Explore the world through the magnifier!

[Barry Rowland]

Some winter fun!

[EtherealityX1]

Question:

I am just wondering .... What is the general consensus  in MT org regarding the old grey housing Mag Glass vs the new tansparent plastic one?

Sadly ,I don't have any SAK with the old grey housing, all i know is from forums such like this and reddit, plus my own tests with a friends's 1990s era Champ.

From what I reckon, the grey one is superior in terms that since it is glass and not plastic, it is clearer and more scratch resistant. However, the plastic one has a bigger viewable area and  slightly higher magnification factor , at the expense of it getting scratched very easily and having a much more cloudy view of the magnified object. All in all , the consensus is that in spite its shortcoming, the grey one is superior for most uses.

Did I get this right?

Also one question, are there different versions/iterations of both the grey and trasnparent one? Or are there variations per era/date of manufacture?


You know how it goes, I ask because I am in the process of intellectualizing the reasons why I... erm...uhmmm..... "need"  .... a SAK with the grey housing in my collection (as if ....we hopeless Vic addicts needed any more reasons or someone to convince that we "need" just one more SAK ...  )

[Reinier]

From what I reckon, the grey one is superior in terms that since it is glass and not plastic, it is clearer and more scratch resistant. However, the plastic one has a bigger viewable area and  slightly higher magnification factor , at the expense of it getting scratched very easily and having a much more cloudy view of the magnified object. All in all , the consensus is that in spite its shortcoming, the grey one is superior for most uses.
Also one question, are there different versions/iterations of both the grey and trasnparent one? Or are there variations per era/date of manufacture?

I think there are three versions? The old grey one has a glass lens (8x), then there was a plastic one (5x) and the latest iteration is a glass lens (6x) in a plastic housing. Correct? I'm not sure though

[EtherealityX1]

The old grey one has a glass lens (8x), then there was a plastic one (5x) and the latest iteration is a glass lens (6x) in a plastic housing

Three versions of the gray housing one? May I ask what era o what year was the cutoff for each version? Also, how to distinguish between the three versions if I were to buy it in an online auction?

[Reinier]

Three versions of the gray housing one? May I ask what era o what year was the cutoff for each version? Also, how to distinguish between the three versions if I were to buy it in an online auction?

No sorry I meant three versions of the magnifier, period. One grey one, two transparent ones.

[Antti Lammi]

Here is my few SAK with mags
 
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[jnoxyd]

[bregall]

There were vintage Wengers that has this little metal magnifier, this knife is a 5-layer.
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[Myron]

Gray magnifier all day!  They are vastly superior to the modern clear plastic ones (my opinion of course).  You totally need one, @etherealityX1.

[Grand_Banana]

Found this little guy in the basement. Kids loved looking at it with the Explorer mag lens before we released outside.

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Just about that time of year where every bug, worm, and flower gets Explorer-ed with the msg lens.