I just need to cut something.

[cbl51]

That's all.

Most times I reach for my pocket knife, I just need to cut something. Opening my mail, a UPS box left on my door step, a snack off something in the fridge, or one of those accursed plastic blister packages that everything seems to come in now a days. They are made to be impenetrable to tooth and nail and even some explosives, but a sharp blade seems to work well.

I grew up when all men carried a pocket knife. Nothing fancy, just a little one or two blade 'pen knife' of a generic slip joint pattern. Maybe thats why I gravitate to the smaller SAK's like the 58mm's. To me an 84mm is a good size pocketknife. I guess I don't have any Walter Mitty fantasies of fighting off invading enemy paratroopers while yelling "Wolverines" loudly. Or skinning some buffalo out on the plains.

But I do need to cut something once on while. And once in a while I need a screw driver. Growing up in the 1950's it was still an era where we tried to fix something that broke before we gave up and just went and bought a new one. I watched my dad fix the broken latch on the little door of my mom's G.E. toaster over with a paper clip and a little black electrical tape. Oh, he needed a screw driver to get into it. Worked for many years after that.

Thus my long love affair with SAK's. A decent pocket knife to cut open a package, trim some fishing line, or use a screw driver to fix something. I've long lost track of how many things I've fixed with a SAK, but it's saved me from some very inconvenient situations. I used a SAK to fix a Vespa motor scooter that died on me in the middle nowhere. A dirt road a long way from anywhere. The screw driver let me reconnect the positive battery cable that had vibrated loose. Then there was the time the twist grip control on an electric trolling motor on our canoe came apart at the far end of a very long and winding lake, and the keyring classic SD tip on the nail file reached up in the recess to put the long Phillips screw back in where it had fallen out of. Saved me a very long paddle back.

Most times I reach for my pocketknife I just need to cut something, but once in a while it's nice to have a basic tool or two along for the ride. Being able to unscrew the cover or top of something to get at it sometimes is half the battle. A SAK gives me that. A sharp little knife to open things, and a screw driver to fiddle with it if it breaks. A little tweezers to pull a thorn out of a welsh corgi's paw, or a little girls finger is a good thing.

For about 20 years I carried a little classic on my keyring. It has been used for a very wide variety of jobs ranging from fixing that trolling motor to fixing the door knob assembly at my aged Aunt Easter's house in Florida on a family visit. The teeny tiny little 58mm SAK was more useful than most people would believe. But it's been retired now. After Nix's Chuck Yeager Challenge, I've become a true convert of the 74mm executive. Still a watch pocket size knife, but packing two knife blades with one actually long enough to cut a sandwich in half, ability to deal with both flat and Phillips screws, an orange peeler with a serrated blade that I haven't figured out what to do with yet, and the standard Victorinox scissors that are second to none for all kinds of snipping duty. Oh, the famed toothpick and tweezers are on board.

In my younger days when I was full of vinegar, I may have had some Walter Mitty stuff floating around in my head, and my SAK's were the 93mm variety. I even had a few Randall's around for fixed blade duty, but they got sold off years ago. Now the only thing I wage any kind of war on is the bass in the San Gabriel river and Lake Georgetown. Okay, I don't mind putting an occasion catfish in the pan, after some beer batter dip. A tasty dinner.

I seems like for a retired gentleman of leisure the small SAK's have a great appeal. Weigh almost nothing, take up minimum room in a pocket or Altoids kit, and they get the job done. I love them.

My old Wenger SI weeps.

[smiller43147]

You have to look around a bit, as they are discontinued, but you should check out the "in between" 65mm Wenger Pocket Toolchest.  Another great little SAK with a lot of functionality.

[zrxoa1]

Nice!!!

I’m kinda getting the same way. Used to I had to have a full size multitool on me. Maybe along with a nice big tactical quick opening knife.

Nowadays I am content with my Wenger SI or Pioneer X hanging in my pocket.  I can’t go much smaller, just can’t do it.

Got a Rambler from a group on Facebook and freaked when it arrived. No clue it would be so tiny!!!  Haha!!!




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[MadPlumbarian]

When I got my first SAK, a champion+, I thought the more the better, of course I was 12, by the time I was 18 I got my first MT, even better! No matter what I needed it was there and it went wherever I went! But over time I noticed a MT wasn’t perfect, the pliers weren't strong enough for what I needed and I broke one, so I figured it was kinda pointless to carry, but I ended getting another job which I didn’t need anything heavy duty but simple pliers were ok so a MT was fine, then again after no longer working they turned pointless, but no matter what I won’t leave the house without a blade, but what’s better then just a simple blade? Something with a few tools, cause you just never know when something just might pop up, and all it takes it that one time to pay off! My thing with a SAK is why do you need two blades? One large and one small? I then found alox, I fell in love, metal scales, no 2nd blade, those awls are great, then the pioneerX, a pair of scissors, WOW! Only downer no tweezers, so stick a mini pair on the keychain, my only problem is I had to have the matching pair so still no tweezers, so hide a pair in your wallet or something..
   But a SAK in my book is perfect!
JR

[cody6268]

I bought a Bantam just last week, and it showed up at my door yesterday. Weighs nothing, has a decently sized blade, and I still have the combo tool for working with most screws as well as opening cans or bottles. And I think that I can do most stuff I need around the house, and that's it.

[pfrsantos]

I bought a Bantam just last week, and it showed up at my door yesterday. Weighs nothing, has a decently sized blade, and I still have the combo tool for working with most screws as well as opening cans or bottles. And I think that I can do most stuff I need around the house, and that's it.

Don't forget about the T&T. That's a great knife. I awlso like the Waiter. You get an extra corkscrew, mini SD and pin for next to nothing.

 

[GoatDragon]

I bought a Bantam just last week, and it showed up at my door yesterday. Weighs nothing, has a decently sized blade, and I still have the combo tool for working with most screws as well as opening cans or bottles. And I think that I can do most stuff I need around the house, and that's it.

Don't forget about the T&T. That's a great knife. I awlso like the Waiter. You get an extra corkscrew, mini SD and pin for next to nothing.

 

Maybe Cody got himself an Alox Bantam!

[cody6268]

I bought a Bantam just last week, and it showed up at my door yesterday. Weighs nothing, has a decently sized blade, and I still have the combo tool for working with most screws as well as opening cans or bottles. And I think that I can do most stuff I need around the house, and that's it.

Don't forget about the T&T. That's a great knife. I awlso like the Waiter. You get an extra corkscrew, mini SD and pin for next to nothing.

 

Maybe Cody got himself an Alox Bantam!

Unfortunately, old Economy from the late '80s (at $7 shipped, it was half what one is at the local cutlery store).  But I really like the Alox model.

[cbl51]

I bought a Bantam just last week, and it showed up at my door yesterday. Weighs nothing, has a decently sized blade, and I still have the combo tool for working with most screws as well as opening cans or bottles. And I think that I can do most stuff I need around the house, and that's it.

Don't forget about the T&T. That's a great knife. I awlso like the Waiter. You get an extra corkscrew, mini SD and pin for next to nothing.

 

Maybe Cody got himself an Alox Bantam!

Unfortunately, old Economy from the late '80s (at $7 shipped, it was half what one is at the local cutlery store).  But I really like the Alox model.

The bantam is a great minimalist model with a lot of capability. I wish they still made the alox model so I could stash one in my watch pocket.

[Poncho65]

I have been carrying my Executive more and more lately again They are about as great a size of SAK that is out there I use the orange peeler to peel oranges I'm not from the 50's but I also try to fix things before going and getting a new one Great read

[MacGyver]

The bantam is a great minimalist model with a lot of capability. I wish they still made the alox model so I could stash one in my watch pocket.

Huh...?? What do you mean...? 
They still make the alox Bantam, it's still on the catalogue. Had one in my hand last week at the store too, while i was looking for a Cadet

[pfrsantos]

I bought a Bantam just last week, and it showed up at my door yesterday. Weighs nothing, has a decently sized blade, and I still have the combo tool for working with most screws as well as opening cans or bottles. And I think that I can do most stuff I need around the house, and that's it.

Don't forget about the T&T. That's a great knife. I awlso like the Waiter. You get an extra corkscrew, mini SD and pin for next to nothing.

 

Maybe Cody got himself an Alox Bantam!

Unfortunately, old Economy from the late '80s (at $7 shipped, it was half what one is at the local cutlery store).  But I really like the Alox model.

I think those don't have T&T, right? You can awlways get a new pair of scales and swap them.

 

[pfrsantos]

The bantam is a great minimalist model with a lot of capability. I wish they still made the alox model so I could stash one in my watch pocket.

Huh...?? What do you mean...? 
They still make the alox Bantam, it's still on the catalogue. Had one in my hand last week at the store too, while i was looking for a Cadet

I believe Mac is right. I still see it in "real" stores and online stores.

 

[cbl51]

The bantam is a great minimalist model with a lot of capability. I wish they still made the alox model so I could stash one in my watch pocket.

Huh...?? What do you mean...? 
They still make the alox Bantam, it's still on the catalogue. Had one in my hand last week at the store too, while i was looking for a Cadet

I believe Mac is right. I still see it in "real" stores and online stores.

 

Must be  European thing. Here in the U.S. it's like Bigfoot; you hear of sightings but have never seen one. 

[pfrsantos]

The bantam is a great minimalist model with a lot of capability. I wish they still made the alox model so I could stash one in my watch pocket.

Huh...?? What do you mean...? 
They still make the alox Bantam, it's still on the catalogue. Had one in my hand last week at the store too, while i was looking for a Cadet

I believe Mac is right. I still see it in "real" stores and online stores.

 

Must be  European thing. Here in the U.S. it's like Bigfoot; you hear of sightings but have never seen one. 

Well, that's ok, right? Since you only ever need to own/carry the Executive from now on...