Swiss Simple and Tips

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Swiss Army makes some "pocket knives" that consist of blade only, no tools.
These are great values for the money and fit a needs for a lot of folks.
I just want to share some proven knives, not "Pocket Tools" , just the "Pocket Knife.

1. Victorinox Sentry.
This is a single blade knife that is 3 1/4" inches closed with a 2 1/2" spear point blade. The single back spring is very good! The knife has a nice crisp walk-n-talk, and it "resists" closing, still it closes very smooth and safe.

Thin, light, easy to pocket carry and flat works!
Now it has a nail nick, still one can pinch the blade to open.

For hands with Arthritis or other problems, just open up a gentle curve to allow easier purchase of the blade.

Just look at a Sodbuster, and see how it is shaped and go slow, still use the Sodbuster to assist in removing handle and liner.

If you have someone that has problems with hands, or just works in gloves, weather , whatever, fix one up like this.

These do fit many restrictive settings where a person cannot have a locking knife, and the blade has to be less that 3", or 2 1/2" or less.

Folks that do use Sodbusters, find this knife performs as a Sodbuster does.
In fact some have gotten to using this, instead of Sodbuster.
Age, hands, stuff bugs them in pockets due aches, pains, surgery and the like and this fits them very well.

Great for a "food knife" for work, as knife carried in a vehicle, emergency kit, and so many more uses.
Great gifts as well.

 

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2. Victorinox Pocket Pal

Same as the Sentry, just adds a small pen blade that is 1 5/8" long.

Wenger make a Patriot, that is similar, that uses a clip blade for the small blade.

Here is Equal End knife, a Whittling Knife, General use knife...

Currently there are some Veterans using these Pocket Pals to whittle while in Rehab.
Quite a number of folks have found this knife to be a best kept secret for whittling.
Just strop it on dry leather about every 10 minutes, and will work just dandy!

Again, some do open up the area to allow easier access to nail nicks. Be sure to keep in mind the comfort of using for a whittling knife in making that slow dished out curve.


Some make that main spear blade into a Wharncliff blade, which is not hard to do using a file , smoothing down and finishing out by hand, as to not lose temper using stones of natural, man-made or diamond.

 

[sm]

3. Solo Alox

If you like Barehead Slimline Trappers, you will like this knife!
Slimline's are 4 1/8" closed and have a single clip blade.

Solo Alox is 3 1/2" closed with a 2 5/8" single spear point blade.

Folks, this is a good looking knife! It disappears in a pocket, for both ladies and gents!
It has a back spring, that is "beefy", smooth, crisp to open and when full open, it has a "snap" to it, that is more solid feeling and sounding than many locking knives.
You can feel it! It resists closing, still it does so smoothly and safely.

It does not lock, and the blade is less than 3", so here is a nice business knife for restrictive settings. One can use this in a business meeting and have on conference table and it "is a Swiss Army" , it looks good, professional, and blends in nice.

Business function? Here is "ladies" or "gents" knife to fit the occasion. A knife to slice lemon or lime for drink, or to cut a chocolate into as not disrupt the lipstick.

Don't let this knife fool you. It is rugged, and the grip is great with that ribbed Alox.
Farm, Ranch, Gardening, Hiking , Camping, Emergency kits, fishing, hunting...
Oh yes, it will take care of fish, fowl and game.
Use it, it will take it.

Like the Sentry mentioned earlier, this one can be opened with one hand by pinching the blade .

 

[MikeJackmin]

I've always been fond of the 'gardener' model:

http://www.swissarmy.com/MultiTools/Pages/Product.aspx?category=garden&product=53567&

Very easy to sharpen and it holds a great edge.

 

[Carl Levitian]

Beware of opening up the handle like a sodbuster on the new plastic scale sak's. In recent years, the material they are using is not solid anymore, its hollow with "channels" running through it like I beams for re-enforcing it. Look at the translucient saks and you'll see what I mean. I guess it uses up less plastic material when molding. If you try to grind out the handles on new ones, you may find yourself with a pretty good opening, or cavity, where ther shouldn't be one.

Alox are still safe for modifing handle shapes. The alox models like the pioneer solo, and the pioneer settler can be dished out, and like Steve said, thier built like a bank vault. Solid.

The Wenger patriot is an aluminum handle knife and can be modified, the new Victorinox pocket pals are cellidor (fancy name for plastic) with the hollow spaces underneath.

One of the most usefull overlooked sak's is the Victorinox bantam. It's the same overall length of a pocket pal, but a little wider, with one cutting blade and a single backspring for a slim package. But where it really shines is the stuby little combo blade on the butt end. This one tool does the job of a couple of the other tools to handle cans, bottles, flat and phillips screws, plus has the tweezers and toothpick. I love compact pocket knives like the pocket pal and bantam because the single backspring makes a thin package that goes un-noticed in the pocket till you need it. Very light weight. The bantam is 1.5 onces.

One other thing about Victorinx knives- the fit and finish are first rate, always. Not hit or miss like alot of knives these days. Polished everywhere, with smooth opening blades. Very smooth, but with good snap. Victorinox should be the standard that all knives should be held to. I've passed on some beautifull Case or Shatt & Morgan's because when I went to open them, they were a disapointment in feel after being used to Victorinox made sak's.

 

[conw]

Do these come with carbon steel blades at all?

 

[Piraticalbob]

Both Wenger and Victorinox use only stainless steel in their knives.

 

[HiWayMan]

Do these come with carbon steel blades at all?

Not that I'm aware of. SAKs have some of the most tarnish resistant stainless steel I've ever encountered. May be partially due to the high polish put on them in production.

 

[shecky]

Alox are still safe for modifing handle shapes. The alox models like the pioneer solo, and the pioneer settler can be dished out, and like Steve said, thier built like a bank vault. Solid.

The Wenger patriot is an aluminum handle knife and can be modified, the new Victorinox pocket pals are cellidor (fancy name for plastic) with the hollow spaces underneath.

The Wenger and Vic alox models don't have much material to dish out. They're extremely thin and pocketable as is, particularly the one and two blade, single layer models. Alox scales are around 1/16" thick. Even the cellidor/nylon models are pretty thin, closer to 1/8". Either much thinner than typical sodbusters.

I have a few alox models, and several single layer plastic scaled models. They're all very pocketable, very well made simple pocketknives. And they're very affordable. I tend to favor the plastic handled models over alox, because the alox ones are a little too slender, believe it or not. Alox is much prettier, though, and a good accessory for a well dressed person.

 

[Navy joe]

I have one of the SAKs with the larger locking blade. Useful tools although I'd prefer scissors instead of the pliers this particular one has. I think it is a "Mechanic model." The main thing it has gotten me is an extremely sharp lock blade in a PC package, traveled internationally with that without raising eyebrows.

 

[Eleven Mike]

Do these come with carbon steel blades at all?

The "inox" in Victorinox stands for stainless.

 

[snow]

sak stainless

Yes SAKs are pretty resistant to tarnish and stain. The only thing I have found to stain one of my SAKs was some battery acid. I used the knife to scrape away some corrosion from one of my terminals to get started last winter. Did not clean the blade right after and it left a stain. The knife is very much still functional though.