Victorinox Alox Cadet vs. Pioneer Swiss Army Knife comparison

[@Laura_EDC]

I agree with you. The Cadet is more comfortable in pocket, but the Pioneer more comfortable in hand. Good vid, my friend.

[@miklospinter]

+WaitMyTurn Thank you, Laura! I'm glad that we agree :)

[@Ellipsis1771]

I have carried a Cadet for seven years, but after watching this video, bought a Pioneer. Thanks! It's now my EDC knife. Like you I'm contemplating removing the split ring.

[@miklospinter]

Oh, wow! That's nice to hear :) I hope (will) like it a lot! I think in this video I don't even talk about how much more useful I find that reamer than the nail file of the Cadet. That is probably my most used tool for all kinds of random tasks, and - besides the robustness - the main reason that I almost always carry a 93 mm Alox instead of any of my 84 or 91 mm SAK.

[@j1166240]

I removed the key ring and have been very happy. No hot spot when using! Much more comfortable to handle!

[@FreedomFox1]

Thanks for the helpful comparison. I had my eye on the electrician, which replaces the can opener with a small wharncliffe blade (which aside from being a backup knife, looks like an especially useful shape for utility uses).

[@wis1024]

The electrician is my favorite model of the ones I own. It's more of a traditional jack-knife but with an added awl and cap lifter/pry tool.

[@wis1024]

The slight handle flare of the cadet should be standard on all alox models, just makes sense

[@escargotiskuhol]

I carry a Pioneer X daily and contemplated buying a Cadet. I read this review and when you said the Cadet felt like a toy next to a Pioneer, I didn't believe you. I was finally able to hold a Cadet awhile ago and agree, it felt like a toy next to my Pioneer X. Great review!

[@miklospinter]

Thank you for your kind words! I really love the Cadet, especially in the summer when I want to go light weight, but the 93 mm Alox feel so much more robust... In the last few weeks I had a blue Pioneer X in the pocket myself most of the time.

[@berniem.6965]

Honestly, neither of those knives is designed for heavy use. If you use them within the limits of a knife of their size, both will last a lifetime. Of course the 93mm models are a little beefier. But how often would that mean the difference between breaking the 84mm one while the 93mm model would have survived? Furthermore, you could argue the same way for the 111mm Victorinox knives. Compared to those, a 93mm Vic also feels like a toy. In the end, it's a question of what size of a knife are you willing to carry on a daily basis. The beefiest knife is useless if you leave it at home because you don't like to carry it. An 84mm SAK is better than no knife when you really need a blade. And for their size, they actually can take quite some abuse. The steel of those knives is quite soft and doesn't snap easily.

[@EDKG]

Excellent comparison! I love both (obviously) but the Pioneer is my preference for using. I'd never really thought about shield placement on the Pioneer, but I think you may be right. Half way between the rivets would look better I think.

[@miklospinter]

+EveryDay Knife Guy Thank you! I've just tried it in Photoshop and I'm not that sure anymore. Exactly half way (3 rows lower) looks weird somehow, but 2 rows lower looks better in my opinion. This is what it would look like (the original is on the left): www.flickr.com/photos/miklospinter/24491680252/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/

[@kilowatt3618]

Very good analysis which I had not seen mentioned in any other video but I agree with you. Cadet to carry and Pioneer for use.

[@miklospinter]

Thank you! :) Currently I have 16 Swiss army knives in my EDC rotation already, and most of them are 93 mm Alox. However, in the summer time, my 2 cadets have seen quite some pocket time because I often wanted to go light weight. Thanks for stopping by!

[@FrankChristopherOutdoors]

Great video both are fine blades. In general I never realized how many sizes and colors are available in this overall design. Very impressive .

[@photorolensoman8101]

I want a Cadet with scissors!

[@Dkclemons1]

Good video. I have neither, but I do have a Farmer that I've owned and beaten the crap out of for the better part of ten years and an Electrician. Because of the experience with those two, I'd say I'd have a very hard time giving up my in line awl. The thing is so useful that replacing it with a nail file seems like giving up the best tool. I would like to buy both of these at some point just because I love SAKs, but as far as use I've been very happy with my Electrician. If it only had scissors I wouldn't need much else.

[@c0llinPM]

Try out the pioneer x!! It has everything that the normal pioneer has PLUS scissors.

[@wj0067]

The Shield is in essentially the same spot on ALL Victorinox knives. Only looks different due to the size.

[@KobriakKnives]

Hi Miklos. Thanks for sharing the video. I never had the alox models, so thanks for sharing your experience.

[@jakerjac]

Fantastic comparison, subscribed!

[@miklospinter]

Thank you and welcome! :)

[@05generic]

I think having a reamer/awl deploy in-line is a much better idea than deploying 90° from the back. I consider that the 93's claim to fame.

[@miklospinter]

+05generic I agree, it's much better! And I guess the same goes for the Phillips screwdriver. Unfortunately I don't have any SAK with an in-line Phillips.

[@alexblue6991]

Like the pioneer because of the bradawl it useful for opening parcel and boxes saving dulling you're knife blade

[@miklospinter]

Yes, that inline reamer is a great tool for all kinds of random tasks! Before I got my first Pioneer, I thought I would never use it (because I don't really use the back side awl on the Cellidor knives either). But nowadays it's probably my most used SAK tool for all kinds of random tasks - and especially for opening boxes :D

[@HobieonYouTube]

Love that black Pioneer with the red background in the shield! Mine is simply black. How do you get one of those?

[@miklospinter]

+HobieonKZbin I also carry a black one with black shield (I left the keyring on that one) but this one with the red shield looks better, I agree. I got this one from an Italian seller called guzzi_sas on ebay. Usually there are some other sellers offering this knife (SwissBianco, too) but I haven't found any cheaper than him. Search for "PIONEER Black LTD 2014" on ebay, this will bring you to his offers. I'm not sure how much he charges for the shipping to your country but I couldn't find any better offer than this.

[@HobieonYouTube]

Thanks! I'll check him out. Yes, I'm in the USA-may I ask where you live? I find it interesting the international aspect of this hobby. I've bought knives from Switzerland and France and sold one to a guy in the UK!

[@pintermiklos82]

I'm Hungarian. I prefer to buy knives from the EU because of the customs charges and taxes but I already bought from the US, Australia and of course Switzerland. But if I can get something in a local store, I think that's the best.

[@HobieonYouTube]

Ah Hungary- smart people and pretty women!

[@miklospinter]

+HobieonKZbin And me! :D

[@husseinrhl6837]

Nice vid m8 i wish they made an 84 mm pioneer as thin as the cadet

[@Mystninja]

That's like saying I prefer to carry a pebble because of its size and prefer to use a boulder because of its size.

[@miklospinter]

I'm not saying I make any kind of sense there :D

[@donmean3178]

how have you stopped the alox from getting scratched in your pocket?

[@miklospinter]

This blue Cadet (from the 5 colors series) came with a leather pouch. That protects it pretty well, but it still has some marks since I made this video. I keep my SAKs in my fifth pocket, without anything else that would scratch the Alox. That's a pretty good protection compared to carrying it with coins and keys in the same pocket... But still, if you use it, drop it etc. than it will show on the Alox scales, too. But I don't mind it. A least they get some "patina" :) Another good method is to rotate as many knives as possible :D But the ones I carried and used a lot, they show some wear over the years for sure.

[@ricktemmen6272]

You always do a good job so I Subscribed. Thanks for the video 👍

[@stephenjohnmcgeoch]

Hi , I got for Christmas a pioneer alox , the blade looks bent , is it normal on the pioneer? My old good hunter has a very straight thinner blade, thanks

[@miklospinter]

Hi :) By design, the Pioneer's blade cannot be very straight, because they have to make some space for the reamer on the same layer. That's why the blade has a very interesting shape. It looks a bit bent and twisted, but the cutting edge itself is actually straight. So I would say it's normal. (Sometimes the main blade even rubs on the bottle opener. If that's very bad, that might be something to complain about, but on most of my Pioneers, the blade fits between the reamer and the bottle opener in the closed position, without touching the bottle opener or the reamer.) I hope this helps :)

[@stephenjohnmcgeoch]

@@miklospinter thanks it really helped I wanted to know if was normal or I had bad luck ! Cheers

[@truth959]

I noticed right away the black one is longer.

[@albert333pool]

That's what she said 🤷‍♂️

[@BoosterDuck9]

the Cadet is better for EDC the Pioneer is better to carry in a backpack or pouch but both are beasts doe

[@runthomas]

we are men......seriously ..i havent used a nail file in about 200 years....i leave that to the ladies.. but the pioneer is just the most perfect knife...that bradawl saves many issues and problems. you can clean your nails if you want to be like that you can use it as a weapon if necessary and not kill anyone you canscrape things out with it you can punch holes in drywall you can make holes in wood...you can mark pilot holes that you want to drill with a proper drill you can kill slugs with it. you can remove staples with it. you can poke just about anytuing that needs poking with it. you can flush public lavatories with it. you could probably punch a hole through a shipping container with it. you can crush things with it ..from ice to tablets, to other powders and plants. its just amazing

[@mattdrives4757]

Nice video!

[@miklospinter]

Thank you! :)

[@MartinBrabi]

Great review!

[@sg3071]

Cadet may be great of they add scissors and some key ring to it. Otherwise, Pioneer is the best

[@berniem.6965]

There is no 84mm Victorinox knife with scissors to my knowledge. There are some Wenger designs (sold by Victorinox who took over Wenger in the past) but I prefer the Victorinox scissors.

[@edmund8954]

please cadet x

[@jamesaritchie1]

I need a lot more tools that what either of these models have. For me, the only reason to own a SAK is because it has all the tools I need to get through a day in the city, or a day out in the woods.

[@simonh6371]

4 years on there is an alox model which fulfills both requirements, the Farmer X which is a Pioneer plus saw and scissors!