Thursday
I carry a Swiss Army Knife around with me on my keyring. I find the blades, scissors, and bottle opener in particular to be very handy. (Some of my friends and I have an ongoing personal joke about whether anyone has ever found a single purpose for the "multi-purpose hook" feature, however. I favour the climber model, and I must have had about five of these over the last fifteen years. I have lost my keys three times that I can think of (always in really stressful situations) and I have also had a Swiss Army Knife confiscated at Heathrow once. None of my knives have ever worn out: they do seem to be very well made. On every occasion I have bought another one of the same model. (I once attempted to buy a blue one instead of a red one, but the shop was sold out). I have had the current knife just over 18 months, I think, and hopefully it will last much longer. But, whenever it happens I need a new one, I may have to consider a different model. That's right, it's a USB Swiss Army Knife. What is even more scary than the existence of this is that having a built in USB Flash Drive on my knife is something that I would actually find useful.
Yes, a scary thought is going through my head. Unlike certain other strange USB devices I genuinely do want one of these.
Link via Slashdot. (Where else, really?)
Priceless comment from SlashDot: "Now I can be stopped at the airport for security violations AND supposed music piracy! "
Posted by Steve LaBonne at March 11, 2004 08:03 PM
Slightly off, but have you ever tried the Leatherman Micra? I find it a better keyring tool than any SAK of similar mass/dimensions. It's primary tool is a pair of scissors far better than any SAK of any size I've seen, with adequate knife and screwdrivers.
Posted by Sam at March 11, 2004 08:34 PM
I have found one use for the hook. If you have a box/package of some type wrapped with string the hook can be opened and hooked on to the string making the knife into a convenient carrying handle.
Posted by rico at March 11, 2004 11:57 PM
One or two of my friends swear by the Leatherman. It's better in terms of screwdriver functions I think, but less good for things like opening bottles of wine. (I have a separate screwdriver set for when I need that kind of thing). I have never really investigated it. I have the Swiss Knife habit and I am quite happy to be that way.
Posted by Michael Jennings at March 12, 2004 12:13 AM
I've used the Micra Philips-head screwdriver to open computers on occasion--it is adequate for that. But the big attraction is the scissors--it is really quite good.
Posted by Sam at March 12, 2004 01:40 AM
Might I recommend this - http://www.interealm.com/tikimac/products/items/ddd.html
Posted by Francis at March 12, 2004 10:27 AM
I carry both a leatherman micra and a swiss army knife. The leatherman scissors gets the most use and the screwdrivers are good for eyeglasses and computers. The micra's blades are whimpy so I carry the swiss army knife. Also the swiss army knife's bottle cap lifter is better and the can opener gets a surprising amount of use. Both are great tools.
Posted by wd at March 12, 2004 07:53 PM
The hook is actually a wire pull, supremely useful on the gantry when you've pulled off the vernier control cover panel and are reconfiguring the ICBM's trajectory and MIRV release timings. Oh, and the little ballpoint's handy, too.
Posted by Alex at March 15, 2004 04:12 PM
