Tell me a story.

[Megan]

Walking through antique stores and flea markets you'll often see old knives covered in patina. Worn from years of hard use. What would they say if they could talk?

Share a photo of a Swiss Army Knife and tell me its story.
Tell me about its life and use.

[tjfarrington2000]

i found this knife at a swap meet. It looks like the main blade was re-profiled, but I don't know that much about it. As a matter of fact, the only thing that I recognized was the shields' shape. I paid nearly nothing for it, so I bought it. From what I could gather, it's a wenger gourmet. Oh, the stories it could tell......


Sent from my outdated communication device using an obsolete application

[SteveC]

 Not  a SAK but a cool old knife. This was my uncle Angus's Royal Navy rigging knife that he carried while he did his national service, early 1950's. When I was a a kid in Scotland we used to go to my grandparents on the weekend and my brother and I would spend hours in my Grandpa's work shed. We learned to work with hand tools of all sorts knives included.

 Well one time when my Grandpa had gone down to the house for a little bit, I was whittling a bit of wood with this knife .   In a moment of young stupidity, I was around eight years old,   I rested the piece of wood on my leg as I was slicing it. The knife slipped and cut a nice two inch long gash in my thigh which resulted in a trip to the emergency room. Many years later when my uncle came to visit us in the states he gave me his knife. I still have the knife and the scar on my leg from it.

[N_N_R]

Ok, I'll post an older pic as it's not with me currently.

My fave SAK so far.




It's special, because its looks are special. It's special, because I "defended my rights" as a customer with it. It was supposed to be brand new and I'm not sure how much money it was,a ctually, from TexasToolCrafters. However, it arrived all scratched up. I was mad. I'd paid an insane amount for me to get a gold-plated knife and the scales arrived all scratched up and in a horrible condition.
I contacted the guys, we had a small dispute and they were awesome, basically letting me keep the knife and giving me a refund. I only had to pay the damn customs fees. I've used the knife on a regular basis for more than a year and it's stayed razor sharp.

That's not a big story to share, but I've only been into SAKs for less than two years, so this Pioneer's been a pretty cool, unusual and great knife for me.

[Barry Rowland]

Megan, awesome idea!!  Unfortunately what vintage SAK's I have were all thru the Refurb shop in Monroe, so the patina is gone.  My Huntsman has been most of the way around the world with me twice when I was in the Army.  My dad got it for me when I was a junior in high school, and I'm 48 now so it has seen a lot of life with me.  I love the knives you have posted so far...kind of like my old military rifle collection.  No history came with them, so I can just imagine.  Steve, I love the story with your knife....what history!!

[murrydan]

doh, wrong thread… too many tabs.

[Lynn LeFey]

This might seem cryptic.

This Tinker (given to me by Jersey Devil) was my first SAK.

It opened a can. 



EDIT: I'll be honest. It's a bit tough to GET patina on modern SAKs.

[tjfarrington2000]

doh, wrong thread… too many tabs.

Sent from my outdated communication device using an obsolete application

[Huntsman]

This is a very special type of patina - more commoly known as rust!!

The knife belongs to a friend of mine who is from India - I am in the process of restoring it for her - This is one of the 'before' pictures.
It belonged to her uncle who worked on the Indian railways - And she was wondering if the knife was a 'railway man's' knife. And whether the big spike was used on the railways....

I have done a little research and it seems the knife is a British Army Knife design - But manufactured in India. The red fibre hatched scales apparently were unique to India - As you see it was made in 1943 which of course is during the war, and when India was still part of the Britich Empire. Already interesting  ...  At least to me. 
It is possible that NKF stands for 'Nagpur Knife Factory' - But this is not confirmed.

So not a SAK I am afraid Megan - But a BAKfI - And quite similar to Steve's knife above....
The big malin spike apparently, is for rope work - and I love the way they built a screwdriver into the frame.

So I guess this was originally military issue - I have not dicsussed this with my friend yet - Maybe uncle was in the military before the railways?? Maybe the railways issued military knives - Don't know. We'll see.

Re the project - It is all cleaned up now and looks fab - The rust is all gone... I just used wire wool so far and a little grit paper. The scales look good too. I will polish it a little - but just to put a wee shine on it - Not like a SAK - The knife has to stay in keeping with its origins.

I still have to replace a couple of pins - You can see the hole in the scales and the spike pin is loose.
And this knife originally would have had a bail.
I was going to try and make one - But wimped out - so bought another similar knife from India, from which I will take off the bail, to put on this knife....

Gotta tell you folks - I will be sorry to hand it back!!
But hopefully will learn a little more of the history when I do....
 

[strmliner]

The attached photo includes a Wenger SAK that was given to me when I was in high school.  I didn't care for it much because of the can opener...it was pretty worthless when I compared it to my Ulster BSA knife, and I really liked the Vics.  I carried this occasionally and kept it around. 

When I bought my VW bus in college, I put it in the toolbox.  Well, given the amount of work that goes into keeping VW's working, that little knife turned out quite handy between camping and repairing the van.  One winter, it was extremely cold in Colorado and the van wouldn't start.  As we worked to fire up the engine, I crossed a connection with the tip and got quite a spark.  When I settled down and picked up the knife, the tip of the blade was gone (as you can see in the attached photo).

So that little SAK was relegated to the toolbox for the next 40 years...but I never lost it.  It did yeoman's duty for any little task and opened many sodas and beers.  It now sits on the shop table where I work on SAKs.  I've dulled the blade enough to use it safely to remove scales on the SAKs I buy on eBay when I clean them.

[Barry Rowland]

Huntsman, that is one awesome knife....I love the history of what you know about it.  Strmliner, some of my fondest memories of my Huntsman were working on my 66 Beetle back in the years shortly after graduating from high school!  That flat end screwdriver fit perfectly in the idle adjustment of those Solex carbs.  I've had a 71 Campmobile that it's done work on for the past 14 years that I've owned the vehicle.  It sure seems like SAKs and aircooled Vdubs go hand in hand!

[twiliter]

Once upon a time in Switzerland...

blah blah blah

blah blah blah

blah blah blah

And they lived happily ever after.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. 

[Smaug]

You have lots of fun thread ideas lately, Megan.

This first one is one with a long story before it even became a SAK. The mammoth ivory Executive. How ironic that the tusk of a Woolly Mammoth from the ice age would be turned into a SAK marketed towards desk jockies thousands of years later! I never carry it, because it lacks T&T and the ivory is fragile.



On my SwissTool, the sheath has a story to tell, while the tool itself is in mint condition. Why? It was carried either under the saddle or in the trunk of a motorcycle or scooter for the better part of 10 years. It got buzzed around and hit against other things. Look how dull the finish is on the shield of the button:







This "Kamp King" is kind of a ghetto SAK from the 60s or 70s. SUCH poor quality compared to a SAK. But I coveted one just like it that my grandpa owned when I was a little kid. So I found one on FeeBay and picked it up just for fun. The black material is some kind of thin plastic that was glued on. It is peeling off now; really cheap and nasty. But it brings back memories of bumming around the yard with my grandpa when I was a kid, and that's all I need it for.



This Tinker told the story of the time I cut into a live power cable one time. 



Here's my grandpa's old Elinox Standard. (Spartan w/o T&T) It tells the story of how he was dumb one time and pried with the tip of the blade. Can you believe the tip of the small blade is also bent? He didn't learn his lesson. The scales are scratched up, and there are lots of scratches on the blades too. It has probably been used more than every MT or SAK in my collection put together. Still quite usable too, if I have the nerve!





This Explorer was given to me by my mom's boyfriend in the 80s. It was my favorite and I considered it quite expensive for quite a few years. It was used lightly until my son became a Boy Scout, and now it is his. He hardly uses it too, both for sentimental value and for preference of his Swisschamp:



This old fishing knife from the 60s reminds me of my step grandpa from my dad's side. See the combo tool? It is a hook disgorger, scaler, and bottle opener. It's hard to tell which is more important for a fisherman: beer or scaling and removing fish hooks.



Here's my first fixed blade knife, a US-made Schrade Sharpfinger, with carbon steel blade. I remember I had saved my chore money and went to Walmart with my grandpa, and wanted to buy my first fixed blade knife. I wanted a Buck, but my grandpa said it's too big for a boy, and pointed me toward this. I skinned a rabbit with it one time.



Here's my dad's childhood Queen hunting knife. He sharpened it on a grinder at one point, but it has real stag handles. I've never used it, but imagine my dad using it as a kid to skin rabbits and squirrels with my great uncles.



My first SAK, a EcoLine Vic Recruit. My grandpa brought it back from his last trip to Switzerland with my grandma in the mid-80s, along with 5 identical ones for myself and his other 5 grandsons. It's only been used lightly, as I've always treasured it more than all my other SAKs. My brother lost his pretty quickly, I don't know if the others are still around:



Here's my old Super Tinker, which my ex-wife got for me when we were courting. She went all over Krakow looking for one with black scales, before one helpful salesman finally told her they are not sold with black, but she can buy the black ones and he would install them for her. I carried this one for years as my EDC. Never even considered anything else. I still miss her sometimes, so I don't carry it. It makes me feel emotional and sad. I'll save it to give to my daughter one day when she's old enough.

[Barry Rowland]

Awesome post Jeremy!

[strmliner]

This is a very special type of patina - more commoly known as rust!!

The knife belongs to a friend of mine who is from India - I am in the process of restoring it for her - This is one of the 'before' pictures.
It belonged to her uncle who worked on the Indian railways - And she was wondering if the knife was a 'railway man's' knife. And whether the big spike was used on the railways....

I have done a little research and it seems the knife is a British Army Knife design - But manufactured in India. The red fibre hatched scales apparently were unique to India - As you see it was made in 1943 which of course is during the war, and when India was still part of the Britich Empire. Already interesting  ...  At least to me. 
It is possible that NKF stands for 'Nagpur Knife Factory' - But this is not confirmed.

So not a SAK I am afraid Megan - But a BAKfI - And quite similar to Steve's knife above....
The big malin spike apparently, is for rope work - and I love the way they built a screwdriver into the frame.

So I guess this was originally military issue - I have not dicsussed this with my friend yet - Maybe uncle was in the military before the railways?? Maybe the railways issued military knives - Don't know. We'll see.

Re the project - It is all cleaned up now and looks fab - The rust is all gone... I just used wire wool so far and a little grit paper. The scales look good too. I will polish it a little - but just to put a wee shine on it - Not like a SAK - The knife has to stay in keeping with its origins.

I still have to replace a couple of pins - You can see the hole in the scales and the spike pin is loose.
And this knife originally would have had a bail.
I was going to try and make one - But wimped out - so bought another similar knife from India, from which I will take off the bail, to put on this knife....

Gotta tell you folks - I will be sorry to hand it back!!
But hopefully will learn a little more of the history when I do....

Actually, that looks like a Sheffield knock-off, if it's not actually a Sheffield (G.Ibberson) rigging knife.

[twiliter]

Awesome post Jeremy!

+1 Way cool S, I like those stories! 

[Wade Eva]

Old Red

Before he was called Old Red, he was just Red.  New in box in 1963, on the middle shelf of the knife display, he wondered where he would eventually end up and with whom.  Having seen his mates leave with different owners consisting on regular dad’s, soldiers, work-men and the occasional boy, he wondered where his fate would bring him.  Well that day arrived late in 1964.  A distinguished gentleman in a business suit entered the store and proceeded to the knife display.  Now Red never got excited or anything, but when the door slid open and he was removed to look at he became hopeful.
This had happened to Red before, only to be put aside for a fixed blade knife or some other fancy pocket-knife.  Well today he stayed on top of the counter as a few other knifes were looked at.  And as one by one, the other knifes were put away, he began to realize that he was the one this gentleman was going home with.  With a few swift motions, he found himself back in his box and into the outer pocket of his new owner’s jacket.  He was ecstatic!  He was finally out of the display and in the world.  He hoped he’d be able to prove his worth. 

His new owner promptly took him home and gave him to his wife with the instructions to, “Wrap this up for Tommy for Christmas. It will be his stocking stuffer.”  So there he went, wrapped in red white and gold paper with a red bow on top, he was placed in Tommy stocking hanging by the fireplace.  So tommy would be his new owner.  What would Tommy be like, what would he need me for?  Down in the bottom of the stocking, Red couldn’t wait to meet Tommy.   

Well that night, he met Tommy for the first time.  It was real late and the whole house was quite, when all of a sudden Red was removed from the stocking. It was Tommy, a young boy of about 10.  He took out Red and began to shake him in his box next to his ear.  His small key ring made the slightest sound. He heard Tommy say, “oh boy, I hope this is a pocket knife!”  On the inside of the box, Red was over joyed.  Tommy wanted a pocket knife and Red was just that.  This was looking to be a great match.  Red wanted Tommy to open his box and take him out, but just like that, he was back in the bottom of the stocking.  There he stayed for the next three days.

Then one morning everything changed.  The family was all gathered in the living room and they were opening gifts.  Red heard Merry Christmas a bunch of times so gathered it was a special occasion.  This went on for a while until the stocking he was in was removed for the fireplace.  “Here you go Tommy, time to see what in your stocking.”  I felt Tommy’s hand grab me out of the stocking, tear off the bow and fancy wrapping I was in and yell, “YIPPIE!!!!!, my knife.”  To hear the joy in Tommy’s voice and the two words, My Knife, made Red so happy.  He was with somebody who wanted him.  Timmy immediately began to open and close all of Red’s tools.  His father interrupted saying, “be careful, it's sharp.  It’s not a toy it’s a tool and should be used with respect.”   Tommy looked at his dad, then ran across the room and gave him a big hug.  “Thanks Dad, I love it.  It’s just what I wanted.  My very own pocket knife.”  He dad replied, “Son, it’s a Swiss Army knife, similar to the ones used by soldier’s.  It a fine knife with very useful tools.”  He then went on to show Tommy the blade, bottle opener, can opener and awl. 

Tommy and Red were always together.  Tommy was also a Boy Scout, so Red was put to work regularly. From making tinder to start a fire, cutting rope, opening bottles to tightening screw on Tommy bike, Red had it covered.   Only one time did Tommy misuse Red.  And the result was a broken awl.  Tommy was visiting his grandparents in Los Angeles one summer.  They went for a walk and Tommy found a quarter on the ground.  Or so he thought.  Turns out, someone had epoxied the quarter to the ground so nobody could pick it up.  His grandmother gave a small laugh when Tommy unsuccessfully tried to pick it up.  “It’s glued to the ground she stated, been there for 3 or 4 years.”  Well Tommy was not deterred and whipped out Red.  He tried the bottle opener, but couldn’t get under the quarter.  He tried the can opener, but it was still too blunt.  He’d never use the blade to pry, so out came the awl.  Tommy wiggled the tip back and forth in the epoxy until he got a little but under the quarter.  Then he tried to pop it off the ground.  Well the epoxy held strong, so strong that Tommy broke the tip off of Red’s awl.  Tommy was crushed. He felt so bad.  He didn’t even want to look at what he had done.  He put red back in his pocket and continued on with his grandmother.  He knew she was admonishing him for breaking Red, but he already felt terrible.  He didn’t hear a word she said. 

That weekend, Tommy took Red to his Grandfathers garage and found a file.  He slowly filed the awl to smooth out the broken tip.  It was tedious work, but eventually Tommy got the awl looking pretty darn good.  Red was bummed too when his awl broke.  Not with the fact that he was broken, but that he had let Tommy down.  But when Tommy took him to the garage and did all the file work, Red knew Tommy was not disappointed in him.  Then Tommy did something he had never done before.  He held Red in his hand and looked straight at him and said, “Sorry buddy, I shouldn’t have done that.”

As Tommy grew older, Red was always in his pocket.  Banging around in Tom’s pocket with his change and keys the red color began to wear off of Red.  But Tommy didn’t seem to mind so Red didn’t.  He was happy to look the way he did.  He was used like he was made to be used and that suited him just fine.

One of the bigger marks on Red happened when Tommy was in College.  He was walking back to his dorm room when he heard some screaming from the food court.  He rushed over to find a young woman with her fingers caught in a roll up security door.  People were trying to pry it open to free her fingers but the sharp edges on the door was preventing them from getting a good grip to hold it open.  Tom saw this and instinctively reached for Red.  He ran over and jammed Red in the gap the guys created.  Their fingers slipped just as Red was jammed in, but Red held strong.  The young woman was able to slip her fingers out and was free of the door.  As they rushed her away to have her fingers checked out, Tom looked at Red stuck in the door.  They had been thru a lot together but this one left a mark.  Tom leaned on the door with his shoulder and wiggled Red out of the gap.  Red’s somewhat worn sides now had a big blemish on the front.  I big gash that showed bright aluminum.  Tom felt bad for Red seeing him in this condition.  He’s always taken great care of Red but realized that it was a badge of honor to have that mark on Red.  Red was more than happy to have the mark.  It was hard earned and well worth it to him.

Tom eventually met a girl and got married.  Red was with him the whole time.  Even in his pocket when Tom got married.  Thru thick and thin, Red was in Toms pocket, until one day he wasn’t.

Tom and Kelly went to Lake Tahoe one summer for vacation.  And while splashing in the clear shallow water, Red slipped out of Toms shorts pocket and I into the lake.  Red knew something was wrong, when Tom continued to splash and play with Kelly and move away from Red.  Then Red was all alone on the bottom of the lake just a few yards off shore.  Tom was gone.  All those years with Tom flashed by as he waited for Tom to return.  Tom never did. 

It was two years later when Red was found.  A young girl found him in the sand and took him to her mother.   Her mother in turn turned Red into the lost and found.  Red was in the lost and found for another year.  Nobody came for him.  Then one day, he was scoped up with all the other items and put in a box.  The box was delivered to an older guy who collected junk and ran an antique shop in Virginia City, NV.  Next thing Red knows, he’s sorted out of the box and put in a drawer with a bunch of other knifes at the antique shop.  He had a sticker placed on him that said $8.  Red sat in that drawer for another 15 years until Wade Eva came along.


Now Wade is knife collector.  He’s always had a Swiss Army Knife on him and joined online groups with others that share his same interest in knifes.  Specifically, Swiss Army Knives.  So Wade is on vacation with his family in South Lake Tahoe and they decided to make a day trip to Virginia City.  Its here that Wade enters an old antique store and asked about knifes.  The gentleman working the store points to a row of drawers and says, “the knifes are in the top three.”  Wade opens the top drawer and sees nothing of interest.  He opens the second drawer and still nothing.  He opens the last drawer and sees just s glimpse of red in the far back.  He pulls the drawer out further and there is Red.  Now Old Red.  Dusty and dirty but an original red Alox Pioneer with Brass liners.  For only $8!!!!  SOLD!

Old Red can’t believe his good fortune.  After all this time, he finds himself in another pocket.  It’s where he belongs and its home to Old Red.  He gets even more excited when he realized that he’s sharing this pocket with another knife.  Not just any other knife, but a Swiss Army knife like him.  Except this one is newer and has a saw on it.  He later learns it’s called a Farmer and is a highly admired knife.

Wade takes Old Red home and gives him a cleaning and an oil.  Polishes up the tools and brass as best as he can and adds a lanyard.  He then begins to rotate Old Red into his every day carry.  It feels so good to Old Red to be back in a pocket with change and keys and always at the ready. 

[MadPlumbarian]

An sak story huh
Ok, when I was 10 my grandfather used his sak(a Swiss champion plus) and I thought it was omg that thing is sooo cool! So he asked me
"do you like it"?
 Like heck yeah!
"Do you want one"?
Of course!
"Well you'll have to wait till your 12"
So needless to say the next 2yrs felt like 10, but it came time and I turned 12, My father said here you got a package in the mail, it's from your grandfather and I shredded it apart, I didn't care for anything else, and there it was, nice, BEAUTIFUL, fresh oil smell, and it was ALLLL MINE!! The next year I tried doing everything I could think of by using it like taking the corkscrew and twisting it into a branch, and yeah it snapped off. Then came my heart break, while running in the woods I lost it, I looked and looked and looked to find nothing, even went up with metal detectors and notta.. A whole year went by and then one day while playing around my step sister hurt her ankle or something and she screamed for me, so I ran all to trip and fall. I then had to shake it off cause I landed on my face, and as eye site came into focus I saw something, I was like no, can it be? There was something under the leaf, so I reached for it, and it was, OMG! I found it! I brushed it off opened the sheath and it was dirty, then she screamed again, I totally forgot, oops! But, I went home cleaned it up the best I could, and I couldn't be any happier! From then on it was my little sidekick, I didn't do anything without it, besides go to school. Then came senior year, and I got my first Multitool, the first gerber. So my first sak pretty much retired.. When my grandfather passed, I received his sak, the same one that made me drool, it also had the original sheath that had a steel on the side which I originally wanted to!
    Now, I didn't want to do anything to it, but I also wanted to use the parts for some things, since the corkscrew was broke I had the one taken off of that one and fixed mine, this way no matter what a piece of his will always be part of mine, the saw on my Pharmber is the saw taken off of his, again to always have a part of him, same for the sheath, I put my old sak and put it in his with the steel. But it just sits on top of my dresser along with all my other knives, oh and the scales of his knife got glued to a piece of stained wood, so it looks like a knife, but the one scale has our last name carved into it, he always put his name on everything, and that sits with some other very important stuff.. Anyway here's a pic of my first sak, sorry the pic sucks..
JR

Oh yeah, and 3yrs ago when our older kid turned 12, I bought him the same model on Amazon for like $30, and with all this stuff going on over on Amazon the timing couldn't have been better, cause it's the model I needed for my little guy turning 12 in a few months.. Perfect!

[ColoSwiss]

Hi Megam,

Showed this before but here's an old Boker my Dad picked up in Germany right after WWII. He was a pilot and carried this as part of his flight gear in preference to the standard military utility knife, both in the service and after.

[Megan]

These are all so great.
I really love these stories. And all of the photos!

[Huntsman]

Well I just made this post about my SwissChamps
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,63208.0.html
And as promised I said I would recount the stories behind how I acquired each of them - And also a little story/information about my SAK hobby by default
– So here they are.

I have carried a Swiss Army Knife probably for 40 years or so - but only became a ‘collector’ a couple of years ago.
I started off ‘willy nilly’ – But soon developed a ‘focus’ for my collection - and it was the variations in the tools - as  shown in the brilliant SAAMS blog.
http://victorinox.metodi.me/91mmtools.php

Basically what I wanted to do - Was to collect one version of each of the tools displayed in this blog, and also modern versions that came out since. 
I explicitly did not collect different models – And I explicitly ruled out duplicates of any model. Maybe another story one day of how I failed in this regard. 
So by my rules I did not really necessarily need to have a SwissChamp – However I knew I would get one in the collection eventually.
Every collection has to have a SC right??

Anyway by a weird coincidence the chronological order in which I acquired my Champs - was equal to their age order with the oldest first
– So this time we go forward in time ….. 

So it was the night before my first ever trip back from Australia to the UK  after three years in Oz. Instead of packing and going to bed I was browsing ebay - we’ve all be there right? - and I saw this beauty from a seller in Israel  –



It was in the early days of my collecting – But I knew it was pretty special and old !! But could I bid? I worked out that the closing time was about four hours after I arrived back in the UK, and if I was lucky, about 1 hour after I arrived at my sister’s house - where I was staying.
So I went to bed, jumped on a plane the next day for 48hrs or so – I had an overnight in Seoul, Korea – and we all met up at London Heathrow. Lots of hugs and happiness, and off to my sister’s house.
After we had been there a little while I asked if I could borrow a computer with an internet connection. ‘Why?’ they asked – expecting it to be some urgent work matter or such like  – ‘To bid on a Swiss Army Knife on ebay’, I sheepishly replied. I got a lot of teasing and a fair amount of flak – But my request was granted and of course I won the knife – So it was worth it. 

The knife had a horrible hand drawn name gouged into the scales - which I have removed.


So a few months later I was browsing again ….. (of course!  ) and  I found this incredible shop display set of Victorinox knives in a wooden box.
Chako has one in his collection and he has a post specifically on that set.
This is a whole story in itself and I need to make my own post specifically about this set - with pictures etc - and will do so one day.
So for now, sufficeth to say, this was my second Champion. 




Over the last couple of years I have kept saying to myself I have finished my collection – As I did have most of the tool variations – But of course, from time to time, could not resist a wee browse. 
One day I saw this Hoffritz SwissChamp. I could see it was in great condition and I have always liked the Hoffritz knives. I am not quite sure why?? Maybe because they are true Vics , but are just a little different??  – And I do like the Hoffritz logo. But this was not why I was excited – I could see this was a pretty early model (eg no hook) and I was really hoping that this would contain the elusive (at least to me) 2.5mm pliers which I did not have -  I had the other two versions by then – although not in a Champ. So I bid and won – Sadly it did not contain the first version of the pliers. 

So a little plug - If anyone has a spare SAK with these pliers please do let me know - and maybe we can deal !!

And by my coillection rules I should sell this SwissChamp - But of course I proably won't!!




And so to my final Champ – And hoorah – Not bought on ebay  – In fact not bought at all. 

A friend of mine was planning to do the ‘Overland Track’ hike in Tasmania – This is a fabulous 4-5 day backpacking trip (backpacking = carrying everything on your back for the whole time)  It goes through some truly stunning mountain scenery and wilderness. He reckoned he needed to take some sort of knife or tool with him and mentioned this to his Mum. She wanted to get him the biggest and the best, as Mum’s do  – and bought him a SwissChamp for the trip – When this thing arrived Tom thought to himself – ‘There is no way I am carrying that monster for 5 days' - and just took a small knife. 

We were chatting about this one day - He knows about my SAK  affliction hobby – Tom was not someone who carried an EDC tool/sak/knife etc at all. I told him, maybe the SC was a bit big - but that he should really try carrying a smaller SAK - and lent him a Huntsman (one of my favourites) for a while to try out – Since that day he has carried the Huntsman every day and uses it most days - surprise, surprise!! We all knew this would happen – eh?
Then one day he told me that he had no use for the SC ever!! – And offered to trade me the SC for the Huntsman – I was not keen at all  as this was a very unequal trade - and after all was a present from his Mum – But he insisted – and that is how I acquired my last Champ.



If anyone has stuck through all this drivel – Well done and thanks for staying with me

[windson]

Thanks for sharing! Really enjoying these stories.

[AimlessWanderer]

My first SAK was a tourist. It's one of the few "firsts" I still own. My first branded multi was a Gerber Suspension. Knowing nothing about multitools, I still knew it was crap and that I needed to get something else. I followed that up with a Swisstool CS Plus. Both of these have since moved on to new homes. My first two Leathermans were defective from new (yup, that's where it all started folks), and they have both moved on to new homes too. My first SAK is still here though, and it taught me a lot:

It taught me that SAKs aren't just some cheapo imported gimmick, and that they are superb pocket tools.

It taught me that 85mm is a fantastic size for a pocket knife, disappearing easily into the pocket, but still perfectly capable of all manner of daily tasks.

It taught me that any SAK without scissors is "incomplete".

I still carry it occasionally, but when I do, I'm carrying a Victorinox knife and relying on another tool for scissors, which generally aren't up to Victorinox standard. Doesn't quite feel right somehow....