Great responses everybody! It's interesting to read everyone's take on the subject along with their experiences and insights. I often want to gift a SAK to some of the people I know who I think might benefit from it, but then I wonder if they'd ever use it and worry that it would just sit in a drawer somewhere, neglected and unused. I think that giving them one of their own might spark an interest in them to use it and to use it for more than just opening the mail. It might open their eyes to the possibilities of carrying such a useful tool set with them wherever they go.
Great responses everybody! It's interesting to read everyone's take on the subject along with their experiences and insights. I agree that it's sad to see that a lot of people these days don't even carry the simplest of tools, a pocket knife, on their person. I often want to gift a SAK to some of the people I know who I think might benefit from it, but then I wonder if they'd ever use it and worry that it would just sit in a drawer somewhere, neglected and unused. I gave a reconditioned Climber to my coworker years ago and he never mentioned anything about it. When I asked him how he liked it weeks later, he said it was good and that was it, no other details. On the other hand, I think that giving them one of their own might spark an interest in them to use it and to use it for more than just opening the mail. It might open their eyes to the possibilities of carrying such a useful tool set with them wherever they go.
I tried the gifting and am becoming discouraged, especially with teens. I have gifted Girl Scout camp knifes, PS Styles, and a Gerber M600 to various nieces and nephews. The PS and M600 was so they could even take to school where knives aren’t allowed). I’ve also gifted a couple flashlights. The items get carried for a little while if at all then gets put on a shelf. I even had my 16yo nephew comment when we were doing some work on my parents porch that he could see where the multitool I gave him would have been useful for what we were doing, but it was upstairs.There was one positive of a nurse who loved my Explorer when I pulled it out to use the magnifying glass on a medicine label. She said when she got home she was going to order one. I probably would have given mine to her if it wasn’t my on.y Explorer at the time and I wasn’t doing the Explorer challenge.
I think the best choice for giving a knife to someone who has never carried one is to give them a Victorinox Classic. It is easy to carry and not intimidating, but has some basic tools. Particularly the scissors.
What would you recommend in the 91mm range?
That's a good idea VICMAN. The Classic is definitely not what some would consider 'intimidating' to pull out in public to use (not that I have a problem pulling my 91mm out to use anywhere) and has a useful tool set to get them started. What would you recommend in the 91mm range?
I think the compact, super tinker or climber are really good options in the 91mm. I suggest these due to the scissors. I find the scissors one of my most used tools on my SAK and great for public use if someone is concerned the knife might be intimidating.
I once had one of the office reception girls come to my desk, asking if I could fix her glasses. Apparently she had been asking around if anyone had a small screwdriver and someone pointed her to me. I clipped my minichamp from my keychain, and fixed her glasses.
Why do I get a feeling she's cute?
I have that with microbes... ...
Sorry to use the LM name in this forum, but since my wife responded to the "anyone got any pliers...?" call in her office and produced a LM Juice, she's thought of slightly "differently" by the lads young enough (just!) to be her sons!! She also carries a LM Micra on house keys. That's my girl. She has nothing against Victorinox, unless she finds out how many I have...
I am pretty much the only one in my social environment that carries at least a Classic everywhere I go. I feel naked without an MT these days.Got my wife a Classic Alox for her keychain on her birthday. She gave me the “what am I supposed to do with that look” at the time. She has used it multiple times since, but would never admit that is very handy to carry
I agree with your observation, but it just seems so strange to me.Growing up it seemed strange if someone didn’t have a pocket knife in their pocket or on their belt. I was given my first knife at 8yo and have carried one every since. Then, in the Navy on ships, it seemed Sailors almost always had some sort of knife or tool in their pocket even if their rating didn’t really require it.I’ve noticed for about a decade that edc’ing put me in a minority, but didn’t really realize that it also included knives or SAKs until recently. Sure I understood not everyone had flashlights, aspirin, safety pins, first aid items, etc but I didn’t realize it was also pocket knives until recently.I first noticed the shift at a wedding, when my Aunt was struggling to open a packet of dressing and I asked if she wanted scissors. She was like “you have a pair?” and was shocked when I pulled out a SAK from the waistband of my pocketless skirt. Even then I thought, no one else had something because they were nicely dressed. Recently when I went to visit family and realized just how bad it was. My nephew asked me why I had a knife in my pocket. It was just a small SAK that I was pulling out to cut open his cracker package. Why would he be asking such a question? It is obvious to me. A pocket knife is a very useful tool that you never know when you’ll need, like right then. Even some people who grew up always having pocket knives on them have cast them aside. I don’t understand the why, but find it sad.
I think the society as a whole have grew accustomed to all the convenience brought by consumerism--everything is made for ease of use, and all things disposable. So nothing needs any tinkering or fixing anymore, and the need to carry multitool might have dramatically dropped over the years. What sadden me more is people seem to less appreciate or cherish the things they have, and combined with the castaway mentality, manufacturers starting to resort to even cheaper material and not build things to last. It is a downward spiral where we all end up losing in the end.
I continue to teach why four kids and 8 grandkids about doing it themselves. Some subjects stick, others do not. Like, showed my grandson (11) about setting a snare and how I caught muskrat and rabbits. Then a month later my daughter calls, and ASK WHAT THE H_11 DO WITH THE D_MM RABBIT MY GRANDSON CAUGHT IN THE GARDEN!!!. (He was at swim practice)It is great when lessons stick!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Like, showed my grandson (11) about setting a snare and how I caught muskrat and rabbits. Then a month later my daughter calls, and ASK WHAT THE H_11 DO WITH THE D_MM RABBIT MY GRANDSON CAUGHT IN THE GARDEN!!!. (He was at swim practice)It is great when lessons stick!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Amen to that whole post brother... I couldn't have said it better if i tried.That's something that has been pissing me off for many years, and since this "wonderful" new millennium came things has been spiraling down exponentially with every passing year. A lot of stuff couldn't be fixed even if one tried. Almost nothing is made to be disassembled and assembled any more. All in sealed tight packages ready to be thrown away when malfunctioning. When i talk to a lot of people about "fixing" something, i get this " " look... "Like,... that's cheap man.... why not just throwing it away and buy another one...?" I usually say: "Yeaeehhh... let's contribute a bit more for pollution and degradation of our environment and oceans with a bit more garbage of something that's easily fixed, if one isn't too bloody lazy or narrow minded do do it...!" Just one of many examples i could give about this: A couple of years ago i was walking down my street and saw one of those household ground cooling fans, those square ones with the big fan in front to change the cooling wind direction, it looked pretty new to me, clean, not a scratch, just sitting beside the dumpster (we put these kind of things beside dumpsters over here, never inside it), thought to myself " i wonder if it's fixable..." So i picked it up, took it home, and plugged it in... nothing... Noticed the wire near the plug was a bit twisted and mangled, so i cut off the plug, grab a new one, strip the wide ends and install it. Plug it in, start the darn thing and everything is working 100%, great cooling... 10 min of work, tops...All i can think about it's former owner is...
Comis and MacGyver, I think you've both hit on the root cause on why more people don't carry any type of pocket tool with them these days. If most everything produced now is meant to be thrown away when it breaks or malfunctions, there's no need to at least try and fix it. If people have been conditioned to go and buy a new one, not many will have the experience or knowledge of how to do basic troubleshooting of a problem and therefore no need of tools at hand to fix it. I spent a lot of time at my grandparent's house when I was a kid and they grew up during the second world war. They learned how to tinker and fix things and make things work with what they had because things were scarce. They learned to repair and reuse what they had and got creative when they had to. When my wife and I first got together, when something broke or wasn't working right, it was, 'We need to look for a new....'. After 13 years, it's now 'Can you take a look at...' . I'm amazed as well what some people put out by their curb for garbage pick up; a lot of it is probably still serviceable, it just needs a little maintenance.
Yes, much does depend on your upbringing. There was/is a book I read back in the late seventies that described the generations based upon the fact, “you are who you are based on where you were when.”Three of my grand parents were either born in Europe or the very first of the family burned in the US. My dad’s mom was the third child of a fur trade and was raised along the Kalamazoo River in SW Michigan and watched her father trade with PATCHES, (the name of trappers) as each spring they would deliver large canoes loaded with furs from Wisconsin or Northern Michigan. They all grew up as teenagers during WWI, as young parents and newlyweds during the depression, continued to provide for a family with teenagers during WW2. So my parents were even exposed to rationing and duty to proudly serve ones country. I was exposed to much of their experiences and learned to do by what I was taught with tools and imagination. I continue to teach why four kids and 8 grandkids about doing it themselves. Some subjects stick, others do not. Like, showed my grandson (11) about setting a snare and how I caught muskrat and rabbits. Then a month later my daughter calls, and ASK WHAT THE H_11 DO WITH THE D_MM RABBIT MY GRANDSON CAUGHT IN THE GARDEN!!!. (He was at swim practice)It is great when lessons stick!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When I was a kid, I love to take things apart and even small broken appliances which was way beyond my repair skill set, I still love to give it a try. I never see that anymore with all my friends' kids, and they prefer playing games on cell phone instead of legos. That's part of the reason I basically turn off everything with a screen when my little guy is around, even he is just half years old.
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