Swiss Army Knife Magnifiers

Today Crumby is rating the various magnifiers on his sacs for functionality versus coolness.   The four magnifiers are, from left to right:  the old style Victorinox, the new style Victorinox, the Wenger with a home-made lens and a regular Wenger.  Crumby employed these devices upon subjects he might be liable to view with a magnifier during his diurnal activities or more likely in a dimly lit motel room at night.  The subjects were:  Juncus dudleyi florets and seeds, Andropogon gerardii florets, fine print on Harbor Freight flyer.  (Shop the People's Republic for the best deals).

Well.  The only one of the four that Crumby would actually attempt to use regularly for gazing upon the subjects we are now discussing is the new Victorinox.  That's because it is lower magnification and has a wider field of view than its competitors.  Also,  because it is bigger, the annoying field curvature that plagues the other three is much less apparent in the new Victorinox.  For comparisons sake, it is probably about as good as a cheap 5-10x loupe, but gets waxed by a nice size 5x linen tester. However, you don't have to carry a loupe or linen tester, (also very easy to lose), and you get the other tools that go with the knife.

The other magnifiers are not much count for anything other than occasional casual observation in good light. The old Victorinox is marginally better than the Wengers, but not so much better that you would actually want to use it for any amount of time. The Wengers are so high powered and have such a narrow field of view with pronounced curvature at the edges that they are especially hard to use.  Think cheap 10x 18mm bins. Mercy!

Many appreciate that of the twain, the old Vic is cooler looking than the new one.  Crumby reckons, maybe so.  However, the Wengers are definitely way cooler looking than the Vics; mounted in a stainless steel frame with a screwdriver tip.  Hmm.  Crumby would never use those screwdrivers on a live screw though.  Why?  Easy that, the torque exerted might pop out the lens.

What a goofy tool combo.  You know though.  If you took the magnifier/screwdriver out of the knife, then hung it on a chain around your neck, it might then be interpreted by many as a religious icon.  Maybe even a Druid religious icon.  Praise the Goddess!

OK. What other tool on a Swiss Army knife might a botanist find useful?  Give up.  It's the fish scaler/ ruler on the Vic.  Trouble is, the smallest denomination on the scale is a half centimeter for Goddess sakes.

An average botanist could, however, go for a Wenger Tool Chest with its combo plastic compass/ruler.  Trouble is, the Tool Chest is ridiculously stubby and you are still stuck with the goofy magnifier.  Upshot.  There are no really good, botanical emergency friendly sak solutions.