I love how the further you explore the rabbit hole, the deeper it can become. Even something as simple as replacing something lost can lead you through an interesting path of discovery and adventure. Such was the case when I tried to replace my lost pocket knife.

The pocket knife prelude

That’s my ‘lost’ pocketknife up the top there. A Victorinox Pioneer. Or so I thought.

We all will be familiar with some form of the SAK¹. The red multifunction knives would boast every tool for every situation, all in one ready-to-go unit. I watched MacGyver, wanted one, had several as a kid, lost them, and wish I still had them now. As I grew older, I started to appreciate the stripped-back versions. I didn’t need a wood saw for most things, living in town. If I did – I had bigger, better, purpose-made saws to serve that purpose.

I found myself gravitating towards the above pocket knife. It became my EDC² knife. The silver ‘checked’ scales and thinner profile worked better. Felt a little less MacGyver³

I have had this knife for close to eight years. Generally, if I am out and about, this is in my pocket. It is a small, unassuming, inoffensive, classic pocket knife. Carrying enough to cover 99% of all the needs I have for a pocket tool. There are four parts to it – a knife, a reamer or punch, a can opener and a bottle opener. Both the can and bottle opener also work as small flat-blade screwdrivers.

I haven’t used the wire stripper at all, but all the other tools have, at some point, come in useful to me.

To lock or to not?

I have long gone between a smaller multi-purpose pocket knife and a larger single-bladed lock blade. Still, I will, depending on my mood, swap out the smaller knife for something like the Mercator. Sometimes, I carry the SAK in my pocket (week side pocket for some reason), and a Spyderco Dragonfly clipped onto my belt.

For certain tasks, I still like the security of a locking blade. For the vast majority of what I use it for daily – it doesn’t matter.

It gets to the point where you are so used to having it in your pocket that the day you realise it isn’t there, things feel a little strange. As was the case recently when I noticed it had gone AWOL. After doing a thorough ⁴ check of all my pants, my dresser and normal EDC bags – I couldn’t find it.

Pioneer – or is it?

After a little pondering (about five minutes), I ordered another one. But I couldn’t. As far as I was aware – I was looking for a Pioneer. Looking on the Victorinox site, the form that I wanted wasn’t available – the Pioneer had a keyring hole on it!

Now, I realise this might sound like a trivial point. But if you don’t have it on your keys, why would you need a keyring hole? The whole idea of this SAK was minimalism. Having something extra on there didn’t appeal.

I questioned the difference – and had pointed out to me that the Pioneer has always had a keyring hole. But there have been occasional other versions that didn’t.

I needed a new knife and figured I would learn to deal with it⁵. I ordered it and, at the same time, picked up a RangerWood 55. I liked the unit’s look – not as an EDC knife, but as a potential bridge between the Pioneer and my hunting knives. A little bigger, with a locking blade and a wood saw (that was big enough to be useful).

Research on variations

While I waited for the knives to turn up, I did a little research into what exactly the differing Pioneer versions were. As it happened (as is always the way), my original knife also turned up. So, I had my original to compare to and research. Down the rabbit hole, I went.

Like any iconic design – there is a massive online community based around the history and many variants of the SAK knife. I was soon reading forums and sites feeding me a lot of interesting info.

Not a Pioneer, after all

And lo and behold. I never had a Pioneer in the first place!

As it turns out, what I actually had was a Soldier 1961. A true ‘Swiss Army Knife’ in that this was the official design issued to the Swiss Army since 1962.

A couple of things were different from the new version I received. The logo wasn’t the Victorinox logo; it was the Swiss Army Logo. The knife itself had 08 stamped onto it (as it turns out, that is the year of manufacture). Finally, the scales were missing the blank, flat section that is on the new knife.

In fact, it turns out, the one I had must have been near the last ever made. The model got replaced in 2008 with a new knife; it had a keyring added to it and got renamed, you guessed it, the Pioneer. My 08 stamped knife was one of the last manufactured before the swapover.

So there you have it

If you have made it this far, well done! You must have as an inquisitive mind as mine!

I have ended up with both knives (not a bad thing) and a little bit more insight into the history of my old knife. I think I can remember where I got it from as well, so I am going to head back and see if they happen to have any new, ‘old stock’ still sitting around. I think it may be the case that what I have is the last of them. But you never know!

More reading

Soldier model 1961

http://www.sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Soldier+1961

1. Swiss Army Knife ↩

2. everyday carry ↩

3. not hating on MacGyver though! ↩

4. even more thorough than normal ↩

5. oh, the problems! ↩

As regulars to this site would know – I tend to think a lot about how I carry equipment around while in the bush. On every trip out, I have been trying to reduce weight and achieve the goal of being able to hunt while carrying everything I need on my back. The ability to stalk all day, then stop and set up camp whenever it suits, means a lot more flexibility in where you go and how you plan your trip. No need to head back to camp at the end of the day; no need to return to any centralised point.

So – in the quest to reduce and simplify, I got a couple of the Hunters Element Edge Pouches to play with.

The Three Pouches

Hunters Element Edge Pouches

I had a particular plan for these – but wasn’t sure what I would need – so I got one of each.

You won’t fit a box of ammo in the small, the medium, one and nearly a second, and the large will take three – with space on top – I tried putting a fourth box in there, but it won’t zip closed at that point.

All the pouches have a mesh divider on the back face and sewn-in ammo holders.

All are made out of the same material as the packs, the DRYstealth water-resistant material. So – not going to make too much sound when pushing through the bush.

They are all designed to be put onto a belt (generally a wide one) and have a decent amount of padding on the back where they will be pushing into your hip. Of course – I was never planning on using them as originally intended!

Replacing the Ribz

Now, those who know me, know I do love my Ribz Front Packs. In fact, I import and sell them over at the Gearlocker – however, never content – I was interested to know if I could get away with leaving it at home – considering I was now planning on carrying the pack with me at all times. The Ribz Pack weighs 315 grams – so it’s not that heavy – considering it gives me around 11 litres of storage, readily accessible. I think that was the main consideration – readily accessible. The one issue with just using a pack – I would have to stop to get things like the map, GPS and so on out of it. Sure, you can put them in a front pocket if you are wearing a jacket – but most of the time, I am in a long-sleeved shirt – not something that can carry a lot in it.

So, while the Boundary Pack I use has a front hip belt pocket on it – I was keen to increase the amount I could carry on my hips – in the hope, it would be enough to replace the front pack.

So, only the large pack will fit over the hip belt. The medium is just going to be too tight. Not really an issue, though, as I quickly ascertained I would want to use the large pouch anyhow.

One of these is on each side, and I think I will be a long way towards enough storage. Map, compass, snacks – that’s all I need to have handy. It’s not a lot, but I don’t want to have to stop to get them.

That’s the medium on the left, large on the right – the medium doesn’t slip back far enough to be usable. Initial impressions are that it won’t be sticking out too much on the sides – but it will take a couple of days of bush bashing to assess that.

While playing around – I also found I could put the small pouch up on the shoulder straps. It sits up high – just below the collarbone – but could be another spot for a few small items. I initially thought the GPS – but I would prefer not to have it on the pack – just in the truly dire situation where I need to ditch it for some reason.

Realistically – I would now have a pile of unneeded padding going on – but it should achieve what I want it to do. Ideally, the bag would come like this – without the too-small to-be-a-useful pocket on the left and the (personally) useless rifle-carrying system on the right. Mount the pockets directly to the belt and make the pack that much more friendly to an overnight lightweight bush-stalking rig.

However, one little issue would remain. One of the awesome aspects of the RIBZ pack is the ability to be able to drop the main pack and still have the essentials on you. This certainly decreased as an issue as I have reduced the pack weight and made it viable always to carry the backpack anyhow – but I am still wary of having all the kit in the pack. I still liked the idea of at least having the basic survival essentials separate and on my person at all times.

It occurred to me that due to the low weight of the pack, I tend to lift the whole system up a bit higher – not needing to sit on my hips to transfer weight. Therefore, I have the trouser belt available underneath the hip belt of the pack.

As it turns out, a simple solution – the small pouch will be enough to carry the PLB, compass and first aid/survival basics. It can live on the belt and will mean that those basics are right there when I need them. No. I won’t be wearing jeans out into the bush anytime soon. Cotton kills – remember?

Overall, while not made for it – it does look like the pouches will work. However, now I need to find a spare weekend where I can head out and test the theory!