I can't give up the Classic SD

[Fass]

I have noticed that each time I replace my Classic SD for the day's carry with a Recruit or my Bantam or any other larger SAK, I always get a 'too much bulk I don't an awl or can opener'-feeling. It's really weird. Not carrying the Classic SD as my sole EDC usually never lasts more than a few days. And each time I put that small 58 SAK back in my pocket, it sort of feels like coming home. It seems like this whole quest for 'the knife', my knife, has come down to the humble Classic SD. It simply does all I require from a pocket knife. Anyone ever had a similar experience with the Classic? Or any other model of SAK for that matter?

 

[jackknife]

Of course you can't, you've become a realist that recognizes the realm of maximum minimalism. In short order, you reached a stage of personal evolution where the real world is recognized over any ego or fantasy needs. I only know this as a reformed knife nut who in the past spent way way too much good money in search of the next and best knife since the flint blade. I think I grew out of it as I got old. YOu're lucky in that you seem to recognize it while still relatively young. I'm jealous!

There is no reason to every replace your classic, but some days, anticipating the days activities, you may wish to augment the classic with something a bit larger that can slice a sandwich in half, or deal with light food duty while out and about. With a classic in its leather pouch sheath on the keyring, I sometimes will drop my alox bantam in my pocket. If I'm going to be dealing with breaking down any cardboard boxes, may have my old Chrtisy knife or number 4 or 5 Opinel in my pocket. If I go fishing, my old Buck 102 woodsman is on my hip to handle cutting bait, cleaning what I catch.

But if I'm just kicking about town, I just don't need much knife in urban 21st century life. Forums are full of people that are the obsessed aficionado's that are like car nuts, gun nuts, motorcycle nuts and others obsessed with what ever cult worship object they bow before. My classic opens box's and plastic blister packages as well as any other knife. Maybe a little better with that very thin blade. Maybe my Christy knife is a wee bit better box/package opener as the blade is thin as a box cutter, and locks open in three different lengths. But the 58mm SAK is a perfect fit for urban life in 21st century anywhere. Really, how much skinning of big game do we do, or building shelter from the storm in the mountains? And last I checked, theres no hostile Comanche's coming in to scalp me.

Something my old man told me when I was a kid, and I forgot all about it until a few years ago; remember who you are, where you are, and what you do. I keep that in mind nowadays, and it makes life easier. It reminds me of what I really don't need.

Keep the classic, just augment it as needed.

 

[Wild Willie]

I look forward to the day when I need nothing else, but as jackknife says: who I am(tree guy), where I am(a rural county in Western New York), and what I do (tree work). excludes me from the realm of the teeny tiny blade on a day to day basis ( try dressing a 9/16s rope or anything larger with a classic blade). I get by with a pioneer for the most part (that in line awl is the bees knees for a lot of stuff). I've actually been carrying exclusively a vic thanks to J jackknife , just to see what I can do without. Unfortunately I find myself in need of things that the classic can't offer on an almost daily basis.

I honor and respect you fellas that can do more with less, but I just can't.

 

[dericdesmond]

First knife I was truly able to call my
own. Over 30 yrs old. For many years thought it was long gone until my now deceased Mother gave it back to me in a box filled with childhood memories/school artworks etc. Naturally this was the only thing in the box I cared about After this post think Ima have to un-retire it and put it to the test

 

[Wild Willie]

First knife I was truly able to call my
own. Over 30 yrs old. For many years thought it was long gone until my now deceased Mother gave it back to me in a box filled with childhood memories/school artworks etc. Naturally this was the only thing in the box I cared about After this post think Ima have to un-retire it and put it to the test

Truly sorry for your loss... It speaks volumes about your mother, keeping it in a box of memories to give back to you. I'd go back through that box myself, there's probably other things that even though to you were unimportant, meant the world to her.

 

[SteeleJ1976]

The Classic SD is my EDC. I went 20 years without carrying any knife at all and survived just fine. That being said I am with JackKnife, I augment my Classic SD with a Tinker (small or regular) or a Cadet.

The Classic SD is great and can do so much and it takes up no room on a keychain. I really can't understand why everyone doesn't have at least one.

 

[kobold]

I gave up the Rumbler on my key chain for the Cadet in my pocket, at least for the time being. But what I almost never leave home without is a Swisscard in my wallet/pocket organizer. Too much useful stuff in such a small space.

 

[Fass]

First knife I was truly able to call my
own. Over 30 yrs old. For many years thought it was long gone until my now deceased Mother gave it back to me in a box filled with childhood memories/school artworks etc. Naturally this was the only thing in the box I cared about After this post think Ima have to un-retire it and put it to the test

Sounds like a great plan! But since this SAK has emotional value to you, just try it at home for a while so it can't get lost. Then buy a new one for everyday carry. To me it was really liberating to find that I can get by just fine with a very small knife. I never open cans or do woodworking when I am out on the streets in the place where I live. With some care and thought, even large boxes can be cut with a Classic as I have found. And if not, then there is always that very old but perfectly fine 'Made in England' Stanley 199 my dad gave me when I moved into my new home back in March.

 

[jackknife]

I look forward to the day when I need nothing else, but as jackknife says: who I am(tree guy), where I am(a rural county in Western New York), and what I do (tree work). excludes me from the realm of the teeny tiny blade on a day to day basis ( try dressing a 9/16s rope or anything larger with a classic blade). I get by with a pioneer for the most part (that in line awl is the bees knees for a lot of stuff). I've actually been carrying exclusively a vic thanks to J jackknife , just to see what I can do without. Unfortunately I find myself in need of things that the classic can't offer on an almost daily basis.

I honor and respect you fellas that can do more with less, but I just can't.

See? Thats the beauty of a simple saying; its generally true, but its a slightly different truth for each of us. For you, a rural guy doing a lotto tree cuttings, a teeny penknife can't do it. BUT...augment that teeny pen knife with a pioneer and you're in business.

I left home after high school to go enlist in the army to make my own way in life. I was in the Combat Engineers, and my platoon sergeant was a great mentor. Sargent First Clsss Mouton. Great guy. His EDC knife was the issue Camillus scout knife. A very similar knife to the pioneer. That knife served me in Vietnam in the field for a great many construction projects up and down the country. My old war horse, the Wenger SI that I have had now for a scary number of years, is essentially the same scout knife. I use it to frequently to augment my keyring classic on some days when I know I'll need it. But not regularly. Not regularly because of who I am,( retired old machinist) where I am( Nice warm Georgetown Texas) and what I do. (Hang our with other old retired guys fishing on the river or Lake Georgetown, or even going down to the gulf for some salt water fishing. Think retired gentleman of leisure. Not much knife is needed. Cutting monofilament fishing line of zipping open a fish belly for cleaning doesn't need much blade.

Not everyone can go with the same EDC. Thats why we're so lucky Victorinox makes so many models of SAK's!

 

[jackknife]

I gave up the Rumbler on my key chain for the Cadet in my pocket, at least for the time being. But what I almost never leave home without is a Swisscard in my wallet/pocket organizer. Too much useful stuff in such a small space.

I think of a Swisscard as a flat classic plus.

 

[SteeleJ1976]

I think it is interesting that Felix Immler's true EDC is a Signature Lite

 

[Fass]

When I recognized what I never did on a daily basis, I started to see why a Classic or any 58mm SAK, was 'enough' for my needs. I live a suburban life and have an office job. As such, I have no real world need for anything but a small blade with some added tools. Should I really need to cut large cardboard boxes, this will be when I am at home where I have a dedicated box cutter. The same goes for tools such as bottle openers and can openers. I have those in the kitchen drawer. I might 'want' this or that knife, but I don't 'need' it. When you focus on needs, the fact of the matter is that not much blade is needed. At least not for me. Many times I have been tempted to simply buy a Vic Pioneer. But since I don't need it 362 out of 365 days in a year, what's the point in carrying around all that bulk? There is no fun in heavy overloaded pockets with mostly stuff for which there is no real world use. As with anything, YMMV, but this my 2 cents..

 

[A.L.]

I currently carry Spyderco Salt 2 with full serrations at work and for work I absolutely love it. Perfect for the rough work and almost maintenance free. I particularily like the ease of use and long blade.
But the minute I leave work I have hard time figuring out where I would need anything more than classic sd or leatherman squirt (wich makes perfect coin pocket carry with added features).
For a knife hobbyist (who supposedly ”needs” new knives) it is a conflicting thought.

 

[jackknife]

I currently carry Spyderco Salt 2 with full serrations at work and for work I absolutely love it. Perfect for the rough work and almost maintenance free. I particularily like the ease of use and long blade.
But the minute I leave work I have hard time figuring out where I would need anything more than classic sd or leatherman squirt (wich makes perfect coin pocket carry with added features).
For a knife hobbyist (who supposedly ”needs” new knives) it is a conflicting thought.

Yes, its all about the needs vs wants. How much of what we do is ego driven? The knife we carry, the car we drive, the guns we shoot, the list goes on. Marketing is all about overkill these days. Upsize, its good for the industry profit margin. Why sell someone a compact car when a large SUV will be a better profit? Why a nice SAK that will handle a wide range of situations, when a ego driven tactical one hand wonder will sell for more $.

Its all about marketing.

 

[kobold]

Yes, its all about the needs vs wants. How much of what we do is ego driven? The knife we carry, the car we drive, the guns we shoot, the list goes on. Marketing is all about overkill these days. Upsize, its good for the industry profit margin. Why sell someone a compact car when a large SUV will be a better profit? Why a nice SAK that will handle a wide range of situations, when a ego driven tactical one hand wonder will sell for more $.

Its all about marketing.

It is not just ego driven, but also by illusions. It is what ads and "lifestyle" youtube channels are brainwashing us with.
When we buy a knife we imagine we will be going on great adventures which never happen because we really spend most of our time in a cubicle.. Some of us buy tactical knives simply because we were raised by hollywood. "If I can't be Rambo, at least I will buy his knife." type of compensations and escapisms.

In the modern times, esp. since Bernays, when there is no market for product X, they create that market out of thin air using propaganda. But it is just an artificially created world of illusions, twisted until it appears real and all important. When you let propaganda into your life by watching TV, reading magazines, etc, you might start to live in illusions, spend money on illusions and even make important decisions based on the same illusions. It will be increasingly harder to give them up too.

 

[jackknife]

I think it is interesting that Felix Immler's true EDC is a Signature Lite

Felix is a brilliant guy. I love that man for his clear and very pragmatic thinking. If he's going in the woods, he needs a woods, but around town in his daily life, the 58mm is fine. He reminds me a lot of my friend Howard. Howard is a crusty old west Texas guy, who spent a great deal of his life as an oil field rough neck. That the guy doing dirty and hard work on drill rigs and oil pumping platforms. Howard loves to hunt and fish, and I got to know him through our Thursday morning old fart breakfasts. With Howard, Bill and myself, we've spent a lot of time on the banks of the San Gabriel river trying to outsmart the fish. Sometimes we get lucky, sometimes not.

But...I found out by observation and a few questions, Howards favorite pocket knife is a classic. By accident, he said. Howard is one of those old guys who if he's going huntin' will carry a 'huntin' knife. If he goes fishing, he caries a 'fishin' knife. If he's just around town, he always carried a little Buck mini buck because it was small enough to go in his coin pocket and not be noticed, and was cheap enough at Walmart to easily replace. He used up/broke them every few years.

One year Walmart was out of his favorite mini buck. They had the little Victorinox classic for the same price. Howard bough one only intended to use it until he got another mini Buck. But he "got used to" as he put it, the small SD tip, the scissors, even the tweezers. He tore one up in a few years and ent back to Walmart and got another classic. He's carried a classic in his coin/watch pocket of his jeans ever since. And this is guy who doesn't like changes. He shoots the same old Colt single action army he bought when he was in his 20's, and he's 80 now. He goes 'huntin' with the same old Winchester 94 in 30-30 he bought in the same time period. Those are his only guns. Howard doesn't change much, but he switched to a classic by accident and been there ever since. Like Howard says, "Don't need much knife to open a package."

 

[mnblade]

I'm with y'all 100% on the 58mm love ..... But I switched to the Rambler years ago and can't imagine carrying any other SAK this size.

 

[Fass]

J jackknife Great story about your friend and his Classic. He ended up with a Classic just because he needed a new small cutting tool and his favourite Buck was out of stock. Without any fanfare he bought it and started using it and that was that. Most likely he does not even know what bladeforums.com is

 

[jackknife]

J jackknife Great story about your friend and his Classic. He ended up with a Classic just because he needed a new small cutting tool and his favourite Buck was out of stock. Without any fanfare he bought it and started using it and that was that. Most likely he does not even know what bladeforums.com is

No, not any idea.

Howard is one of those old timers that once they have "a" knife, or "a" gun he won't buy another one. Thats why he's still using the Colt revolver and Winchester rifle that he bought over a half a century ago. If Walmart had a Buck mini buck in stock that day, Howard would still be carrying one. Sheer accident of fate that they were our of them, and Howard likes to just have a tiny pen knife for his 'walking around knife' as he puts it. Once he got used to having a few tiny but real working tools on the thing, he stuck to it. He likes the way the SD tip makes a good small Phillips driver.

Not only does Howard not have any idea of an Internet forum just for knives, he thinks I'm a bit nuts. One day I pulled out a SAK that I had not carried for a while, and Howard looks at the knife, alox, and asks in a polite way "I gotta ask old son, how many pocket knives do you really have?" I was afraid to tell him as I didn't want to upset his universe.

 

[Knives&Lint]

I'm with y'all 100% on the 58mm love ..... But I switched to the Rambler years ago and can't imagine carrying any other SAK this size.

Same here. The problem now is every time I see a classic that I want I have to buy another Rambler as well and do the swap . Oh well, I can always find a use for the extra classic, stash it somewhere where it may come in useful, or give it to someone.