SUL scissors? (or, anyone have these and know the gram weight?)

Probably not part of an SUL kit, but in my UL kit I carry the Swiss Army Clipper:

It weighs 37 grams but has a scissor (which works really well for cutting tape, moleskin, and opening dinners), a small blade, and a nail clipper.

I use the scissors from the card to open my Micropur foil packets. It's a bit larger than the one on a Classic, so it is easier to work with. I place a small rubber cap over the end to keep the cutting blades together, like the end caps that electricians might use. It is a nice pair of scissors, and it doesn't weigh much at all.

Gingher GS-4 scissors, weight 0.6oz
Plastic handle makes them light, quality stainless steel blades.

http://www.allbrands.com/products/6618-gingher-gs-4-lightweight-embroidery-scissors-shear

I've given up taking a knife, unless I need to impress a girl or an Australian.
I find these scissors, plus a razor blade (<0.1oz) in case I need to amputate something, to have far more utility.

[…]

Someone else needs to tell what these are and where to get them. I forget now, but I clicked on a link someone posted here. Nice cutting scissors. Great on moleskin, foil packets, enough to trim a pack, probably a nylon strap if you worked at it. Finger holes are nicely coated and have room to spare for my large thumb and forefinger. 7 grams. <1/4 oz.

Oh, I ordered a replacement kit of SAK bits – tweezers, scissors, etc. so in a few days, I'll know the weights and could mail one off.

Edited to correct: Guess I was optimistic. The kit contained no scissors. toothpicks, tweezers, pens, scissors SPRINGS, split rings, but no scissors.

"Someone else needs to tell what these are and where to get them. I forget now, but I clicked on a link someone posted here."

I think they may be these ones, David. I remember buying them based on a post here.

Yes, those are Westcott sewing scissors. There are many kinds of high quality embroidery scissors. They usually have a healthy price too! The Westscott's are a bargain and the handles fit manly digits.

The smaller SAK scissors are difficult to use without the rest of the knife for balance and grip. I carry a Classic all the time anyway, making a perfect companion to a larger knife. It rides on my survival keychain with flashlight, firesteel, and whistle.

love my Westcott's.. so freaking sharp and easy to use with the big thumb holes. "spend" an extra microgram for a small piece of cardboard sheath so you don't stab everything. not sure if they have a blunt tip version.

Oh awesome – I would most likely love to get a spare scissors w/o tearing apart a Classic SD (assuming your spares are of the mini / classic SD variety) – I'm going to try to mod some mini SAK scissors so that I can take just those in a miniature tyvek sheath. Hoping to drop some weight wherever possible and I don't really need any other part of the SAK classic SD.

Thanks again!

Victorionox got back to me about the weight of the SwissCard scissors, the answer was pretty funny, albeit obviously inaccurate.

=============================================
Dear Kodiak,

Thank you for contacting Victorinox Swiss Army.

In our system it shows as .001 oz.

Please contact us if you need further assistance.

=============================================

Mine comes in at 7 grams, Kodiak.

The whole card weight is .9oz and the scissors alone are .2oz on my scale. i have used the same card in my kit since 2005. never needed more on the PCT.

Tiny 2.5" embroidery scissors from my grandmother's kit. Finger holes too small for me to be able to really use them.

Wescott titanium 3" embroidery scissors. Very user friendly. A whole lot more scissor for only 0.43 more oz.

Makes the basic little SAK look like a fat pig!

Comparing lenghth of cutting edges:

My only issue with just taking scissors instead of the SAK is the limited functionality. No knife, no tweezers, no toothpick. So I compared various types and sizes of Xacto blades together with the scissors, toothpick and tweezers. The utility knife blade seems like the best compromise to me, since it's actually big enough clean and gut a fish, although I considered the "spear tip" blades pretty closely because they can be made into a spear that could be used for survival fishing. The drawback of the spear tip blades is that both sides are sharp, so you don't really have anything to press down on if you're trying to cut into something that requires real effort.

remove the "finger hole" (child fingers) and it's the same size as on the SAK classic. 0.24oz with or without the drinking straw sheath (which, btw, works quite well)

.24oz is 6.8g

A tiny piece of fish tank air line tubing works great for this. Just slip it snugly over the blades.

HTH

KJ

I had an old Swiss Army Knife Classic laying around that began to malfunction a few years ago (for some reason the blades wouldn't stay in the closed position) and had replaced with a new one. Perfect candidate for creative deconstruction.

Turns out the plastic side panels pop off easily, and the scissors are held in place by only one tiny brass rivet. Took the Dremel to it and a few seconds later had the scissors out. Very small and light:

I scavenged the tweezers and tooth pick (lighter than a week's worth of floss) from the old Classic also, and added a cut-down surgical scalpel. This combination of bits gives all the functionality of the Classic needed for camping, since I have no need for the file and screwdriver. Altogether, lighter than just a pair of 2.5" titanium embroidery scissors:

And it all packs into my multiple-use travel toothbrush so need for scissor tip or blade protectors, which just add non-functional weight.

I guess I'll be leaving the Classic behind from now on.

Wow this turned into a great thread. Big big thanks to all who posted, especially the pictures. I'm planning on going the SAK classic SD scissors inside the toothbrush route.

Thanks ya'll!!

People have mentioned those tiny disposable toothbrushes on other threads, but I thought I'd give one a try for a week, to see if it would hold up for a trip of that length. I was gentle, knowing that I was trying to stretch its useful life from once to 14, and it worked fine. Not like the real thing of course, but well enough. I won't show you the before and after pictures, but I probably could have stretched it a couple more days. The toothpaste dot only lasted for one use, but I carry Dr. Bronner's and use that anyway when I'm camping. No separate toothpaste. The disposable toothbrush also has a toothpick at the end of the handle, so no separate toothpick needed. Weight savings for the disposable over my travel toothbrush + SAK toothpick = 10.6 grams.

But this created a dilemma, because I had intended to use the travel toothbrush as the case for my SAK Classic substitute kit (scissors, tweezers, cut down scalpel) as shown above. What to do, except go through the gear and get creative?

Hikin’ Jim introduced me to Tenacious Tape at the NorCal GGG #1 recently and I was impressed, so I swapped out my yard of 2" ripstop nylon sail repair tape for 20" of 3" Tenacious Tape. And…the Tenacious Tape comes rolled in a little SUL tube/caddy, with just enough room inside the roll to hold all the little SAK Classic substitute bits plus the disposable toothbrush.

At the same time, I decided I wanted a bit more knife than the cut-down scalpel. What I actually use a knife for when camping is to cut cord (rarely) and clean and gut trout. The maximum slicing depth of the scalpel before contacting the handle is 3/4". Pretty shallow for a decent-sized trout. Plus, when the scalpel goes dull, finding a replacement is not easy. The maximum slicing depth for a large Xacto blade is about 1-3/16", so they work better for my primary use, and they’re cheap and easy to find.

But I needed a handle for the Xacto blade, so I carved a small one out of red oak, used a superfine backbone model saw to cut a kerf the thickness of an Xacto blade in the oak, and drilled it for two small brass railroad model bolts to go through the slot in the Xacto blade. I tapered the handle and filed a couple of notches in it, so it can be bound into the end of a split branch to fashion a frog/fish spear or small game arrow point.

Total weight of prior system 18.62 grams. New system 15.49 grams. Less toothbrush, more knife.

The red oak handle, showing the taper and notches

The knives compared

The old kit

The new kit

Excellent thread, I also use the replacement scissors for the Swiss Army card and have never found myself needing any other form of knife. I also carry the tweezers inside my FAK as those have come in handy on quite a few occasions usually for splinters & ticks

The Olfa Touch knife is a SUL cutter at 6.5g and about 47mm diameter. Okay for opening food packs or trimming line, but I'll opt for scissors for grooming.

Well this is a surprisingly cool thread. I love that little wooden knife handle. I could definitely go for a scalpel blade MYOG knife…..i have skinned a rabbit with less haha.
These scissors look promising. The company, True Utility, offers some other scissor options as well. I still like the embroidery scissors best. :)

And for your scissors or knife, i HIGHLY recommend a Sharpens Best poker chip. UL way to keep an edge on a blade or scissors. Very effective. My chip is trimmed down to about 3 grams. This is a stock photo. They are 95% plastic so you you can go to town trimming weight.