Hi all. I’m new around here, enjoying the community, and thought I’d contribute a quick review of the Victorinox One-Handed Forester that I added to the collection this fall. If this would be better over in the general reviews forum, don’t hesitate to yell at me!
This is of course from the same family as the Soldier, OH Trekker, Trailmaster, and maybe a couple others that I’ve forgotten. It’s a pretty common toolset, that’s been around for awhile, but it must work, because Vic keeps on making it! You’ve got the big locking blade - this one is serrated - the woodsaw, standard opener-layer, except that the bottle opener/large flathead locks open, which is really useful. On the back side are the corkscrew and the awl. There are no toothpicks or tweezers on this rubber-grip scale variation.
I’ve packed a Rucksack since the early 90s, and the Forester is pretty much an upgrade to that venerable woods companion. You can see them side-by-each in the pic below. I’ve found the Forester to be even better than the Rucksack in basic whittling and camp work. Slicing small branches, making kindling, for all that fun stuff, it’s a charm.
It came reasonably sharp, and a quick touch-up got it to scary-sharp level. That’s the great thing about the Vic steel; it may dull fast, but it sharpens up like nobody’s business. The serrations help in that respect - the’ll cut well even if they’re a little dull.
The saw is the usual Vic pint-sized powerhouse. I’ve never found a woodsaw that small that efficient. The saw’s angle is a little steeper than the Rucksack. It might make cutting a bit easier - not really sure.
No surprises with the rest of the tools. They all do what they are supposed to do with no complaints. The rubbery grip material around the edges of the scales do make for a surer grip than the old red scales.
Overall, I’m really pleased with it!
This is of course from the same family as the Soldier, OH Trekker, Trailmaster, and maybe a couple others that I’ve forgotten. It’s a pretty common toolset, that’s been around for awhile, but it must work, because Vic keeps on making it! You’ve got the big locking blade - this one is serrated - the woodsaw, standard opener-layer, except that the bottle opener/large flathead locks open, which is really useful. On the back side are the corkscrew and the awl. There are no toothpicks or tweezers on this rubber-grip scale variation.
I’ve packed a Rucksack since the early 90s, and the Forester is pretty much an upgrade to that venerable woods companion. You can see them side-by-each in the pic below. I’ve found the Forester to be even better than the Rucksack in basic whittling and camp work. Slicing small branches, making kindling, for all that fun stuff, it’s a charm.
It came reasonably sharp, and a quick touch-up got it to scary-sharp level. That’s the great thing about the Vic steel; it may dull fast, but it sharpens up like nobody’s business. The serrations help in that respect - the’ll cut well even if they’re a little dull.
The saw is the usual Vic pint-sized powerhouse. I’ve never found a woodsaw that small that efficient. The saw’s angle is a little steeper than the Rucksack. It might make cutting a bit easier - not really sure.
No surprises with the rest of the tools. They all do what they are supposed to do with no complaints. The rubbery grip material around the edges of the scales do make for a surer grip than the old red scales.
Overall, I’m really pleased with it!
