The SAK as a system.

cbl51 · **on:** February 03, 2020, 06:33:12 PM

There is only one problem with SAK's; they come in a zillion combinations of tools, but most often not in the combination we want in our particular life style. So, we end up carrying a couple of SAk's of different sizes, or team up the SAK with a Leatherman or other tool.

I know thats what I did for many years. I loved having the scissors and tweezers, and the nail file. But I wanted can opener and some screw driving capability. But I love small and light, so my classic was teamed with a Leatherman squirt. For many years I carried a Case peanut as my pocket knife, and it was indeed of a team mate that had tools. I regressed to my youth when they had keychain tools. The old standby, the Sear's 4-way keychain screw driver was kept on hand, as was the old army issue P-38 from my days in uniform. Then, I put up the keychain tools and went with the Squirt. The peanut and the squirt did well for a suburban EDC, and the peanut eventually got replaced with the classic. Then the classic got replaced by the executive of which I am a fanatical follower of. Chuck Yeager is a very brilliant man.

But...theres that little three letter word again...the executive has just one Achillies Heel, and its a little limited in real screw driving, let alone can opener capability. Soooo, keychain tools to the rescue. The small SAK is part of a personal system of an EDC carry. I've found that in my quest for the maximum minimalism, I team up the executive with the Victorinox quatro, and the old P-38 in my wallet. This 'system' give me the minimalistic light weight of the executive with the tool capacity of the recruit or other larger SAK. I use the small pliers so little on the Leatherman squirt that I can leave it home if I have the quarto and P-38 in my wallet.

I find the executive nail file tip makes a fine tool for slipping under the bent ends of a staple and unbending them so then the nail file can be slipped under the top side of the staple and pulled out. The small SD tip of the orange peeler can do the same job. And the Vic scissors on the executive are far far superior than the small Leatherman scissors.

I find that no matter what SAK I carried in the past, there was always a gap in the capability in one area or another. Now, in my retired old fart stage of life, I find the smaller SAK's to be a light weight pocket knife, but the gap needs a few little tools to 'augment' the SAK. Just like In my Case peanut days, a few flat tools in a wallet works to spread the effectiveness of the smaller SAK's very well without having to add another SAK or small Leatherman. I recall my dad, a real die hard Case peanut fan, doing just that. He carried the keychain screw driver and P-38 and his Peanut handled all the cutting jobs a suburban dweller needed to deal with.

Sometimes a little can do a lot.

comis · **Reply #1 on:** February 03, 2020, 07:12:47 PM

Great read as usual, maximum minimalism, I like that term!

Rich S · **Reply #2 on:** February 03, 2020, 08:07:38 PM

I'm still waiting on a red Alox Tinker

Rich

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #3 on:** February 04, 2020, 10:40:27 AM

Combos Rule!

There's been very few tools which I've carried solo, and even then, they only work on certain days. The only two that I currently own that would go solo are Deluxe Tinker and Gerber Balance. These two have been great single tool urban carries for me. I have done days with just a Gerber Dime too, but not as many.

Here's where it gets a bit weird...

My Cybertool 41 has everything the Deluxe Tinker has, and more, yet I'd pair it with a pliers tool. If I felt the need to add a saw and file, I'd also feel the need for larger pliers. A Spirit has a myriad of function that the Balance doesn't, but I'd want a non-locking folder with it too. In fact, every tool I have that has more capability than those two, would only be carried in a combo, and so would everything with less capability. It's only really those two which feel "enough" on their own for urban life.

Aloha · **Reply #4 on:** February 04, 2020, 02:00:26 PM

SAK combos have been part of my carry and will be for the foreseeable future.

cbl51 · **Reply #5 on:** February 04, 2020, 03:45:13 PM

Quote from: Rich S on February 03, 2020, 08:07:38 PM

I'm still waiting on a red Alox Tinker
Rich

You've probably got as long a wait as I have for a cadet with scissors.

And I'll take it in any color I can get, including the standard alox.

ElevenBlade · **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2020, 03:45:07 AM

As I make yet another multitool purchase, I've come up with a few concepts about SAK or MT systems in the way that I use them.

I'll call those concepts:
Redundancy
Modularity
Singularity

In my system, I try to avoid carrying redundant implements for a number of reasons - some practical, some philosophical. You'll never see me with two 91mm SAKs at the same time, and I'm not a true believer in backup knives or MTs in my personal system. In the last couple of years, I've generated a problem of redundancy. I've identified a few must-have tools such as scissors, and have gradually amassed a collection of MTs with this particular impliment. I replaced my LM ST with a LM Wave, Got a LM Micra to compliment my Vic Soldier, then got a Pioneer X once that became available... at the same time I got the Compact. So now I often have two scissors - LM Micra and Victorinox something-or-other. While I tell myself I don't need two scissors, I can't be bothered to detach the Micra from my keys if and when I'm carrying something other than the Soldier... and then there's that problem of "perceived need" since I've used the eyeglass screwdriver and the tweezers on the Micra, I perceive the need for them. An easy fix is to remove both the Soldier and the Micra from the lineup - but life isn't that easy, is it?

Whatever combinations or systems I come up with, I make it a point to minimize the number of separate tools I have. If you ask me how many I have, I'll tell you "just one". But that's not actually true - I have something on my keys (lately a Micra) and a Gerber MP600 in my car all the time, and I basically forget that its there. The SAK of the day is a modular unit that can be removed and switched around in such a way that I don't have to think about switching out the other MTs. Touching back on the first point, there's very little redundancy in that combination, as the serrated blade, pliers, file, and various screwdrivers are only found in the MP600. Half the time, the only scissors, tweezers and eyeglass screwdriver that I have is on the Micra.

Then comes the problem of singularity... and it's become a real problem as of late. On a given day, depending on what I'm doing, I'll be sure to have one or two particular implements with me. If I'm going into the woods, I'll have a saw. If I'm going to a cookout, I'll have the corkscrew and combo opener. The trouble that presented itself is when my system leans on one SAK for one tool, and another SAK for another. The problem of singularity is where a multitool is being used for a singular purpose - such as on a weekend camping trip, where the saw on the OHT prepares the firewood, and the Swisschamp provides the corkscrew for its intended use.

The overarching conundrum is that Singularity leads to Redundancy and stands in the way of Modularity.

So how does one avoid Singularity? The nihilistic approach would be to avoid the whole issue by carrying a Swisschamp everywhere. The other is to use gas stoves and boxed wine. But what fun is that?