Alox Victorinox Rambler Review

ALOX VICTORINOX RAMBLER (FROM SWISS BIANCO)

 SPECIFICATIONS:

The alox victorinox rambler is swiss army knife (SAK) that has the follow features:

-Small blade
-Scissors
-Nail file with screwdriver tip
-Bottle opener with magnetic Phillips screwdriver tip & wire stripper
-Key ring attachment

Length:  58 mm
Width:  19.5 mm
Height:  6.5mm

The traditional rambler from victorinox has plastic 'cellidor' scales.  This alox rambler has aluminium oxide (or alox) metal scales.  These alox scales are thinner and more resistant to chemicals, than the cellidor scales.  However, the alox rambler forgoes the tweezers and toothpick that the traditional cellidor version includes.

The alox rambler is a limited edition SAK assembled for Swiss Bianco, a knife maker who seems to have special connections with victorinox.  Victorinox themselves do not offer the alox rambler, though they do produce and sell an alox version of their 'classic' SAK.


ASSESSMENT OF THE RAMBLER'S FEATURES:

There's not much to say about the small blade in the rambler; is pretty much what you would expect from a small SAK.  The working edge of the knife is approximately 34mm in length.  I sharpened it up a little bit, and it slices through paper and cardboard with ease.

The scissor are acceptable, they are small but they do a decent job of cutting.  I feel the scissors on something like the leatherman squirt are a little larger and easier to use, but the trade off would be increased size and weight.

This is a personal thing, but given a choice I would prefer to have something else in place of the scissors.  I feel the knife can cut most things that the scissor would cut.  YMMV (your mileage may vary), I suppose its easier to cut circular shapes with the scissors instead of the knife.

The bottle opener, phillips screwdriver and wire stripper are all combined in the same pull-out tool.  I have yet to use the wire stripper, I can not comment on how it performs.

I find the bottle opener works better than some of the other tools I have reviewed (e.g. the Swisstech Utilikey and True Utility Keytool).  You are able to get decent leverage with the handle, and there are no sharp edges that will cut your hand.  I usually find you do have to pry open the bottle at two points to lift up the cap.

I feel one of the best thing about this tool is the phillips screwdriver.  Surprisingly it can fit into quite a wide range of phillips screws, from small ones that are found in electronics, to the larger ones that are just generally used.  I find the tip of the phillips screwdriver can be a little too large for the extra small screws found in some eye glasses.  Do note, the tip of the phillips screwdriver is magnetic.  This can be useful for picking up smaller screws.

Included in the victorinox rambler is a nail file with a flat head screwdriver at the tip.  The flat head screwdriver will also fit in some phillips screws as well.  The nail file does its job, but I feel it would be more efficient if the texture were more coarse.

CONCLUSIONS:

On the whole, the victorinox rambler is handy SAK to have.  It has currently replaced my Swisstech Utilikey + Spyderco Bug combo, which I usually have on my keychain.  It is a little heavier than the utilikey and spyderco bug, however I do feel offers better functionality.  The tools in the rambler are more accessible and easier to use.

Swisstech Utilikey, Orange Alox Rambler, Silver Alox Rambler, Spyderco Bug

Personally, I prefer the look and feel of the alox scales over the traditional 'cellidor' rambler.  If you require the tooth pick or tweezers, perhaps the traditional rambler is for you (it is also easier to buy).  For my uses, the loss of these two items is not a big deal.

Note the alox scales are thinner than the usual cellidor scales found on the rambler.  There is no room for the toothpick and tweezers though.

 This run of alox ramblers is currently over.  If you want to acquire one, you may need to look at the second hand market.  I have heard rumours that Swiss Bianco plans on doing another run of the alox ramblers, in red and silver colours.  I would recommend signing up to his newsletter, as this is where he usual announces these special runs.

Other SAKs to consider:

If you don't mind slight added thickness, available in the traditional victorinox range; there is the manager (has a pen) and midnite manager (has a pen and small red LED light) . These are basically the same as the rambler, but have different tools contained in the cellidor scales.

LINKS:
Swissbianco website:   http://www.swissbianco.com/
Victorinox website with traditional rambler:  http://www.victorinox.com/product/1/100/1001/1109/0.6363



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True Utility KeyTool Review

The True Utility Keytool, is a one piece key ring tool that wraps around a standard door key.  Here are the specifications:

Features:
-Bottle Opener
-Eye Glass Screwdriver
-Medium Screwdriver
-Large Screwdriver
-Nail File
-Finger Nail Cleaner
-Thread Cutter
-Tweezers

Product Size:
50L x 20W mm

Material:
422 grade stainless steel

Cost:
GB £4.99

The great thing about the True Utility Keytool, is it is very light weight and takes very little room.  I don't have anything precise to weigh it with, but it's lighter than the swisstech utilikey, which I would consider to be one of its main competitors.

Swisstech Utilikey, True Utility KeyTool, Included Snap-gate Clip

To help provide leverage and support, the keytool is designed to wrap around an existing key.  In some ways this can be beneficial in helping you to differentiate the various keys on your key ring.  However there is a downside in that certain features, are difficult or impossible to use when it is wrapped around your key.  This means you will need to remove both the key and keytool from your keychain, before you can use these features... a little fiddly at times

To help counter this issue, the True Utility Keytool comes with a ~25mm 'snap-gate' clip.  This clip makes it easier to remove your key and keytool, when you want to separate them.  It is similar to a 'mcgizmo' clip, which can often cost $2-4 at various online vendors.

An example of a feature that can not be used while attached to your keys, is the tweezer facility.  The keytool needs to be taken off the house key, to allow you to squeeze the tweezer ends together.  The ends of the tweezers do meet up tightly and has a good 'spring-back' action.  I have rarely needed tweezers in my EDC, but I could imagine using it to remove a splinter.  Do note, the tweezer tips are very short, so its not ideal if you need a longer pair of tweezers.

The medium and large screwdriver features can also be difficult to use when the keytool is attached to your key.  The 'head' of your key may get in the way during usage. As these screwdriver sections are short, they may be hard to use in difficult to reach areas.  The screwdrivers on the keytool lack thickness and strength, and I would not use them for heavy jobs where there is significant torque.

Key may get in the way of large (L) and medium (M) screwdrivers

The eye glass screwdriver is good though.  It is small and thin enough, to fit most glasses screws.

Nail cleaner (NAIL) adds unnecessary sharp edges.  You can use the small (S) screwdriver instead.

 The bottle opener facility on the True Utility Keytool is acceptable.  I find it opens bottles, better than the swisstech utilikey.  Take care, as there are a lot of sharp edges on the keytool.  These can dig into your hand, when using the bottle opener.

The True Utility Keytool also has a nail file, finger nail cleaner and thread cutter.  I can't help but feel these have been added purely to increase its 'feature' count. The nail file is blunt and does not file very well.  I feel the finger nail cleaner is totally unnecessary, and only adds unwanted sharp edges.  You could use the mini screwdriver to clean your nails in a similar fashion. The thread cutter is very blunt, I have had limited success using it to cut a sewing thread.

Nail File - not very sharp

I like the concept behind the True Utility Keytool; a small lightweight key ring tool that provides multiple features.  However in practice, I do not carry the Keytool on my regular keychain.  I find it has too many sharp edges and can be uncomfortable to carry.  The mini screwdriver and bottle opener are probably the most useable features on the keytool.  A lot of the other features are useless, or have limitations.  With some redesigning the keytool, could be much better.

If you are looking for something ultra minimalist, it may be for you.  The price is not overly expensive and may be worth a try.

Manufacturer's website:
http://www.trueutility.com/pocket-tools-store/true-utility-key-tool-tu47.html

Swisstech Utili-key 6 in 1 Pocket Tool (Review)

 Specifications:

The swisstech tech utilikey (6 in 1) is a key-shaped tool which unfolds to offer you 6 functions, listed as follows:

 - Flat Screwdriver
 - Phillips Screwdriver
 - Micro-Sized Screwdriver
 - Straight Blade Knife
 - Serrated Blade Knife
 - Bottle Opener

Made from polished stainless steel, it is roughly the size of a large key. Measuring: 2-3/4” x 3/4” x 1/8" (folded) and weighing only 0.5 oz.

Thoughts and critique:

On paper the swisstech utilikey sounds amazingly usefully with the all the features it offers.  However in practice, there are certain things about the design of this multi-tool that make these functions less practical.

To start off with, the features in the utilikey are not easily accessible.  To use the various functions, you need to first put down your keychain, use two hands to unclip the tool, remove it from your keychain, use the desired feature and then clip the tool back on.  Compare this to say the spyderco bug, which can stay clipped to the keychain and unfolds with ease.

This is one of the reasons why I keep a spyderco bug on my keychain despite having a 'blade' feature on the utilikey.  In comparison to the bug, I find the blade on the utilikey to be thick and not very sharp. I have tried to sharpen the blade further, however the edge is still pretty average.

Straight and serrated knife blade

When using the multi-tool, care needs to be taken with how you hold it, if you are not careful it is quite easy to cut yourself.  This is especially the case when using the bottle opener.  The bottle opener feature is fairly small and does not give much leverage.  I find to open a bottle, it is easier if you pry it open in 2 or 3 locations.  I hope the following video helps to demonstrate, how I use this feature on the utilikey.

Phillips screwdriver and bottle opener

The utilikey has 3 screwdrivers; a phillips, a flat and a micro screwdriver.  Of these 3 screwdrivers, the phillips is probably the most easy to use.  The flat screwdriver does not have much length, and it may be hard to use in awkward and difficult to reach places.  The micro screwdriver also suffers from a similar problem; it has difficulty reaching some of the more deeper and recessed screws in my glasses.  The tip on the micro screwdriver is fairly thick, it requires some 'thinning-out' to allow it to fit into the screws in my glasses.

Flat screwdriver and micro-sized screwdriver

Despite these short comings from the tool, I still keep a utilikey on my keychain as it takes little room and space.  The phillips screwdriver is acceptable, and the bottle opener is okay as a last resort.  You never know, it may come in handy when you're stuck in a pinch with no other options.

Cost:
RRP:  $11-15 depending on packaging

Manufacturer's website:
http://www.swisstechtools.com/productdetail.aspx?PID=VZ75GDTdP68A

Similar tools to consider:
Utili-Key® FX 6-in-1 - has a nail file instead of bottle opener
Utili-Key XT 8-in-1 - has a nail file, nail cleaner wire cutter, wire stripper instead of the two blades.

Additional Photos: