Why SAKs?

[cody6268]

Why SAKs? A lot of guys around here scoff at the things.  Others actually quite like them.

For me, it's utility, quality, and, price. Used to be, most of the American knifemakers had a decently-priced  knife that was comparable to an SAK (i.e. Camillus and the various Scout-based tools they offered), usually based on a Boy Scout pattern in addition to a line of models produced for the Boy Scouts. Camillus and Schrade both offered models that were comparable to the Classic SD. Boker USA had a Scout model too. Schrade had the Century series that was based on the SAK, made in Germany by Adler that had models comparable to the 84, 91, and 58mm lines.

Unfortunately, no longer. Camillus and Schrade went bankrupt over a decade ago, intellectual properties were sold, and both are now primarily made overseas. Bear and Sons was making Boy Scout Knives until 4-5 years ago, but have discontinued the line.  The only American knife comparable to an SAK is now the Case Jr. Scout, which is usually around $80-90 and quite often, so dull out of the box it needs to be resharpened. And it also seems to have been recently discontinued; as none of Case's dealers seem to carry them anymore.  Boker has their Camper, which is usually $125. A Spartan, new is under $20, and offers more functions.

You can always buy used Vic Classics for under $5 on that big auction site. Most other models can be had for under $20. I buy quite a few Classics as gifts. With thousands upon thousands of companies having given away or sold them with their logo, it's easy to personalize the SAK to whoever you're giving them to.

[Barry Rowland]

Great post Cody!

[Max Stone]

Good post Cody. 

...utility, quality, price and variety.

They’re easy to carry, create great usage stories and can be modified with a simple scale change without special tools or skills. Oh, and most people don’t see them as a dangerous weapon...

I was first attracted to MT.O because of my interest in Leathermans, but with time spent on the forum, these little SAKs have earned my respect. 

[Sos24]

Agree.

In many ways SAKs are the perfect balance between utility, size quality and price.  You can choose from multiple different toolsets depending on needs and frequently in a size that will is more pocketable than most other multitools.

I also think the nostalgia factor cannot be dismissed.  I do not think I was in the minority, when I say that when I was growing up, I frequently saw men pull out a SAK or similar style knife.  Many boys (and some girls) were gifted similar knives almost as a “rite of passage” in growing up.  For me it was a Utica Cutlery Girl Scout knife (which I still have) at 8, followed by a SAK Climber later in my teens.  There are also many fathers with SAKs in their pocket that were gifts from children.  Having  a SAK in my pocket is comforting.  I know I’m not the only one, because one of the first things my FiL asked for when he was recently admitted to the hospital was his SAK and my wive always has her SAK classic from her Dad on her keys.  As you state cody, Swiss Army is one of the few still making knives like that and are distinctly recognizable.

[eTripper]

I would echo, what everyone else had to say.  They are iconic, and ergonomic.  Essentially, a combination hybrid jack-knife, and multi-tool platform.  Another example, where military necessity crossed-over into civilian applications.  A great carry for any number of occupations, or hobbyist.  They also offer, a choice of dedicated-models for your particular mission.  Most examples can be had for less than $60 USD.  They easily lend themselves to customization, so owners can personalize their blades.  The legendary 'Swiss-quality' is inherent in every Victorinox, or Wenger knife ever produced.  Nothing, really compares in price, quality, and wide variety of usage anywhere else.  Paired with a dedicated multi-tool, there's just about no situation, that can't be handled.     

[comis]

When people talk about SAK, I most often associate it with the keywords: quality/consistency/variety.  I think I talked about those in another thread, so probably best not to repeat myself here.


Something I think do worth repeating is 'variety', which I value most nowadays.  I understand Victorinox has expanded its horizon to other ventures since 911, and probably doing quite well.  But I sincerely hope they will not cut down or streamline their variety of SAK offerings, because that is their pillar and forte.  People love their SAK, from Swisschamp to Classic, because there must be one that will fit your needs or lifestyle, with the same consistency of quality across board.

[Huntsman]

All this SAK love warms the cockles of your heart  !!   :-) 

[temo]

Yes seems it is not easy to do small tools. Still one of the most carried tool I have is squirt. Mainly 2d phillips to thank. But it is already high price compared to basic vic keychains or even compared to minichamp.

Othet point of view is price per weight. I think vic is most efficent to process material to useful tools. Plier tools has already more material and swiss tools are already at higher price point. So vic pocket knives has very cleaver design to build a great quality pocket knives using quite minimal amount of steel. And mostly others have just copied that which is not good. So on my opinion competitors should compete with own, different designs. Like LM with PST style (micra, rebar, supertool). And now I think LM free series is LM design and again looking forward to free T series. Again those are not most light tools even no pliers so price range is Ok to be a bit over basic SAK.

But agree totally, SAK is strong and done great to produce high quality pocket knives.

Finding tool is a journey, not destination to settle

[glenfiddich1983]

For me it started with buying a couple of SAKs for everyday use. They are of very good quality and not expensive. When I bought a couple of them I found out that there are so many models, old discontinued series, government and military issued SAKs, you name it. I became hooked and now I have a couple of "themes" that I collect (although over the years I dropped some of the themes because the whole thing was just getting expensive and big).

Since the past 2,5 years the hobby kind of pays for itself because other than buying SAKs for the collection I also started buying a lot of them to sell with profit, in order to finance the ones for the collection. Just needed to take that step to keep the whole thing affordable, and also it is a lot of fun to buy those SAKs, make photo's of them, advertising them on eBay and Facebook and shipping them all over the globe!

Currently I am collecting the following themes:
- Dutch army issued Victorinox
- the 108mm series
- 58mm classics with US government/military related emblems (there are just so many! and they don't take up a lot of space  )
- old discontinued models with the grey magnifier

[pomsbz]

When people talk about SAK, I most often associate it with the keywords: quality/consistency/variety.

What a great way to put it!

I know that wherever I am in the world I can buy a pocket knife which is an utterly known factor in every single way, will be sharp out of the box, will have practically perfect QC, utterly people friendly and will be a ubiquitously cheap price. Wherever I may be in the world I can pick up a perfect Spartan or Classic or whatever for practically pocket change and I know that before I even begin to travel. A Spartan is a Spartan is a Spartan. That kind of reliability at that price point is incredibly comforting.

[Buzzbait]

I've been a scout knife collector for maybe 20 years or so, and as previously mentioned, Victorinox is about all that's left being produced. I would also strongly argue that the Swiss Army knife basically brought about the demise of the traditional scout by evolving and perfecting it. From a purely logical viewpoint, the Pioneer and Tinker are light years ahead of what was manufactured by other companies.

But there's more than that. One could argue that the modern multitool (Leatherman or otherwise) has further evolved the species, succeeding the SAK. But that's not entirely true. I believe that a multitool, in it's purest form, is a task oriented tool. You receive a handful of tools, each with a specific purpose, and you use these tools to fix something. It's all about the repair of something that already exists. It's a linear and logical experience. Very left brain. Utterly useful in keeping our known world running efficiently and orderly.

The SAK doesn't really seem to play into this multitool line of thinking. It's more chaotic. The tool selection, and sheer number of little shapes and sizes, gives us a more artful approach to life. They persuade us to view life with a more holistic perspective of what can be done. We take these wonderful tiny tools, and find ways not to just repair what we already have, but to build new tools for ourselves. Using a SAK is often more an act of creation than repair. SAK tools enable us to be more introspective in how we see our world, and help us to generate ideas of how to be more than we currently are. We probe what's around us. We whittle off sections to see what's underneath. We explore our environment with a pocket full of magic. We use this myriad of implements to interact with the world around us, not just to fix it. This is the miracle of the Swiss Army knife.

[PitCarver]

For many years I had only 1 SAK a super timekeeper with a leather sheath.  It was a cool knife, but I simply felt that it was too large for me.

Fast forward to just a couple years ago, for some reason I felt the need for one, just with the blades/tools that I felt I needed.  After trying out numerous models, I settled on the Deluxe Tinker.  Large enough to have everything I want yet small enough to carry.

I then found a MiniChamp II, and fell in love.  Not to fond of the pen but that what doner Classics are for.

[ChopperCharles]

I really like the Schrade models. The DL-2 is a 58mm, comparable to a Victorinox SD. It has beautiful, deep, almost holographic scales, but more than that it has backspring-assisted scissors that are not serrated, and for which the whole scissor doesn't move - only the one arm you're actuating. They're the same size as Victorinox 58mm scissors, and in my opinion, far better.

I also like the Schrade Century "Star" CN-2X knives. X indicates color. CN-21 is red, CN-22 is black, CN-25 is green, and I forget the rest. They're actually 65mm, not 58mm, so are comparable to the Wenger Esquire knives. They have a larger blade than the SD, but not as large as a Wenger's. The chassis is narrower than the Wenger, and the scissors are identical in size and shape to Victorinox SD scissors. The Wenger scissors are bigger, but they have the backspring bobbing actuation that many people hate.  (I actually like Wenger scissors, but I'm in the minority). The tweezers on all the Schrade Century knives are FAR superior to either Victorinox or Wenger.

Charles.

[Aloha]

  With all the positivity regarding SAKs.  Theres a wholes lot to like and just as much to love.  I've got my Wenger Cyclist and OC Red Farmer in pocket today as well as my Wenger Pocket Tool Chest on my lanyard.   Whats interesting to note is, I find its never a THIS vs THAT scenario with SAKs.  I see pocket dumps and always am fascinated with those who carry other tools seem to always have a SAK.  If you carry a LM or Gerber or SOG you'll likely also carry a SAK.  If you like low drag high speed folders then a SAK is something you'll also like.  If fixed blades are your thing a SAK is in addition to.

More and more I am seeing the SAK in all its flavors represented by a great majority.  Its no surprise to me at all, "Why a SAK". 

   

[HolyDeuce]

I've been a scout knife collector for maybe 20 years or so, and as previously mentioned, Victorinox is about all that's left being produced. I would also strongly argue that the Swiss Army knife basically brought about the demise of the traditional scout by evolving and perfecting it. From a purely logical viewpoint, the Pioneer and Tinker are light years ahead of what was manufactured by other companies.

But there's more than that. One could argue that the modern multitool (Leatherman or otherwise) has further evolved the species, succeeding the SAK. But that's not entirely true. I believe that a multitool, in it's purest form, is a task oriented tool. You receive a handful of tools, each with a specific purpose, and you use these tools to fix something. It's all about the repair of something that already exists. It's a linear and logical experience. Very left brain. Utterly useful in keeping our known world running efficiently and orderly.

The SAK doesn't really seem to play into this multitool line of thinking. It's more chaotic. The tool selection, and sheer number of little shapes and sizes, gives us a more artful approach to life. They persuade us to view life with a more holistic perspective of what can be done. We take these wonderful tiny tools, and find ways not to just repair what we already have, but to build new tools for ourselves. Using a SAK is often more an act of creation than repair. SAK tools enable us to be more introspective in how we see our world, and help us to generate ideas of how to be more than we currently are. We probe what's around us. We whittle off sections to see what's underneath. We explore our environment with a pocket full of magic. We use this myriad of implements to interact with the world around us, not just to fix it. This is the miracle of the Swiss Army knife.

Great post Buzzbait, I sincerely enjoyed the read! 

[HolyDeuce]

For me, it's more about nostalgia.  During a scouting event when I was just a little guy, I found my first ever SAK lying on the ground.. a Wenger Backpacker II.  Ive been hooked ever since.  Now Im a hopeless collector and every time I pick up a new model or color, I can't help but be reminded of the excitement I felt when I became the new owner of that Backpacker all those years ago. 

[Nix]

Value, utility. A SAK is just a handy knife to have. 

For me, there is also a bit of nostalgia: my grandfather gave me my first SAK, which was my first adult knife.

Even so, I'd carry a SAK just for the shear utility. Especially at the price.

[ChopperCharles]

I bought my first SAK when I was 11 or 12 years old. A Wenger Handyman, purchased at a K-Mart (back when they were a respectable store). I remember it was in a blister pack. I still have that knife! In fact, I had ONLY that swiss army knife for 28 years. I finally broke it - popped a rivet, and in my distress I found this place. I was SAK monogamous from 11 years old until then. I didn't even know that Victorinox made swiss army knives, I thought there was only one company, and obviously my blade said Wenger so that was the company that made swiss army knives

This place... this place got me hooked on multi tools and swiss army knives. Dammit. I resent you all!  Now my money disappears onto eBay all too frequently! 

hehehe

Hrm, wait, I wonder if 28 years of SAK monogamy would get me a SAKMC badge, or if it doesn't count because I've got multiple knives now.

Charles.

[Preppy Prepper]

 I agree. They are practical at a great price point.
The SAK also has timeless appeal and never causes a scene in public.
I have lots of knives but my Swiss Army knives are always the ones I hand to other people.

[WolfyW]

For everyday carry, for me it's about practical utility. A knife with just a few small tools. Thats it.

The old School Boy scouts knives and SAKs, IMO, are designed for camping. My home is sort of a camp. No wonder they fit so well. For any heavy duty chores, I get dedicated tools out.

[ElevenBlade]

Because It's all I need, and I need to carry something. 

I started out carrying a folder for years, and switched to a LM for work.  Then the job changed, but I had gotten used to all the tools besides the knife - scissors, screwdrivers, bottle opener, etc.  I continued to carry the LM for another few years... until... One day I needed to do something urgently. At that point I made the sudden realization that the LM was mainly just a collection of 4-5 different screwdrivers, and pliers that I hadn't used in many years.  I couldn't do what I needed to with the LM, so I got out my Champion, and got the job done.  It was then that I fell down the rabbit hole...

Additionally

SAKs are legal to carry in most places, and people are less likely to freak out when they see a SAK.

The variety, options, history, and discussions are just so much fun.