Day by Day...a Journey down the 91mm Range

[Sos24]

Nice write-ups.

[Max Stone]

Thanks 🆘, VICMAN, Chako and Huntsman for the kind words! 
I’m enjoying the challenge too, and just getting into it 

[Rapidray]

Another great day! Review, photos all great. 

[Greg Jones]

 
Ray beat me to it 

[FolderBeholder]

Scissors, I love 'em.   
I forgot that the Climber has so many special scales and the reason I have quite a few in my collection.
Another morning where I lept into the office, and frantically looked for your topic for an informative read, thank you Max! 

[Aloha]

Not having scissors on my primary SAK just mean I get to carry a second  .  Nice carry today. 

[Rapidray]

Not having scissors on my primary SAK just mean I get to carry a second  .  Nice carry today.

  110% thats why I carry a second also! Sometimes 3  My Woodsman is always with me because of the magnifying glass.

[Max Stone]

Thanks Rapidray, Aloha, FB, Greg... 
I’m pleased everyone’s enjoying the thread!

[Intorikata]

We are. I look forward to this one.

[Max Stone]

Thanks Intorikata 

Day 6
The saying “...use the right tool for the job” is just as relevant with a Swiss Army knife. Many a SAK user has witnessed the twisted blade tip or damaged scissor edge from misuse; damage that is avoidable with just a little user care and awareness.
And while the scissors and screwdrivers are useful tools for the urban jungle, the picture changes when you step out your back door or venture off the beaten path.
This takes us to the next SAK up for a mini-review, the Camper. Like many, I love the outdoors. Being closer to nature and needing to be self-sufficient (even if just for a few days) is soul-food and probably the best way to disengage from the hectic lifestyles many of us lead.
The Camper adds an essential tool for the outdoors, the wood saw. And it’s not some compromised tool just for emergency use. No, the Victorinox crosscut wood saw is an extremely effective cutting tool that can handle up to a one inch cross-section with ease.
There are several reasons why this saw is so effective, so a little background is called for. There are four characteristics we can touch on; Pitch, Rake, Fleam, and Set. Pitch is simply the number of saw points, or coarseness of the saw, which in turn defines how deep the gaps are between the teeth. This is a big factor in how efficiently the tool carries saw dust away from the cut, or kerf. The Vic wood saw has a relatively course pitch optimized for wood, but equally good at cutting PVC piping and other soft but stable materials.
Rake is the angle of the cutting face of the tooth and determines the aggressiveness of the cut. The more gentle the rake, the easier the saw is to push. So starting the cut is easier but progress is slower. A steeper rake cuts faster but can feel grabbier. It also takes more care to get started as the blade can hop around on the wood before getting established in the groove. The Vic saw has a well-balanced rake that is the same angle front and back, making it efficient regardless of pushing or pulling on the saw.
Fleam is the angle across the face of the tooth in the cut direction. It makes every tooth a little knife that slices the grain rather than chopping it like a chisel. The more fleam the cleaner the cut but the weaker the tooth. If you look closely at the Vic saw, you can see that each tooth is a miniature knife allowing an extremely effective cutting process, much like the teeth of a shark. In fact, the side-to-side action a shark uses is the same technique used by your Vic’s saw to cut wood.
The final characteristic is the ‘set’ of the saw. This is the amount of offset the teeth have to either side of the tooth line, or how far they are bent outwards to widen the kerf and allow the saw to run without binding. However, the wider the kerf the more wood you remove, so progress is slower and less precise as the saw can now wiggle about. This is why joinery saws always have less set than general purpose hand saws. The Vic saw has a very slight set that is not immediately apparent; but on close inspection you will see that the back of the saw blade is slightly thinner than the saw’s edge, creating a slight set once the teeth are machined into the blank tool.
And an often overlooked reason why the Vic saw is so effective is the thinness of the blade. Removing less wood simply makes progress faster. All-in-all, the Vic saw is a marvelous example of a well-designed and effective tool, truly optimized for folding away and keeping in your pocket. Give that some thought next time you’re using your Camper in the great outdoors!
Pros:
- Excellent saw for small diameter wood
- Small enough to carry in any pocket
- Very affordable
Cons:
- Won’t replace a full-size saw for bigger jobs
- Cleaning the saw can take time
Bottom line:
Fire and shelter are two essential requirements when away from your urban environment, and the Camper with its capable saw can be a real help in these two and many other requirements. There’s really no excuse not to have a Camper or any of the saw-equipped SAKs close at hand when out and about.

[VICMAN]

Great write-up and pics of the Camper Max!

[RF52]

Solid challenge Max!

Sent fra min FRD-L09 via Tapatalk

[Greg Jones]

Fantastic writeup on the Camper, specifically the Saw 

[FolderBeholder]

  The Camper! 
Such wonderful information Max, I feel more educated about the wood saw.   
My first SAK was a Camper and I distinctly remember buying it because of the saw.

[Rapidray]

Oh boy, what a great write up on the saw! I have always loved the saw because it is so efficient. I never knew why it is so efficient untill now. Thanks for sharing! 

[Aloha]

  with everything they ^^^ said  .  I really like those scales a lot on the Camper.  I also really like the name.  Vic has some great names for their SAKs but this one is spot on.       

[Max Stone]

Thanks VICMAN, RF52, Greg, FB, Rapidray, Aloha. 
Appreciate the comments and feedback. 

[comis]

Max, this is one of the best writeups for SAK saw I've read,  excellent job!

[FolderBeholder]

 

[Sos24]

Great write-up.  I first learned about the SAK saw backpacking with the Girl Scouts.  We had a larger folding saw for the whole group, but the counselors each had a SAK with a wood saw.  The next trip, I made sure I had a SAK with a wood saw.

[Max Stone]

Thanks comis, FB, 🆘   

The wood saw sure is a great SAK tool. 

[Max Stone]

Day 7

So far we have covered Vic’s scissors and wood saw as the central tool options in the 3-layer 91mm lineup. Both excellent tools, driving good demand for their respective owners, the Climber and Camper.

But there’s another tool that gets a lot of interest from SAK users; the inline Phillips screwdriver. And this tool gets our attention today, as we’re covering the Spartan Lite.

Bit first, as the name implies, we have to deal with a rather questionable feature. Victorinox introduced a small LED flashlight into their 91mm lineup some years ago. Running on two button cells, the output is hardly stellar, and while it has become brighter in recent years as LED technology improves, it’s never going to be more than a few lumens...enough to help you find a keyhole on the dark, or help you avoid tripping on a dark stairway.

I use my mobile phone as a flashlight when needed, or I carry a small AA Fenix if I know I may need one ahead of time. So for me, having a tiny LED on a SAK is largely a waste of time, especially as it means you cannot deep rinse the SAK for cleaning, and you can’t remove the LED if you want to illuminate what you’re trying to use the SAK for in the dark, the very time you would need a low-output flashlight! There’s a 6-layer exception, but that’s for another day. But for the rest of the ‘Lite’-equipped SAKs, the LED is a non-feature in my book.

So with that out the way...let’s return to the tool tethered to the opposite pivot; the inline Phillips. And as bad as the LED is as a flashlight, the Phillips is at the opposite end of the spectrum, because it’s really good!

Unlike the ergonomically-challenging Phillips found as a back tool (like on the Tinkers), the inline Phillips snaps out to become a pointy one inch extension of the SAK, with a good-sized cross-head and strong (4mm) tool thickness. It even has a 90 degree detent, for increased torque or for difficult-to-reach spots. As an extra bonus, the inline Phillips is perfectly central in this 3-layer SAK, making it super-easy to rotate in your hand (did I hear someone say Yeoman mod?)

Actually, the inline Phillips is such an A+ tool, you can overlook the F- tool its paired with on the Spartan Lite. Sadly, with the extra cost and questionable LED, the Spartan Lite often gets overlooked. Even if they sex-it-up with a mini screwdriver accessory and transparent scales.

Of all the paired tools in a SAK layer, the inline Phillips and LED probably top the list for ‘best and worst’ implementation of a dedicated, stand-alone tool.

But when all is said and done, the Spartan Lite still has a great base toolset and an excellent inline Phillips, so it’s still a great SAK for pocket carry. Maybe switching the button cells for some headache pills would be more useful, especially if you bump your head on the dark.

Pros:
- Excellent inline Phillips driver
- Still a Spartan under the skin

Cons:
- LED all but useless and cannot be removed
- Expensive Spartan upgrade

Bottom line:
Much overlooked, the Spartan Lite has the best implementation of an inline Phillips on any current 91m SAK, but made almost completely redundant by the 4-layer Explorer that ditches the useless LED for the (slightly more useful) magnifier, while adding scissors.

[Aloha]

Huge fan of the inline driver  .   It actually seems a lot stronger than the one on the Spirit?  Meaning my Spirits driver is really starting to show wear while my Explorer is barely sweating  . 

It would be neat to see a total redesign of the LED enclosure.  There is an terrific mod here on MTo somewhere on the scale LED.  Anyways, nice carry today. 

[Rapidray]

The inline Phillips is a nice additional tool to have on the SAK’s. I like mine!

[Max Stone]

Bonus shot...the LED in use. Oh, and the button has two positions, instantaneous and latching. Which could make this SAK useful as an unattended beacon for a military deployment...or maybe not. 

[FolderBeholder]

Another enjoyable read Max.    I like the inline Phillips too.
I have had a couple of customs made and I usually have that tool included if possible.  It's always opposite a magnifier though.

I do think the newer LEDs are brighter.  I have an Expedition kit with an inline LED and it's much stronger than one of my older SAKs, even when the older one has fresh batteries.

[pfrsantos]

Nice review of the Climber Max!

+1

 

This was my first "real" SAK, the one that started it awl. I since discovered an infinity of models and it doesn't get carried as much as it used to, but is still one of the favourites!

 

Keep up the good work, bro!



 

[Huntsman]

Oh my goodness Max

Day 7 tells me you don't love awl things Vic   

[Max Stone]

Oh my goodness Max

Day 7 tells me you don't love awl things Vic   

yep, the LED is probably the most pointless tool developed by Victorinox, but I still love them awl (like children  )

Thanks pfrsantos, FB, Rapidray, Aloha 

[VICMAN]

Day 7

But there’s another tool that gets a lot of interest from SAK users; the inline Phillips screwdriver. And this tool gets our attention today, as we’re covering the Spartan Lite.

Great pics and another good review Max!