Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Miscellany: Victorinox Huntsman review

I like Victorinox's Swiss army knives as much as the next guy, but even I can admit that some of the tools on their knives are fairly useless. Take the Huntsman, for instance, a 91mm four-layer knife with a combination of really good and really questionable tools.


First, the really good - the front side of the Huntsman has a bottle opener/screwdriver/wire stripper, scissors, a saw, a small blade, a main blade, and a can opener/screwdriver. You also get the same tweezer and toothpick that you get in practically every Victorinox multitool.


Now for the bad.  The back side of the Hunstman has an okay awl, but also the parcel hook and corkscrew. I've seen YouTube videos of people struggling to explain various uses for these tools, but they're never very convincing. Unless you need to carry brown paper packages tied up with strings or crack open a bottle of Syrah, they just don't have much real world use.


As such, I can't really recommend the Huntsman, not when you could get a Hiker or a Fieldmaster with either a smaller footprint or a more useful back layer tool, respectively.

2 Comments:

At 2:54 AM, Blogger eric said...

I find the screwdriver tip on the can opener works fine for Philips screws, and in a much easier position to use than on the center of the back of the handle. Corkscrew can help untie knots, drill hole in wood, or open a bottle of wine. So I disagree about the Philips on the back being a better choice. So I recommend looking at the Spartan, camper, or Huntsman. I agree not sure about the hook though.

 
At 11:23 AM, Blogger Mulliga said...

Thanks eric - that's fair enough. I should also add that there are widgets that fit into the corkscrew that look very useful, such as screwdrivers and even a firestarter and tinder combo.

 

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