The small knife. I knew it was coming.

F

Fass

Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Messages
147
I knew this moment was coming. After giving it some thought, I sold off and gave away the last of my 84 mm SAK's. What is left are the 58's. Reason for doing so is that I simply did not use them a lot anymore. If I did, I always found a 58mm SAK would have been sufficient, even for cutting up large boxes like the one our lawn mower came in just recently. And no SAK sharpens up quite so nicely as the blade on a 58. So from this day onward it's a Classic or Rally for me. I am still thinking of getting an alox classic as well. And perhaps a Manager. I guess this maximum minimalism thing has taken hold of me for real this time. There is no real point to all of this, but I am having fun with these tiny SAK's :-)
 
Fass said:
I knew this moment was coming. After giving it some thought, I sold off and gave away the last of my 84 mm SAK's. What is left are the 58's. Reason for doing so is that I simply did not use them a lot anymore. If I did, I always found a 58mm SAK would have been sufficient, even for cutting up large boxes like the one our lawn mower came in just recently. And no SAK sharpens up quite so nicely as the blade on a 58. So from this day onward it's a Classic or Rally for me. I am still thinking of getting an alox classic as well. And perhaps a Manager. I guess this maximum minimalism thing has taken hold of me for real this time. There is no real point to all of this, but I am having fun with these tiny SAK's :)
Click to expand...
Go with what works for you and what you have fun with. I went 20 years not carrying any knife until I bought my Super Tinker a few years ago. If you told all I could carry was a Classic SD I would not lose any sleep about it.
 
Do what you need/ want/ makes you happy. It's all good IMHO.

Been keeping an Alox Cadet on the keychain for a while now. I have an Alox Classic on the way. If it works with my troglodyte hands and fingers and my dexterity issues, it will become my new default keychain knife.
 
Victorinox named the 58mm right! It is an amazingly capable, multi-purpose Classic piece of cutlery. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Though I recently went a different direction then the OP with my small SAKs by picking up a (65mm) Executive and a (74mm) Ambassador. Both have the identical tools as the 58mm Classic but I wanted to try something a bit larger. Something that might not feel fiddly in hand, could be felt in my pocket and was more likely to stay there.

Here's a recycled pic of the three sizes together
w3yTOEb.jpg

Neither of the larger sizes will displace my 58mm key-chain Rambler but I have been enjoying the Ambassador (3") as a stand alone EDC. Plus, rumor has it that Vic maybe phasing out the 74mm.
 
redsparrow said:
.... Something that might not feel fiddly in hand, could be felt in my pocket and was more likely to stay there...
Click to expand...
I was a bit worried about that too when I transitioned from the lager SAK's to the 58mm line. The first few days I was constantly checking my right front pocket. After a couple of days, I got used to it. Now I am at the point were anything larger than a 58mm SAK in my pocket, annoys me. I did however put very simple twine fobs on my 58's as those make it easier to get the knife out of the pocket. No fancy paracord with special knots or anything, just plain old twine. This also gives a personal touch to them.
 
Fass, obviously you are more SAK evolved than I. :)
However I do look forward to the day I make the appropriate adjustments because I agree, the Classic is truly the king of minimalism!!! 👑 Also they probably are enough knife for my real everyday needs.
But now I'm wondering... if having more than one Classic can one still be considered minimalistic? 🤔
GpksrOA.jpg

BTW, the twine fob sounds like a good idea to help a Classic stay put and yet easier to withdrawal from a pocket. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
redsparrow said:
Fass, obviously you are more SAK evolved than I. :)
However I do look forward to the day I make the appropriate adjustments because I agree, the Classic is truly the king of minimalism!!! 👑 Also they probably are enough knife for my real everyday needs.
But now I'm wondering... if having more than one Classic can one still be considered minimalistic? 🤔
GpksrOA.jpg

BTW, the twine fob sounds like a good idea to help a Classic stay put and yet easier to withdrawal from a pocket. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Twine is great stuff and cheap too. I got 75 meter the other day for about 1,50 euro. I could start supplying the Victorinox company with handmade artisan twine fobs 😉
 
Fass said:
Twine is great stuff and cheap too. I got 75 meter the other day for about 1,50 euro. I could start supplying the Victorinox company with handmade artisan twine fobs 😉
Click to expand...
I'd be first in line to try some out!
 
Fass, I congratulate you on your evolution to a higher plain of both SAKdom and the state of Maximum minimalism. Its a step in a direction to a more minimal and rewarding life style. My wife and I have been practicing it for years now, in all things, and we've been happier, let alone less burdened by possessions. When we moved from Maryland to Texas in 2015, all our stuff fit in a rented 16 foot cube truck, including our two Vespa motor scooters. Our downsized home is more sparsely furnished but still comfortable and able to host guests.

I haven't carried any pocket knife much over the classic in years now, and I've given away most my knife 'accumulation'. I don't know if you have experienced the feeling yet, but I felt like had awakened from some sort of temporary insanity that have been in the grip od. This went for not only my compulsive accumulation of guns, tools, knives, and all sorts of camping gear. All of it gone now. My wife and I kept a few .22's to target shoot and plink with, and carry for personal protection, but thats it. Life is beautiful and to be lived, without spending time obsessing over objects.

And your right, twine is great stuff. I din't understand the paranoid obsession.

Edit to add; Toss a Victorinox Quattro and P-38 can opener in your wallet and you'll have all the screw driving and can opening ability of the larger SAK's without the bulk of one in your pocket.
 
redsparrow said:
Fass, obviously you are more SAK evolved than I. :)
However I do look forward to the day I make the appropriate adjustments because I agree, the Classic is truly the king of minimalism!!! 👑 Also they probably are enough knife for my real everyday needs.
But now I'm wondering... if having more than one Classic can one still be considered minimalistic? 🤔
GpksrOA.jpg

BTW, the twine fob sounds like a good idea to help a Classic stay put and yet easier to withdrawal from a pocket. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Having more than one classic is both easy and practical. They are sooooo low cost, ( I don't want to use the word cheap) that having a spare in the car glove box, bathroom medicine cabinet, is not hard to do. They are so handy for so many small jobs that need tweezers, small screw driver, scissors or even a knife. Our niece uses different color classics as fashion accessories depending on what outfit she's wearing.
 
jackknife said:
Fass, I congratulate you on your evolution to a higher plain of both SAKdom and the state of Maximum minimalism. Its a step in a direction to a more minimal and rewarding life style. My wife and I have been practicing it for years now, in all things, and we've been happier, let alone less burdened by possessions. When we moved from Maryland to Texas in 2015, all our stuff fit in a rented 16 foot cube truck, including our two Vespa motor scooters. Our downsized home is more sparsely furnished but still comfortable and able to host guests.

I haven't carried any pocket knife much over the classic in years now, and I've given away most my knife 'accumulation'. I don't know if you have experienced the feeling yet, but I felt like had awakened from some sort of temporary insanity that have been in the grip od. This went for not only my compulsive accumulation of guns, tools, knives, and all sorts of camping gear. All of it gone now. My wife and I kept a few .22's to target shoot and plink with, and carry for personal protection, but thats it. Life is beautiful and to be lived, without spending time obsessing over objects.

And your right, twine is great stuff. I din't understand the paranoid obsession.

Edit to add; Toss a Victorinox Quattro and P-38 can opener in your wallet and you'll have all the screw driving and can opening ability of the larger SAK's without the bulk of one in your pocket.
Click to expand...
I am working my way there. I started with a Climber\Super Tinker and now have a Cadet and Rambler Combo. I could probably just go with the Rambler but do like having the bigger bottle caplifter.
 
As of some time ago,

I started approaching tasks in this same manner.
“How much can I get away with?”
What’s the least ‘amount of knife’ I could use to complete the task comfortably or 58mm scissors, etc.
Do I need a full size ballpoint pen, or a smaller pen like the one in the Victorinox Signature would suffice?
The older I get, the less and less I tend to carry. No need for a folding knife that can pry a car door open… at least not in my lifestyle…

As far as a light, pen, scissors, and a blade.
The 58mm Victorinox Signature Lite fits that bill very well indeed.
 
jackknife said:
Fass, I congratulate you on your evolution to a higher plain of both SAKdom and the state of Maximum minimalism. Its a step in a direction to a more minimal and rewarding life style. My wife and I have been practicing it for years now, in all things, and we've been happier, let alone less burdened by possessions. When we moved from Maryland to Texas in 2015, all our stuff fit in a rented 16 foot cube truck, including our two Vespa motor scooters. Our downsized home is more sparsely furnished but still comfortable and able to host guests.

I haven't carried any pocket knife much over the classic in years now, and I've given away most my knife 'accumulation'. I don't know if you have experienced the feeling yet, but I felt like had awakened from some sort of temporary insanity that have been in the grip od. This went for not only my compulsive accumulation of guns, tools, knives, and all sorts of camping gear. All of it gone now. My wife and I kept a few .22's to target shoot and plink with, and carry for personal protection, but thats it. Life is beautiful and to be lived, without spending time obsessing over objects.

And your right, twine is great stuff. I din't understand the paranoid obsession.

Edit to add; Toss a Victorinox Quattro and P-38 can opener in your wallet and you'll have all the screw driving and can opening ability of the larger SAK's without the bulk of one in your pocket.
Click to expand...
Yes, I very much understand what you are saying. For me it first 'clicked' some years ago when looked at all of the compact discs I had accumulated since the early 1990's. They were sold in a lot to dealer in 2nd hand records and cd's. After that, other stuff went as well like my fairly expensive Leica rangefinder camera that used 35mm film but was only gathering dust. And then lots of other stuff too. When we moved into our new home in March of this year, I was able to move all of my 'personal stuff' in only a single small box. For the most part it only contained some very personal items that are worthless to others. Like that piece of steel my dad and I cut from the iron curtain just after communism had tumbled in the GDR when I was still a kid. My mantra these days is to simply get rid off unused stuff unless it has emotional value. Stuff that only has monetary value, gets sold. It is very, very liberating like you say.
 
Hmm... Been carrying a Sears 4 way on my keychain for over 20 years, now that Quattro looks like the bee's knees...
 
sodak said:
Hmm... Been carrying a Sears 4 way on my keychain for over 20 years, now that Quattro looks like the bee's knees...
Click to expand...

As much as I love my old Sear's 4 way, the quattro does have better Phillis drivers, and its the Phillips that holds the world together these days. I just wish the quattro was just a little bigger for more leverage for when opening small cans of varnish or stain. But it does work good for small Phillips screws!
 
It's amazing how much stuff many of us start to accumulate with the passage of time.

I left home with the clothes on my back and a small duffel. For the following 8 years I could move with all of my personal stuff fitting easily into the bed of a pickup. Then I moved into houses, and eventually lived in an 1800 sq ft 3br 2ba with a detached workshop/ storage building, with more stuff than I ever actually needed.

I'm now in a 450 sq ft apartment, with a 10x10 storage room. Goal is to continue downsizing until I comfortably fit in 400-450 sq ft. Same as mentioned by others - items with value are to be sold (or traded/ gifted/ donated). Most of what will be left will be things that mean more to me than they will to others after I pass.

Photography and knives are my two main remaining hobbies. I'm in the process of downsizing them as well, but not quite as aggressively as some of you all.

My Classic and Excelsior are scheduled for delivery Monday. It'll be interesting to see how well they fit my hands/ fingers (or not).
 
OldHercDude said:
It's amazing how much stuff many of us start to accumulate with the passage of time.

I left home with the clothes on my back and a small duffel. For the following 8 years I could move with all of my personal stuff fitting easily into the bed of a pickup. Then I moved into houses, and eventually lived in an 1800 sq ft 3br 2ba with a detached workshop/ storage building, with more stuff than I ever actually needed.

I'm now in a 450 sq ft apartment, with a 10x10 storage room. Goal is to continue downsizing until I comfortably fit in 400-450 sq ft. Same as mentioned by others - items with value are to be sold (or traded/ gifted/ donated). Most of what will be left will be things that mean more to me than they will to others after I pass.

Photography and knives are my two main remaining hobbies. I'm in the process of downsizing them as well, but not quite as aggressively as some of you all.

My Classic and Excelsior are scheduled for delivery Monday. It'll be interesting to see how well they fit my hands/ fingers (or not).
Click to expand...

Yeah, the 'stuff' piles up faster than you can keep track of it. We downsized when we moved from a three level 3 bedroom 3 bath home in Maryland to a one level two bedroom 2 bath home here in Texas. No more stairs! We took loads of stuff to the Goodwill, Salvation Army and AMVETS when we downsized. Got rid of everything we didn't actually need in our daily life.

The classic and Excelsior is a great, dynamite pair!! The classic handles a lot, and the excelsior has that extra blade length to cut a slice of apple pie bagel or a sandwich in half. And the excelsior is so flat it disappears in a pocket.
 
Last edited:
jackknife said:
Yeah, the 'stuff' piles up faster than you can keep track of it. We downsized when we moved from a three level 3 bedroom 3 bath home in Maryland to a one level two bedroom 2 bath home here in Texas. No more stairs! We took loads of stuff to the Goodwill, Salvation Army and AMVETS when we downsized. Got rid of everything we didn't actually need in our daily life.

The classic and Excelsior is a great, dynamite pair!! The classic halves a lot, and the excelsior has that extra blade length to cut a slice of apple pie or a sandwich in half. And the excelsior is so flat it disappears in a pocket.
Click to expand...

Isn't that the truth.

I have low (almost zero) tolerance for online shenanigans, and don't sell much that way anymore. Most of the stuff I've gotten rid of has been gifted or donated. Exception is the more pricey stuff like camera gear.

Looking forward to the pair. Sometimes it's nice to have really small and light, yet capable tools.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top