A Mended Orienteering Tool

Many may recall the trepidation visited on Crumby before he eventually figured out how to replace the lens in a Wenger magnifying glassette.  The compass replacement was way easier.  Crumby just ordered a dry 14mm and it fit straight away.  Praise the WG!  The replacement even fits the green color scheme of the LL Bean scales.  Plus, unlike the original, it makes an effort to point north.

 

Oreoscoptes montanus

On days when the high winds blow, Crumby has decided to go for nature walks instead of riding his bicycle.  Even so, Crumby hates walks and pedestrians.   But riding a bike in the cold and wind is too much sometimes.  And nature walks are better for Crumby than sitting in his Lazy Boy drinking whisky.

A nature walk is different from an ordinary walk.  On a nature walk Crumby totes his bins and his camera with telescopic lens for birds or various assortments of gear if he is after bugs or plants.  Thus, Crumby may not actually walk much at wall. He may just stand around with his gear.  It beats walking.

Yesterdays. nature walk was great.   Because Crumby, after hardly walking much at all, espied this sage thrasher, a Travis County lifer, and took its picture. Praise the Goddess!

Crumby's Compass is Broke

Fortunately, Crumby is not going far in his Lazy Boy.  So he is unlikely to get lost.  Except in his head.  Which is good.  Because the compass we are now discussing is the most broke compass ever.  It does not even pretend to work.  And that's how it came to Crumby.  Totally broke.

However, Crumby expected it to be broke.  Because Crumby questioned the EBAY vendor, after he bid on the dang thang, and was informed by that vendor that the compass did not work.  So Crumby was assured that the compass was broke, even before he got it, but only after he bid on it, opening bid 17.50.  But Crumby unwisely also did a 35.00 maximum bid.  Mercy!  Thank goodness no one else bid on the whole package, an LL Bean Pathfinder in like new condition except for the broke compass.  What if Crumby had been strung out for the whole 35.00?  Goodness!  Praise the WG he was spared that.

The truth is, Crumby wanted the whole package, not just the silly compass, as a representative of the 1986-1990 Wenger timeline where your average knife has a weak patent on the bottle opener, the non-caps Wenger on the main blade tang, and no big W on the obverse of the main blade tang.  It's a key to dating others like it.

But back to the miserable compass.

Hmm.  Looks like a reflection of the Crumby Ovate has its head in the bubble.  OK.  This compass measures about 14mm in diameter and about 6mm thick.  As can be seen, it is liquid filled.  However, in addition to the bubble on top of the dial there is another, larger bubble under the dial.  So the needle is dead in the water or out of the water, whichever.

Crumby wonders if this was a dry compass to begin with that got rained on instead of a wet compass that leaked.  Either way its totally broke.  Now also the frame is cracked where Crumby used a tiny screw driver as a chisel to break the compass out of the frame.  But never mind that.  The frame is glue-able.  Yet spelling of glue, somebody glued the shit out of this compass.  Maybe it was glued at the factory.  Or maybe someone used glue in a futile effort at fixing the compass.  Either way, that glue was tough,  defying three industrial strength solvents.

Now Crumby is fixing to get a replacement button compass.  Finding one that works of similar dimensions to the departed may be tough.  Help me Goddess!

More Monopoly Capitalism

My tool is stuck but that's OK.
The Baker Man is on his way.

Too bad for the miserable patch.  No more Baker Man.

Dating Wengers by the Bottle Opener Stamps

As a tool-centric SAK collector, Crumby collects what?  That's right, tools.  But all the time he has been hoovering up the various tools, he has also fretted over the age of the knives where within those tools resided.  In particular, he fretted over his Wengers. forlorn orphans of a deceased parent company.  Should not these miserable Wengers know, at the least, how old they are, approximately?  So Crumby set about aging the Wengers, the first losers of the SAK universe.  (Obviously,  Crumby would never have taken the trouble if he didn't actually like Wengers best).

By far the best clue Crumby found pertinent to dating Wengers was the Orienteering Tool entry at Sakwiki.  According to the credits, Basilio, Northman and jcfiguet are the sources for the information regarding the Wenger exclusive Orienteering Tool. Without their information, Crumby would have never figured this out.

Alas,  the Multitool forum should also receive recognition.  Mercy though.  One needs wade through near insufferable silliness, "I am playing with my Wenger"  to get at anything interesting from that site.

OK.  Let's begin.

Here are a passel of Wengers.  The most elderly are to the right  The whipper snappers are on the left. You will need to click on the picture to magnify the image to see the patent tangs.  On the far right is the oldest knife in the bunch, probably.  It is a Champ model.  It has no patent on the bottle opener.  The probable date is 1983-1986.  Don't ask how Crumby knows.

Next to the right are two knives with very faint patent tangs.  One of these contains a metallic button compass.  These knives are from the mid 1980s. The same patent probably applies through 1990.

Moving slightly further to the left,  we espy two knives representing the 1991-1995 cadre.  That's why the can opener is featured.  Note that the new can opener blade is longer than the old can opener blade and the nail nicks are way different.  The patents on the bottle openers are slightly beefier too.

The next group to the left features EP Patent on the bottle openers.  These are on 1996-2001 Wengers, approximately.

Next are the bunch with heavy Patent letters.  These date from 2002-2006 or so.  Note that Crumby's Matterhorn is included here.  The Matterhorn is a SAK marketed to the ladies, on account of its excellent whistle.

Finally,  the last knife on the left is 2007+.  The bottle opener has no patent tang.  So despite the seemingly linear progression, we have come, Full Circle.  Like Druids should.

Oh!  Crumby almost forgot.  A helpful cross-reference is the tangs on, or not on, the main blades.

Victorinox 58mm Wharncliffe

Today at the Surplus Store, Crumby hit the jackpot on Wharncliffes.  So without further ado, here they are: included on a Pharmaceutical Rambler (middle), an Emergency Blade Rover, (top left)  and an Emergency Classic.  Total cost to Crumby, $3.25.  What a deal!  Uh.  For those ignorant of Wharncliffes, they are the knife blades included on all these knives pictured.

Wenger Engraved Tools

Achtung dumbkopfs!  Here are some tools with engravings that allow you to figure out what they (the tools) are for, from the pictures.  Another reason Wengers are the best ever.  Alas, only these three tools have engravigns.  They are, from left to right, the dog leg can opener, the flat Phillips screwdriver, and the  wrench.

Wenger Can Openers

What we have here is Wenger can openers.  The upper left on the left end of the implement is about 1960.  The upper right is from the early 60s to 1975.  The middle left is from 1975 until about 1991.  The middle right is from 1991 or so to present.  And the bottom one is a combo tool from about 1991-1995.

Crumby has not used either of the openers on the top row to open a can.  That's because they are dangerous.  Their instructions always begin with;  Achtung Dumbkopf!

The middle row contains examples of the usual Wenger can openers the average humanoid is liable to encounter in these unregenerate days.  Note that the twain examples are seriously dissimilar.  The cutting edge of the one on the left is about 3mm shorter than the one on the right.  Therefore, the one on the right is the far superior opener and is Crumby's household can opener of choice.  Note also the relative positions of the nail nicks.  Those nail nicks make it easy to date the Wenger knives vended on EBAY, pre or post 1990.

Finally, the last one on the bottom is the fairly rare Wenger combo tool.  Even though the cutting edge is dull, the long length that is engaged with the can makes it an effective can opener.  

The Collector

Crumby wonders,  How many terminally ill collectors are out there?  Does the prospect of imminent demise cure the collector's addiction?  After all, you can't take it with you.  Or can you?  Has anyone ever been buried with his Swiss Army knife collection?

After swearing off the State Surplus Store for good, Crumby went back anyway.  He didn't need to paw around long in the $5 bin before he found this, a Wenger backpacker.  This particular backpacker had what Crumby thought was dried shellac spilled on the scales.  Plus, the bottle opener and can opener refused to open.  Nevertheless, Crumby felt like the locking main blade and clip point alone were worth $5.

Turns out, what Crumby thought was shellac, was something more water soluble, like syrup.  It washed off in soap and water.  After the knife dried, Crumby sprayed it with WD 40, working the stuck tools industriously.  Then he washed that off in soap and hot water.  Then he oiled all the tools.  Here is the result.

Crumby really likes it when knives have their names printed prominently.  Too bad there's no date.

Wenger Laser

Crumby has acquired this Wenger Laser via yesterday's mail.  Crumby "won" it on EBAY, pouncing when few were aware of the listing, an early bird.  Turns out, the price was not exorbitant considering a contemporary listing that went to bid.  Goodness!

Mercy!  Now that Crumby is the impulsive owner of this implement, he wishes to know more about it.  Like when was it manufactured.  But can Crumby find that out?  No.  Course not.  However, Crumby is guessing about 1997.  That could be the date code on the box, maybe.

OK.  Referencing Wenger European catalogs, the Lasers were concocted from 2005-2007.  Mine has Patent on the bottle opener so it is a 2005 model.

The Wenger Laser is a Wenger Traveler with a red laser pointer sandwiched between the rest of the tools.  For the many unfamiliar with the Traveler's tool set, these are:  can opener, bottle opener, spear point main blade, nail file and scissors.  Thus, the Traveler is a fairly mundane Wenger.  Unless you try to take it on board a commercial airplane.

Yet with a laser pointer included in a Traveler, that Traveler becomes, Art.  Yes.  Crumby has purchased, or won, Art, for the first time ever.  Hmm.  Well maybe a collection of 60 or so Swiss Army knives would also be considered Art, since the number alone exceeds the utilitarian value by a wide margin.  Er.  What Crumby is fixing to spell is that possessing  more knives than you can use turns the knives we are presently discussing into Art.  Yet the highest Art among all that other collective knife Art is the Wenger Laser. Pure Art! Art for Art's sake.

 Crumby's Laser came with two AAAA batteries installed.  Which means, technically, that Crumby's Laser came used.  Not only that, whoever installed the batteries put the tweezers back, backwards.

Crumby checked the date code on the Ever Readys.  Whew!  2014.  Praise the Goddess those twain batteries have not been leaking into the battery compartment since 1997.  Better keep the directions.  Changing the batteries is not an intuitive procedure.  Plus, keep those tweezers with the knife, inserted the right way.  Never know when you shall need them again.

Crumby fooled around with the pointer for a while.  (Crumby's cat showed no interest in participating).  Then he took out the batteries, boxed it all up, and set it next to the Victorinox Whistle, another work of Art.

Sandhies

Crumby especially enjoys listening to the sandhill cranes pass over the CB.  This time, autumn 2014, we thought we had missed them.  Not so.  Here they go.