Swiss Army knife
The Swiss Army knife is a pocketknife, generally multi-tooled, now manufactured by Victorinox. The term "Swiss Army knife" was coined by American soldiers after World War II because they had trouble pronouncing the German word "Offiziersmesser", meaning "Officer's knife".
The Swiss Army knife generally has a drop-point main blade plus other types of blades and tools, such as a screwdriver, a can opener, a saw blade, a pair of scissors, and many others. These are folded into the handle of the knife through a pivot point mechanism. The handle is traditionally a red colour, with either a Victorinox or Wenger "cross" logo or, for Swiss military issue knives, the coat of arms of Switzerland. Other colours, textures, and shapes have appeared over the years.
Originating in Ibach, Switzerland, the Swiss Army knife was first produced in 1891 when the Karl Elsener company, which later became Victorinox, won the contract to produce the Swiss Army's Modell 1890 knife from the previous German manufacturer. In 1893, the Swiss cutlery company Paul Boéchat & Cie, which later became Wenger SA, received its first contract from the Swiss military to produce model 1890 knives; the two companies split the initial contract for provision of the knives and operated as separate enterprises from 1908. In 2005 Victorinox acquired Wenger. As an icon of the culture of Switzerland, both the design and the versatility of the knife have worldwide recognition.
History
Origins
The Swiss Army Knife was not the first multi-use pocket knife. In 1851, in Moby-Dick, Herman Melville mentions the "Sheffield contrivances, assuming the exterior – though a little swelled – of a common pocket knife; but containing, not only blades of various sizes, but also screwdrivers, cork-screws, tweezers, bradawls, pens, rulers, nail files and countersinkers."During the late 1880s, the Swiss Army decided to purchase a new folding pocket knife for their soldiers. This knife was to be suitable for use by the army in opening canned food and for maintenance of the Swiss service rifle, the Schmidt–Rubin, which required a screwdriver for assembly and disassembly.
In January 1891, the knife received the official designation Modell 1890. The knife had a blade, reamer, can opener, screwdriver, and grips made out of dark oak wood that some say was later partly replaced with ebony wood. At that time no Swiss company had the necessary production capacity, so the initial order for 15,000 knives was placed with the German knife manufacturer Wester & Co. from Solingen, Germany. These knives were delivered in October 1891.
In 1891, Karl Elsener, then owner of a company that made surgical equipment, set out to manufacture the knives in Switzerland itself. At the end of 1891 Elsener began production of the Modell 1890 knives, in direct competition with the Solingen company. He incurred financial losses doing so, as Wester & Co was able to produce the knives at a lower cost.
Elsener was on the verge of bankruptcy when, in 1896, he developed an improved knife, intended for the use by officers, with tools attached on both sides of the handle using a special spring mechanism, allowing him to use the same spring to hold them in place.
This new knife was patented on 12 June 1897, with a second, smaller cutting blade, a corkscrew, and wood fibre grips, under the name of Schweizer Offiziers- und Sportmesser. While the Swiss military did not commission the knife, it was successfully marketed internationally, restoring Elsener's company to prosperity.
Elsener used a variation on the Swiss coat of arms to identify his knives beginning in 1909. With slight modifications, this is still the company logo. Also in 1909, on the death of his mother, Elsener used his mother's name Victoria, as a brand name, in her honour. In 1921 following the invention of stainless steel, Karl Elsener's son renamed the company to be Victorinox combining Victoria and inoxydable.
In 1893 the second industrial cutler of Switzerland, Paul Boéchat & Cie, headquartered in Delémont in the French-speaking region of Jura, started selling a similar product. Its general manager, Théodore Wenger, acquired the company and renamed it the Wenger Company.
Victorinox and Wenger
In 1908 the Swiss government split the contract between Victorinox and Wenger, placing half the orders with each.By mutual agreement, Wenger advertised "the Genuine Swiss Army Knife" and Victorinox used the slogan, "the Original Swiss Army Knife".
On 26 April 2005, Victorinox acquired Wenger, once again becoming the sole supplier of knives to the military of Switzerland. Victorinox at first kept the Wenger brand intact, but on 30 January 2013, the company announced that the Wenger brand of knives would be abandoned in favour of Victorinox.
The press release stated that Wenger's factory in Delémont would continue to produce knives and all employees at this site will retain their jobs. They further elaborated that an assortment of items from the Wenger line-up will remain in production under the Victorinox brand name. Wenger's US headquarters will be merged with Victorinox's location in Monroe, Connecticut. Wenger's watch and licensing business will continue as a separate brand: SwissGear.
Up until 2008 Victorinox AG and Wenger SA supplied about 50,000 knives to the military of Switzerland each year, and manufactured many more for export, mostly to the United States. Commercial knives can be distinguished by their cross logos; the Victorinox cross logo is surrounded by a shield while the Wenger cross logo is surrounded by a slightly rounded square.
Victorinox registered the words "Swiss Army" and "Swiss Military" as a trademark in the US and was sued at Bern cantonal commercial court by the Swiss Confederacy, in October 2018.
After an initial hearing Victorinox agreed to cede the registration in the United States of the term "Swiss military" to Armasuisse in return for an exclusive licence to market perfumes under the same name.
Features
Components
There are various models of the Swiss Army knife with different tool combinations.Though Victorinox does not provide custom knives, they have produced many different variations to suit individual users, with the Wenger company producing even more model variations.
Common main layer tools
- Large blade
- * With 'VICTORINOX SWISS MADE' tang stamp on Victorinox blades since 2005
- Small blade
- Nail file
- Scissors
- * Sharpened to a 65° angle
- Wood saw
- Metal file or metal saw with nail file
- Magnifying glass
- Phillips screwdriver
- Fish scaler / hook disgorger / ruler in cm and inches
- Pliers / wire cutter / wire crimper
- Can opener / 3 mm slot screwdriver
- Bottle opener / 6 mm slot screwdriver with wire stripper
Other main layer tools
- LED light
- USB flash drive
- Hoof cleaner
- Shackle opener / marlinspike
- Electrician's blade / wire scraper
- Pruning blade
- Pharmaceutical spatula
- Cyber Tool
- Combination tool containing cap opener / can opener / 5 mm slot screwdriver with wire stripper
Back layer tools
- Corkscrew or Phillips driver
- Reamer
- Multipurpose hook with nail file
- 2mm slotted screwdriver
- Chisel
- Mini screwdriver
- Keyring
Scale tools
- Tweezers
- Toothpick
- Pressurised ballpoint pen
- Stainless steel pin
- Digital clock / alarm / timer / altimeter / thermometer / barometer
In January 2010, Victorinox announced the Presentation Master models, released in April 2010. The technological tools included a laser pointer, and detachable flash drive with fingerprint reader. Victorinox now sells an updated version called the Slim Jetsetter, with "a premium software package that provides ultra secure data encryption, automatic backup functionality, secure web surfing capabilities, file and email synchronization between the drive and multiple computers, Bluetooth pairing and much more. On the hardware side of things, biometric fingerprint technology, laser pointers, LED lights, Bluetooth remote control and of course, the original implements – blade, scissors, nail file, screwdriver, key ring and ballpoint pen are standard. **Not every feature is available on every model within the collection."
In 2006, Wenger produced a knife called "The Giant" that included every implement the company ever made, with 87 tools and 141 different functions. It was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most multifunctional penknife. It retails for about €798 or $US1000, though some vendors charge much higher prices.
In the same year, Victorinox released the SwissChamp XAVT, consisting of 118 parts and 80 functions with a retail price of $425. The Guinness Book of Records recognizes a unique 314-blade Swiss Army-style knife made in 1991 by Master Cutler Hans Meister as the world's largest penknife, weighing.
Materials
s and flanged bushings made from brass hold together all machined steel parts and other tools, separators and the scales. The rivets are made by cutting and pointing appropriately sized bars of solid brass.The separators between the tools have been made from aluminium alloy since 1951. This makes the knives lighter. Previously these separating layers were made of nickel-silver.
The martensitic stainless steel alloy used for the cutting blades is optimized for high toughness and corrosion resistance and has a composition of 15% chromium, 0.60% silicon, 0.52% carbon, 0.50% molybdenum, and 0.45% manganese and is designated X55CrMo14 or DIN 1.4110 according to Victorinox. After a hardening process at 1040 °C and annealing at 160 °C the blades achieve an average hardness of 56 HRC. This steel hardness is suitable for practical use and easy resharpening, but less than achieved in stainless steel alloys used for blades optimized for high wear resistance. According to Victorinox the martensitic stainless steel alloy used for the other parts is X39Cr13 and for the springs X20Cr13.
The steel used for the wood saws, scissors and nail files has a steel hardness of HRC 53, the screwdrivers, tin openers and awls have a hardness of HRC 52, and the corkscrew and springs have a hardness of HRC 49.
The metal saws and files, in addition to the special case hardening, are also subjected to a hard chromium plating process so that iron and steel can also be filed and cut.
Although red Cellulose Acetate Butyrate scaled Swiss Army knives are most common, there are many colors and alternative materials like more resilient nylon and aluminum for the scales available. Many textures, colors and shapes now appear in the. Since 2006 the scales on some knife models can have textured rubber non-slip inlays incorporated, intended for sufficient grip with moist or wet hands. The rubber also provides some impact protection for such edged scales. Modifications have been made, including professionally produced custom models combining novel materials, colors, finishes and occasionally new tools such as firesteels or tool 'blades' mounting replaceable surgical scalpel blades to replacement of standard scales with new versions in natural materials such as buffalo horn. In addition to 'limited edition' productions runs, numerous examples from basic to professional-level customizations of standard knives—such as retrofitting pocket clips, one-off scales created using 3D printing techniques, decoration using anodization and new scale materials—can be found by searching for "SAK mods".