- Joined
- Apr 6, 2002
- Messages
- 1,356
Basics
When I first got my Locksmith, I was a little put off, because it is ... well, different from traditional SAKs. I knew it would be, based on pictures of the handle, but I wasn't quite prepared for it. This is a very bulky knife. By my measure, the dimensions are 111 mm (4 3/8") long, 33 mm (1 5/16") through the widest part when closed, and 18 mm (3/4") thick from scale to scale. I don't know the weight, but it feels about the weight of a LM Juice Kf4, I would guess about 5 - 6 ounces.
This is a four-backspring knife with locking main blade, locking large screwdriver/bottle opener, small screwdriver/can opener, saw, file, Phillips screwdriver, and awl. The main blade is larger than the blade on the Alox models. I measure it to be about 85 mm (3 3/8"). The large screwdriver/bottle opener is a slightly different shape than the standard SAK tool. The small screwdriver/can opener is the usual Victorinox design. The saw has the same shaped teeth as the Harvester and FieldMaster saws, but it is slightly longer. The file is the same length as the saw and is three-sided, with coarse and fine sides and a metal cutting edge. The Phillips screwdriver and awl are on the back of the knife, like the Tinker models.
Handle
The handle has black plastic scales that are a different material from the usual cellidor. My first impression was that they feel hollow and insubstantial, which was surprising given the weight of the knife. The scales still feel that way to me, but I don't care anymore. The surface is fairly grippy, even when sweaty, wet, or dirty. And that big, hand-filling handle is very comfortable, even after long periods of use. Really outstanding ergonomics. I suspect that it would be quite easy to use with gloves on, after a tool has been opened. It would also have an advantage over Alox scales in that it would not get cold quite as fast in the winter.
Lock
At first glance, the lock did not impress me. The blade opens to a half-stop position, then snaps fully open and is held in place by both the backspring and a lock bar. The lock bar is fairly thin and opens like a liner lock. The same lock bar is also used to lock the large screwdriver open at the other end of the tool.
The lock may not win any elegance contests, but for practical use, it works very well. I did not do any hard testing of the lock. With prying and torqueing, I think it would be possible to bend the spacers, squeeze the lock bar open, or jar the lock off the tang, if the blade did not break first. However, I am comfortable using this knife for any cutting task that a folder can reasonably be expected to do. I am used to slipjoints, so the lock just provides an extra measure of safety against my carelessness or an unexpected load on the blade.
Testing
The blade is made from the familiar SAK steel and has the usual properties of these knives - good corrosion resistance, easy to sharpen, nice thin slicer, but doesn't hold an edge real well. I used the blade for household stuff like opening mail and packages. I also used it for digging up weeds, which is one of my main knife jobs in the summer. I usually use the clip point blade on my Case Large Stockman for this duty, but the Locksmith works well too. It has the added advantage that I don't have to be as careful about getting it clean and dry right after use. I also just started working through a book that has a series of whittling projects, and I am using the blade for the initial rough shaping work. So far, the blade and lock have worked well for all of these tasks.
I used the large locking screwdriver for scraping and chiseling at stuff, more so than turning screws. And I probably haven't opened any bottles since the last time I drank pop from glass bottles, in about 1978, so I can't comment on that...
. The can opener/small screwdriver is the standard SAK design, which I rarely use. IMHO, the small, rounded screwdriver tip is much less useful than a good multitool. It's nice to have a can opener for emergencies though.
I used the saw for several things. One of the first things that I did was to cut up a snow shovel handle. This shovel has a nice thick handle, but a cheesy plastic blade that kept loosening up last winter. I cut the handle off completely, then cut it into one 8" and two 5" palm sticks. The dry, tight wood would probably have been easier to cut with a fine-toothed woodworking saw, but the Locksmith can be used in a pinch.
I also used the saw to prune some bushes in my yard. These had both green limbs that need to be cut back regularly and also some dead branches from a section that died off. I also cut up some small windfall branches. Everything that I cut was at most 1.5" thick, much of it smaller than that. I usually use my Fiskars or Corona pruning shears or a larger saw for this job. However, the Locksmith did an outstanding job with the green wood and an adequate job with the dead wood. I would have no problem relying on this saw when a larger tool is not available. Again, the large, comfortable handle made the work easier than with a smaller knife like the Harvester, or a multitool like the Leatherman Wave that has a sharp-edged handle.
I used the file and awl to finish off the palm sticks and drill holes for finger loops in one of the 5" sticks. The file is comfortable to use, for the same reasons that the blade and saw are. The awl is positioned along the back, and the stiff backspring and sharp edge make the tool hard to pull out. That is true of all of my SAKs that are designed this way. However, the awl is easy to use when opened and has the advantage of being the same width for much of its length. The wedge-shaped awl in the Harvester and Electrican tend to enlarge the hole more the deeper you drill. Also, the small awl is probably better for leather and canvas than the larger.
Summary
When I pick up some knives for the first time, they are immediately appealing to me. The Victorinox Locksmith was not one of those knives. With some use, though, it has really grown on me. If it holds up, I think this will become one of my favorite knives. So far, I am very pleased.
Overall, I think this knife would be good for almost any outdoor tasks. I'm still going to carry my Harvester or FieldMaster sometimes, since they provide the basics in a lighter and less bulky package. However, I will be using the Locksmith often.
One thing that I can't comment on is long-term durability. Maybe someone who has used a similar V'nox model for a long time can post some good/bad stories on that. I would be especially interested in hearing how the blade, saw, and lock hold up over time.
Pictures
Here are some pictures to illustrate some things about the Locksmith. I can only do one attachment at a time, so I will post the rest as replies. By the way, the blurriness in the pictures is not because you need glasses. It is because my photography sucks...
Size comparison of handles and blade. The knives, top to bottom, are the Locksmith, the Solo, and the Tinker:
When I first got my Locksmith, I was a little put off, because it is ... well, different from traditional SAKs. I knew it would be, based on pictures of the handle, but I wasn't quite prepared for it. This is a very bulky knife. By my measure, the dimensions are 111 mm (4 3/8") long, 33 mm (1 5/16") through the widest part when closed, and 18 mm (3/4") thick from scale to scale. I don't know the weight, but it feels about the weight of a LM Juice Kf4, I would guess about 5 - 6 ounces.
This is a four-backspring knife with locking main blade, locking large screwdriver/bottle opener, small screwdriver/can opener, saw, file, Phillips screwdriver, and awl. The main blade is larger than the blade on the Alox models. I measure it to be about 85 mm (3 3/8"). The large screwdriver/bottle opener is a slightly different shape than the standard SAK tool. The small screwdriver/can opener is the usual Victorinox design. The saw has the same shaped teeth as the Harvester and FieldMaster saws, but it is slightly longer. The file is the same length as the saw and is three-sided, with coarse and fine sides and a metal cutting edge. The Phillips screwdriver and awl are on the back of the knife, like the Tinker models.
Handle
The handle has black plastic scales that are a different material from the usual cellidor. My first impression was that they feel hollow and insubstantial, which was surprising given the weight of the knife. The scales still feel that way to me, but I don't care anymore. The surface is fairly grippy, even when sweaty, wet, or dirty. And that big, hand-filling handle is very comfortable, even after long periods of use. Really outstanding ergonomics. I suspect that it would be quite easy to use with gloves on, after a tool has been opened. It would also have an advantage over Alox scales in that it would not get cold quite as fast in the winter.
Lock
At first glance, the lock did not impress me. The blade opens to a half-stop position, then snaps fully open and is held in place by both the backspring and a lock bar. The lock bar is fairly thin and opens like a liner lock. The same lock bar is also used to lock the large screwdriver open at the other end of the tool.
The lock may not win any elegance contests, but for practical use, it works very well. I did not do any hard testing of the lock. With prying and torqueing, I think it would be possible to bend the spacers, squeeze the lock bar open, or jar the lock off the tang, if the blade did not break first. However, I am comfortable using this knife for any cutting task that a folder can reasonably be expected to do. I am used to slipjoints, so the lock just provides an extra measure of safety against my carelessness or an unexpected load on the blade.
Testing
The blade is made from the familiar SAK steel and has the usual properties of these knives - good corrosion resistance, easy to sharpen, nice thin slicer, but doesn't hold an edge real well. I used the blade for household stuff like opening mail and packages. I also used it for digging up weeds, which is one of my main knife jobs in the summer. I usually use the clip point blade on my Case Large Stockman for this duty, but the Locksmith works well too. It has the added advantage that I don't have to be as careful about getting it clean and dry right after use. I also just started working through a book that has a series of whittling projects, and I am using the blade for the initial rough shaping work. So far, the blade and lock have worked well for all of these tasks.
I used the large locking screwdriver for scraping and chiseling at stuff, more so than turning screws. And I probably haven't opened any bottles since the last time I drank pop from glass bottles, in about 1978, so I can't comment on that...
. The can opener/small screwdriver is the standard SAK design, which I rarely use. IMHO, the small, rounded screwdriver tip is much less useful than a good multitool. It's nice to have a can opener for emergencies though.I used the saw for several things. One of the first things that I did was to cut up a snow shovel handle. This shovel has a nice thick handle, but a cheesy plastic blade that kept loosening up last winter. I cut the handle off completely, then cut it into one 8" and two 5" palm sticks. The dry, tight wood would probably have been easier to cut with a fine-toothed woodworking saw, but the Locksmith can be used in a pinch.
I also used the saw to prune some bushes in my yard. These had both green limbs that need to be cut back regularly and also some dead branches from a section that died off. I also cut up some small windfall branches. Everything that I cut was at most 1.5" thick, much of it smaller than that. I usually use my Fiskars or Corona pruning shears or a larger saw for this job. However, the Locksmith did an outstanding job with the green wood and an adequate job with the dead wood. I would have no problem relying on this saw when a larger tool is not available. Again, the large, comfortable handle made the work easier than with a smaller knife like the Harvester, or a multitool like the Leatherman Wave that has a sharp-edged handle.
I used the file and awl to finish off the palm sticks and drill holes for finger loops in one of the 5" sticks. The file is comfortable to use, for the same reasons that the blade and saw are. The awl is positioned along the back, and the stiff backspring and sharp edge make the tool hard to pull out. That is true of all of my SAKs that are designed this way. However, the awl is easy to use when opened and has the advantage of being the same width for much of its length. The wedge-shaped awl in the Harvester and Electrican tend to enlarge the hole more the deeper you drill. Also, the small awl is probably better for leather and canvas than the larger.
Summary
When I pick up some knives for the first time, they are immediately appealing to me. The Victorinox Locksmith was not one of those knives. With some use, though, it has really grown on me. If it holds up, I think this will become one of my favorite knives. So far, I am very pleased.
Overall, I think this knife would be good for almost any outdoor tasks. I'm still going to carry my Harvester or FieldMaster sometimes, since they provide the basics in a lighter and less bulky package. However, I will be using the Locksmith often.
One thing that I can't comment on is long-term durability. Maybe someone who has used a similar V'nox model for a long time can post some good/bad stories on that. I would be especially interested in hearing how the blade, saw, and lock hold up over time.
Pictures
Here are some pictures to illustrate some things about the Locksmith. I can only do one attachment at a time, so I will post the rest as replies. By the way, the blurriness in the pictures is not because you need glasses. It is because my photography sucks...
Size comparison of handles and blade. The knives, top to bottom, are the Locksmith, the Solo, and the Tinker:
