambassador wins IMO.  Have you come across the Wenger Diplomat? http://www.sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Diplomat


Still a very flat and smooth SAK, but with an even bigger blade and handle. it's definitely one of my top under-appreciated SAKs.

[Sawl Goodman]

I nominate the Vic Handyman.  Everything you need in a pocketable package.

I have to admit kind of gloss over the Handyman in the Vic catalogue, but then I've never been quite sold on the pliers.

The pliers are SUPERB for holding small nuts while you screw from the other side, and equally SUPERB uber-tweezers! When I was shopping for a knife to replace the SC, it had to have pliers.

[Thunderpants]

There is also a variant of Russian Roulette involving the use of Handyman/Tinker pliers to pluck out individual nose-hairs, but I forget the rules.

[Barry Rowland]

 

[gene stoner]

I nominate the Vic Handyman.  Everything you need in a pocketable package.

I have to admit kind of gloss over the Handyman in the Vic catalogue, but then I've never been quite sold on the pliers.

The pliers are SUPERB for holding small nuts while you screw from the other side, and equally SUPERB uber-tweezers! When I was shopping for a knife to replace the SC, it had to have pliers.

When I read this my mind was in the gutter. 

[GuacamoleBay]

I nominate the Vic Handyman.  Everything you need in a pocketable package.

I have to admit kind of gloss over the Handyman in the Vic catalogue, but then I've never been quite sold on the pliers.

The pliers are SUPERB for holding small nuts while you screw from the other side, and equally SUPERB uber-tweezers! When I was shopping for a knife to replace the SC, it had to have pliers.

When I read this my mind was in the gutter. 

Victorinox is really expanding into other marketplaces!

[Thunderpants]

.

[gene stoner]

.

 

[Sawl Goodman]

Uh, I could have phrased it better...

[Lynn LeFey]

(Lynn watches from the sidelines as another thread derails.)

Ah... the natural order of things at MTO.

[VICMAN]

The Classic is a close second--I think it's the most versatile small knife there is.

I think, gram for gram, it might be the most useful multitool in existence. I think we tend to gloss over how great it is because they're so cheap and easy to come by. I, however, am a BIG fan. 

I agree Lynn! 

[tosh]

Without a doubt for me its the Wenger Survivor, failing that the S557.
Due to Wenger being no more, I dare not even carry either as replacement would be difficult if they were lost.
Can you believe I still mourn for Wenger, silly I know....Just something about them that I preferred over Victorinox.

[alexTOOL]

I nominate the Vic Handyman.  Everything you need in a pocketable package.

Teorically

But 6 layers are too many

Try to cut an apple with it

Not comfortable at all 

[Smashie]

I nominate the Vic Handyman.  Everything you need in a pocketable package.

Teorically

But 6 layers are too many

Try to cut an apple with it

Not comfortable at all 

I carry a SC most of the time and I don't have problem with it, but then I also carry the Surge and don't worry about the weight. YMMV

[smiller43147]

Wenger Pocket Tool Chest. In my opinion the best tool set on any keying size SAK.

Another vote for the Pocket Tool Chest. (modified on the right)