Why does Victorinox continue to put that damn parcel hook on so many knives?

Shrub said:
...The toothpick especially seems kind of nasty.
Unless you sanitize it every use, you will get a little more spit or whatever else in there every time...
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Well, yeah!...ya gotta clean it! Show of hands--Who didn't know that?
Was there ever a question that you have to wipe off the toothpick after you use it?

YUK!
 
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I've never used the toothpick. I carry floss which works much better. I have used it to set mini jumpers on electronic devices though.

I have actually saved the day a few times at a party where no one had a corkscrew when some hot chicks showed up with wine. Needless to say, it was defininitely worth having the corkscrew!

Using the corkscrew is easy, you just have to wiggle the cork out instead of trying to yank it out all in once movement.
 
Tired_Yeti said:
Well, I've never just randomly encountered a bottle of wine during the course of a normal day and I've never had a wine emergency while being out somewhere. So I just bought an actual corkscrew at the store since I never encounter a bottle that needs to be opened unexpectedly. I usually have advanced warning of when I can expect a bottle of wine that needs my touch to open it. We don't drink that much wine. MAYBE some at Xmas but we don't even do that every year anyway. Needing a corkscrew included in my survival tool is obviously a European thought. Only the Europeans would consider a corkscrew part of an EDC/emergency preparedness tool. LOL!
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"Whilst traveling through Afghanistan, we lost our corkscrew. Had to live on food and water for several days."

W.C. Fields, My Little Chickadee (1940)
 
I use toothpick when I need a tip and blunt point.

While the hook, I found its uses to carry my plastic bag from grocery store:

492409707.jpg
 
I used the hook several times.
Don´t see the point of the fish descaler on my vic
 
Hengelo_77 said:
I used the hook several times.
Don´t see the point of the fish descaler on my vic
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It is not very good as a fish scaler, and a real chore to clean the SAK of fish debris after use. However, it also provides a ruler, which I sometimes find useful, but my main use for it is as a probe for things I can't or don't want to touch. On several occasions I used it as a pickle fork, after cleaning it thoroughly, of course. :D
 
The Parcel Hook is useful for several things, such as:

Parcel Carrier: an easy way to carry your packages if they are wrapped in twine;
Para Cord: works great to pull complicated knots through nice and tight;
Untying things: if it can tighten stuff it can pull it apart;
Tent Stakes: this will help you pull out those tough tent stakes;
Zip Line: if you are stranded on a roof top with para cord and your SAK you are in luck. Just lasso off and slide down;
Storage Space: put gizmos and stuff under the hook;
Self Defense: just shove the hook into an attackers mouth and hook 'em like a fish on the cheek and pull until they cry uncle;
Groceries: an easy way to carry your groceries for an extended walk to your car or home;
Cooking: lift up boiling hot pots, pans, and lids without burning your fingers;
Painting: helps carry uncomfortable paint cans with metal handle;
Electrical work: if you are placing a new switch through sheet rock simply insert the hook and pull your string/wire/chain though the hole;
VCR: if you still own one of these it will help pull that stuck video tape out;
IV Holder: simply wedge the SAK handle with the hook hanging down and attach an IV bag;
Boot Laces: helps tighten boot laces (refer to para cord);

The list goes on and on :D
 
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Well hell, with all the models of SAK out there, surely one can find the model/s that are suitable?
If you don't like the parcel hook- get a Camper.
If you don't like the corkscrew, get a Hunter XT.
If you don't like the toothpick, get the Swisstool.

So many options- and you can still use any SAK blade to extract the cork from a wine bottle.
 
You had me at "bucktoothed hillbilly."

Liked the fish-hooked attacker comment too!
 
I used mine to help untie a knot I just kept on struggling with. I was busy pulling on the one strand of string when this thread popped into my mind and snapped this photo.

DSC_0453_zps9c53a524.jpg
 
So is it really true you can use the parcel hook to lift a bail of hay? It seems like a great deal of weight for such a small amount of steel.
 
now, I like the hook, even though ive used it maybe 10 times in as many years. mostly camping, cooking related. I keep sheep and goats, so I move hay a lot. I have not yet tried it. I will do that this morning. but really, I do not see this as being the tool for the job. if you move square bales by one string, they frequently come apart, so you have to do both strings, and the hook on mine is pretty small for that. I will try it today, though and report back.
 
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[img=http://s6.postimg.org/yjo5n85ot/camillus_tl_29_003.jpg]
That is my sak hook, picktured next to my actual hay hook. It may or may not be obvious why I never thought of the one as being similar to the other. but to tell the truth, I just tried carrying a bail of hay, prolly bout 70 pounds, with the sak. It worked better than I figured it would. It is not the tool I would choose for moving hay, but if I were without my hay hook for whatever reason, it could be handy.
I know the link says camillus. that is just one more part of my technical ineptitude. I tried to fix it, but failed.
 
Tired_Yeti said:
Let me go on record saying that the corkscrew even when used as a corkscrew is pretty lame. I've used it as a corkscrew for wine bottles about 1/2 dozen times around Xmas. There's no leverage! After you screw it into the cork, you have to use brute strength to yank the cork out. Sometimes the cork would break forcing me to just push it down into the bottle. So I end up drinking it redneck style.

Some of the mentioned uses of the corkscrew are just uses of a sharp, metal hook. I think Victorinox would make a lot of Americans happy if they retired the corkscrew and added just a hook. Maybe with a 90° angle on it.
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I agree. The corkscrew is too short & of small diameter, so corks tend to break.
underdog406 said:
Try screwing it all the way down, and use the force of leverage by slightly closing the screw, once it's slightly been pulled out a good yank would pull the cork out.
There's tutorials in youtube.
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I have tried this. It doesn't make the cork stronger.
The problem is mostly with cork quality. Old corks become softeer & more friable. Cheap corks are full of faults & cavities.
 
Anybody else fed up with the lids on the current run of canned meats from the Treet company? You need pliers to open those things. So I'm wondering if the parcel hook could be used to pull the cans open instead.
 
Charlie_K said:
So is it really true you can use the parcel hook to lift a bail of hay? It seems like a great deal of weight for such a small amount of steel.
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True! I've used it several times for lifting wire bound bails of hay, using my other hand to help lift and steady the load with no damage to either the SAK or me.
 
I used the hook once to pull a wire fence tight and then secure it. I ground the top of the bend of the hook into a phillips driver on my Compact, and it is still useful as a hook. I thought about cutting it off below the hook, and grinding it into a number 1 phillips, but couldn't think of a way to lift it from the groove without useing another tool.
 
I have yet to use the hook on my Vic silver tech climber. You can use the corkscrew to take kinks out of wire, albeit in a somewhat convoluted process ;).
 
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