One ounce knife and sheath

Love it!

I've purchased my mom all kinds of fancy kitchen knives and to my chagrin one of her favorites is the cheap-as-dirt Vic knife, because it is so thin and slices so well and, according to her, is a perfect shape for many food prep operations.

I may have to find a Vic knife for myself and add it to my kit. Would be nice to have a reasonable length blade.

I've often made up expedient knife sheaths out of milk cartons, but your solution is tops.

I've written before about using the spine from a report cover as a quick and dirty (and light) blade edge guard.

That alternative is best for carry in the pack I think, but the one I came up with here is safe enough for neck carry or slipped in a side pocket. You never know when you need to whip out your paring knife to defend from ripe berries or stampeding slugs :)

I've seen Vic paring knives in commercial fishing and kitchen stores. The round ended Vic "tomato knife" is another good one.

REI carries the Little Vickie version with a molded plastic sheath. They were on clearance for $6 the last time I was in the store. I was tempted to buy a bunch.

I've always got a victorinox paring knife in my kit. Made a little sheath out of a piece of vinyl siding, hair dryer and a few tiny grommets.

Usually runs backup role though as I ALWAYS take my Light my fire fire knife. Fire knife weighs about 3 ounces and gives you a "real" knife and handy fire steel.

I have a Fire Knife too and I made a left handed Kydex sheath for it. It is a good compromise between small UL knives and the "sharpened pry bar" class of knives.

The Vickie is good for most camp chores short of heavier woodwork. I can make a fuzz stick with one, but that's about the limit I think. It does excel at food prep and general repairs. It will chop and peel veggies, slice cheese and sausage or fillet a trout. If you see a commercial fisherman repairing a net, chances are that he will be using a Vickie.

>"If you see a commercial fisherman repairing a net, chances are that he will be using a Vickie."

True that. I've posted in other little Vickie threads that THE most common knife on the hip of a commercial salmon fisherman or dog musher in my part of Alaskan is a little Vickie with a red handle, in a Victorinox sheath.

The OP offers a nice weight savings over the factory sheath.

Can you use a standard stone to re-sharpen?

Is there a link to a factory sheath (like the mushers wear?)

Use standard stone? = Yes.

You can buy plain edge or serrated Vickies, although serrated seems more popular.

The best way to sharpen a serrated blade is with the Spyderco Sharpmaker triangular stone sharpening system. Next best is a round ceramic sharpener. The basic technique is to take three strokes on the beveled side, followed with one on the flat side, which removes the burr created by the multiple strokes.

The steel is much like any Swiss Army knife and quite easy to sharpen. They are razor sharp out of the box.

The factory sheath is available at commercial fishing supply stores. See http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=84648 for photos. Weight is just 0.8oz.

Nice Goodwill find on the Vickie. I almost never find anything useful @ Goodwill:-(

While I like the sheath the OP made, I don't think I would rely on friction on the blade only to retain a necker. IMO, the sheath needs to be molded around the base of the handle for proper retention for a necker. If stored in pack or pocket, blade friction only is OK.

Got $3.50? You don't need no steenkin' goodwill store…

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/victorinox-6-7606-l119-3-1-4-paring-knife-with-orange-handle/35367606OR.html?

Keep in mind that the knife Delmar posted has a different larger handle than the Little Vickie. I'm almost sure it's the same handle as the blunt tip serrated "tomato" knife.

Yes, the handle is slightly different from the Little Vicky, and maybe a bit more ergonomic. But it doesn't have the serrated blade, which really cuts things well. You guys need to check out Tundra.com and see what all the options are for the Victorinox paring knives. So many choices…

> Keep in mind that the knife Delmar posted has a different larger handle than the Little Vickie

Wow, tough crowd! OK, OK, try this link.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/victorinox-47600-3-1-4-paring-knife-w-black-nylon-handle/35340600.html

But it will cost you a whopping quarter of a dollar more.

REI has them on sale with a sheath :

http://m.rei.com/mt/www.rei.com/product/836226/swiss-army-little-vicky-utility-knife

As to the sheath staying on, there's plenty of friction on this one. In fact, it has far better retention than the stock Victorinox belt sheath.

As it is, I might wear it as a necker when cooking or walking away from camp. I don't particularly care for stuff around my neck and would stash it in a side pocket while hiking. I could still get it out fast enough to defend myself from a raging slug or predatory frogs :)

I took a few more photos of other paring knife/sheath options I cooked up.

Forschner is a division of Victorinox and makes a similar blade with a rosewood handle an plain edge.Its less prone to breakage and has nice aesthetics I think. Note that I added the "sharp" lable with arrows so someone knows what the sharp edge is when pulling it out of the sheath.

I also found a Mundial brand plain edged paring knife from Brazil that is 3.5" long and one ounce. I made a Kydex sheath for it for a 1.8oz total. I also added a label for the sharp side as I made the dull side curved with may add to user confusion.

The black handled Vickie from the OP is shown with the Victorinox factory belt sheath. The sheath has a plastic liner and a spring steel clip inside the belt loop. The loop is designed to slip on and is not sewn closed. It would be possible to remove the clip and sew the loop to close it.

Anybody got a source for the serrated version (just like the OP)? I don't really need the REI one with the guard and shipping kills that deal anyway.

http://restaurant-supplies.etundra.com/search#w=victorinox%20serrated%20paring%20knife

Many kitchen and restaurant supply stores carry them. If you live near a big city, you will find them at stores like Crate and Barrel, Bed Bath and Beyond, Sur La Table and Williams-Sanoma.

They also have a three knife set with a small sheepsfoot blade, the paring knife and a round ended "tomato knife". The tomato knives come in several bright colors and make good spreaders.

Johnny's Seeds sells a sheepsfoot blade version with a sheath as a "harvest knife" for $7.45 and shipping to my address calculated at $4. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6237-victorinox-serrated-harvest-knife.aspx

Once you go down the paring knife road, you will find all kinds of them. Zyliss and Kuhn Rikon make light inexpensive modules with sheaths. Beware the ceramic versions for field use — too brittle IMHO.

Another interesting option is the AG Russell Woodswalker knife, which is just like a paring knife and available with and without a sheath. http://www.agrussell.com/product.asp?pn=AGPRS

I found a bright orange blade guard in a kitchen supply store this weekend and applied it to a Wüsthof model 4053 plain edged stainless steak knife from a thrift store. The knife is made with Solingen stainless steel, has a 4-1/4" blade (8-5/8" overall) and tips the scale at 1oz even. With my makeshift sheath it comes to 1.6oz total. The blade is quite thin (0.05") and flexible and suitable for food prep and light repairs. I ended the line in a short loop with the idea of clipping it on a shoulder strap with a mini-biner, or just carrying it in with my cook kit. I splurged on the edge guard because of the color and spent $4. The knife was a $0.99 investment, so I don't feel too bad :)

Opinel #6 handle sanded down a bit for a different look. 1 oz, self contained sheath ;) super easy to sharpen

Collecting Opinel's could go on forever. I've had them swell from getting wet and turned me off on them in general. There are stainless versions and some newer plastic handled models. I do understand the appeal with the classic design and the aesthetics of the wood handle. They are light and okay for food prep if carefully cleaned.

Ya, depends what you're doing. My food prep that needs a knife is usually limited to cheese or cutting a bagel. I can't get past the "have a knife" thing to just leave it since my little scissors get 98% more use.

so having a small package that is aesthetic is better for me.