A mysterious SAK tool

Hotshot10

Hotshot10

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Dec 23, 2012
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There are many mysteries in life. What happened to D.B. Cooper? What's at the center of a black hole? And, of course, the most puzzling of all: what is the hook on the back of my SAK Fieldmaster supposed to be used for? I ask this seriously. I love my SAKs and carry one every day, but I need to know what I can do with that hook. :D
 
Well, if your packages were tied with string, you could carry them with the hook. If you are camping, you can use the hook to retrieve pots with swinging handles off of a hot fire.
 
Well, it kind of depends on what you do. Personally, I find it handy for twisting safety wire, and it works pretty good for carrying buckets when the plastic cover has come off the wire handle. It keeps the plastic handle loops of grocery sacks from cutting into your fingers when you're too lazy to make multiple trips (okay, when I'm too lazy) from the car to the kitchen and want to get everything in one trip. When you need to snag the wire grate off the Hibachi to throw a little more charcoal in, it is right there waiting to do it. It was actually made for carrying parcels tied with string and I bet if I ever saw one, it would work for that, too.
 
It looks like the button hooks that are on some of my vintage knives!
 
I think its original purpose was to carry twine wrapped packages. I use mine to carry bundled firewood.
 
scattershot said:
I think its original purpose was to carry twine wrapped packages. I use mine to carry bundled firewood.
Click to expand...

You're close.

The original use was what it is named for: "GUT HOOK"
It was originally used for cleaning fish and fowl. The hook was shoved up the vent, twisted, and used to pull the guts out.

Other uses naturally followed, and are still being discovered, even today.
 
you stick it up your sleeve with the hook poking out and hop towards children going "a haarrr me heaaarrrrties! "
its hilarious to watch them flee in terror.

I think this may answer your first question-
db-cooper.jpg
 
I've used that thing to help untie some knots in the past. I don't think I've ever carried a parcel with it.
 
An oft asked question!

glennbad said:
Well, if your packages were tied with string, you could carry them with the hook. If you are camping, you can use the hook to retrieve pots with swinging handles off of a hot fire.
Click to expand...

And pull out wire tent pegs :thumbup:

afishhunter said:
You're close.

The original use was what it is named for: "GUT HOOK"
It was originally used for cleaning fish and fowl. The hook was shoved up the vent, twisted, and used to pull the guts out.

Other uses naturally followed, and are still being discovered, even today.
Click to expand...

Sorry to disagree, but it wasn't designed as a gut-hook, useful as such things are :thumbup: The Parcel Hook was only added to SAKs by Victorinox in 1991. It does have its uses, but personally I'm not a fan.
 
IIRC... in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, Edward Norton's character uses the hook on a Swiss army knife to unzip a tent. His scout cut a hole in the tent and flew the coop.

meako said:
you stick it up your sleeve with the hook poking out and hop towards children going "a haarrr me heaaarrrrties! "
its hilarious to watch them flee in terror.
Click to expand...

:D
 
It is originally a parcel hook. Where in Switzerland they often tie them with twine. Boring I know.

What really baffled me for a long time was that orange peeler tool.
 
I saw a video where a guy filed one into a lock pick

Sent from my LGMS428 using Tapatalk
 
All the uses for the hook mentioned here are legit you could use it for those purposes but IMO none are practical with the exception maybe of Glennbad's idea to lift handled pots from a fire. Even that I believe would be better executed with a pot holder or glove. So this may be an unpopular opinion but it is my opinion that the hook is totally useless and I have no Idea why it was ever added to the array of tools on a SAK.
 
I use mine fairly regularly. I'll even go get it, if necessary. I ride motorcycles, and the hook makes a great spring puller for putting springs on exhausts and kick stands! I have a designated spring puller from a motorcycle gear manufacturer, but due to the small size and smooth finish, I find the hook on the SAK works better.
 
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Well, if you don't like the hook, mine has a nail file on the back of it. Just consider it an overengineered nail file.
 
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