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Swiss Army Knife: Components and Use

It’s no wonder they have dubbed talented athletes who can perform at a high level in multiple different team positions, a Swiss Army Knife. This device, packed with multiple tools, affords the user the convenience of performing a variety of functions with one device.

The concept for the first Swiss Army Knife was born from having a need, as are many if not most inventions. In the late 1800s the Swiss Army needed a tool that would cut, open canned food products, and allow soldiers to disassemble and reassemble the Swiss service rifle. In 1890, the first knife was produced which had a blade, reamer, can-opener, and a screwdriver.

I was a teenager when my father gave me my first Swiss Army Knife. At the time I thought it was the most awesome thing I have ever been given. It had 15 components (plus a separate blade sharpener) and came in a cool looking, tough leather carrier with belt loop, and I found ways to use each one of them. Years later, the knife remains with me whenever possible, and I still think of it as an awesome piece of engineering, and a prized possession. Over the years I have used it for multiple conventional and non-conventional purposes, it being a useful tool for some around the house jobs, and my primary tool for use when in the great outdoors.

What follows are some of the many ways, around the house/yard and in the great outdoors, the various components of my Swiss Army Knife have been of benefit to me.

Large Knife Blade (6 cm in length)

Around the house: Cutting food, especially slicing meat sticks and the cheese to put on them when watching a football game. Cutting flaps off cardboard boxes.
In the great outdoors: Cleaning a fish. Carving a walking stick. Cutting rope or cords for tent bracing or to hang certain items.

Small Knife Blade (3.7 cm)

Around the house: Cutting string and rope. Sharpening crayons.
In the great outdoors: Carving a small figure from a branch.

Metal Saw with File (6.8 cm)

Around the house: Filing edges off fingernails. Fine filing of wood corners that I will be using for my woodburning art.
In the great outdoors: File down a bent and protruding piece of metal from our Coleman Stove that was catching and preventing the normal folding down to fit in its container.

Wood Saw (7 cm)

Around the house: Sawing off a sliver of the base of a door frame. Making small cuts into wood that I will be using for woodburning.
In the great outdoors: Cutting small branches to use for wood carving.

Fish Scaler with Hook Disgorger and Ruler (7 cm)

Around the house: Not really used it much around the house.
In the great outdoors: Scaling fish to be cooked. Removing hook from fish to be released back into the water. Definitely not for measuring the fish I catch😊

Scissors (2.6 cm blades)

Around the house: cut out newspaper coupons and news articles. Cut lose stitching or fraying from clothes.
In the great outdoors: Cut fishing line. Cut to open durable food packets.

Reamer with Sewing Eye (3.5 cm length)

Around the house: Punching a new hole in a belt to expand (usually the reason) or reduce the belt for a better fit.
In the great outdoors: Remove dirt and grit form grooves in equipment

Phillips Screwdriver

Around the house: For tightening and loosening all manner of screws (door knobs, wall mounts,
In the great outdoors: Only when equipment we are using has Philips screws and they have become loose and need tightening.

Can Opener with Small Screwdriver

Around the house: Open a can when my frustration hits a peak due to my inability to find the kitchen can opener.
In the great outdoors: To open cans that we have carried in for an overnight hike and camping adventure. Create holes in small containers for a variety of purposes.

Bottle Opener with Large Screwdriver and Wire Stripper

Around the house: For tightening and loosening all manner of screws (outlet covers,
In the great outdoors: Have used it as a lever to pry open difficult to grasp tabs on soda cans.

Fine Screwdriver

Around the house: Remove stuck paper from the holes of a 3-hole punch.
In the great outdoors: Tighten loose screws on binoculars.

Magnifying Glass

Around the house: Inspect to see if there really is a sliver in my child’s hurting finger.
In the great outdoors: Entertaining kids with close-up views of cool looking insects and other fine detail entities.

Corkscrew

Around the house: Remove an undesirable object that has been pressed into an area, inaccessible by pliers, by twisting the corkscrew until firmly embedded and them pull out with a better leverage.
In the great outdoors: Don’t think I have ever used it in the outdoors.

Tweezers

Around the house: Pluck nasal hairs that are visible, unsightly, and ticking me off.
In the great outdoors: Remove slivers from my kids’ fingers. Remove very small cactus spines from my child’s body who fell backward into a group while fishing.