Hi All,

Can anyone please CONFIRM what was the most used SAK knife in the mac gyver episodes?

Was it the Tinker or Spartan?

There are sections in this site that say the Spartan, other sections that say the Tinker. I also found other websites that say that the Tinker and Huntsman were the most used, while other websites say it was the Spartan...

Thanks.

I think the jury's still out on this topic. Unless the 16 or some odd knives can be ID'd in the unlnown catagory, it's really anyone's guess at this point. I like to think it's a Tinker, but that's only because that's the one I used most days.

Kev

Precisely. We still have some to be ID'd, but let me give you a little rundown of things here to better answer your question since a lot of people seem to be interested in this. Back before I compiled my list, someone had written in the wikipedia entry that it was the Huntsman. I knew this to be false so I edited it, and I started a notepad document to compile an accurate list. Throughout the two or three years that I recorded MacGyver on VHS between 2000 and 2003 I had bought any knife I could tell he used, but I never had made a list. As my list came together I edited wikipedia to include all the knives. This proved a mistake as people kept vandalizing the list, or at least editing it to whatever their favorite knife was, so I fought an uphill battle to keep updating it. Finally I submitted my list to Rocky once I had watched all the episodes that were online at the time (my VHS collection having gotten ruined, unfortunately). My hope was that other people with a trained eye could contribute as well, and that's what has happened- thanks to all who have carried on my work .

I realized my wiki contributions were too technical, so I actually just took it ALL down. The moderators/administrators had already flagged it as overly technical/needing verification. I decided all the better if the only list out there was on MOL, that would draw the people who care that much to the community

The lists you see floating around out there on other sites are just copies of what was on wikipedia over the last 2-3 years. It's kind of funny to think that many people cared enough to copy it.

Again, until someone views the unidentified knives and catalogs them (hopefully accurately, I trust Rocky is updating the list only with input from trusted members), we won't all know for sure. If I had a guess, I think the Spartan may win it out in the end just because he used it for nearly the last half of the show, while the first half of the show he was changing it up quite often. That's an over generalization, but it's my opinion that the Tinker is more useful regardless of what MacGyver used slightly more. I used the SAK corkscrew to open a bottle of wine once and I'll say that the phillips screwdriver is a better phillips than the corkscrew is a corkscrew

I think it's going to be a pretty close number in the end on which one was used more. If someone wants to buy me the series on DVD I'll settle this once and for all

Thanks perfectlykevin and MacDriver...

Yes you are both right I guess... By the way, a real thanks for the very detailed explanation MacDriver...

Yes I perfectly agree... 100%

I often watch those episodes categorized as unidentified as regards to SAK used, however I cannot identify any of them properly unfortunately...

cheers

First of all, that's a beautiful second list you compiled, Rock, of most used SAK's (perhaps I noticed it a long time after you did it, but I just saw it tonight). Second, I hate to throw this out there since it's already convoluted as all heck to begin with, but I forgot about this issue with the 84mm/91mm 2 layer knives with corkscrews. The simple truth is we will never know. To lay them out on a table, with the blades closed, you cannot tell the difference between a Spartan, Tourist, Weekender (orange-ish handles), Sportsman, and the Standard (well, I guess no key ring or toothpick/tweezers). I suppose the Weekender and Standard can be distinguished then, but the other three are still interchangeable. It would be a matter of going to the trouble of discerning the size of the knife relative to Mac's hands or something. The 84mm Tourist and Soortsman would obviously be smaller. What I am getting at is that some of the knives we are counting as Spartans may have been Tourists. Same exact knife, just scaled down slightly smaller. That would stand to possibly bump the Tinker but up into the lead.

Here's another interesting take on it. MacGyver seemed to use something for awhile, maybe a cluster of a few episodes, and then stop using it. That should make it a little easier, if say in episodes around Lost Love (where we know it was the Sportsman) he uses a 2 layer knife with a corkscrew, then it's pretty obvious it's probably the Sportsman in those adjacent episodes as well. I have a theory on why that may have happened. I wonder if RDA started to actually carry the knives with him after awhile. If they really showed up to each shoot with a big display case and all of the models and chose one at random, you wouldn't see that pattern of "order" or "clustering" emerge the way that it did on the list. It's possible that in the chaos of filming, moving from set to set, that there was just a box or something somewhere with miscellaneous props and there were only a few knives in it. They allegedly got a "gross" of knives (144?) at the beginning of each season, according to RDA. It would be interesting to hear how they managed props and so forth.

Also, when the new 111mm line was introduced, I may be wrong here, but I thought I checked the date and Mac used them before they hit stores in the USA. So at some point in the series Vic may have started to want to get their name and new products out there and influence what was used on the show. They also may have later in the show created some pressure and said "If you use the corkscrew models people can more easily associate that with SAKs and recognize what it is." That could explain the sudden obsession with the Spartan in the last couple of seasons. The custom SAKs also appeared later as well. Like if you look at the knife he has in the beginning, the Tinker, it is actually kind of beat up like they used an old knife, or used the same one repeatedly. A prime case being that as he is tied up in The Golden Triangle the toothpick and tweezers were missing if I remember right and it was beat up. His line in the pilot about "don't lose that knife" made it sound like they were originally trying to depict an image of Mac having his same old trusty knife forever. As time goes on though, it starts to look like he has so many he could lose some and never miss them- and he did exactly that. They never show him go back in Tough Boys or Cease Fire and retrieve his knife, you just assume he buys a new one. Doesn't sound like "Pilot" MacGyver anymore. Well that's just more food for thought, yet again I managed to type a considerably longer post than I intended.

Very detailed and interesting post indeed MacDriver...

So from what you are saying, since the Tinker model is easily distinguished by having a 2-layer and a Philips, it could really possibly be the most used SAK throughout all the episodes...

Yes indeed you are right. They never showed Mac going back to retrieve his knife once he lost it. However in one particular episode "Cease Fire", he lost his knife in the water while running away with the girl on a boat and then at the end of the episode he asks if anyone has a knife in order to cut the tape and drop the bomb down...

Then again, in other episodes, it seems that he has a battery of knives to choose from and that he could care less if he lost one because he would just choose another...

Personally, I like the Tinker model however I heard many comments even from friends of mine that, according to them, unless a SAK has a corkscrew, it cannot be really called a SAK. Maybe because the original knives had a corkscrew?!?

Also, I found this site where a particular guy wrote to Victorinox asking for the most used SAK in Mac Gyver and they replied as follows:

So, there you are... Any opinions on this?

Well I think the fact that he cited the Huntsman is a dead giveaway that he wasn't necessarily in the loop. I mean, how would Victorinox know what he used and how many times unless the show went out of its way to send a report. MacGyver (the production) was just given a shipment of an array of knives.

After looking at that list again, it's a matter of splitting hairs. If you say Spartan vs Tinker then the TInker may have a shot, but if you consider the "Standard" a Spartan as well (It is literally the same array of blades) then it's no contest, the Spartan (and slight variations of it) outnumber the Tinker by like 2:1. I also forgot that there is the Large and Small Tinker, so you have the same thing going on with those knives and not being able to get a really dead on figure. WOuld it have been the props department determining this? I wonder if I could make a call, obviously not to "settle" anything, I am just really really curious how they decided which knife to give him, and who selected it.

Maybe most of that array of knives included a Tinker and a Huntsman model... That's why the Victorinox representative quoted these 2 knives as the most used knives...

I would do it if I were you. I mean if I could do it myself I would do it for sure but I guess the rates here are quite expensive for such a call... Don't know your rates...

Edit: Just sent an email to Victorinox and waiting for a reply from them (hopefully)...



This post has been edited by bert003 on 21 April 2011 - 06:06 AM

Here is an update guys... Victorinox answered back...

any opinions on this?

It seems the Huntsman model is the SAK most mentioned here...

Interesting, they always dispense the same block of text to people inquiring about MacGyver. I'm afraid it's been so long we just need to trust our eyes watching the show more than an email that's been constructed by people who may or may not have even had contact with the Victorinox employees that had direct contact with the show.

Yes I agree MacDriver. According to them (and the email), it seems MacGyver always carried the same knife model, which is not true...

One thing I noticed though is that in the majority of the sites I checked about MacGyver, the Tinker model is mentioned as the one most used throughout the show. However, in this site, we have the Spartan on top.

I just wish one day we could have foolproof details of the most used SAK but until all knives are identified I guess this will not be possible...