Best Pocket Knife EVER

In my opinion, and after 20+ years of carrying a pocket knife, I believe that the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Lockblade (Model# 54848) is the best all around pocket knife (and tool set) to be had.

 

I've been carrying this same knife, every day, for over five years now. It was given to me by a long-time family friend, the late Rick Martin. One of the most lasting and thoughtful gifts I've received; my thanks goes out to him, as I use this tool daily.


Some of the Pros of this knife:

• Great balance of tools - not too many, not too few. Tools include: 3¼" locking blade; a very good 3¼" stagger-toothed saw; a can opener with phillips-screw blade-point; a bottle opener with straight-screw blade; [flimsy] tweezers; a good plastic toothpick / point; a cork screw; a nice awl, and a lanyard attachment point.

• It's not too fat! Because it has the right balance of carefully selected tools, it's no "fatter" than most other standard pocket knives. A lot of swiss army knives try to cram way too much into the body, making it awkwardly thick, and not very pocket friendly. This knife, with all its tools, is only ¾" thick:

• The locking blade is very nice! You don't see this often in the typical "swiss army knife" The saw does not lock, but the knife blade does - and that's where you need it most. The release is a bit non-standard index-finger slider on the opposite side:

• This knife is not "tactical" looking. It's not a black / quick-open / tactical / fighting knife with all the PC-negative-stigma that goes along with that. While this knife is certainly capable in a knife fight, it looks like an old timer's pocket tool, and it is disarming / disalarming in that way. This is an important point. It's like urban camo.

• This specific knife is highly recommended by the Woods Master himself, the late Ron Hood. This is a guy that I have a lot of respect for, and has a college-level DVD course on woodcraft and survival (www.Survival.com). Here's a still from from Hoods Woods, volume five:

We sure will miss this guy (link).


You can sometimes find this knife on Ebay and Amazon sells a newer version of it too:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VUJGHS/?tag=intellections-20

I've not used the newer one, but I personally like the original look best.