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Comment by Daniel_sk | Hacker News Reader

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...

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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 :-).

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

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.

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.

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.

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