VICTORINOX knives 1884- present SWISS ARMY KNIVES

[Papa Bones]

DBC2440D-33F4-4F8A-895C-5509D7C62B92.jpeg455509EF-0227-4628-9948-C99B847DD588.jpeg

My latest Tinker!!
John

I like that John!! Now you done flung a cravin' on me!!

[doglegg]

DBC2440D-33F4-4F8A-895C-5509D7C62B92.jpeg455509EF-0227-4628-9948-C99B847DD588.jpeg

My latest Tinker!!
John

Cool knife.

[Old Folder]

If you lived in Southern California in 1965 and you were in High School, and you wore a "Pendleton" shirt and rode a "Honda CB 160" motorcycle with a 16.5 HP Engine to school, than you most likely were very popular.

However, my shirts were most likely from Sears, or JC Penny. I rode my below pictured 1959 "Cushman Eagle Scooter," (Not to school) It had a whopping 8 HP Engine. Most current "Briggs & Strathern" Gas Lawn Push Mowers have 4.5 to 5.5 HP engine.

Honda and Cushman have nothing to do with Swiss Army Knives of course, however, Pendleton Victorinox knives do.
Pendleton's most recent Victorinox Knives are very beautiful little works of "Visual Art." (Along with the below Pendleton Model.)

Victorinox "American Treasures" Spartan Knife. 91mm (3.58" closed.)

As SAKWiki puts it, the Spartan is probably the most common and best-known 91mm SAK. It is essentially a modern version of the original officer’s knife from 1897. With a large and small blade, cap lifter and can opener, and awl and corkscrew, the Spartan is pretty much a base model of the 91mm SAK. It remains immensely popular.


Victorinox "Tucson Classic RedKnife" is a Classic SD pattern. (2.5" closed.)

If you want something tiny, the Classic SD is your best bet. This model may very well be the best-selling knife on Earth. It is small and simple and fits right on the keychain. It has a small blade, nail file, scissors, toothpick, tweezers, and a keyring. In terms of SAKs, there’s not much more you need than this knife.
The best part is that it comes in tons of variations, from giraffe and US flag scales to Alox and barleycorn sterling silver.

There are not too many AAPK members posting Victorinox or Wenger knives within our little gathering here. I am also guilty of that, I believe this is my first posting of Victorinox within the "VICTORINOX knives 1884- present SWISS ARMY KNIVES" forum.
I will correct that, I have many to share on future posts.

By the way, in Sept 1970 after returning home from Military Service, while working I also went to college on the GI Bill and purchased a "Honda 750 4 cylinder" in 1974 I believe. Not a Super Bike by any means, but it would put tears in your eyes. (And yes, I rode it to School.)


Below is an excellent 4:38 minute video on the production process of the 45,000 pocket knives that Victorinox makes each day.
https://www.businessinsider.com/swiss-a ... 019-9?op=1


Dan

[jmh58]

Real KOOL Dan!!! Love the Cushman!!! Someday..
John

[jmh58]

DBC2440D-33F4-4F8A-895C-5509D7C62B92.jpeg455509EF-0227-4628-9948-C99B847DD588.jpeg

My latest Tinker!!
John

I like that John!! Now you done flung a cravin' on me!!

Glad to see I could be of help Smitty!!! Any time..
John

[kootenay joe]

Here are my "Classic SD" knives. What does the "SD" stand for ?
One of them does not have the loop to attach to key ring and looks like it was made this way ?
The Alox ones are very slender but lack the pick & tweezers
If anyone is interested in buying all of these please let me know. I realize that these are so common that value is low.
kj

[kootenay joe]

Here is one that is 2 1/2", which is 1/4" longer than the Classic. On the back handle is a reflective piece of metal at one end. What is the purpose ? It does not reflect clearly enough to be a mirror.
kj

[kootenay joe]

And here is a "Tiffany & Co. Sterling Classic.
And here is one the same 2 1/2" size as the Classic but it has 8 blades/tools !
kj

[kootenay joe]

Is this 3 5/8" Alox Wenger Delemont a "Pioneer" ?
kj

[kootenay joe]

And here is a 2 1/4" Victorinox with a retractable ball point pen. What is the function of the forked tool beside the master blade ? Is it for getting a golf tee out of the ground ? And then recording your number of strokes with the pen ? i.e. a Golfer's knife ?
kj

[jmh58]

kj. You have been posting some droll worthy SAKs.
John

[kootenay joe]

kj. You have been posting some droll worthy SAKs.
John

Thank you John. If you know anyone who would like to have them please let me know. I need to pass them along to their next owner.
kj

[Old Folder]

Real KOOL Dan!!! Love the Cushman!!! Someday..
John

Thank you John.
I wish I would have kept the Cushman. I'd have a lot of moola for more knives.
I recall being pulled over a couple time by Traffic Officers, not for traffic violations, they just wanted to see if I was "Street Legal."

Dan

[Old Folder]

Here are my "Classic SD" knives. What does the "SD" stand for ?
One of them does not have the loop to attach to key ring and looks like it was made this way ?
The Alox ones are very slender but lack the pick & tweezers
If anyone is interested in buying all of these please let me know. I realize that these are so common that value is low.
kj

Hi Roland;

Excellent Question Roland, the Victorinox Classic is the most common Swiss Army Knife worldwide, and is considered the standard (or base) 58mm model.
It comes in two main variations - The Classic, which has a nail cleaner tip on the end of the file (bottom photo) and the Classic SD (top photo), which has a Screw Driver tip on the nail file tool. (Therefore: "SD" = Screw Driver)
The Classic SD is often referred to as the Classic, although technically it is a (if not the more,) common variation.

Victorinox Classic and Classic SD.jpg (51.8 KiB) Viewed 5856 times

Dan

[kootenay joe]

Dan, thank you very much for explaining the main 2 variations of the Victorinox Classic.
kj

[Dan In MI]

Roland, you have a wonderful collection of SAKs! My fellow Dan beat me to the punch with the "SD" explanation, but I can provide more information on some others. (Warning: this will be kind of a long post.)

The little 58mm Victorinox with no split ring has been variously known as the Bijou and Commander. The white one with the GE logo is a Caddy; its funny little forked tool is a "divot repair tool." As I'm not a golfer, I've now idea how, when, or why to use it.

The little Victorinox with eight tools is a MiniChamp. The first iteration of the MiniChamp lacked the cap lifter/Phillips screwdriver combo tool. After that tool was added, it went through a few changes: first a toothpick, then a removable pen, and finally a retractable pen. Which does yours have?

The one with the silver bit is a Wenger Esquire. I suspect the silver piece was added by a previous owner. As tor the Alox Wenger, it sure looks like a Swiss soldier's knife, especially with the Victorinox-style can opener. Knives made for issue by the Swiss Army often have the year stamped on the pile side of the blade tang. Does yours have a year?

[jerryd6818]

The white one with the GE logo is a Caddy; its funny little forked tool is a "divot repair tool." As I'm not a golfer, I've now idea how, when, or why to use it.

Use it for a pickle fork.

[Dan In MI]

Use it for a pickle fork.

Roland's Caddy is too nice to alter, but that's a great idea for a mod. It'll remain an idea for now, as I'm not skilled enough to reprofile or sharpen that divot tool.

[jerryd6818]

Use it for a pickle fork.

Roland's Caddy is too nice to alter, but that's a great idea for a mod. It'll remain an idea for now, as I'm not skilled enough to reprofile or sharpen that divot tool.

I've been considering (for quite some time) getting a Case mini-trapper with a divot tool blade to add to my mini-trapper pile. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like you wouldn't need to do anything with that blade but stab a pickle. Not so??

[Dan In MI]

I've been considering (for quite some time) getting a Case mini-trapper with a divot tool blade to add to my mini-trapper pile. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like you wouldn't need to do anything with that blade but stab a pickle. Not so??

My knowledge of things golf is rather limited, but I believe the divot tool is used to smooth out golf balls. So I'd think its tips wouldn't be overly sharpened. It may work as a pickle fork as-is; I just can't say one way or the other.

Frankly, I'm surprised you don't have a Mini Trapper with a divot tool. Perhaps Q does. I'm half convinced that one of every 07 variation ever made is owned by one or both of you!

[jerryd6818]

I've been considering (for quite some time) getting a Case mini-trapper with a divot tool blade to add to my mini-trapper pile. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like you wouldn't need to do anything with that blade but stab a pickle. Not so??

My knowledge of things golf is rather limited, but I believe the divot tool is used to smooth out golf balls. So I'd think its tips wouldn't be overly sharpened. It may work as a pickle fork as-is; I just can't say one way or the other.

Frankly, I'm surprised you don't have a Mini Trapper with a divot tool. Perhaps Q does. I'm half convinced that one of every 07 variation ever made is owned by one or both of you!

From what I know about golf (I've only played less than a dozen times & that was when I wore a much younger man's clothes) the divot tool is used to replace the divots that hackers like me tear up the course with.

A mini-trapper has been on my contemplation list for quite some time but I don't have one because it's so far down the list that it's easily replaced with something I really want. I'm sure that ~Q~ has a few. He has EVERYTHING. That's admiration talking, not envy.

[kootenay joe]

Roland, you have a wonderful collection of SAKs! My fellow Dan beat me to the punch with the "SD" explanation, but I can provide more information on some others. (Warning: this will be kind of a long post.)

The little 58mm Victorinox with no split ring has been variously known as the Bijou and Commander. The white one with the GE logo is a Caddy; its funny little forked tool is a "divot repair tool." As I'm not a golfer, I've now idea how, when, or why to use it.

The little Victorinox with eight tools is a MiniChamp. The first iteration of the MiniChamp lacked the cap lifter/Phillips screwdriver combo tool. After that tool was added, it went through a few changes: first a toothpick, then a removable pen, and finally a retractable pen. Which does yours have?

The one with the silver bit is a Wenger Esquire. I suspect the silver piece was added by a previous owner. As tor the Alox Wenger, it sure looks like a Swiss soldier's knife, especially with the Victorinox-style can opener. Knives made for issue by the Swiss Army often have the year stamped on the pile side of the blade tang. Does yours have a year?

Dan, Thank you for answering every question i asked. There is a huge amount that can be known about the SAK's.
My "Mini-Champ" likely had a toothpick. The tweezers are present but the other end slot is empty. I tried to insert a toothpick from a Classic but it is just a slight hair too wide to slide in without being forced. Maybe the Mini-Champ has it's own unique size toothpick even though in length it is exactly the same size as the Classic ?
This Alox Wenger Soldier does not have a date on back tang. I once saw a discussion of these and i think the ones with this kind of bail are older than those marked with year date ? I was surprised to read that certain minor variations of this knife are a bit rare and those who specifically collect this pattern will pay handsomely for certain ones. I don't know if mine is a 'valuable' one. SAK collecting is a special sub-section of knife collecting and those involved know all the little details. The rest of us are mostly clueless.
I really appreciate you sharing your SAK knowledge.
roland

[TPK]

I just recieved this cool DLT Trading Exclusive Victorinox Classic SD the other day in a Bomb package from Dan. Thanks Buddy!

I'll have to do some research on the design. Seems to have to do with a plane. The Star reminds me of the Air Force. Anyone already know the answer? Dan

Thanks for looking friends!

Tom KGFG

[Dan In MI]

The tweezers are present but the other end slot is empty. I tried to insert a toothpick from a Classic but it is just a slight hair too wide to slide in without being forced.

That description fits with a removable pen. Toothpicks and tweezers can be inserted in the same slot. The pen slot is a little smaller. Hopefully the below photos will clearly show the difference in size.

Happy to have shared some knowledge!

I'll have to do some research on the design.

Likely it was inspired by the P-40 Warhawk.

http://www.warbirdalley.com/p40.htm

[TPK]

The tweezers are present but the other end slot is empty. I tried to insert a toothpick from a Classic but it is just a slight hair too wide to slide in without being forced.

That description fits with a removable pen. Toothpicks and tweezers can be inserted in the same slot. The pen slot is a little smaller. Hopefully the below photos will clearly show the difference in size.
Happy to have shared some knowledge!

I'll have to do some research on the design.

Likely it was inspired by the P-40 Warhawk.
http://www.warbirdalley.com/p40.htm

Thanks for the info!