CADET vs Evo Grip 10 and 14?

[afishhunter]

Please forgive me. I don't get why the CADET is the more popular choice.
Sure ... its an ALOX knife now; 4 top side tools only. (I remember when Cellidor with side tools was an option, many years ago.)

The Evogrip 10 has the same top side tools: Large spear point, Fingernail File, the can opener and cap lifter with flat blade screwdriver tips (that can also do Philips screws.)
It adds the punch/awl/reamer (with sewing eye) and multi puropse corkscrew on the back side, plus the toothpick and weak tweezers side tools.
The Evo Grip 14 adds a (Wenger) scissors layer to the top layer tools

Both have "unbreakable" Nylon scales.

The added tools on the Evogrips increase the versitility ... especially the 14's scissors. SO handy ... and can pull double duty as a fork.
As an added "bonus" the Evo Grips are 89mm, so are (allegedly) "easier to pocket carry".

Please educate me.
WHY is the CADET the knife of choice for the majority that tote a basic 2 layer SAK?
(or for that matter, how the CADET, with a usable small blade instead of the fingernail file (do guys normally file their fingerrnails?!?) isn't more popular.)

I carried a 14 for a bit over a year every day, until I obtained a HUNTSMAN, which took the 14's place, and has been carried every day since.
The wood saw and multi-purpose package hook give it the edge for me.
My most used SAK tool/blade (excluding the Hercules' pliers) is the scissors.

 

[jackknife]

Please forgive me. I don't get why the CADET is the more popular choice.
Sure ... its an ALOX knife now; 4 top side tools only. (I remember when Cellidor with side tools was an option, many years ago.)

The Evogrip 10 has the same top side tools: Large spear point, Fingernail File, the can opener and cap lifter with flat blade screwdriver tips (that can also do Philips screws.)
It adds the punch/awl/reamer (with sewing eye) and multi puropse corkscrew on the back side, plus the toothpick and weak tweezers side tools.
The Evo Grip 14 adds a (Wenger) scissors layer to the top layer tools

Both have "unbreakable" Nylon scales.

The added tools on the Evogrips increase the versitility ... especially the 14's scissors. SO handy ... and can pull double duty as a fork.
As an added "bonus" the Evo Grips are 89mm, so are (allegedly) "easier to pocket carry".

Please educate me.
WHY is the CADET the knife of choice for the majority that tote a basic 2 layer SAK?
(or for that matter, how the CADET, with a usable small blade instead of the fingernail file (do guys normally file their fingerrnails?!?) isn't more popular.)

I carried a 14 for a bit over a year every day, until I obtained a HUNTSMAN, which took the 14's place, and has been carried every day since.
The wood saw and multi-purpose package hook give it the edge for me.
My most used SAK tool/blade (excluding the Hercules' pliers) is the scissors.

Because its a cadet.

Somethings are beyond logical explanation. Like all those years I rode BMW motorcycles. All my friends thought I was nuts because they thought it just wan't worth the money. But being a BMW rider, I was familiar with them, and loved the feeling of them and the precision of manufacture and feel of them on a twisty road. It's like the old saying; "If I have to explain it, you won't understand.

As for the SAK, it's a cadet. Its alox. No explanation needed to those who get it.

 

[Tafkaag]

The Cadet is thinner and cheaper than your EvoGrips (for me, a Cadet or Tinker Small is as long/thick as I want a knife to be when floating free in my pocket). The scales are largely impervious to solvents and I find them easier to hold than EvoGrips.

Besides which, if I have a knife, I don't need scissors, but if I have scissors, I still need a knife. And I certainly don't need a corkscrew.

 

[SteeleJ1976]

I get why the Cadet is popular, it is slim, Alox, and classy. I think comparing the Cadet to the EVO 10 or 14 is not the best comparison. The Recruit is more directly comparable and to me is better then the Cadet. I can get 2 Recruits for the price of the Cadet and I get the Tweezers, toothpick, and the small blade which I prefer over the nail file (I carry an Alox Classic SD so I don't need the duplication). All that being said the Cadet is a great option for EDC but for the same price you can get a Super Tinker or Climber so I can't justify the Cadet for that reason alone.

 

[jackknife]

The Cadet is thinner and cheaper than your EvoGrips (for me, a Cadet or Tinker Small is as long/thick as I want a knife to be when floating free in my pocket). The scales are largely impervious to solvents and I find them easier to hold than EvoGrips.

Besides which, if I have a knife, I don't need scissors, but if I have scissors, I still need a knife. And I certainly don't need a corkscrew.

The part of ' impervious to solvents' are a big thing for me. I got really tired of the cheapened up cellidordisolving on me. Go clean the gun after a range session, handle SAk with some solvent still on my fingers and scales start dissolving. Putting some new brakes on the car and use some Brakeclean, pick up SAK to cut open plastic bag with new pads and SAK scales start dissolving. Go fishing on the river bank, use some 'skeeter' repellent and use SAK to trim some fishing line or cut bait, and scales start to dissolve.

And aside from my SAK scales going south if I use brake cleaning products, mosquito repellent or gun cleaning solvents, they break if dropped on hard tile floor. Both mine and my sone-in-laws SAK scales broke in exactly the same place, backside scale about 1/4 way down from the top where a hollow cavity ends in an underside ridge. The old SAKs with the solid cellidor scales were not that bad, but this new crap from Victorinox is a shame. Aside from my little classic, I won't bother to own any cellidor SAk anymore. Alox all the way baby. It's bombproof, but most of all I can go fishing, gun cleaning, car maintenance, and not have to worry about my handle sales dissolving if I have to put on some 'skeeter' repellent or trim down a patch for cleaning the bore while cleaning the gun. And the alox just plain feels like a million bucks compared to the cheap cellidor and looks 100% better as well.

 

[Tafkaag]

...And the alox just plain feels like a million bucks compared to the cheap cellidor and looks 100% better as well.

Actually it was you who pointed out the solvents issue to me but I forgot this last part. Alox scales (the current versions, anyway--I'm not convinced of the ones thst are merely grooved) are just far grippier than the celidor or the EvoGrip scales, thus less likely to be dropped/lost.

 

[afishhunter]

I still believe isle stick with my Huntsman for the 93mm SAK carry.
If I decide I want metal scales, there are after market that don't lose the side tools. (some even add the pen and pin!)
Of course they can cost as much or more than the knife ...

 

[jackknife]

Actually it was you who pointed out the solvents issue to me but I forgot this last part. Alox scales (the current versions, anyway--I'm not convinced of the ones thst are merely grooved) are just far grippier than the celidor or the EvoGrip scales, thus less likely to be dropped/lost.

I'm not sure what you mean by grooved. I just know from my own experience working on my motorcycle or motor scooter, and my hands get a bit greasy or oily, the checkered alox on the pioneer/Wenger SI and the cadet is more secure in the hand, while the plastic can get a bit slick. The checkering on my cadet seems just like the checkering on the pioneer. I don't have any alox that is just grooved.

 

[Tafkaag]

I'm not sure what you mean by grooved. I just know from my own experience working on my motorcycle or motor scooter, and my hands get a bit greasy or oily, the checkered alox on the pioneer/Wenger SI and the cadet is more secure in the hand, while the plastic can get a bit slick. The checkering on my cadet seems just like the checkering on the pioneer. I don't have any alox that is just grooved.

I mean models such as this one. While grippier than celidor, not as grippy as the checkered variety.

 

[jackknife]

I mean models such as this one. While grippier than celidor, not as grippy as the checkered variety.

Huh, an old ribbed one. I've never had one so I can't speak on. how they handle. I've got a 20 year old cadet and it's checkered like the pioneer. Very grippy. I'm not sure when they stopped making them, but all the new alox for many years have been checkered.

 

[Enkrig]

Please forgive me. I don't get why the CADET is the more popular choice.
Sure ... its an ALOX knife now; 4 top side tools only. (I remember when Cellidor with side tools was an option, many years ago.)

The Evogrip 10 has the same top side tools: Large spear point, Fingernail File, the can opener and cap lifter with flat blade screwdriver tips (that can also do Philips screws.)
It adds the punch/awl/reamer (with sewing eye) and multi puropse corkscrew on the back side, plus the toothpick and weak tweezers side tools.
The Evo Grip 14 adds a (Wenger) scissors layer to the top layer tools

Both have "unbreakable" Nylon scales.

The added tools on the Evogrips increase the versitility ... especially the 14's scissors. SO handy ... and can pull double duty as a fork.
As an added "bonus" the Evo Grips are 89mm, so are (allegedly) "easier to pocket carry".

Please educate me.
WHY is the CADET the knife of choice for the majority that tote a basic 2 layer SAK?
(or for that matter, how the CADET, with a usable small blade instead of the fingernail file (do guys normally file their fingerrnails?!?) isn't more popular.)

I carried a 14 for a bit over a year every day, until I obtained a HUNTSMAN, which took the 14's place, and has been carried every day since.
The wood saw and multi-purpose package hook give it the edge for me.
My most used SAK tool/blade (excluding the Hercules' pliers) is the scissors.

Many years ago I bought a Cadet to check it out and I also don't get it. Sure, it is very thin for a 2-layer -- as thin as a 1-layer in cellidor/nylon but... If I want ultra compact carry, I use my Waiter. For compact 84mm carry I more often will just grab my Sportsman. Others may have harder uses for their knives but I've never had an issue with Victorinox scales. And the tweezers are invaluable to me.

 

[Tafkaag]

Many years ago I bought a Cadet to check it out and I also don't get it. Sure, it is very thin for a 2-layer -- as thin as a 1-layer in cellidor/nylon but... If I want ultra compact carry, I use my Waiter. For compact 84mm carry I more often will just grab my Sportsman. Others may have harder uses for their knives but I've never had an issue with Victorinox scales. And the tweezers are invaluable to me.

All valid points, but as to the last, once I discovered Sliver Grippers I stopped needing or wanting scale tools. Vic tweezers are great when they're all you've got, but I'll take the minor addtional weight and bulk of the Sliver Grippers. Actually, my Midnite Manager has neither tweezers nor toothpick (I have a titanium toothpick instead), so I'd need the SGs in any case, and my planned upgrade will be an alox Minichamp, in which case I'd still need the SGs.

 

[Tafkaag]

Huh, an old ribbed one. I've never had one so I can't speak on. how they handle...

I prefer "grooved"; "ribbed" has... connotations:

 

[Knives&Lint]

I get the appeal of the Cadet, and while I do carry one on occasion, the absence of scissors (unless you go custom) is just lacking in functionality for what I'm looking for in an SAK. I also generally find a fingernail file/tool to be more useful to me than an extra pen blade, but unfortunately there has really been no option in quite some time for a mid-sized Victorinox with both of these tools in the same knife. For this reason, I have long since been fan of the toolset on the Evo 14 and it's predecessor The Wenger Traveler. The problem here, however, is that I find the Wenger style scissors to be a major compromise over the Vic ones. Not so much in the oft complained about wonky spring design, but in actual performance (do a comparison test cut on paracord or a push cut on paper with them and you will see what I mean).

Luckily, there is a recent release that finally offers Vic scissors as well as the fingernail file together on a mid-sized SAK, and that's the new Companion. It's my new go-to, and I'm looking forward to it becoming a regular model in the future. Plus the package opener is an added bonus

P.S. I DO find a need for a corkscrew (and for that matter a cap lifter), as often as possible

 

[Tafkaag]

...Luckily, there is a recent release that finally offers Vic scissors as well as the fingernail file together on a mid-sized SAK, and that's the new Companion. It's my new go-to, and I'm looking forward to it becoming a regular model in the future. Plus the package opener is an added bonus

P.S. I DO find a need for a corkscrew (and for that matter a cap lifter), as often as possible

I get your points, but I'm not seeing what a dedicated package opener does that the conventional can opener blade doesn't.

For some reason your postscript/emojis reminded me of this tune:

 

[afishhunter]

easier cutting of the hang pack's clear plastic, and a box's packing tape?

I dunno ... I use a sharp knife blade to open the hang packs, and to cut packing tape on boxes.

 

[A.L.]

Like mentioned above:
- Thinner
- Nicer to hold (I just can't get over the greasy slippery plastic scales)
- Nicer look with lots of color options
- Most people don't need corkscrew in daily use

 

[afishhunter]

Most people don't need corkscrew in daily use

Don't forget the SAK mulit-purpose "corkscrew" also unties tight knots in small diameter cords, works a sliver out enough to get a grip with the (really weak grip/slick grip) SAK tweezers.

The Corkscrew also provides a secure out of the way can't leave it behind place for a Fire Ant kindling and fero rod. (or Fire Fly kindling if you replace the toothpick (or preferably the tweezers) with the Fire Fly ferro rod, and don't tote a full size ferro rod, or matches or a lighter when you go to the boonies or the more remote sticks.), or a SAK mini screwdriver.

I wonder if super-gluing a patch of 320~400 grit or finer Wet Or Dry Sandpaper or Emery Cloth to the inner tips would improve the SAK tweezers to where they are actually usable?
Couldn't hurt ... Guess I'll try that next time I have some Wet Or Dry sandpaper ... if I think of it ... and still have some superglue.

At any rate, the corkscrew is good for a lot more than just popping a cork.

I've never used the SAK corkscrew for popping a cork. Does anyone know if it is adept at that task?

Do any "popularly priced" adult beverages still come in a corked bottle?

 

[A.L.]

Don't forget the SAK mulit-purpose "corkscrew" also unties tight knots in small diameter cords, works a sliver out enough to get a grip with the (really weak grip/slick grip) SAK tweezers.

The Corkscrew also provides a secure out of the way can't leave it behind place for a Fire Ant kindling and fero rod. (or Fire Fly kindling if you replace the toothpick (or preferably the tweezers) with the Fire Fly ferro rod, and don't tote a full size ferro rod, or matches or a lighter when you go to the boonies or the more remote sticks.), or a SAK mini screwdriver.

For sure. I don't mind all the spare properties in SAK but most of the time I'm short distance away from home and my daily grind doesn't involve lots of stuck knots and fire starting.

 

[afishhunter]

Luckily, there is a recent release that finally offers Vic scissors as well as the fingernail file together on a mid-sized SAK, and that's the new Companion. It's my new go-to, and I'm looking forward to it becoming a regular model in the future. Plus the package opener is an added bonus

I got a Companion ('Swiss Spirt') in a suprise package a couple days ago.

I like it.
Lacks the Huntsman's saw, but the Hercules I always have on me can take care of those tasks.
Vic abandoned the can opener for the "package opener".
The can opener is my second most used tool.
No matter. A 4 blade "Scout Knife" (I always have a 4 blade Scout Knife or Demo knife clipped to the rollator) ... or the Hercules will open the cans when (not "if") the facility's electric can opener either won't ... or can't, cuz the can of "Chef" Boy R.D. "beef" Ravioli () is too tall ... as in a couple inches taller than the opener ...
(BTW: How can the Boy "R.D." be a "Chef" when the "meat" in his dishes tastes like canned dog food stinks??? )

I moved the Huntsman to the Nova Traveler rollator, and put the Companion on my belt, at least temporaraly. They may change places.

I like the Companion has the package hook tool on the back side.
The Package Hook in conjunction with the split ring lets you use any "T" Shank jigsaw blade of choice, so are "necessary" tools.
Depending on how you attach the lanyard (not a fob) to the split ring, you don't have to remove the lanyard when using the jigsaw blade.

Truth to tell, I could ("can") live without the "package opener".
To date, a (sharp) knife blade has opened every hang pack and Amazon and/or Other package I've needed to open.