Victorinox Farmer vs Huntsman

S

sak_fan

Joined
Feb 4, 2012
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So i'm planing to buy another SAK and i want this one to not too bulky. i care about versatility. I will use it in outdoors as well as in urban areas. so narrowed down my search beetween the huntsman and the farmer. now farmer has good looking alox handles, a good awl and a slightly bigger blade. and it is lighter than huntsman. but huntsman has all the tools farmer has plus the corckscrew, scissors, multi-hook. also i don't think the difference beetween the huntsman's blade and the farmer's blade will effect the usefulness. i searched in the forum and i think you will choose the farmer :D but i want you to give huntsman a chance :D is the farmer so good? or does the huntsman can replace it? is the weight difference beetween these are so noticable? i liked the alox scales (never had one) but i like the classic victorinox red too :) so what's your pick?
thanks
 
my pick is the farmer, hands down.
i don't have a huntsman, but i've handled one, the owner has put it to some real use for a few years, and its still going strong.
but, the farmer is another thing.., and one of my favorites.
why not get both ? :D
 
I've been carrying a Huntsman in my front pocket for 20 years.
the scissors are more useful than you would believe. (they'll even cut zip-ties)
 
I also carried a Huntsman for twenty years, although I have since moved on to multitools. The farmer has the greater durability, but the Huntsman is more versatile; it has all of the Farmer's tools, plus a few extra like the tweezers and scissors.
 
What everybody else says, pretty much. I own a Huntsman and like it. But I'd pick the Farmer unless you really need the other tools, of which the scissors are really the most used. Alox scales rule, however. And the Farmer is slimmer, slightly lighter, and more durable.
 
Love my huntsman, its my hiking/camping folder. Switched it out to Stay-glow handles, that I then cut to also carry the ink pen. Favorite SAK hands down
 
How about 1 of each? :D The huntsman would be my choice as I use scissors A LOT!!

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Those are the only 2 SAKs that I own, and I love them both. Great choices...can't wrong with either one.

I carry the Farmer every day however, while the Huntsman lives in a backpack/bob.

The Farmer is durable, classy, and extremely well made. It's a tremendous value for an EDC of this quality.
 
I have both, too. I would surely prefer the Huntzsman for EDC. It has a much higher practical value.

Kind regards,

Andre
 
it's a very hard choice :( both are elegant tools. but you say the one is more durable than the other. when you say durable, do you mean the huntsman's scales can come off from the blade easily? or do you say that the farmer will be in my pocket more than the huntsman (1066vik and foilist are saying that they are using their huntsman for 20 years :D ) i can't buy both of them at the same time unfortunately because in my country they are sold at the 2x prices :( do the alox frames really make you forget the tools like corkscrew,scissorsitweezers? the farmer is a great knife but i think it's a little more for outdoor use (saw in the farmer shines) how about the baldes? are there really big diffrences?
 
The blade on the farmer is the same as the one found on the old soldier, pioneer, solo. It is wider, longer, thicker, thus stronger. The backspring found on the 93mm models like the farmer is also one of the strongest victorinox makes. Handling both in a store if possible will make your choice much easier.
 
Victorinox Soldiers (Pioneer, Farmer Alox ...) are definitely durable and stronger than other Officer large because they have stronger layer springs and only one or two tools per layer, without back layer tools...
...but they have less functions.

With Farmer you lose a corkscrew, scissors, hook and tweezers.:thumbdn:
But you get a lot stronger, thinner and completely metal knife.:thumbup:
 
jacktrades_nbk said:
The blade on the farmer is the same as the one found on the old soldier, pioneer, solo. It is wider, longer, thicker, thus stronger. The backspring found on the 93mm models like the farmer is also one of the strongest victorinox makes. Handling both in a store if possible will make your choice much easier.
Click to expand...

sak_fan, that's what I meant by the Farmer being a bit more durable. The blade stock and springs are a little stouter.

But the Huntsman, like all Victorinox, is a well made slipjoint knife that will hold up to daily use just fine. My most carried SAK, which is an 84mm Tinker, has been with me 19 years and I've done all sorts of cutting, prying, and stuff I shouldn't have done with the knife. And it's held up amazingly well. The Huntsman should do the same. However, the Farmer is still just a bit tougher still, IMHO.
 
check this comparison, not exactly the same models, but you'll get the idea :D
[video=youtube;O3MznzIyPSE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3MznzIyPSE&list=PL1350F3A95B6A4F31&index=6&feature=plpp_video[/video]
 
I've had the Huntsman for 32 years, and it has been great. I want to get a Farmer, and a a few others just to have around the house, car, etc.
 
Wow,tough call!!I have both,but of the two,I'd give the nod to my Huntsman.I like having scissors,tweezers,toothpick,and the corkscrew with the mini standard screwdriver.
 
The difference between the toughness of the blades and the springs of the farmer and the huntsman aren't really that much. Sure, the farmer has a slight advantage in toughness but whatever the farmer's blades and springs can take, those of the huntsman can take as well. So in my humble opinion, the toughness difference there is too minimal to be of serious consequence.

The real "toughness and durability" difference comes from the scales. The typical cellidor scales of the huntsman is way way waaaaaay weaker and far far faaaar more fragile than the macho aluminum oxide scales of the farmer. This is where the durability difference lies. And for some people, the toughness of the scales = the toughness of the knife. So to some, weak scales = weak knife.

This is why if you want to choose the huntsman, in order for it to be more competitive in terms of scale durability, choose the ecoline version. These are the ones with the "cheaper" nylon scales. Sure they are cheaper, and to some, they look "cheaper" in the quality sense, but in reality, their durability is outstanding.

The next consideration is the tools. Of all the tools, the real loss when it comes to choosing the farmer over the huntsman is the scissors. And for a lot of people, it is a real loss. You'll see a lot of articles and comments all over the internet praising the scissors as the most used of all the swiss knife tools. And there is good reasons for that.

The last consideration is the thickness. The farmer is far thinner than the huntsman and that could be a good advantage.

So it really depends.

If you care about the thickness, i.e., you don't want the knife to bulge in your pockets, hands down, choose the Farmer.
If you need the scissors and maybe you want the corkscrew and the eyeglass screwdriver, choose the Huntsman.
If you care about durability, it doesn't matter which one you choose (depending on the above choices), as long as if you choose the Huntsman, get the one with the nylon (ecoline) scales.

Cheers.
 
The huntsman was the first knife that I actually bought when I was 12, so it will always have a special place in my heart. I carried it religiously for 7 years. That knife served me well. I had the older version without the hook. When I graduated to larger knives and multitools I gave it to my dad to use. He used it everyday for the next ten years, until I bought him another SAK. I found the box still in my old dresser at home. I recently brought the knife home to be with the rest of my collection. It is still a great knife, but it now has too much history to carry. As such I carry my farmer everyday, I don't miss the scissors because I have a style cs on my keys. I do add my OHT for the longer saw when I am going hiking or biking. Both the farmer and the huntsman are great tools. The best part is because of the price point you can buy both. Then your only problem would be, which one to carry, but since you are already a member of this forum I suspect you already have that problem.
 
jacktrades_nbk that video is a good commercial for the farmer :D great comparaison. i will buy the huntsman first (it's nearly the most popular 3< model in vics. and i think i want scissors in my SAK) then some time later i will buy the farmer :D you all did very good reviews about those two SAKs. thanks guys
 
Huntsman rocks. I managed to chip the scales on mine within a week or so of its purchase but that aside, I've gotten many miles out of the tools that it has but the Farmer doesn't (and out of the tools they share). If I lost mine, I'd likely buy another tomorrow.

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Beckerhead #42
 
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