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New Rangers- SAKs or Multitools?

Details
Category: August 2008
Many of Wenger's NewRanger Swiss Army knives arguably fall into the multitool category due to having full-size pliers.  The pliers fold out of the knife.  The pliers are a moderate needlenose   (more needle than the Swisstools or the WengerGrip).  When closed, nothing sticks out  (unlike on the WengerGrip or PocketGrip).


They all have 4" locking blades, some of which are one-hand-opening.   The pliers can also be opened one-handed.   The saws (when present) are also 4" long.
All the flat screwdrivers lock automatically under pressure (and the lock releases automatically when the pressure is released).

The flagship of the NewRanger line is the Alinghi, which commemorates the Swiss America's Cup winner.
The Alinghi 176 has a one-hand-opening blade,  pliers, bottle opener/screwdriver, long screwdriver, marlinspike/shackle-opener/ruler, phillips, and awl.



The Alinghi 177 is similar, except for having a corkscrew and non-one-hand opening blade.

The NewRanger Touring 174  has blade, pliers, bottle-opener/screwdriver, can opener, Phillips, awl, and a standard bit driver, with a Phillips and flathead bit.
It is the 2008 "Patroullie de Galaciers" knife and seems to have very limited availability. Heidishop in Switzerland is the only seller I have found.

 


The NewRanger 70 "Electrician" has blade, pliers, metal file/saw, and Phillips.  Not sold in the US yet.

 


The NewRanger 73 "Handyman" has blade, pliers, bottle-opener/screwdriver, hooked blade, Phillips, and awl.



There is also the 75 with a can opener instead of the hooked blade,
and a 74 (in Europe) which is like the 75 but with a corkscrew instead of the Phillips.

The NewRanger 172 "Gardener" has blade" scissors, wood saw, and Phillips.



There is also a 71 with a non-serrated blade and a corkscrew instead of a Phillips (in Europe).

The NewRanger 58 "Hunter" has one-hand-opening blade, bottle-opener/screwdriver, can opener, wood saw, gutting blade.

There are additional models with fewer tools, some of which have pocket clips.
This starts to stray away from multi-tools into straight SAKs, so I'll stop here



Size comparison with the Victorinox One-Hand Trekker:



This article is adapted from a discussion in the forum at Multitool.org.