Help me decide, Victorinox Farmer vs. Pioneer vs. Cadet

I have all three. Each has a place. I use the cadet the most, but mainly due to the size and pocket friendly nature. I work in an office though so YMMV. I rarely use the saw on the farmer so that gets the least amount of time due to the size/weight. I will take it camping, but it rarely gets used any more. The Pioneer is quite handy too. Slightly thinner in a good way, and it has the tools I use most on a daily basis. I carry it on the weekend or after work at times in lieu of the cadet. It just has a rock solid feel about it. If I had to pick 3 to live with for the rest of my life, it would be in there.

I saw a pic in this forum of someone that made an awl out of the file on the cadet. To me that has the most useful tools in a small package. I guess it depend on your needs/wants. One general comment is that the lanyard ring digs into my hands and has been filed off on all three for comfort reasons.
 
Get the farmer if woods are involved..., otherwise the pioneer, or better yet the old alox soldier (no ring/no engraving plate) or the wenger SI (bail).
But really, you can't go wrong either way.
 
Thanks for the helpful feedback!
To be clear, I want to use it in a multitude of situations. Pocket carry all the time, and woods carry as a backup to my fixed blade. Also, I have small hands the lanyard ring shouldn't be a problem.
 
jerkit:Here is my last question for you guys: Is the Farmer too much in the pocket? If so it's Pioneer.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have all three and the farmer gets used more than any of them. The saw is invaluable in the woods and for me it's the perfect set of tools out of the three.
 
I don't find the Farmer too much in the pocket. It is about as thick as my 2 layer Victorinox Compact. I just got a Victorinox Cadet and Pioneer for Christmas and the Cadet is really nice in the pocket. The Alox scales help cut down the thickness of the knives. One thing to take note of though is the Farmer and Pioneer have thicker blades than the Cadet.
 
I have both the Cadet and Soldier(02). I find the Cadet a great knife if wearing dress pants, lightweight dockers/shorts. The Soldier is good in jeans but sometimes I find it a little heavy, not often, just sometimes. I have several Huntsman so I haven't gotten a Farmer at this point. I also don't go camping much any more so the saw would see limited use now days. A thought, depending if you would eventually get both, if your not camping now due to weather you could always get the Farmer later on. Heck for <$50.00 it's a heck of a deal for two knives of this caliber.

Forgot to mention that one Huntsman is a recently refurbished from '75, and that saw was AMAZING when I was camping A LOT.;)
 
looks like i am too late
i have a wenger SI (basically a pioneer with a bail) and a farmer
well the wenger gets carried everyday, the farmer...not so much, its just ..thicker than i like
if that helps
 
This wil be my first alox, my third sak in total.

Be careful. It starts with one Alox model and then you start feeling like you have to them all and every color under the rainbow. :) searching for Alox becomes a addiction.

I think you will be very pleased with the farmer and the thicker blade is nice too.
 
Of the 3 Swiss Army knives on your list i only own the Cadet right now and it is a really good knife.
 
Back
Top