80/20 Pareto Principle Applied – How to buy a Swiss Army pocket knife
Do you remember that scene in the “Cast Away” movie when Tom Hank’s former fiancée Kelly returns his car keys to him, and he stares at the Swiss Army pocket knife that was attached to them? Click here if you don’t: that tool would have been so useful to have during the time when Tom Hanks was alone on that remote island. But he left his Swiss Army pocket knife with Kelly when they said goodbye (click here). Big mistake.
Now you are all set for what is to come soon: spend three (3) surprise quarantine weeks alone in a hotel room at a remote location.
You will need a Swiss Army pocket knife during that time, please believe me.
I am using Swiss Army Pocket knives for a very long time, and I cannot live without one anymore, even when I am not locked up in a quarantine room.
I suggest that you also get one for yourself, for the lockdown period that you will have to serve some time in the near future after you begin traveling again.
I have lost my old Swiss Army pocket knife recently and that made me decide to buy a new one. I had a very simple one, model “Tourist” (click here), that served me well for many years.
Here is where I made the selection of what to buy:
There are so many options available that this is almost unbelievable.
Here comes a guide for selecting one.
What Swiss Army Pocket Knife You Need
The website above comes with a selector menu, here:
The first selection I would recommend is the color: I recommend classic red because that way you will less often lose your Swiss Army knife. I cannot count anymore when I relied on that feature during my life.
The second selection is the number of features that your Swiss pocket knife comes with. There are up to 70 features available.
Which Features To Chose
Some thoughts are necessary here.
First, you should recognize that you do not buy the ridiculous 70-features brick because you will not carry that monster along with you.
But then what?
Here is what I do when in doubt about my plans: I start with Pareto’s 20/80 distribution.
And here is how you apply the Pareto Principle to the issue of buying a Swiss Army pocket knife:
100% of the available knife functions (= 70 features) will solve 100% of the “pocket knife” problems that you encounter.
20% of the available knife functions (= 14 features) will solve 80% of the “pocket knife” problems that you encounter.
This is what happens if you select “14 features” on the Victorinox website: you are left with only five (5) different knife models that are shown on the website:
Actually, you are left with only two (2) knives, the “Super Tinker” and the “Climber” models. I did not yet discover how to appreciate the advantages of the more expensive “Evolution” series, and this is why I stick to the cheaper traditional models. I always price in that I will lose my Swiss pocket knife sometime in the future. That is as sure as the “Amen” in church.
Between the “Super Tinker” and the “Climber” models, the choice is easy for me: I need the corkscrew of the “Climber” model more than a Phillips screwdriver as the “Super Tinker” model would have it.
And that was my choice: I bought the “Climber” model, for only EUR 21.00, on Amazon (click here).
This is how the “Climber” Swiss Army pocket knife arrived at my place:
The Differences Between The New “Climber” And My Old “Tourist” Models
As the Victorinox website shows, my old “Tourist” knife (the one which I had lost) had only 12 features, while my new “Climber” model has 14 features, two features more.
These additional features are scissors and a multipurpose hook, and they come with 31 grams of extra weight. Here is the comparison of these two models from the Victorinox website:
The practical difference between 12 features and 14 features is almost zero, but I liked the idea to have scissors with me.
What Is A Multi-Purpose Hook?
While the scissors are inherently something that I find very useful, I was not fully convinced about the “multipurpose hook” feature.
This is what I found in the Internet (http://www.smartknives.com/Swiss-Army-Knife-Tools/Victorinox-Hook.htm)
It’s a good, sturdy hook. The official use is as a package hook, to turn your knife into a handle that will help you to carry a parcel that is wrapped in string.
You can also attach a string to the hook, and turn your Swiss Army knife into a plumb bob or a fishing lure, or use it to pull a thread or line through a tight spot.
Another answer in the same thread had more explanation about the fishing uses:
As a fishing aid it is extremely useful. You can hook it through a fish’s jaw and carry the fish like a strung parcel.
It is an elegant way to carry a fish, and if the fish is a fifteen pound salmon it is a delight to be seen calmly parading along the main street with it swinging gently in the breeze with an air of supremecy as a fifteen pound salmon does so well when carried with the aid of a Victorinox Multipurpose Hook.
What I only found out when I had my new Swiss Army pocket knife is that the multi-purpose hook turns it into a holder for a ball-pen refill and into a smartphone stand. More about that later.
The Pareto Principle Has Fractal Properties
When I say “fractal”, I mean the following, applied to Swiss Army pocket knives:
Start level
100% of the available knife functions (= 70 features) will solve 100% of the “pocket knife” problems that you encounter.
First 80/20 level
20% of the available knife functions (= 14 features) will solve 80% of the “pocket knife” problems that you encounter.
Next fractal level of the Pareto principle
20% of 20% of the available knife functions (= 20% of 14 features = 2.8 features) will solve 80% of 80% (= 64%) of the “pocket knife” problems that you encounter.
In other words, a Swiss Army pocket knife with only 3 features would solve 2 of 3 “pocket knife” problems that you will ever encounter. And this is true: the features that I use most often are the small but razor-sharp blade, the toothpick, and the 6mm screwdriver. All other features can somehow be achieved in different ways.
Next fractal level of the Pareto principle
20% of 20% of 20% of the available knife functions (= 20% of 2.8 features = 0.56 features) will solve 80% of 80% of 80% (= 51.2%) of the “pocket knife” problems that you encounter.
And the one tool of my Swiss Army pocket knife that I am using most often, about half the time when I am using it, is the toothpick.
How About Leatherman Tools?
This comparison is as old as the Leatherman tools company which was set up in 1983, click here.
My Swiss Army knife is very versatile but it is much flimsier than a Leatherman tool. The Leatherman tools have very sturdy pliers and they are serious tools, much heavier than a Swiss army knife. For outdoor uses, I put a Leatherman tool in my backpack. But I still have my Swiss army knife with me in a pocket of my pants.
Read this article here for a thorough comparison https://www.thesawguy.com/leatherman-vs-swiss-army-knife/
But that comparison is irrelevant here. I am talking about how to spend time in a lockdown in a hotel room and not outdoors, and that is why I recommend a Swiss Army pocket knife.
Useful Upgrade: A Piece Of High-Tension Rope
This is what I have added: a 1-meter long piece of 1mm thick stretch-free and weatherproof (UV-proof) line made from polyester and “Dyneema” material (click here). This is different from lines made of polypropylene or nylon which stretch quite markedly under load (up to 25%) and aren’t always weatherproof.
It is not only useful to always have a piece of strong rope with you, but I also use this rope together with a small snap-spring carabiner to connect my Swiss Army pocket knife with a belt loop of my pants or with my hip pack so that I cannot lose it.
The stretch-free property of this line is quite important when it comes to using it for locking the large blade or the very dangerous reamer tool.
I have tied flemish eight knots at each end of the piece of rope. That way you can also extend the multi-purpose hook (see above) to a large loop. You can also use it for fixing the knife to a broomstick. Ideas over ideas.
This is how this add-on looks like:
I must say that this Swiss Army pocket knife is the neatest gadget that I have.
There is an entire video series on Youtube about tips and tricks that you can do with it. Here:
Among others, this video series explains (click here) how to use the multi-purpose hook as a holder for a ball-pen refill and as a smartphone stand.
Another add-on: a small magnet (click here).
And there is an entire website about Swiss Army pocket knives, click here.
Call To Action
Order your own Swiss Army pocket knife today, click here.
You will very soon need one for yourself, for the lockdown period that you will have to serve some time in the near future after you begin traveling again.
Go for an original Swiss Army knife and not for one of the many cheap counterfeit knives. Read my “Buy cheap, buy twice” article if you see that differently (click here).
And always carry your new Swiss Army pocket knife with you, all the time. Don’t be Tom Hanks in “Cast Away”.
Martin “Prepared” Schweiger