Victorinox – Clive's Blog

Chicken walk

Walking today started in Kirkby Green, went out past a chicken farm and then on towards Martin.

I found a great quiet spot for coffee, a Milky Way and a chance to read for a while.

Lightweight bushcraft cooking gear in a Finnish haversack

I made the coffee today using a Taylor Coffee Bag rather than using my homemade coffee filter. The stove I used was my mini bushcraft wood stove with Fire Dragon fuel.

Lightweight walking kit

The gear, including a folding stool, monocular and bush hat,went in my Finnish haversack. Some first aid items, a compass, lighter, coffee, sewing kit, a length of cord, Victorinox field Sharpening stone and duct tape went in a small belt pouch. My Victorinox Camper knife and mini Leatherman went in my pocket.

Today I only needed 500ml of water and a mini Milky Way for a short walk but I could have carried more water, lunch and a waterproof jacket in the haversack.

New scales for my Swiss Army Knife

16 January 2021 / Outdoor Gear / outdoor gear, Swiss Army Knife, Victorinox, Victorinox Camper Knife

One of the scales on my Victorinox Camper Swiss Army knife had come loose so I bought some replacements from eBay and went for an upgrade. The new scales do not have the Camper logo but do have a slot for a pen and they came with a new set of tools, toothpick, tweezers, pin and pen. There was a choice of colours but after thinking about it I chose the classic red.

After watching a few YouTube videos I bought a desk clamp from Amazon to apply even pressure to fix the scales.

I removed the scale tools and the old scales easily popped off.

Removing the old scales using a Victorinox Swiss Champ

Victorinox Camper knife — No scales before cleaning

Once the scales were removed I took the opportunity to throughly clean the knife with soapy water and a washing up sponge and then oiled all the blade joints with some WD-40 applied with a cocktail stick so the knife was not soaked in oil. (I regularly use the large blade for cooking and I do not want excess WD-40 in my food.)

SAK no scales and serviced — No scales, cleaned and oiled

To help to fix the new scales I soaked them in hot water to soften them slightly. After a couple of minutes in the water I dried them with kitchen towel and then assembled the knife and scales in the wooden vice. Ensuring everything lined up under light pressure in the vice.

The vice worked perfectly – the pressure was applied evenly and both scales popped on securely. A bit of extra pressure closed all the gaps between the scales and the knife body.

New scales Victorinox Camper knife wi th a pin, pen and screwdriver in the corkscrew — New scales

A quick check that the new scales were fitted correctly, a polish and fitting the removable tools, including a mini screwdriver in the corkscrew and the job was finished.

Upgraded Victorinox Camper knife with a pin, pen and screwdriver in the corkscrew

Top tip – use this type of vice – the wooden jaws do not damage the scales and the pressure is applied evenly when attaching the scales.

Click on the images for a larger version.

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