Slashdot Mirror

Something like this little thing has a built-in laptop compartment.

I'm thinking that even with the 'flight friendly' version since it has the Swiss Army logo on it, the TSA goons will simply suspect it has a blade and take it away anyway.

Well, then that means they'll probably confiscate my brother's backpack, or all this luggage, simply because they have the Victorinox logo on it!

If you're looking for a usb flash drive with write protect switch to carry around in your pocket I can recommend the Victorinox Flash series of (tiny) pocket knives. Quite handy to have with you as they come with flashlight, ball point pen, scissors, and knife (very small but nice e.g. for opening packages). The flash drive can be easily detached and the whole thing is very sturdy in my experience!

I disagree about the knife. A quality multitool is a far better choice. Having a screwdriver, pliers, saw, awl, tweezers, can opener, etc., as well as a high quality knife blade for only a few ounces more is a win. The key here is "quality." Never skimp on survivial gear.

I'll definitely second that. While a quality leatherman type tool is extremely valuable, even a quality swiss army knife pays off quickly. I have a nice quality swiss army knife with a large, strong, locking blade that I've used nearly daily for over ten years. It is showing no signs of throwing in the towel, and comes in handy constantly (I have a philips screwdriver, not a corkscrew). It never leaves my side.

The gun is a good idea. If you plan to become proficient, a .22 is a great survival gun because it is small, lightweight, the ammo is small and lightweight, and it is cheap (the gun itself, the ammo and the cost of practicing).

I have to strongly recommend against eating mushrooms you've identified using a field guide. Although there a a few simple rules to help you avoid mushrooms that are certainly poisonous, being certain that they are not poisonous is much more difficult. I've been out mushroom hunting with mycologists before, and even they are a bit wary of eating things that they are not 100% sure of. For what my word is worth, I'd recommend sticking to plants and animals. They are much easier to positively identify.

here ya go torx-pen- whatever... it's here

http://www.victorinox.com/newsite/images/news/swis schamp_1_6795_xxlt.pdf

http://www.victorinox.com/newsite/en/produkte/prod uktdetails/swiss_tool/swiss_tool.htm

Well, besides the travel-by-plane thingy, look at victorinox knifes:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/3653/

http://www.victorinox.com/newsite/en/index.htm

The best "Leatherman" ever made:
SwissTool Plus made by Victorinox. Look for the "3.0337.L". Made of Inox Steel, more durable than a Leatherman and every function you need.

It's such an obvious product, given the kinds of people who buy such things, that it has to exist, so it does. Victorinox Swiss Army Knife with USB. Also available from ThinkGeek.

No matter what multitool you decide on, I'd reccomend also getting a Leatherman Micra tool. It's a mini-leatherman, works as a keychain. I'm the kind of person who hates having unneccesary crap in their pockets, but the Micra is useful enough that it's more than worth the 1 x 6.5 x 2 cm it takes up in my pocket. I have one of those handy keychain seperators, for times I need the micra for more than a few seconds, to get my bulk of my keys off. The lot of it collapses into a nice ball that takes up little space in my pocket, alongside my wallet. It has the majority of tools I need as a desktop maint/support guy at a library. The only time I have to go back to my desk to get my full toolkit is when I need my 8" long phillips bit to get somewhere annoying. Unlike my Swiss Army Knife (closest current model seems to be the Herc), the scizzors is still fully springy, even after sitting in my pocket for 3 years (4 now?) and getting a fair bit of use. You'd be surprised how often you need to clip a coupon out of a flier found at the grocery store, left in a cart, or need a pseudo-phillips screwdriver. I really love this lil guy.

Beyond that... I prefer a regular, original Leatherman. If I were to buy a new tool today, I may consider one of the other Leathermans, perhaps one geared toward tech stuff, be it a Leatherman or otherwise, but I'm in no need to replace this one.

Do the tools wiggle around after a lot of use?
Not if you buy from a company that has been making good knives for a long time...

Victorinox is probably the right company to stay with...They are one of only 2 companies that make genuine swiss army knives (Wenger is the other)...They have a good selection of tools...their Spirit is a good choice for a general multitool...

I personally own a CyberTool (according to Victorinox, official equipment for NASA space shuttle crews)...but I carry a Signature....

The real answer is to pick the right tool for the job...if you want something you plan to carry with you all the time, go for one of the pocket tools...if you are going to be doing lots of computer work with it, you may want to go with the CyberTool...if you want something to stick in a backpack, then a multitool is probably a good choice...but remember to choose a tool from someone that's been doing high quality knives for a long time...

Do the tools wiggle around after a lot of use?
Not if you buy from a company that has been making good knives for a long time...

Victorinox is probably the right company to stay with...They are one of only 2 companies that make genuine swiss army knives (Wenger is the other)...They have a good selection of tools...their Spirit is a good choice for a general multitool...

I personally own a CyberTool (according to Victorinox, official equipment for NASA space shuttle crews)...but I carry a Signature....

The real answer is to pick the right tool for the job...if you want something you plan to carry with you all the time, go for one of the pocket tools...if you are going to be doing lots of computer work with it, you may want to go with the CyberTool...if you want something to stick in a backpack, then a multitool is probably a good choice...but remember to choose a tool from someone that's been doing high quality knives for a long time...

Last year I bought a PQI Intelligent Stick PQI I-Stick at Fry's for $40. It's just 128MB and USB 1.1 but I was looking for the smallest USB drive I could find and this was it. It has been durable and unfailing for the past year. A friend saw mine for the first time a couple of weeks ago and went right out and bought a 512MB USB 2.0 at Fry's for $60 minus $20 rebate. That's good money right there. What Victorinox needs to do is integrate one of these in the handle of my Cybertool right next to the toothpick. I never go anywhere without either. Both devices have been reviewed previously by ThinkGeek: Cybertool I-Stick

Yes, they specifically make an "air travel edition" that dosen't feature pointies.

Their website including the relevant part numbers.

According to the Victorinox's website,it is available in an "Airtravel" Configuration sans knife.

The SWISSMEMORY (Pat. pend.) is available in four versions:
No. 0.6026.T, 64MB; red transparent, containing red LED, blade, nail file with screwdriver, scissors and ballpoint pen. Weight 33.3 gr
Nr. 0.6026.TM1, same knife 128MB.

SWISSMEMORY Air Travel,
No. 0.6076.T, 64MB; red tranlucent, containing red LED, and a ballpoint pen.
No. 0.6076.TM1, same knife 128MB.

Click here for more info on the USB Swiss Army Knife.

Victorinox already make their own multi-tool. Basically, they looked at a Leatherman then made it better.

Trust me, try one of these, you'll never go back to Leatherman.

By lcd i mean least common denominator. The knife is substandard (my knife), and the memory is substandard (personally i tote about 256mb cf cards). But the combination is still intriguing. Now, the altimeter swiss army knife is more interesting to me.

http://www.victorinox.com/newsite/en/news/news_swi ss_flame.htm

When departing (intra european flight - ARN-ZRH) a friend of mine was first told off for carrying a pair of nailclippers in the carry on luggage. The blade of the clipper was approx 0.5 inches. They made him discard it before allowing him on board.
On his way back (ZRH-ARN)- he bought a swiss army knife with a blade of approx 5 inches. He showed it to the security staff and asked them what he should do with it (he bought it in the taxfree shop). They asked him where he was going - when he replied "Sweden" they just shrugged and said no problem! He was allowed to bring the knife onto the plane. Amazing.

I find that since I started carrying a Victorinox CyberTool 34 I very seldom have to go searching for any other tools. It has a built in socket set with a variety of Phillips and Torx bits, a pliers and the various other sundry clever things you'd expect to find in a Swiss army knife (ballpoint pen, straight pin, cork screw...).

It also happens to be the smallest Swiss army knife that has both a pair of scissors and a pair of pliers (make sure you get a pair, neither is worth a hoot singly).

Finally, since I'm posting anyway, does anyone know what that crazy hook thing is that appears on the "back" of most Swiss army knifes? I've been wondering for years, and the only thing I can figure is that it is very common in Switzerland to get from the top of a building to the ground by sliding down a thin wire.

How about Valve including the world famous Victorinox Swiss Army Knife in a future release. I mean, you could even use it as a mini flame thrower!

How about Valve including the world famous Victorinox Swiss Army Knife in a future release. I mean, you could even use it as a mini flame thrower!

Hey! Wouldn't that be a cool idea for Apple and Victorinox to get together and offer a G4 Powerbook in the Swiss Army Red (replace the apple logo with the Swiss white cross?) Too cool. It would be a win/win for both companies!

I am a marketing GENIUS! hee hee!

Curious George

I got one of these from the local flea market (it was marked as their first production run), originally priced at $45, but I got it for $35. It includes the standard multitool and a pretty good small driver with a few bits. Personally though, I swapped a lot of the bits out with my own collection to get exactly what I wanted.

The knife blades are literally razor-sharp (not always a good thing, mind you, but rare among most of these kinds of tools). The needle-nose meets perfectly, and has no "wiggle" that most cheap multitools have. The wire cutters can handle small wire pretty well, and can cut through thin insulation well (most don't because the blades don't meet together perfectly). It DOES have trouble with the threaded cord in most CAT5, but that's what the razor-edge blade is for =).

http://www.smithandwesson.com/toolchest.htm

I personally would have preferred a Victorinox SwissTool Plus or a Leatherman Wave and it's added toolkit. Then again, I got mine for half the price =).

Besides, can you imagine now many people gave me strange looks seeing me wearing this big black pouch with the Smith&Wesson logo on it?

Note: For the clueless, Smith&Wesson are traditionally known as GUN manufacturers!

The Victorinox (of Swiss Army Knife fame) CyberTool looks pretty cool. It's in the "less than a Playstation 2" category at $70 to $100, depending on how much the store gouges you.

The Victorinox (of Swiss Army Knife fame) CyberTool looks pretty cool. It's in the "less than a Playstation 2" category at $70 to $100, depending on how much the store gouges you.

Here's some ideas for the geeks in us:

1) A Happy Hacking Keyboard. A throwback to the Sun Type 3 keyboards, 60 keys, compatible with Macs and PCs.

2) Victorinox Cybertool. Already suggested by many of you, the ultimate pocket knife to have around for us techies.

3) Pretty much anything from thinkgeek.com. Great products, get the shooter glasses and play the unix drinking game :) Plus, they sell stuffed Tux penguins.

4) Shirts from copyleft. Great ones there.

Other nice gifts ideas from Sharper Image and Hotbox. Check out the infinity puzzle at the latter, seems very interesting.

They have a small knife with red light LED in it. Not too much tools on though. See http://www.victorin ox.com/home_en/best_en/news1_en/news1_en.htm

--

I can't even afford a knife right now, let alone the phone call.

I just noticed that on the web page of most of their other knives, such as the SwissChamp, you can click on a feature and see a picture of a tool in use. The multi-purpose hook is shown being used to open a pull-top can that looks far easier to open with your finger.

Admittedly, having all those swappable screwdriver heads stored in the knife is pretty cool--one less thing to have in my bag.... ;)

Admittedly, having all those swappable screwdriver heads stored in the knife is pretty cool--one less thing to have in my bag.... ;)