With fall approaching, there’s nothing more relaxing than taking a bike ride to a winery for an afternoon outing. From Maine to California, there’s no lack of beautiful country to bike through, and whether you head for a winery, or pack your own wine and cheese, you’ll want to plan adequately for maximum enjoyment.
There’s a pair of tools I recently discovered at Victorinox that are just right for the trip. Compact yet versatile, these two are definitely worth the space in your pannier.
Swiss Army Cheese Knife
I’ve regularly carried a Classic Swiss Army knife and have always been impressed with its versatility and its ability to keep a sharp blade. Being reasonable however, there’s no way the Classic with its two-inch blade is going to do an adequate job of cutting through a thick wheel of cheese. Enter the Swiss Army Cheese Knife.
Made specifically for this purpose, this knife offers two main blades – one for hard cheese and one for soft. Both are approximately four-inches long and do a great job on a variety of cheeses. Best of all, I like the feel of the knife in my hand, solid and very easily gripable. (Is that a word?)
The larger blade for hard cheese has a serrated edge, is really sharp and quite firm – easily cutting through any cheese I tried. This blade is lockable with a small lever on the knife’s side. The soft cheese blade has an open center framework with a less sharp blade – perfect for the softest of cheeses.
Add to the above, a spiral corkscrew to open that bottle of wine you’ve been pedaling so hard to reach. Filling out the knife are two Swiss Army Knife standards, a toothpick and tweezers.
If you consider giving this for a gift, the knife can be engraved at the factory and delivered in a gift bag. Check out the details at the Victorinox website.
Swiss Army Bike Tool
Nobody likes to break down, but there’s nothing worse than being broken down AND not having tools to do a simple repair. Everybody needs to be prepared for something to go wrong, because (like computers) it’s not a question of IF, it’s a question of WHEN. With that in mind, how can you be prepared for lots of potential issues without carrying your whole tool box?
Swiss Army has come up with their collection of essential repair tools and assembled them in the smallest possible form factor possible. It weighs less than 3.5 ounces and is under 4” long.
Despite its small size, it packs:
- A stainless steel bit adapter
- Allen wrench for rapid and powerful tightening and loosening of screws
- 8-Bits to fit the most common types of screws – straight, Phillips, hex and Torq
- A pair of tire levers made of impact-proof plastic for changing tires and tubes.
All those pack securely into an impact resistant plastic box with secure slots for each bit. The tire levers slide and lock into the sides of the unit.
This twelve function tool comes (like the Swiss Army Cheese Knife) with a lifetime warranty. Check it out at the official Victorinox website.
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