Interesting comments (re: mods to the standard plastic-handled SAK).

I have taken the plastic handles off a few, and put them on a buffing wheel to smooth out the rough edges. Makes them very svelte in the pocket of my suit pants (where a bulge might give the wrong impression :-).

But in my (admittedly limited) experience, they feel considerably less sturdy without the plastic handles when cutting etc. Maybe that's subjective; I haven't pushed one to the point of failure.

One of these days I might put on some heavy duty gloves and sacrifice a cheap/old one "in the interests of science."