Many Christmasses ago, I was given a Swiss Champ as a gift and carried it for several months before realizing that it was just too large. I started to keep track of the blades I actually used and then matched them to a smaller knife. At one time or another, I have used every tool on the Explorer. The knife blades are self explanatory. The sizzors is tough enough for most duties. The magnifier is useful for reading fine print and checking plants for bugs. Corkscrew is used in BYOB restuarants, reamer for putting that extra hole in my belt after dinner.Both the bottle and can openers are easy to use (w/a little practice on the can opener). The wire stripper is useful when tinkering w/my stereo. It is surprising how often the phillips head is needed and it seems to fit all. As far as the color, I prefer black but red would probably be harder to loose when camping. I wish the new Explorer Plus came in black, I would purchace one. One complaint: what in the world does one use the hook for? It takes up space that could be used for a more useful blade. By the way, the position of all screwdrivers, including the phillips on the front of the knife make them that much more easy to use.

Many Christmasses ago, I was given a Swiss Champ as a gift and carried it for several months before realizing that it was just too large. I started to keep track of the blades I actually used and then matched them to a smaller knife. At one time or another, I have used every tool on the Explorer. The knife blades are self explanatory. The sizzors is tough enough for most duties. The magnifier is useful for reading fine print and checking plants for bugs. Corkscrew is used in BYOB restuarants, reamer for putting that extra hole in my belt after dinner.Both the bottle and can openers are easy to use (w/a little practice on the can opener). The wire stripper is useful when tinkering w/my stereo. It is surprising how often the phillips head is needed and it seems to fit all. As far as the color, I prefer black but red would probably be harder to loose when camping. I wish the new Explorer Plus came in black, I would purchace one. One complaint: what in the world does one use the hook for? It takes up space that could be used for a more useful blade. By the way, the position of all screwdrivers, including the phillips on the front of the knife make them that much more easy to use.