Victorinox Executive or MiniChamp II

Yeah he does. If you read "Press On" it gives a list of the pack contents they carry when they disappear into the mountains for a two week fishing/survival/camping trip. His background as a pilot and dealing with bailout kits were an influence on him. Every piece of gear has to be as small as can be, but still funtion at its task. Those guys travel really light. Tarp instead of tent, minimum size everything. No fishing knife even though its a fishing trip. He says he just uses his small pocket knife to gut the fish, then the fish is baked in tin foil in the fire.

I guess a guy who has been in three wars as a combat pilot (WW2, Korea, Viet Nam) and has all his survival gear in some vest pockets, has learned to think small.

Chuck Yeager is a true American Hero.
 
has learned to think small.

I don't understand why he would pick the Executive over the Classic. The Classic is so much lighter and everybit as sharp as the exec. I wonder what reasons he gave for his decision to not to go with the lightest one?

I am looking forward to reading Press On. I guess I've admired Gen Yeager
for almost 40 years now. He is The Man.
 
jackknife said:
...has learned to think small.
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I'd like to learn to "think small" myself, but in an emergency situation, I've learned the smaller the item, the easier it is to drop it. I need something that fits or fills my hand better. The Executive is a much better choice for me. The SwissChamp is better still. I'd probably carry both! I'm throwing the whole "ultralight" concept out the window here, but I can live with that. :D
 
jackknife said:
Yeagers hunting and fishing trips have been featured in ... some books.

... Yeager has always stressed the importance of a good pocket knife in his outdoor naritives.

I find it interesting that he loves the Victorinox executive. Intersting in the same way that Grits Gresham carried a Gerber microlight, and Colin Fletcher carries a Vic classic.
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Dude! How about some titles!? Sound like books I'd like to read. Thanks in advance.

BTW, I like the looks of the Executive but can't get past the hokey orange peeler thing. What do you guys use those for? My family's lived in South Florida since 1908 so I know a thing or two about oranges. My grandad taught me how to peel 'em using his Robeson two-blade jack. :)



Edited to add: I posted theis response before reading all the posts. I'm going to look for 'Press On.'
 
mnblade said:
Dude! How about some titles!? Sound like books I'd like to read. Thanks in advance.

BTW, I like the looks of the Executive but can't get past the hokey orange peeler thing. What do you guys use those for? My family's lived in South Florida since 1908 so I know a thing or two about oranges. My grandad taught me how to peel 'em using his Robeson two-blade jack. :)



Edited to add: I posted theis response before reading all the posts. I'm going to look for 'Press On.'
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I remember the magazines "Field and Stream" and "OutdoorLife" had features with Yeager, and he was on the old "American Sportsman" show back before they got PC, and had real hunts and fishing on. I can recall an Elk hunt with Yeager, and many fishing segments with him and Kurt Gowdy in waders knee deep in some trout stream. This was maybe late 70's. Yeager was an avid trout fisherman, bordering on fanatic. The trout fishing was the whole point behind his long backpacking trips into the Sierra Nevada mountains, and his reason for moving to Lone Pine CA.

Yeah, I agree with you on the orange peeler blade, maybe its a European thing we just don't get. I'd love to see a combo blade in its place, and let you be able to deal with imported beer bottles or screws.
 
Over the past 25 years or so, I've had 3 Executives. I broke one, (it was replaced for free) lost one, and now have the one I bought to replace it. The one thing I like about it over other models is the fruit peeler. It makes short work of an orange or grapefruit! I am never without it.
 
I recently picked up a Manager II for everyday keychain carry. Pen, bottle opener/phillips, scissors, knife, file/screwdriver, tweezers. No LED light (that's the Midnight version), because it sounds like the battery cover just won't stay on. For me, occasional need for a bottle opener and more often, the need for a pen, made it worth upgrading from a Classic. It still fits in the fake leather keychain fob.
 
I guess the classic and its cousins like the manager, rambler have tought me a valuble leason-never underestimate the cutting ability of these small knives. I've got a soldier edc in a nylon and velcro belt pouch, where it rides side by side with a little Dorcey AAA flashlight in the same pouch. But the larger sak almost never gets used anymore. Most of my cutting chores are done with the classic on the keyring. It opens boxes the UPS guy drops off, opens cerial boxes for the grandkids, trims fishing line, all kinds of stuff. The soldier or other larger saks are like emergency tools like the flashlight or altoids tin first aid kit.

Small is good.
 
I'm talking about the plastic bag liner. I like to make just a slit in the corner to pour the cerial out of so its easier to seal up with a clip.
 
Hi Jack Knife! I'm reading Press On and have gotten to page 90 something. His details of his and Andy's backpacking trips into the sierra nevada mountains are amazing. Yeaer is the man.

I haven't stumbled over his reference to the vic executive. Would you give me a page number?

Thanks sir.
 
Blade Magazine used to have a column called "The Knife I Carry" or similar. There would be a couple of people showing their favorite carry knives. One month they had Col. Yeager and his Executive. I think he said something about carrying it when he went to the mountains. I'm thinking that this was in the early '90s.
 
okBookGuy said:
Hi Jack Knife! I'm reading Press On and have gotten to page 90 something. His details of his and Andy's backpacking trips into the sierra nevada mountains are amazing. Yeaer is the man.

I haven't stumbled over his reference to the vic executive. Would you give me a page number?

Thanks sir.
Click to expand...

I have'nt read the book since it came out, and at my age my memory is'nt that photograghic :D

I just recall it's a hell of a good book that goes into his and Andy's trips intothe mountains. Did you get to the part where they figure if they use Rokon trail bikes they can stay longer because of the time saved hiking?

By the time you get halfway into the book you also relize these guys were not tea-totellers in thier younger days either.
 
jackknife said:
I have'nt read the book since it came out, and at my age my memory is'nt that photograghic :D

I just recall it's a hell of a good book that goes into his and Andy's trips intothe mountains. Did you get to the part where they figure if they use Rokon trail bikes they can stay longer because of the time saved hiking?

By the time you get halfway into the book you also relize these guys were not tea-totellers in thier younger days either.
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Quite right Jack Knife. . .he makes mention of a number of things to which
he refers to as "not exactly indigenous to that area" ;D
I've read in there how he and Andy would have some of their "supplies"
air dropped in and then got to thinking badly about it so stopped doing that.

Chuck Yeager is the man and that's a military fact.
 
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