When I did that video about traditional folders, there were a few reasons I didn’t didn’t
include a Swiss army knife or vicotinox- other than just to make people mad although that
was a consideration.
The main reason is that Victorinox doesn’t make many knives with blades over 3 inches
that are not multitools- and even then no one buys them.
But basically you have the Sentinel and maybe the Alpineer, as long as you can tolerate
the wine screwer.
And best I can tell the Solos blade is 2 5/8 long.
I bought half dozen Swiss army knives last year in plans to review some of their classic
multitools, but recently subscriber Skookumdanger donated to the channel the 84mm or 3 1/4 inch
Alox Cadet in Red the perfect knife for fancy suit wearing bros.
Not to be confused with the 2018 Limited edition berry red version for $16 more because ain’t
no body got the money for that.
Especially when you don’t have money for a haircut or uhh razor.
So let’s take a look at the dimensions of my SAK.
Like the overall length and weight with the main blade open.
Note that Swiss Army Knives are often described in millimeters in reference to their closed
length.
And while we’re at it let’s look at the closed length.
This would be Victorinoxs 84mm sized knife.
Spine thickness and handle thickness.
This is a petty slim knife because of the aluminum aloe scales.
And the length of the tools.
No blue lines sorry.
Before I was a pocket knife guy I was a Multitool guy, but I always stuck with leathermans because
of the heavy duty pliers.
But for some people who don’t need heavy duty pliers, but might want to place nose
hairs or file their nails or open a wine bottle or can of something- A Swiss Army Knife is
a great multitool.
They’re light, easy to fit in the pocket, and acceptable in social situations- and don’t
carry the nerd vibe of a leatherman.
Victorinox who makes the Swiss army knife uses a stainless steel called 1.4110 in a
lot of it’s knives- which some internet knife people say is close to 440A.
You can look up the steel, and look at the composition and determine that for yourself
though.
The blade is denoted by a thin blade stock and if my shitty calipers aren’t lying about
.38 behind the edge.
Behind the edge is a term that refers to how thick the blade is just before the sharpened
edge.
This means the knife is easy to sharpen when it gets dull, like an explanation of what
“behind the edge means.
The 2 inch cutting edge was sharp out of the box.
The blade isn’t locking, but a slip joint mechanism.
On slip joints with a decent amount of tension like this one make sure you carefully ease
the blade close to avoid dinging it up on the liners unnecessarily.
Ok here is is open.
You’ll see there there are a Toal of four tools, some with more than one function.
The main one was the blade- I could go over that again if you’d like.
No no no we’re good bro.
Ok second the nail file.
. As a suit wearing bro bro you need to make sure your fingernails are dirt free and don’t
have snags.
Use the tip for cleaning, and the file part for a personal manicure.
The best place to do this is the lunchroom cafeteria at work.
Next you have the can opener that allows you to do exactly what it says.
Open steel cans of things.
On the tip is a tiny flat head screw driver that also might work in some Philips head
screws as well- so that’s like 3 tools!
And finally the 4th tool the beer opener…
it doesn’t work on soda bottles sorry.
Then there’s the wire bender part…
I’m sure there’s a good reason why a non technical person who only carries a Swiss
army knife would need to bend and cut a wire right?
And then the thicker tip which is a bigger flat head screw drivers.
Do people still drink those?
Ok let’s wrap it up.
The Cadet is a good lightweight multitool for a person who’s moved on from corked
wine to the stuff that comes in a box.
I prefer a larger multitool, but you may not.
Swiss Army Knives are some of the lightest multifunction tools you can carry that assist
you in eating or drinking, or cleaning your fingers like a primate around other people.
The thin aluminum handle scales make it an easy slide in the pocket.
If you need a larger Swiss army knife with scissors and a Philips head and the tweezers
and toothpick that allow you do to do other gross grooming things look at the Super Tinker,
which is around the same price but with smooth plastic scales.
Generally the Swiss army knives that have the aluminum sided handles don’t come with
the tweezers and toothpicks.
But the aluminum is durable, gives a nice worn look over time and is thinner.
If you use a knife a lot maybe look into a dedicated pocket knife with a large comfortable
handle and large blade like a Spyderco Endure 4 or a Bad Cara Cara 2.
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