Help Choosing a SAK

[matt0]

I was looking at buying a SAK with more tools. The one I have is The Spartan (I think, two layers, big blade, small blade, can opener, bottle opener, corkscrew, reamer. no tweezers or toothpick)

My father used to have an old 4-layered SAK that I thought was the perfect size. The two layers I have now seems rather thin.

Is there a good site that sells the full line of SAKs and all the different colors? I was looking at The Mountaineer but it seems to be available only in red. I would prefer black or blue. I also saw a "StayGlow" one on ebay but the photo was obviosuly doctored because of how bright it was. Anyone have a picture of one of these in the dark? How long do they stay lit up?

Another thing, is it possible to buy the different tools individually and 'lego' a SAK?

 

[Chuck289]

Feline Vet Shop is one of the places I like most for SAKs. They have a large selection and also many rare and hard to find swiss army products.

Ive never heard of being able to buy individual tools and lego a SAK. But on the swiss army website they have an interactive toolmatcher where you select what tools you want and it will show you the best models that match what you selected.

http://felinevet.sosakonline.com
http://www.swissarmy.com/MultiTools/Pages/ToolMatch.aspx

 

[Dantor]

yes Felinevet is the best! he also helps people who can't pay their animal bills,
so buying from him is a nice cause.

here's your spartan with/without stay glows;

I got the stay glows from him too!
they stay glowing for hours.

 

[Tubor]

I'd recomend the Explorer - it's got a handy magnifier and a good Phillips screw driver along with the usual accessories and is 4 layers thick.

 

[adamlau]

Is there a good site that sells the full line of SAKs and all the different colors?

SwissOutpost
Swiss Knives Express
Swiss Knife Shop

 

[matt0]

Thanks guys, I'm looking at the Huntsman now but I noticed there's also a Huntsman Plus. As far as I can tell, the only difference is that it has a ballpoint pen, straight pin, and mini-screw driver. Where do those go? do they all fit inside the handles like the tweezers and toothpick?

 

[Dantor]

the pen goes in a special dedicated slot of it's own in the scale/handle (those are called "plus" scales) the mini screw driver is wrapped up in the cork screw in a special molded plastic part (it's pretty cool/ingenious) and the pin is in a special tiny hole near the cork screw (in the scale), many miss it!

 

[Chuck289]

I think the Pen and Pin are stored in the handles. The Mini screw driver is stored in the corkscrew

 

[matt0]

Thank you everybody. I didn't realize there was such a huge following of SAKs. I saw the "Maximum Alox" over on bladeforums and saw quite a few with custom scales...

I'll probably be ordering one within the next few days.

 

[Dantor]

for more crazy SAK nuts try http://forum.multitool.org/index.php and http://www.sosakonline.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

 

[m16a]

I'd recomend the Explorer - it's got a handy magnifier and a good Phillips screw driver along with the usual accessories and is 4 layers thick.

I second. I owned an explorer(in black) and I must say, great little tool:thumbsup:

 

[carrot]

My favorite SAK is the Farmer. More than 3 layers is too fat for me and the saw makes it an excellent woods knife. ALOX is also my favorite handle material for the SAKs so that factors in. Another favorite is the Soldier, which is 2 layers and loses the saw blade, and the Cadet which is a shrunken Soldier with a nail file instead of an awl.

 

[revolvergeek]

I have spent a LOT of time on the quest for the perfect Swiss Army Knife for me. I finally gave up on buying one and had Bill Evans aka Scibeer build some up for me. http://e-webtechnologies.com/knifemods/ He will let you pick what tools you want in the knife and build you exactly what you want.

If you aren't worried about phillips screws or opening cans, the Electrician Plus with a clip is a very handy knife. This one rides in my Fatboy every day of the world.

I wanted a custom Cybertool for work, so I had this one made up.

I thought that a One Hand Trekker with scissors and a corkscrew would be perfect. It gets to be a bit of a chunk to sit on all day long at a desk, and I don't want to wear a pouch on my belt, so it doesn't get carried much on a daily basis anymore.

Then I decided that was too big, and had him make me a 84mm Drunken Lumberjack.

Then I decided that I really wanted a metal file, scissors and inline screwdriver, so I had him build me an Abrasive Yo-Man. I carry this knife everyday in my pocket. It is perfect for what I do.

I also had him make me a Farmer with a small blade and scissors instead of a saw. I like it, but find that I don't carry it as much as I had thought that I would. It isn't that much smaller than the Ab-YoMan to be worth giving up the extra tools.

I him build a custom Farmer for a friend of mine with a small blade instead of the awl and a pocket clip.

I think that my next one is going to be a Farmer with a mag / phillips layer and a metal saw / file added, maybe with a pocket clip too.

 

[matt0]

I got my new one today. It's perfect. It may just be the age of my previous SAK but this one feels like it's built a thousand times better. All the tools snap together and lock up perfectly and much quicker than my previous one.

Thank you Dantor for telling me where the straight pin was. I would have found the ballpoint pen and the mini-screwdriver but if you hadn't told me about the straight pin, I probably would never have found it.

I think my next one may be a StayGlow Explorer to keep in my truck.

Click the thumbnails for a larger pic

 

[Dantor]

np Matt0
and wow, that green is so sweet it looks like you can eat it!
nice shots of it, I've never seen it like that (nor do I have any transparent ones).

one really nice things about SAKs (as you probably know) is for the price you get such a good deal/tool
(and that's also a bad thing!). congrats boss :thumbsup: