Recently purchased one of these and I’m excited to be able to use it. Took awhile for me to decide on this particular model. For an urban survival EDC tool this one seems to be a great choice!
I really like it. I debate between it and the Spartan though because the reamer comes in handy,and the combo tool on the Compact doesn't work quite as well on a Phillip's screw vs the can opener head on the Spartan. I do love having the scissors though. It's always a conundrum.🤔
carrying the sewing needle is a smart idea - i personally like the mechanic for urban carry because of the pliers - they are much more useful than scissors - the smaller blade does almost anything and the pliers can be used for pushing the needle through tougher materials
I enjoyed your review. Thanks. I bought my Compact a week ago, finally choosing it over the cheaper and well recommended Climber. I'm an outdoorsy city dweller and it meets my EDC needs very well. The nail file in the hook and the fact the hook retains the pen in use mean that the hook gains some utility for me. It's a nicely thought out tool set I feel.
I'm happy you liked it! The Compact is such a lovely dense toolset, it really is great for so many people. Though, it's a shame the file hook is exclusive and not standard on all the hooks!
Got a Waiter. Much better value for money. Best tool-to-layer ratio (I added the pin and the screwdriver) out of any Vic knife. 12 tools per layer compared to the Compact’s 8 per layer.
I personally prefer 3 layer SAKs like the super tinker. But the compact is a minimalist solution for sure. I typically pare my bigger saks with a rambler
I enjoy my four layers quite a bit like the Explorer. I'm also a fan of carrying a 58mm with them! Personally I mostly use a mini champ or midnite manager.
I've carried the Compact for three years. Nothing can compare to the versatility of the combo tool. If Victorinox could add the pliers without adding to much width it would be perfect.
I used to think that way but I learned how useful the corkscrew is for untying knots. I always have a Leatherman in my EDC bag for driving screws anyway.
Nice review! The compact is such an excellent tool. I think of mine as my party Swiss army knife because it doesn't have a whole bunch of stuff but it has everything you need hen you go to a party, I can tell you that the can opener works well. Unfortunately, I can also tell you that I ruined my swiss champ's file by trying to file the phillips screwdriver on another swiss army knife. Thanks for the nice look at such a great tool!
Happy you enjoyed it! I like using a small needle file set for modding tools, nice precision and nothing too bad if you mess them up! Now I just need a Swiss champ...
I finally got one of these after I found out that you can use the Parcel hook with a T Shank Jigsaw blade and a Leatherman Surge file. It is a amazing small knife. I wish the opener was a little thicker though. On other SAK's, I use the bottle opener as a lite pry tool, but this 1 is a very lite duty pry tool and lite driver. I still love this though. I forget it's in my pocket, but other Victorinox I definitely feel. I always pair my Victorinox with a Leatherman, so if I need a heavier duty lite pry tool, my Leatherman is on me. I always grab my Victorinox 1st though.
That's an interesting hack! Does it Rab securely as standard or does it require some modding? Pairing a SAK with a Leatherman is a great choice, I definitely agree with the combo tool on the Compact not being as suitable as the bottle opener for prying.
@gearedforward you use the keyring and the parcel hook and it holds onto the T shank really good. Felix Immler shows all kinds of hacks and tricks. My Victorinox are all stock, so no modifications needed, which is why I love this tip so much. Many others have been sharing this trick, so it might be something you can share in a video. I was going to start carrying a Victorinox Ranger or a heavier Leatherman with both a saw and File, but this trick is so amazing that I picked up the Surge T shank set and now I can sharpen my knives if I need to, or anything else. It's so awesome. If you type his name Felix Immler T Shank, the video should come up.
@gearedforward your welcome. I carry a 4 inch jigsaw blade that I have for my Milwaukee Jigsaw and it's so nice to have a little bit longer saw than the 1 on my Rebar or Farmer X. I hope you find it as useful as I do. 😀
I'm gonna keep carrying this until they release the new Companion with the classic red cellidor scales. The better pry bar (flathead), better Phillips (tip of package opener tool), addition of awl and waaaaay better file, the Companion is just better for my purposes. It's the best, in my opinion, EDC knife.
That's a toughy, I guess I'd have to mix the sizes up: Explorer (Plus scales), Executive, and Minichamp. Hard to leave out big names like the Compact and Classic, but you made me choose!
You can get them on Amazon, I can only find the corkscrew version on UK Amazon, but both on US: UK - amzn.to/3SnDmDL US - amzn.to/3s2vtc7 US - amzn.to/3MhsvXO
Too much money for only 2 layers, the climber is half the price and has more tools, and the compact only comes in red. If you want another color, you have to pay plus scales.
The higher price of the Compact is certainly a turn off, though I'll say when it comes to SAKs the number of layers is also a factor for a lot of folks. Colourwise I'm not sure, red is the most common, but I was also gifted a white one direct from a vendor as well.
