Tinker

One week review of my Tinker as a new EDC. Foremost, VICTORINOX makes so many wonderful tools that analysis can become paralysis. My typical daily activities consist of, small projects around the house, opening way too many AMAZON boxes (😀) shooting range, saltwater surf fishing, bicycle riding and the fitness trail at the local park. So my goal was to find a knife that suited those situations and after way too much research I settled on the Tinker. Aesthetically the Sapphire Scales (while non traditional) are opaque and pleasing to the eye. The carry weight is surprisingly light, the Tinker’s size is ergonomically practical, the stainless blades and tools are of high quality, edges are sharp, the ‘Walk and Talk’ of the implements is what I would expect from VICTORINOX. The tools are easy to use and functional. Overall, the Tinker is an excellent choice for my lifestyle. Value for the money is so subjective but considering the quality and utility of the Tinker how can you go wrong? Note in the photograph that the smaller SD was a gift, inspiration for my Tinker and attached to my SUV FOB key chain. While the Tinker is on my ‘outdoor’ key chain. The Orange device is a whistle and the safety pin keeps my keys secure inside my pocket while active. Regrets or second guesses: do I miss the Scissors and the file? Well, I shouldn’t be picking my nails in public and both Tinker blades can do most tasks that a Scissor can handle. But… Lastly, there is a spot for a straight pin inside the Scale behind the Phillips Screwdriver so I ordered a few pins. As well as, the pen shaped sharpener, color coded tweezers and color coded toothpicks for both the Tinker and SD in the photos. Great product and highly recommended. But be careful not to fall into the 🐇 🕳️ that is VICTORINOX- just one more knife! Update: Just completed my first bushcraft project (Slingshot) with the Tinker using the small blade and awl. Full disclosure, used a LEATHERMAN saw to cut the large branches, so maybe a different knife choice would have been better? Working on the larger Slingshot later on. ☮️

Love this tool. I have only started carrying a pocket knife again in recent years and the more useful I found it to be, the more I kept inching myself to the original pocket multi-tool, the Swiss Army knife. There isn’t a day goes by when I don’t reach for it at least once. Conveniently in my pocket, instead of a clumsy belt sheath, there are few things this 17 tool version can’t tackle. I probably didn’t really need one during my suit and tie days, but in retirement it is my second best friend right after my Labrador Retriever. The longer you get used to having it, the more situations you find to use it. It’s not a hunting, fishing or self defense knife but it is the handiest everyday tool you can have. High quality and compact and very effective problem solver.

Have wanted a victorinox for while but between which one to choose and waiting for a great deal it’s been awhile. While just checking out prices I found the deluxe tinker brand new on sale at Amazon for $44 usd. That was on par or cheaper than most used ones on eBay. It arrived rather quickly and is exactly what I needed. I have quite few multi tools but I really wanted one to take along for travel that was light weight, small and functional. The main things I needed where the ability to fix anything broken on suitcase (so screwdrivers, pliers, scissors). Most SAK do not have pliers. I have used the hunter I bought on eBay and it has a saw and corkscrew wich this one replaces with the pliers and a Philips head screwdriver. The pliers are thin and I would not use on large bolts etc but for the smaller screws and bolts on carry on suitcase these are great. Then you have two excellent knives (non-locking but that makes them legal in places like England) the multi use can openers and bottle opener, the awl wich I find quite usefull but others don’t and the package hook that I use to open tabbed cans (like coke). This 4 layers small and light but highly useful. Finally many of these tools can be used for more than meets the eye. Check out Felix immler on YouTube for that.

Wanted a light weight multipurpose knife for a backpack its really sharp and time tested works great for fishing and small chores around the camp site or on the trail

I have been carrying Swiss Army Tinker pocket knives for 3 decades and counting. It's my personal choice because it's not bulky, but has the tools I use most on it. As with most multitool knives the screwdrivers aren't nearly as good as having an actual screwdriver, but when needed they're always better than nothing. However most other tools are very ergonomic and about equivalent to using a dedicated tool. Also they're very high quality, the only reason I am buying a new one is my 30 year old tinker has disappeared. (I suspect it fell out of my pocket somewhere while I was walking or sitting around)

The simplest of the two Tinker styles, lightweight enuf to carry on walks to take plant cuttings. The see-thru sapphire blue is beautiful. High quality. Need fingernails to open out parts!

Pros: The knives arrived satisfactorily sharp. I was able to shave my arm with the smaller knife, though the big knife wasn't near as sharp. In the few months that I have had it, no rust has appeared even though I've never oiled it and I have cut through wet things, stabbed the ground a bunch. For durability, these knives can be bent if you abuse them, their thinness makes for excellent slicing, not so good if you want to use them to split wood. The can-opener and bottle opener have proved very useful several times, they do exactly what they are supposed to do in a very efficient manner. The scissors are extremely useful to have around; they cut through paper like butter and have trimmed loose hairs like nothing. Even though it seems big, this knife still fits on my keychain in my skinny jeans, and I prefer the weight so I never have to guess if my keys are there or not. Cons: Instead of buying one of the cheaper swiss army knives, I opted to go for this big guy. I wanted the option of using the pliers and Phillips screwdriver if need be, but I was a little disappointed to see that those particular tools were pretty useless. The pliers seem sturdy for such a small tool, but don't really have a big enough jaw to grab onto anything other than a bee stinger. The unfortuante part of this is that the pliers take up an entire slot on the tool, making this swiss army knife somewhat significantly bigger and heavier. The wire clippers advertised by this model are in the base of the pliers, and other than individual strands of CAT5E wire, I'm not sure what gauge the clippers would actually not be completely useless for. The wire stripper is located on the bottle opener, and I've tried several times to strip a wire, I've never found one that it was able to strip without extreme difficulty, so maybe I'm using it wrong. The screwdriver is usually either too big for the screws that are on computer cases (I'm an IT guy), or too small to get into electrical paneling. It also is in a very awkward position, especially since I have this sucker on my keychain. I have never found a use for the parcelhook or leatherpunch, so I can't really say anything good about those tools on the back. Overall impression: Now that I have this knife, I would never go anywhere without it. (except to the airport, you have to remember to leave this behind when going through security). My friends always know to rely on me when they need to cut string, open packages and open wine bottles using the knife (push the cork into the wine). It is a good sturdy tool and I love using the knives. Although, if I had the option to redo my purchase, I would get a small Leatherman with scissors instead of pliers. For my particular uses, this beautiful swiss army knife is a little too large and doesn't have all the functionality I could wish for.

I don't write reviews here often, but when I do it's because a product is so good and so useful that I simply can't contain my excitement to share with others. I have had a victorinox, in one form or another, in my pocket for years. I carried the Swisstool X and Pioneer when I worked on the ambulance and it served me incredibly well, and they still do. I have since began working in an Emergency Room and wanted a bit smaller package to carry around since I now wear scrubs and don't have as many pockets as I did on my EMS Cargo Pants, yet, with this I still have full functional capabilities. That is where this little guy shines. It is small, easy to pocket, and still offers me a fantastic set of tools for my day to day duties. I especially use and love the smaller pliers included. They are not intended to be used for cutting heavy gauge wire or tightening down bolts with 1,000 pounds of torque, but they lend themselves handy in so many situations that I almost try to find an excuse to pull them out whenever possible. One of my jobs in the ER is to set up sterile procedure trays and tools for our Physicians during a variety of procedures. Well, we generally use an abundance of various needles for drawing up medications, injections, fluid drainage etc. Well, when I am cleaning these trays up I do not want to get stuck with a needle, so I use my little pliers to carefully root through the assortment of instruments, find the needles, and dispose of them safely. My fellow employees have slowly learned that I'm the "tool guy" and whenever something needs a little tool or fixing, they come to me. Our "crash cart" had a loose bolt on the wheel that was making it difficult to push, which is something you don't want to struggle with when needed. Well, through using various tools on my Deluxe Tinker like the pliers and the screwdriver I got it all fixed and our engineering department thanked me because it was one less minuscule problem they had to deal with. Overall, a fantastic piece of gear and a beautiful compliment of tools for almost any day to day tasks. I could not recommend this product anymore than I already do and truthfully, if it says Victorinox on it, you cannot go wrong. *Notice* The pics with the tools extended is not the full array of tools on this Deluxe Tinker, there is plenty more I assure you.