
Swiss Army Knives used in MacGyver episodes (2019) - fauria
https://www.macgyveronline.com/macgyververse/equipmenttech/saks-used-in-each-episode/
======
Daniel_sk
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...](https://www.victorinox.com/global/en/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Small-
Pocket-Knives/Signature-Lite/p/0.6226)

~~~
neilv
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/](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.

~~~
isolli
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 :)

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

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wenc
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](https://www.leatherman.com/wingman-11.html)

~~~
Lio
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...](https://www.swissarmy.com/us/en/Products/Swiss-Army-
Knives/Medium-Pocket-Knives/Swiss-Champ/p/1.6795)

2\. [https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives](https://www.gov.uk/buying-
carrying-knives)

~~~
fatboy
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...](https://police.community/topic/272735-jail-knife-carriers-says-
cameron/)

~~~
Lio
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.

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Roritharr
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.

~~~
samatman
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.

~~~
codeulike
"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](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument)

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neilv
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.

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

~~~
TabTwo
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.

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Lio
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.

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

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Hamuko
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?

~~~
ladberg
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".

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

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the-dude
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.

~~~
noja
All knives, or a certain size of knife?

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

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

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b0rsuk
They made swiss army knives look disposable! Congrats!

