Realizing a SAK IS traditional has helped

The Swiss Army knife is the pocket knife I grew up with as a youngster in western Europe when the Iron Curtin was still a fact. To me a SAK is the traditional pocket knife. Some Wenger model was the first one I ever got as a young teenager. Good memories. There will always be a place in my pocket for a SAK.
 
Such a great thread. Thanks Doc. Also, seeing jackknife post in here is comforting. I could read this kind of stuff all day.

Happy Dec. 1st folks. :)

Here is my 2008 Soldier. Probably my most carried SAK.

YYOI4ry.jpg
 
I’ve always said if I could own only one knife it would be a SAK. I would have to decide which model but it certainly would be a SAK. I think a SAK would handle 99.9% of most peoples cutting needs including mine. Long live the SAK.
 
vwb563 said:
I’ve always said if I could own only one knife it would be a SAK. I would have to decide which model but it certainly would be a SAK. I think a SAK would handle 99.9% of most peoples cutting needs including mine. Long live the SAK.
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Fred Sanford said:
Such a great thread. Thanks Doc. Also, seeing jackknife post in here is comforting. I could read this kind of stuff all day.

Happy Dec. 1st folks. :)

Here is my 2008 Soldier. Probably my most carried SAK.

YYOI4ry.jpg
Click to expand...
If you HAD to pick just one, the Soldier is a great choice.
 
Fred Sanford said:
Such a great thread. Thanks Doc. Also, seeing jackknife post in here is comforting. I could read this kind of stuff all day.

Happy Dec. 1st folks. :)

Here is my 2008 Soldier. Probably my most carried SAK.

YYOI4ry.jpg
Click to expand...
I do love the way alox means it still looks like you just pulled it out of the box from the shop a moment ago to take the photo :thumbsup:
 
vwb563 said:
I’ve always said if I could own only one knife it would be a SAK. I would have to decide which model but it certainly would be a SAK. I think a SAK would handle 99.9% of most peoples cutting needs including mine. Long live the SAK.
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The truth is spoken!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
John
 
Storm 8593 said:
I do love the way alox means it still looks like you just pulled it out of the box from the shop a moment ago to take the photo :thumbsup:
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Agreed. It’s very hard to see the wear on silver Alox unless it’s in the logo. I do have an ‘03 Soldier as well and the red is lighter in color. Not sure if it is from wear or if Victorinox made them darker in later years.
 
I think SAKs are the ultimate traditional in sense because they are no nonsense working knives. Modern OHO can perhaps displace a Case slip joint as they both do only one thing just in different ways but a SAK can do more and is more adapted to the modern real world then either a straight traditional or modern OHO. I do realize they all have their place but I definitely think the SAK fills a gap between knife and pliers multitool that no one has yet surpassed.
 
315 said:
But in the Western part of Europe, starting in Switzerland and stretching out, I see those same people with some type of Swiss Army Knife in their pockets. Working fields, in the mountains, factories, schools, all the same things that were being done in the states but with a different knife. While the fixed blades may have been of another manufacture I could see a lot of Wenger and Victorinox (and previous names) being used.
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When I was 10 (around 1971), my dad took me to a department store in Frankfurt (Herties? I can't remember) to buy me a SAK. My first knife, and the same store that he took my older brother to buy his first knife 10 years prior. He was US Army, but got stationed in Germany as much as possible. Great memories.
 
Funny...I go through the same process when I break down boxes. The Opinel always wins!
shopdoc said:
Good advice on the file work. I'll do that tonight.

I love Opinel #8s. When it comes time to cut down a cardboard box, I still do the following:

Grab 3 of my one handed folders for a cutting competition. All three cost more than I'd like to say. I get pissed off at each one of them in turn. I put down the knives, go upstairs to my night stand or in my garage, grab an Opinel #8, and finish off the boxes...always commenting on how scary sharp they get. Next I sharpen the Opinel which takes all of 3 minutes. I'll then carry it for a day or so, but get tired of the bulge in my pocket and place something more pocket friendly in there. They are finicky and I have a process for each new Opinel that takes about a day. Involves drying out, placing in a mason jar of mineral oil overnight, getting rid of excess mineral oil. If carbon, forcing a patina. It works very well, but it is a process.

I can hear that jingle as I type this. They do very well with advertising. Simple, elegant, rugged. Makes me want to go hike the alps and have a picnic with some cheese and fancy salami. SAKs are still more useful, but I'll always have a place in my heart for Opinels and occasionally get miffed at myself for spending so much money on fancy folders when my Opinel does EVERY cutting job better. Trim small limbs that hit me in the face when mowing, prepare dinner/picnic lunch, garden, and break down cardboard boxes. I saw a post you typed about the SAK floral knife being just as good of a slicer. Those are strong words...very strong. I might have to purchase one now for a cardboard competition.
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l
 
sodak said:
When I was 10 (around 1971), my dad took me to a department store in Frankfurt (Herties? I can't remember) to buy me a SAK. My first knife, and the same store that he took my older brother to buy his first knife 10 years prior. He was US Army, but got stationed in Germany as much as possible. Great memories.
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My first knive related memories also revolve around SAK's, more specifically Wenger SAK's. In the late 80's to early 90's, they were sold by many small town cutlery/souvenir shops in Germany. From what I recall, you had those display stands outside of the shops showing the models they sold. It was mostly the Bantam/Waiter type single spring ones me and me brother had. Somehow we always managed to break them within weeks. Nice memories. If Wenger were still in operation today as an independent company, I guess I'd still be a Wenger-guy.
 
In 2019, I bought my daughter her first SAK in Switzerland. My wife is not a knife person, and said, you can just get that at Amazon. No. Now my daughter has a Swiss Army Knife that she KNOWS came from Switzerland because we went to the post office and shipped it home. She still has the box proving where it came from.

You can't buy a memory like that.
 
sodak said:
In 2019, I bought my daughter her first SAK in Switzerland. My wife is not a knife person, and said, you can just get that at Amazon. No. Now my daughter has a Swiss Army Knife that she KNOWS came from Switzerland because we went to the post office and shipped it home. She still has the box proving where it came from.

You can't buy a memory like that.
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Yes, you can get a SAK from Amazon.

BUT...you can't get a memory like that from anywhere but living it. That will stay in your daughter's memory far far longer and richer than internet shopping!:thumbsup:
 
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