Swiss Army Knives used in MacGyver episodes (2019) | Hacker News Reader

Swiss Army Knives used in MacGyver episodes (2019)

macgyveronline.com

55 pointsfauria40 comments

Check out the Victorinox Signature Lite - it’s a very small keychain knife with a blade, scissors, pen (!), led light, nail file and screwdriver. It’s not longer than a regular door key and very light. You won’t even notice you are carrying it. I have had it with my keys for 10 years. https://www.victorinox.com/global/en/Products/Swiss-Army-Kni...

I also prefer the small ones. I have several(some new if I lose one) of the small Midnight Manger. Thats the perfect one for me as it has a philips screwdriver and bottle opener as well.

I agree, the Victorinox Signature Lite is probably my allover favorite for light everyday carrying, and is my current one. Descending priorities: scissors, nail file, pen, knife blade, screwdriver, and flashlight. To add a Philips screwdriver, there's the Victorinox Midnite Manager.

I've carried many models of Victorinox, in a few different colors, and two models of keychain Leathermans.

I also carried a few of the Victorinox ones with USB flash drives, and made a multitool Linux distro for them: https://www.neilvandyke.org/lildeb/

If you want a keychain multitool with pliers, the Leatherman Squirt PS4 is great. The corners of the Leatherman Micra destroyed my pockets, but the way the handles fold in that model means it's relatively better for keeping the blade from closing on your fingers if you're abusing it. These things are pretty tough, and I once used a Squirt in my fist to urgently hammer in the hinge pin of an old metal door

I occasionally pine for one of the Victorinox RescueTools, which can be used to rescue someone from a car, or to escape from one yourself. They're a bit big to carry around all day, and I don't have a practical need where I live. They're also expensive to lose, if you get forget to leave it at home before a flight.

If I may ask, did you mean that scissors and a nail file are the most important tools for you, or the other way round? Because, going by descending priorities, I would have listed these items almost in the reverse order :)

It's the closest I'll get to Crocodile Dundee rugged person shaving with a knife. :)

Thanks - I just ordered the Midnight Manager based on this . I sometimes miss the philips screwdriver and bottle opener. I will give the Signature Lite to my wife :-).

10 years?? Is the pen refillable or just never used? Having a pressurized pen seems cool, but somewhat short shelf life, no?

You can replace it - just pull it out. I use it very rarely if I need to sign something or fill out a short form (it’s not very comfortable) and I don’t have a regular pen nearby. So I am on the original pen and it still works (just tried).

Do you extend the nail file when using the pen to rest against your hand? I found that makes it much more comfortable (assuming you take it off the keychain too!).

I never thought about doing that - thanks for the tip.

Why is nail file so popular in those? Does anyone actually use or is it just cheap to produce? It doesn't look practical.

It never gave any problems at airports?

I stopped carrying a pocket knife specifically because of how many times I lost them in airports. I think if you fly often it's worth finding a different solution.

I was a big fan of Victorinox growing up but I find Leathermans more useful to have around because they have pliers and Philips screwdrivers built in. I’ve done various home repair and auto stuff with it, which I doubt a Victorinox would be capable of.

I picked up a Leatherman Wingman for $25 in Canada over a decade ago. It’s less portable than a Swiss Army knife (about twice as big) but If I had to pick a one tool, it would be the Leatherman.

https://www.leatherman.com/wingman-11.html

I actually switched from a Leatherman to a Victorinox because the pliers were more comfortable to use.

https://www.swissarmy.com/us/en/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/S...

That does look more comfortable than the Leatherman -- I wasn't aware Victorinox made multitools. I was a fan of Victorinox in the 80s and 90s so this must have been a more recent addition their lineup.

Also it seems like higher-end Leathermans (similar to the price point of your SwissTool) have more comfortable grips.

https://www.leatherman.com/surge-3.html?dwvar_3_color=10&cgi...

Not to contradict your opinion or the usefulness of Leathermans but I’ll just point out that the Victorinox Swiss Champ has both pliers and a Philips screw driver.

Victorinox also make Leatherman style multitools. That must mean Leatherman are on to something though.

Personally I prefer a SAK because it’s small and doesn’t have a locking blade.

In many parts of the world simply having a locking blade in your pocket “without good reason”[2] will get you in trouble, whereas a SAK like a Swiss Champ is ok.

1. https://www.swissarmy.com/us/en/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/M...

2. https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

Regarding [2], I asked a copper in Liverpool about this. The passport office threatened to call the police when I turned up with a french folding-knife on my keychain. I was annoyed enough to go ask someone.

He said my reason of "I need it to cut the tomatoes for my sandwich" was good enough.

There's also the comment David Cameron made about that aspect of the law:

"Police must exercise common sense. This is about kitchen knives being stuffed down the front of tracksuits" [1]

But it does feel a bit like one of those laws that can be applied selectively to get people if the police really want to.

https://police.community/topic/272735-jail-knife-carriers-sa...

Yeah you're taking a gamble on the good will of the police officer that searches you.

The way it was explained to me was, you take lock knife to and from a fishing trip but you can't divert to the local super market on the way. Interestingly your car counts as a public place so you can't just leave a Leatherman in the glovebox (either locker or unlocked) for emergencies.

A Swiss Army knife with a sub 3" friction folding blade won't break that rule. I think the only places you can't really take one are the airport or a football match.

You still can't wave one about like a nob but that's a different set of laws.

Ah yes, the pliers on the Swiss Champ are mini-ones though. Leatherman pliers are more or less full size. Victorinox does make multitools as you say (the SwissTools line) -- they look very nice.

SAKs are the best example for an exercise in restraint. Buy one with too many features and you won't carry it everywhere with you, buy one with too little and you'll cover too few situations where it could be useful.

Buying a new one is for me a very calming experience as I get to contemplate how I spent the last few years and how my life over the coming years is going to change.

For my personal carry, the overarching question is: pliers, or no pliers.

For years and years, it was pliers. Last decade, no pliers.

When I had the pliers, I used them all. the. time.

But without them, I very seldom miss them. I don't have a good explanation for this, that's just how it is.

"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument

When i go hiking, I carry a SAK Bantam, One blade, and a can opener / flat head screwdriver. Very useful for dinner and tightening screws on my hiking poles. Though I haven't needed the wire strippers yet.

I'm still amused by one Swiss army knife anedcote.

One place I worked as a software engineer, we had to carry lots of different physical keys (and, IIRC, a keycard), for getting among parts of the building, and even for going to the restroom. And a convention caught on of, when you sat down at a meeting, of putting your keyring on the table, so it didn't dig into your leg, ruin your trousers, etc.

One day, two representatives of a Swiss company fly in for a meeting. Management and key engineers walk into the conference room, me and this other engineer put our keychains with red Swiss army knives on them on the table. I don't think she or I realized it before we did it, but, if someone didn't know the convention, I suppose it looked like we were displaying our Swiss army knives specifically to honor our guests from Switzerland.

I recommend the Victorinox cybertool or the swiss tool/swiss tool spirit if you want the best SAK for an engineer. I collect them.

My parents gifted me a Cyber Tool M for my first IT gig. Still on my desk and used almost daily 25 years/5 jobs later.

Shows how memory can play tricks on you. I haven’t seen the show in years.

I just assumed the character always used a Swiss Champ as that used to be a sort of unofficial standard for mountain climbers going to places like Everest.

I carry a Swiss+Tech multitool https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AY2WLU/ . Its pliers acts as a keychain, and no blade means I can keep it through airports.

Is there an actual plot point for Mac carrying around a random Swiss army knife from what seems like a collection to rival the actual Swiss army, or did the producers just choose the easy way to do it?

I don't see how using a huge number of different knives instead of reusing the same one every episode is "the easy way to do it".

I'm assuming they'd pick the knife based on what tools the plot requires Mac to have access to at any certain time.

on multiplicity of SAKs in the actual Swiss army: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24108561

Carrying knives has been made illegal by our city council in our city center. I break that 'law' every day.

I carry a Ranger with locking blade.

Jeez where’s that, a city in England?

All knives, or a certain size of knife?

All knives, even craftsman who carry tools are officially violating this local 'law'. Several cities in NL have this.

I still carry a Swiss Army Knife because of that show. And I still find some reason to use it almost every day.

They made swiss army knives look disposable! Congrats!

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