I've always wished that these SAKs, and multitools as well, would be offered in some variety WITHOUT a knife blade. I always carry a larger and better knife separately. The blades on most SAKs don't lock, and are rather cheap IMHO. And the ones on multitools are about the most un-ergonomic things in existence.
To be honest, I also prefer carrying a stronger folding knife separately (usually a Spyderco Endura or Benchmade Griptilian). However, the knife blades found on a SAK tend to be every bit as good as those on multitools, plus there is the advantage of better ergonomics as noted already.
The SAK has been around for a long time, it doesn't look all that tacticool in this day and age and rarely gets the credit it deserves. Nevertheless, the folks at Victorinox (and Wenger) know their stuff. Their blades are tempered a tiny bit softer than some of the high-end competition but the steel is good - it takes a very fine edge and is easy to resharpen. Also, the flat grind with almost no secondary bevel to speak of offers excellent cutting performance.
The SAK may not be the toughest uberfolder in existence. However, as a cutting tool it will easily outperform most modern tactical knives, simply due to its thinner edge geometry. A friend of mine actually uses a couple of slightly reground SAKs as carving knives, with pretty awesome results. So all in all, the good old SAK is a well thought out tool and still a very worthy addition to anyone's "survival" arsenal.