A 'Classic' keychain knife.

[cbl51]

So I'm an old fart. Bonafide social security collecting, retired living off the government kind of old fart. I'm living in one of the 55 plus communities in Georgetown Texas, and there's lots of us. Georgetown seems to be the retirement destination for us old pensioners that take it easy with fishing, and other taking it easy occupations. In the mornings, we gather at the local coffee shop to compare notes on the latest RONCO pocket defibrillators, oxygen systems, and best times to drive down to the Mexican border for our prescriptions refills and Smurfpills.

But most of all, its'a. time to see who woke up this morning and who's still with us. Sometimes we laugh a lot and joke around. This morning was a little funny thing. Old folks sometimes have a bit of trouble opening things. Like those foil pull off seals on orange juice and milk single serving containers in fast food stores. Like this morning.

There we were, shooting the breeze when one old fellow, John,  was having a bit of trouble with his orange juice bottle, so he digs in his pocket and pulls out his keyring. There on it was a familiar looking little red handle, and he pulls open the little classic blade and simply cuts around the inside of the bottle opening and removes the seal so he can now drink his orange juice. Being the dedicated SAKist that I am, I make the comment that a little SAK is a good thing to have. John agrees and says how his little classic has been a companion for many years, and it gets used everyday.

One of the ladies at the next table takes notice, Lorraine, and she digs into her purse and comes up with her keychain and on it is bright pink classic that she says her daughter gave her. While we're singing the praises of the little keychain SAK, another silver haired lady in the senior citizen group pulls out a keychain with a little sapphire blue classic on it and tells how she couldn't keep her nails nicely kept without it, and how it even opens those pesky plastic packages that the stores are so fond of. Howard, an old timer almost 80, digs around in his coin pocket and comes up with a beat up and much abused red handle classic that he said his son gave him many years ago when his old penknife finally wore out by not having enough blade left to sharpen again. He admits the little scissors are handy.

By the time it was all said and done, about a dozen silver haired old farts had pulled out various classics of different colors and vintages, all well used and ready for action. This was not the first time I had noticed a lot of classics being carried on keychains, and I wonder just how many of these little 58mm's are being made and sold every year? In just this one setting, of the 20 or so retirees that make up the early morning crowd, there were red ones, a yellow one, two black ones, a green one with a shamrock on it carried by a gentleman named O'Malley, A battered dark green one with U.S. Army still legible on it, a pink breast cancer one carried by a breast cancer survivor, and a while one. A few were advertising classic's with some company logo on the handle. One from a bank and one from a real Estate company, and one from some electronics company.

That's a lot of SAK's for a particular group of people having their morning coffee and cinnamon bun at a local place.

Is there a way to find out how many classics are made every year? They seem to be the worlds most used keychain 'penknife.'

[Fast Bill]

That's priceless cbl and while I don't know the answer to your question they must the worlds most used - and useful - keychain knife

[Thunderpants]

Thanks for this amusing look at life in a Texas Oldies home!
Liam Gallagher, a musician, was on the radio recently, talking about his drives through the States with his band, on endless roads where the sat-nav says things that sound mad to British ears:  "After 177 miles, turn left..."
About American radio, he said they play Hotel California a lot - like, several times a day. And "Bruce Springsteen's coining it" - ie, making an absolute fortune as they play his songs so frequently.
I guess the Victorinox Classic is the Hotel California, or the Springsteen album, of the SAK world. Everyone has a copy and if they don't they know someone who does!

[Aloha]

  what a great way to look at the Classic SAK 

[Ron Who]

Good story 

I was told that the Classic is Vx´s best seller, and they make millions of them every year. It might be a little exaggerated but then again it might be true.

[pomsbz]

We met up with my brother and his wife for a picnic recently. They're young, in their late 20's, very modern, he runs a large multinational investment company and she's a corporate lawyer. I'm not even sure why I mentioned SAK's but they both pulled out their keychains to show off their Classics. Was surprised at that to be honest, I thought they were too modern. 

[Aloha]

The Classic may very well be a timeless piece 

[VICMAN]

Nice Classic story cbl51!

[Sos24]

Thanks for sharing, it made me smile.

My wife has a classic on her keychain that her dad gave her.  It has been missing a scale for over 14 yrs but she refuses to change it out or get new scales for sentimental reasons.

I had a classic on my keychain for as long as I could remember, until TSA confiscated it.  When I went to replace it, I discovered the rambler, so that is what rides on the keychain now.

[comis]

@cbl51  What a lovely story to read! 

I guess the Victorinox Classic is the Hotel California, or the Springsteen album, of the SAK world. Everyone has a copy and if they don't they know someone who does!

@Thunderpants  And a great song to go with the story! 

[Aloha]

Id like to see the classic your wife has sentimental value for Sos.  Its SAKs like these that I admire most.  The owners us such SAKs and their reasons are really neat.     

[Barry Rowland]

Awesome story Carl!  My wife has had the same red scaled Classic on her key chain since her Dad got it for her on 1986.  That's all she's ever wanted or needed.  Her Dad has a black scaled Classic on his.  I wonder if even Vic has any idea how many might be out there?

[cbl51]

We met up with my brother and his wife for a picnic recently. They're young, in their late 20's, very modern, he runs a large multinational investment company and she's a corporate lawyer. I'm not even sure why I mentioned SAK's but they both pulled out their keychains to show off their Classics. Was surprised at that to be honest, I thought they were too modern. 

That's what I have noticed; that the people I didn't think would have a knife of any kind on them, would have the tiniest SAK. It's almost like its a pocket/keychain knife for non knife people. Did they have any corporate logos on their classics? I wonder how many people have one that was a business freebee because of the advertising and logo? Like our friend at breakfast, he got his from a bank when he opened an account with a certain amount of money. They gave him a choice of a Cross pen or Vic classic. He took the classic. Kenny said he could always sign his name with a Bic, but a nice little pocket knife was better. A practical man.

[getahl]

That's what I have noticed; that the people I didn't think would have a knife of any kind on them, would have the tiniest SAK. It's almost like its a pocket/keychain knife for non knife people. Did they have any corporate logos on their classics? I wonder how many people have one that was a business freebee because of the advertising and logo? Like our friend at breakfast, he got his from a bank when he opened an account with a certain amount of money. They gave him a choice of a Cross pen or Vic classic. He took the classic. Kenny said he could always sign his name with a Bic, but a nice little pocket knife was better. A practical man.

I don't know which I would have picked, Cross pen or Vic Classic. I have and use both frequently. I have probably half a dozen Classics, all red or black, stashed in various tool boxes and cars. Maybe if it were one with snazzy scales. A chrome Cross skinny pen is what I mostly write with at work, but can't see having a second.

I believe I am on record stating these are my favorite pen knife,  over the Exec, Minichamp,  rambler, and any Leatherman offering. I use it like I stole it, to scrape, pry, cut, and anything else you'd use a dinky knife for. It's a great little knife.

[cbl51]

I don't know which I would have picked, Cross pen or Vic Classic. I have and use both frequently. I have probably half a dozen Classics, all red or black, stashed in various tool boxes and cars. Maybe if it were one with snazzy scales. A chrome Cross skinny pen is what I mostly write with at work, but can't see having a second.

I believe I am on record stating these are my favorite pen knife,  over the Exec, Minichamp,  rambler, and any Leatherman offering. I use it like I stole it, to scrape, pry, cut, and anything else you'd use a dinky knife for. It's a great little knife.

Getahl, you've hit on one fact that has influenced me in my whole life as far as picking a pocket knife. Growing up in the 1950's, I saw that every man who had pants on, had a pocket knife in one of those pockets. And it was not a very large knife either. Usually one of those little pen knife size one or two bladed things with fake white pearl handle scales made of plastic or celluloid, and about 2 3/4 to 3 inches closed.

It was more of a blue collar world back then, as the office cubicle had come of age yet. Packages were wrapped in that heavy brown paper and bound up with white cotton twine. The ubiquitous ball point pen was not the standard writing instrument of the day, but the plain old yellow painted wood pencil that you sharpened with a 'penknife'. When the postman dropped off a box, it was a brown cardboard with that brown fiber reenforced packing tape that was put on wet and dried like an iron band. It needed a sharp knife to open.

All the drug stores, five and dimes, and hardware stores had that little stand up cardboard display up by the cash register with the little pocket knives on it. They were like .75 cents or a dollar apiece, and most people carried one. They were good for most pocket knife uses like sharpening a pencil, opening a package, cutting twine, opening mail, stripping a wire for a connection, Not much bigger than a classic, maybe like an executive size with just one or two thin knife blades. Much like the Victorinox secretary.

People used them like they had stole them because they were so cheap and easily replaceable. The thin carbon steel blades were easy to sharpen up on the bottom of a coffee mug or small sharpening stone kept in the kitchen drawer. The whole point of the small cheap knife was that it got used up and tossed in the trash and you just bought a new one next time you walked by a five and dime store or the corner drug store. Those little pocket knives were considered a semi disposable tool like the modern ubiquitous cheap ball point pen started by Bic in the 1950's.

I grew up seeing the grown men in my life get by nicely with these little pocket knives, and the only locking blade knives you saw back then were the Italian style stilettos and switchblades the punk crown carried. The James Dean wannabes. Once in a while you saw an ex-GI from the war with a Camillus TL-29 or the military scout knife, but mostly it was the small one and two blade pen kivas that everyone carried. It wasn't until Buck came out with the 110 folding hunter that the big lock blade got popular. I guess that's why to me, the little knives like the classic are so useful; they are pocket/keychain cutting tools for the real world. To me, the whole idea of a heavy bulky knife with just one single blade is nuts. For the over 20 years that I carried a classic on my keychain as my everyday knife, I used like I stole it. It was all of $8.99 for a new one at Walmart, until they became 9.99, then 11.99. It was like it was the 1950's five and dime pen knife that you used hard and replaced it when it was worn out. Last time I replaced one was at Target for 12.99 a few years ago.

I think the little classic is the 'penknife' for the 21st century. They will do most of what you need a pocket knife to do in modern urban/suburban life and thens one. It has some small screw driver capability, sniping ability, plucking splinters capability, nail care capability. That's alit of capability in a tiny lightweight package. And they are soooo easy to replace if you use it like you stole it. About the cost of a chain restaurant lunch.

[ddogu]

So I'm an old fart. Bonafide social security collecting, retired living off the government kind of old fart. I'm living in one of the 55 plus communities in Georgetown Texas, and there's lots of us. Georgetown seems to be the retirement destination for us old pensioners that take it easy with fishing, and other taking it easy occupations. In the mornings, we gather at the local coffee shop to compare notes on the latest RONCO pocket defibrillators, oxygen systems, and best times to drive down to the Mexican border for our prescriptions refills and Smurfpills.

But most of all, its'a. time to see who woke up this morning and who's still with us. Sometimes we laugh a lot and joke around. This morning was a little funny thing. Old folks sometimes have a bit of trouble opening things. Like those foil pull off seals on orange juice and milk single serving containers in fast food stores. Like this morning.

There we were, shooting the breeze when one old fellow, John,  was having a bit of trouble with his orange juice bottle, so he digs in his pocket and pulls out his keyring. There on it was a familiar looking little red handle, and he pulls open the little classic blade and simply cuts around the inside of the bottle opening and removes the seal so he can now drink his orange juice. Being the dedicated SAKist that I am, I make the comment that a little SAK is a good thing to have. John agrees and says how his little classic has been a companion for many years, and it gets used everyday.

One of the ladies at the next table takes notice, Lorraine, and she digs into her purse and comes up with her keychain and on it is bright pink classic that she says her daughter gave her. While we're singing the praises of the little keychain SAK, another silver haired lady in the senior citizen group pulls out a keychain with a little sapphire blue classic on it and tells how she couldn't keep her nails nicely kept without it, and how it even opens those pesky plastic packages that the stores are so fond of. Howard, an old timer almost 80, digs around in his coin pocket and comes up with a beat up and much abused red handle classic that he said his son gave him many years ago when his old penknife finally wore out by not having enough blade left to sharpen again. He admits the little scissors are handy.

By the time it was all said and done, about a dozen silver haired old farts had pulled out various classics of different colors and vintages, all well used and ready for action. This was not the first time I had noticed a lot of classics being carried on keychains, and I wonder just how many of these little 58mm's are being made and sold every year? In just this one setting, of the 20 or so retirees that make up the early morning crowd, there were red ones, a yellow one, two black ones, a green one with a shamrock on it carried by a gentleman named O'Malley, A battered dark green one with U.S. Army still legible on it, a pink breast cancer one carried by a breast cancer survivor, and a while one. A few were advertising classic's with some company logo on the handle. One from a bank and one from a real Estate company, and one from some electronics company.

That's a lot of SAK's for a particular group of people having their morning coffee and cinnamon bun at a local place.

Is there a way to find out how many classics are made every year? They seem to be the worlds most used keychain 'penknife.'

Lovely story, thank you for sharing 

[smiller43147]

I just posted this over on the May Keychain 30 Day Challenge topic, and thought that it's about time this thread had a picture of a 58mm. 
It's probably optimistic, but I wouldn't be surprised if Victorinox has made enough of the 58's for every person on the planet (I know, that's 7 billion).

[getahl]

What the hey, here's my entry. Usually carried loose in pocket, I'll throw the knife on my keychain when wearing shorts. My last Cross pen lasted a couple years until it was run over by a car. My car. After it fell out of my pocket. Replaced it a couple months ago.

[cbl51]

What the hey, here's my entry. Usually carried loose in pocket, I'll throw the knife on my keychain when wearing shorts. My last Cross pen lasted a couple years until it was run over by a car. My car. After it fell out of my pocket. Replaced it a couple months ago.

(Image removed from quote.)

That's a great pair, getahl

I had an old Cross pen that my dad gave me when I joined the army not longboat of high school, with the demand that I write him and mom eery week. I used the heck out of it for almost 50 years until it was retired for sentimental reasons. Most the chromes worn off the barrel, and it has a few dents, but still works great. I bought a new one to carry. The way Cross's write is addicting.

[Mike 56]

Great story, I don't always carry full-size SAK or multitool but I always have a Classic on my keychain. I was at the social security office a while back the Marshal asked if I had any knives or weapons I had forgotten I had my classic on my keychain I showed it to him he told me it was okay to have in the building.