REVIEW: Victorinox Executive 74mm (2000s)

The Victorinox Executive brings all the SAK goodness in a compact, not-too-small, not-to-big, just-right- 74mm package.  It has a main blade, small blade, orange peeler with flat screwdriver tip, scissors, nail file with pointed tip that can be used as a nail cleaner or philips screwdriver, tweezers and toothpick.  

I think the only thing missing in this set-up is a removable or retractable ball point pen and LED light (or not); and it will be a perfect key-chain EDC tool. Victorinox - please, remove the toothpick and tweezers on this model and make it more relevant by adding the removable ball point pen and the white LED light.

REVIEW: Victorinox Climber and Super Tinker 91mm (2010s)

The Victorinox Climber and Super Tinker are two of the most versatile 3-layer SAK currently in production today. Apart from the standard main blade, small blade, can opener and cap lifter on the front layer, it has the scissors which is very handy in any environment.  They also have the awl with sewing eye and parcel hook in the back layer.

Both are virtually the same except for that the Climber has the corkscrew and the Super Tinker has the philips screwdriver in the back layer.  

Personally, my choice will always be the Climber aka Super Spartan (get it?) in the 3-layer SAK category (considering only the models currently still in production).  I feel the philips screwdriver in the back layer is awkward to use.  I prefer the inline philips screwdriver as it feels like a normal screwdriver design (long handle, inline).  Also, the can opener tip is small enough to be used in place of the philips screwdriver.  Having the corkscrew in the back layer also enables you to carry the mini screwdriver that is very useful in many situations (like fixing eye glasses, small toys, etc).

Anyway, whatever you prefer, you can't go wrong between these two amazing SAK models.

Comparison Photos: Climber (left) and Super Tinker (right)

REVIEW: Comparison Victorinox Golfers 91mm vs 84mm (1980s & 1990s)

Up until the 1980's (or possibly 1990's) there were a lot more medium-sized (84mm) SAKs.  One of the popular models was the 84mm Golfer.  After Victorinox discontinued the 84mm Golfer, they made the 91mm equivalent and called it... 91mm Golfer (tada!).  Eventually, Victorinox added the plus scale and hook on the back layer and called it the 91mm Compact.  

There was another Golfer model with a Divot tool, but that is for another post.

This is a comparison between the 84mm and 91mm Golfer.  They have the same set of tools except for the plus scales and mini screwdriver on the corkscrew of the 91mm version.

84mm on the left, 91mm on the right: 

91mm on the left, 84mm on the right:

The now discontinued 84mm scissors side-by-side with the 91mm counterpart.

Not the difference in the shape of the combo tool.  The 91mm is more rounded and doesn't have the flat edge near the top of the curve. The other end of the 84mm combo tool is sharper compared to the 91mm.

The 84mm corkscrew is slightly smaller as well, the mini-screwdriver doesn't fit inside.

Reference:

www.sakwiki.com

REVIEW: Victorinox Classic I.N.O.X. Tool 58mm (2010s)

My friend bought the new Victorinox I.N.O.X. watch and got a strap box and 58mm Classic tool free.  This Classic tool has a new tool specially made for changing the strap on the new watch.  I'm calling this the Classic I.N.O.X. tool as there seems no official name for it yet.

The tool layout is very similar to the standard Classic SD, the main difference is the Nail file/Screwdriver tool was replaced by a plain looking tool with a two-pronged tip especially designed for replacing the strap on the new I.N.O.X. watch.  I think it would have been more useful if they still have the standard nail file and just changed the tip to the two-pronged tip.

The new I.N.O.X. watch looks great next to the Classic I.N.O.X. tool.

REVIEW: Victorinox Fieldmaster vs Wenger Handyman

At first, I was thinking of comparing the Handymans but quickly found out that it will be an uneven match between a lightweight and a flyweight.  The Wenger Handyman is just over matched the Victorinox Handyman.  So I looked for a better comparison for the Wenger Handyman and found the Victorinox Fieldmaster to be a worthy adversary.

The Victorinox Fieldmaster is similar to the Huntsman except the former has a philips screwdriver in the back layer compare to the Huntsman's corkscrew.  The Fieldmaster is an old model, first similar tool set appeared in the 1960's catalog as the Craftsman.  It was later renamed to the Fieldmaster (I first saw this in a 1990's catalog, but I might have just missed it in some 1980's catalog).  By the way, there is a similar 84mm Fieldmaster-type tool set called the Artisan, more about that in a future post.

The Wenger Handyman, in this case an Evo 18, due to the updated grip-type scale.  This is an 85mm SAK with all the basic tools plus the Wood Saw.  The Wenger Handyman is one of the older models and was part of the early 1970s line up of 6 models which included the Monarch (pre-cursor of the Wenger Champ), Hobbyist, Traveller, Scout and the Master Fisherman.

Below is a quick tabulated comparison between the two models.

More photos:

References:
www.sakwiki.com
Victorinox Catalogs
Wenger Catalogs