Sagebrush Trails

Main blade, nail file with screwdriver tip, scissors, tweezers, and toothpick: the Victorinox Classic SD Swiss Army Knife is a marvel of design in a lightweight form factor respected by long distance hikers. I do not really need the toothpick, though, so can something else go in that slot? The plastic toothpick is roughly 1.75 inches long x 0.12 inches wide x 0.047 inches thick.

FireSteel.com sells blank rods of ferrocerrium in various sizes, including the FireSteel Tiny, 1/8 x 2 inches, at less than US$1.00 per rod. 1/8 inch is close to the width of the toothpick, so we just need to grind down one side flat, grind down most of the opposite side to a thickness of 0.047 inches. We must leave a thick tip at one end as with the plastic toothpick, to allow fingers to remove the gadget from the handle of the knife.

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