Sosakonline Archive

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When anyone mentions alox SAKs, most will picture the Soldier, Farmer, or one of the others from the Pioneer series.  This review will deal with their smaller and seemingly less known/popular  84mm siblings...The Cadets and Bantams.

I exited my car at the beginning of the small winding dirt road. I would have to walk in from here. No car would make the half-mile trek on such a deeply rutted road. I popped the trunk open and withdrew the tightly packed olive drab bag. The backpack was a US military ALICE (All-purpose Light-weight Individual Carrying Equipment) bag and it contained the items I would need in order to be comfortable for the next several days.



    The idea behind this article is pretty simple. I always carry a SAK and a folder. I wanted to see how I would feel carrying just a SAK or only a single bladed folder. For six days- three outdoors and three in the city- I’ll carry a Spyderco Paramilitary, then I’ll do the same with a Victorinox Huntsman. By the end of the twelve day trial period I will, hopefully, have some useful conclusions.

After toying with a ’01 Soldier for a few months, it’s now about right to do a review on this little alox bundle of goodness. It looks cool, but how does it really do? How does it work? How does it compare to that old standby, the Camillus BSA Scout?

When it comes to Swiss Army Knives, the blade, scissors, and corkscrew are probably the first tools to come to mind. But the corkscrew has found a competitor: the #2 screwdriver. The debate between which one is better has been a long and fierce one, and one can only imagine how many deaths were the result of this arguing.

The Victorinox versus Wenger debate will, for the most part, go on forever. The fans of either knife realize that the fine Swiss manufacturing in the knives makes BOTH brands superior for the price. However, like Coke versus Pepsi, Arm and Hammer versus Mr. Clean, or the .45 ACP versus the 9 millimeter, the debate will likely never be fully resolved.

It was Sunday and my daughter and myself were going to my wife’s 85-year-old Aunt to help her with her packing and her moving preparations.

The hard question was what knives to take? It was an old Victorian House with lots of big rooms and old antique type furniture. I did not know what to expect, so I took my Swiss champ (recently customised with blue translucent handles) and my Alox soldier.

Your personal survival kit should start with a Swiss Army Knife.

Pocket knives have made an impact in our society and are an important part of our daily lives. Ever since man had crafted the folding knife, we have seen everything from simple handmade knives made on a farm for general purpose work to pearl handled gentleman knives that were carried by those distinguished to carry them. The creation of the modern slip joint really has an incredible history and the craftsmanship in them is amazing. Granted these days the market is flooded with models produced over seas that don’t even come close to the craftsmanship of homemade designs, there are some things that cannot be mass produced. I may be talking about classic pocket knives, but let’s take a different angle on modern slip joints. Everyone has heard of, or has at one time owned a "Case" or a "Schrade" and we all have a place in our hearts for American cutlery companies, but one company beats them all hands down when it comes to quality and fit/finish.

Through all the years I have been reading and participating in the internet forums, I cant count how many times people have laughed at and made fun of a Swiss-Army-Knife. There are comments about its cheap and/or soft steel, its size is no match for the big burly tac-folders, its delicate and could never hope to compete with a decent large fixed blade. Probably the worst thing is that I was one of those people years ago. I would readily laugh at the “Swiss thingy with a corkscrew”.