I Actually Bought A SAK!

Long considering myself a "serious" knife kind of guy, both a knife collector, and knife user I had never owned a Swiss Army Knife. Just didn't think they were "real" knives. I've carried a long list of high quality pocket and lock-back knives most of my life. My go-to multi-tool/knife has been a large Gerber for quite a few years, but I found myself wanting something different. Somehow I found myself choosing and buying a SAK SwissChamp. And I love this thing. I have been amazed at how many times a day I use it.

I thought it would still be too big, but I wanted a large selection of tools. I'm now disabled and must use a power wheelchair. I normally wear my shirt tail on the outside, so I bought a leather pouch which rides on my belt under my shirt out of sight. Though disabled, I still try to stay active and am always tinkering with something. But I can't jump up and run to get a tool anymore. Now I can't operate without having my SAK on hand everywhere I go.

I got the SwissChamp in the translucent Ruby, which I think is beautiful. Some say they think the Champ is too big, but it fits my hands very well, and since I don't carry it in my pocket, it works out fine. They advertise that it has 33 tools (I think) and around 50 uses - but I find many more than that. I could write a small book on the odd uses I've put the various tools to. It's rare that I can't find some way to use one of the tools to do most of what I get into. Believe it or not my wheelchair serviceman was here doing a minor repair and adjustment to my chair and there was one area where he didn't have a tool to get it done, and yes, I whipped out the SAK and it had just what he needed.

Now I'm thinking of replacing my trusty old Gerber for a multi-tool to do the bigger jobs. I've been looking at the Leatherman Wave and the SwissTool Spirit. They both look good but I'm starting to lean toward the Spirit. The only advantage I can see for the Wave is the "one-handed" opening feature, and that's not important to me. Anybody have an opinion on these two?

I guess I'm pretty thick headed, I waited until I was 61 and disabled before I broke down and got a SAK.

Larry

SAK are great knives, steel is not the best but you can't beat its precision engineering.

Wave or spirit, oh boy, that's a hard one. They are both great tools, with similar construction, so it really boils down to personal preference. Personally I'm leaning toward spirit at the moment, while both are very functional, spirit looks better than wave, and the polished finish goes great with my polished flashlight. :laughing:

Oh yeah, a lot of people hate the moby **** shaped blade on spirit, thou personally I have no problem with it.

Congrats Wessernaut! Great choice. That is a lot of tools in one place!

Many people like both the Wave and Spirit, they are different sizes,
may I suggest going here for many reviews and comments on both and more; http://forum.multitool.org/index.php

Good luck in your search and life sir...

I have the cybertool 34 and the Leatherman Surge. I've looked at the swiss tools. There are advantages to each. It depends what you want to use it for. I decided that I liked the Surge better. Of course you have to pay extra for the bit kit to go with it. The spirit plus has a 1/4" drive wrench, but it doesn't have an extension bar. You have to be in close to use it. The Leatherman bits work well, but they are a bit stubby. While you can reach farther then the bit wrench, you are limited by the thickness of the handle on the tool. That why I like the Cybertool (or even the SwissChamp XLT) for inside work and the Leatherman for outside work. Mostly. I also like that you can get a larger lanyard ring or pocket clip for the Wave, Surge or Charge. Unlike the Wave, the Surge has a removable saw blade that can be replaced with any T-shank blade or the enclosed diamond/wood file. It's very difficult to sharpen the saw blades on the SAK's and I like having a choice of different blades too use. I also like the pliers better on the Leatherman. The Leatherman Surge was the Field and Stream pick for "Best of the Test" in multitools in 2004. In the end it comes down to what feels and works best for you.
I suggest you go to a store that sells both and hold them for yourself before you pick which one you want. You'll have a much better idea what you like better after holding them and opening up all the blades and seeing the accessories.

Ya called it rght ! The only thing the Wave /Charge tools have over the Spirit is one hand opening . Victorinox has the best Multitool build quality bar none ! Mt two faves are the Spirit an the Charge Ti . The Charge is in the running only due to the one hand feature . If you want perfection , go with a Spirit , and a small Spyderco or Byrd .

Chris

Thanks for all the good input,and review links. And I do like the thought of holding my final decision until I can handle both. That's the only way to get a sense of the action, smoothness, feel in the hand, etc. I really like extreme precision and quality, a tool that makes you feel good every time you use it. I don't mind paying the price if you can see the quality and feel the difference. Larry

Larry, while I believe the Wave is a really good MT, if you can test it first, check for pinching, I've heard several stories of it bitting the hand when squeezing the handles while using the pliers! Maybe they were just giddy!

jzmtl said:

SAK are great knives, steel is not the best but you can't beat its precision engineering.

Wave or spirit, oh boy, that's a hard one. They are both great tools, with similar construction, so it really boils down to personal preference. Personally I'm leaning toward spirit at the moment, while both are very functional, spirit looks better than wave, and the polished finish goes great with my polished flashlight. :laughing:

Oh yeah, a lot of people hate the moby **** shaped blade on spirit, thou personally I have no problem with it.

Click to expand...

There's a two blade version of the Spirit. It has a spearhead blade instead of the scissors. About the steel, I've been using 'standard' steel knives my whole life (since 6-7 years old) and I haven't had any problem. I have knives with 'premium' steel as well and I can't detect any difference in everyday usage. I actually prefer my standard steel knives, notably my various Victorinox products and my Lapplander fixed blades. My first SAK is from ~1980 and I still use it.

I like SAKs, especially large SAKs.
Victorinox made them for collectors
(at present SwissChamp XAVT).
Some of my toys:


SwissChamp, normal size (Perlmutt)

Cyber Tool

Multi Tool

I used the awl on my Explorer model to make some ventilation holes in a thermometer cover a few minutes ago.

You can get by just fine without a SAK, but the time saved not walking around the house looking for a blade, scissor, screwdriver, tweezer, etc. really adds up. Plus there are those times when you aren't at home, and its either the SAK or nothing.

Energie said:

I like SAKs, especially large SAKs.
Victorinox made them for collectors
(at present SwissChamp XAVT).
Some of my toys:

SwissChamp, normal size (Perlmutt)

Cyber Tool

Multi Tool

Click to expand...

SwissChamp with perl scales
SwissChamp XLT
WorkChamp

Right?