So I got my first ever Swiss Army Knife 2 months ago. It’s a Victorinox Huntsman with 14 tools (the one with the saw). I have not used it extensively yet, but I wipe it clean every time I use it.
I’m not aware of when and how often I should oil the moving parts and things like that. I would like to keep this knife in working condition for as long as I can.
Buy a cheap one every few years, treat it like shit, recycle it when it’s dead.
It’s sad that it’s less work and less expense to re-buy an inferior product in many cases. Especially kitchen knives. Razor sharp $1 knives at the dollar store are much less expensive over a lifetime than one nice $100 knife (that can’t go in the dishwasher). Same goes for socket wrenches.
Once you learn maintenance it’s not bad at all. You can keep that same 1$ going for a decade with a 4$ sharpening stone. The 100$ for decades and have a much better time doing so. Plus learn to hone your knives and you will need to rarely sharpen them. Hone it once for 30 seconds before a meal and that’s it for about 4-6 months if you have a decent knife.
I have tons of stuff that’s old as hell that I keep in excellent shape by doing some very basic maintenance. A 50 year old kitchen mixer needed some new grease and that’s all it will need for 10 or so more years. Almost all the tools I own and use are 40-50 years old, it just takes a little ingenuity and love to keep them going. Though much of it is my pride refusing to let me throw away a gold tool, even if it needs a little work.
I’d argue that properly maintained tools maintain for life…when you use it constantly the value in proper tools is absolutely worth it… .if you use it a couple times a year, fuck it go with harbor freight.