Indians For Guns

...and others too! i have 3 big ones picniker,locksmith and hunter! the problem is they look too flimsy and blingy! i mean sharpening a stick to put a hammer head on seemed to be a problem with plain edged! till i got it done by picnicker serrated edge !and not to mention locksmith saved my life in a way i was locked out of my home lockmith and not brought file and i gave him the locksmith file to use ! i have seen Bear Grylls use knives Gerber as a survival tool i am impressed buck / but why not Swiss Army Knife is my question ? For that matter why not a Muela /Scharade /Buck/Benchmade/Spyderco/ Camillus/Ka-Bar/Browning /Case/Queen/Kershaw/Boker/Anza/Fallkniven/Cold Steel/CRKT/Leatherman/Wyoming Knife/KissingCrane/Uncle Henry/Old Timer just to name a few?

What sort of life threatening situation do you visualize, in which you may be called upon to use your Swiss army knife?

Yes.

If you could not shape the wooden handle to accept a hammer head, either your blade was blunt or you were using it incorrectly.

Hi KenHypno,

I am very biased about Swiss Army Knives. I love them ...and they serve admirably. My Swiss Champ is at least 15 years old now and it just soldiers on. It is possible that you dont like them...and that is fine. You are entitled to your preferences. I use the Swiss Army Knives for the regular tasks you need a knife for. I am more likely to need a Swiss Army Knife while camping to remove splinters from my thumbs, slice sausages or fruit, use the screwdrivers to fix my gear, use the various tools to keep my stuff in running condition. In all my years of camping, fishing or just driving long distances, I have never really faced a situation where I had to ward off anything more threatening than perhaps a reluctant creepy crawly. I always carry a fixed blade knife with me as well. To ensure that heavier tasks, should they be needed, can be performed. I do not expect the Swiss Champ or the Bundeshwehr to hack down a tree ...but I must confess that the fixed blade usually is not used much. The Swiss Army or the Leatherman Surge gets used much more often.

slingshot wrote:Hi KenHypno,

I am very biased about Swiss Army Knives. I love them ...and they serve admirably. My Swiss Champ is at least 15 years old now and it just soldiers on. It is possible that you dont like them...and that is fine. You are entitled to your preferences. I use the Swiss Army Knives for the regular tasks you need a knife for. I am more likely to need a Swiss Army Knife while camping to remove splinters from my thumbs, slice sausages or fruit, use the screwdrivers to fix my gear, use the various tools to keep my stuff in running condition. In all my years of camping, fishing or just driving long distances, I have never really faced a situation where I had to ward off anything more threatening than perhaps a reluctant creepy crawly. I always carry a fixed blade knife with me as well. To ensure that heavier tasks, should they be needed, can be performed. I do not expect the Swiss Champ or the Bundeshwehr to hack down a tree ...but I must confess that the fixed blade usually is not used much. The Swiss Army or the Leatherman Surge gets used much more often.

I ditto this and had been carrying a Vic on the keyring for the last four to five years and it pretty much serves my purpose. I also used to EDC a fixed blade in the car but let me be plain honest here that it didn't had a single use till date since all the chores were pretty much taken care of by the VIc and hence have started EDCing a folder. Just a thought that I always felt that the soft steel of the Vic doesn't hold an edge well but then getting it to be a razor sharp is also easy.
Now for the last two months I have replaced the Vic and its place has been taken over by the Spyderco Grasshopper.
Cheers.

kenhypno wrote:...and others too! i have 3 big ones picniker,locksmith and hunter! the problem is they look too flimsy and blingy! i mean sharpening a stick to put a hammer head on seemed to be a problem with plain edged! till i got it done by picnicker serrated edge !and not to mention locksmith saved my life in a way i was locked out of my home lockmith and not brought file and i gave him the locksmith file to use ! i have seen Bear Grylls use knives Gerber as a survival tool i am impressed buck / but why not Swiss Army Knife is my question ? For that matter why not a Muela /Scharade /Buck/Benchmade/Spyderco/ Camillus/Ka-Bar/Browning /Case/Queen/Kershaw/Boker/Anza/Fallkniven/Cold Steel/CRKT/Leatherman/Wyoming Knife/KissingCrane/Uncle Henry/Old Timer just to name a few?

Well, like most of the others here I too am partial about swiss knives. I do not EDC any of the larger ones but I carry one of the smaller models. You may imagine various situations where a swiss knife is indispensable but again these might not be of any use on other occasions.

There is a tool for every job and you have to choose the right one for the right job so you get the maximum output with the minimum input and speed things up. The swiss tools might not be very suitable perhaps to sharpen a stick to fix a hammer head. If you have tried it we will not doubt you but why use this when you have more suitable full sized tools available. Now let us imagine you are stuck at a place where you do not have any other tools available. You put your hand in your pocket and you get a knife, pliers, file, saw, bottle opener etc etc. Although these might not be as effective as the larger full sized versions but they just saved you a lot of efforts (futile) with your bare hands.

That is the beauty of it.

Look at the example of the locksmith you have yourself given. The tool came in use probably when you needed it the most and had none other at hand.

I own a lot of fixed blades but when it comes to chopping the first thing that I reach out for is an axe but when not available then I think about what IS available with me at that point of time.

Why does Bear Grylls not use Swiss tools? Probably because they do not sponsor his show or Victorinox does not have an agreement with the producers or they have a contract with some other company. The same for all of the other companies. What else do you imagine??

And BTW the Gerbers etc were not the original knife this show started out with it was only when they saw the market for it that they highlighted a particular company. The First one was the Bailey knife.

Nothing wrong with what the show is doing, I do not blame them.

I simply love SAK i wear one around my neck (signature) have one on my keychain (tinker) and carry one (locksmith )in my pocket !Please dont misunderstand me ! the situation i meant was left in a jungle like Dual survival ,Man,woman Wild ,Survivorman !
The guy in dual survival uses a simple unbranded neck knife.Man woman wild no specific tool maybe a multitool i saw many times,Man versus wild Gerber ,Survivorman uses a letherman multitool!
I think even a knife the coconut man uses is a multiusage thing if not a multitool ! big flat to dig holes ,chop wood , throw at small animals dress fish ,cleave meat, and heavy enough to split coconuts! with no worries of damaging it hardly costs 200 rupees!

Ok which knife lets you...
Change the batteries in your kids toys
Open packages
Pry open paint tins
Fix you loose sunglasses
Cut a apple while traveling
Open a wine bottle
Scrape dirt out from under you nail
Remove a thorn
Open a bottle
Give u a tooth pick when you need one...it's you friend for life, the Swiss army knife!!
Really don't know how many I have but just waiting for the day I can gift my son one
Bruno22

I have managed to break the tips off a few SAK's in my younger days, so I am cautious about doing any sort of prying with the blades but they are not prying tools anyway, but cutting implements. I do like the larger ones for picnics and the sort as you can make sandwiches easily with them but the smaller ones are also handy especially as you will usually have one with you. I have a "midnight manager" on a keychain as it is used literally all the time, and the "waiter" is a nice one to carry when going out as it has both a bottle and can opener, and a corkscrew.

kenhypno wrote: The guy in dual survival uses a simple unbranded neck knife.

The guy (Cody) in Dual Survival carries a Mora Knife which is a simple and inexpensive knife :

I have lived with Swiss Army Knives all my life and carried them everywhere - even hunting trips. No matter what other edged weapons I/ we carried I always had a SAK in my pocket. I still do.. everyday..

Call me biased but I feel very comfortable with a SAK in my EDC bag. They are not supposed to be taken to a knife fight or used to cut down a tree..

TC

Respected friends and my mentors here! i am a knife lover myself! there are knives on my table in my drawer i sleep with knives on my window sill on my bed under the bed wear it round my neck carry it in my keychain and in my pocket (people call me paranoid and insecure, my dad used to call me a mutton vendor, my shrink calls me maladjusted ,my friends tell me i someday i will get arrested by the police) but i sometimes wonder which one will really help me in a life threatening situation my point in starting the thread ! i am posting my whole collection here as a new thread and will explain my point of view basically a heavy middlesized blade unlike any SAK ! Sorry for saying so i have 10 (ten) SAKs but the closest for the purpose although worst case senario is the locksmith i think!

Call me a traditionalist, but what sort of advantage is supposed to be offered by a knife you wear around your neck as compared to being in your pocket or on your belt? It would appear to me to be in the way most of the time, bouncing around in front of you.

Mark wrote:Call me a traditionalist, but what sort of advantage is supposed to be offered by a knife you wear around your neck as compared to being in your pocket or on your belt? It would appear to me to be in the way most of the time, bouncing around in front of you.

They serve different purposes according to their size!Once you get used to them there is no inconvience and bouncing they dont i havethem on small hook in keychain looped and in pocket and the onearound the neck is too tiny for inconvience!

SAKs when used for daily and mundane tasks work very well. They are not meant to be professional tools (else you'd see every plumber/electrician/welders carrying them), but rather tools for a normal human being when professional help may be not available.

I have had all my SAKs distort when used excessive force - there are limitations to every tool, and SAKs are lower end of that spectrum. They are "man jewellery" and serve as excellent tool to impress as well.

In the foray of multitool, gerber, leatherman and some other brands have better quality tools than the sak.

I cannot bet my life on them, however, and rather carry a multitude of different tools if it comes to it (also means different failure modes per tool giving me a better chance).