knife input needed

Victorinox and Wenger use the same steel, they have the same tools and I would imagine they weight the same. There really is no benefit of chossing one over the other IMO. Victorinox is the more popular mainly because they have done a better job of marketing. The only thing I can say is to buy the one with the lowest price.

Joseph

BTW I feel the classic and esquire are too small for an outdoor knife. If you are concerend about weight and want some tools I think a small tinker would be a better.

The quality on the Vic's is generally a noticeably better than the Wengers. The 1.5 ounce Alox Cadet is probably the best "mid-size" swiss army knife for a backpacker who needs to spread peanut butter & make shavings to start fires. If not, the Classic is all you need. (The 1.5" classic blade & 2 finger sized handle will make a feather stick for "emergency" fire starting).

The Cadet has a 2 1/8" blade, can opener, & file. It's missing scissors though, which are often very handy for trimming popped blisters, hangnails, & donut centers out of moleskin. There is a plastic handled Cadet that has a small blade instead of the file (the file is more useful unless you like to whittle) and also includes a useful set of tweezers and a toothpick. Both weigh 1 5/8 ounces. (The classic weighs 3/4 of an ounce.) The Alox Cadet is $17 at Target. The plastic handled one is $13 at Lowes. The classic is $8 at Walmart.

ps: The larger "Spartan" model weighs 2 ounces, but has a corkscrew that can hold an optional eyeglass screwdriver – or works as a great spike to pick apart tight knots in 1/8 inch "rope". The camper model with a saw weighs 2 3/4 ounces. The saw is handy for cutting walking sticks, etc.

Take a serious look at the Benchmade 530. It weighs 1.6 oz and it actually deserves to be called a knife. Functionally, the two "knives" you are looking at are worthless IMHO.

They are owned by the same company as of 5 years ago:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_army_knife#Victorinox_and_Wenger

We have an example of each. My old Wenger has serrated scissors. Wife's newer Victorinox has straight scissors. I prefer the straight for trimming nails. For most other tasks I don't care.

For most food prep, a kitchen or table knife (even plastic) is superior. I just weighed a paring knife in my kitchen, including its plastic sheath at 41g. Or a zylon table knife at 14g.

John, I have to disagree. I have been using SAK's since I was 9 years old. That gives me 16 years of expierence with these knives on a daily basis. The only differences I have noticed is the Wengers blade shape and scissors are better and the Vic. can opener and awl are better(of course thats only my opinion). Besides that they are pretty darn equal. Furthermore I have a sixteen year old Victorinox and a fifteen year old Wenger(SwissBuck) and both work perfectly.

I have had many different SAK's over the years. Right now I have 15, most of them Victorinox but I have been EDCing the same Wenger for about a year(Wenger EvoGrip 18). The quality of the Wenger is not better but the large number of tools it has in a compact size, and the comfortable slip resistant scales makes it a better fit for me than any current Victorinox I know of.

I don't like the ALOX knives. I would imagine they are tougher but are also heavier and you give up the tweezers and toothpick. Not great for winter use either.

Here is one I have been wanting to get and would be the lightest SAK I think would be okay for backpacking:
http://sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Bantam.

Look around on the site, very imformative and might help you find which SAK is right for you.

Joseph