Victorinox Collection
Penknives have been an essential part of every adventurers kit since time in memorial. Also known as Pocket knives or Jack knives, depending upon where you are from, these small, folding-blade knives have been around for over 2000 years (according to Wikipedia – search Pocketknife). Over time they have been developed and refined. Victorinox are, in my opinion the world leaders in penknives.
I now have four in my personal collection, and seemed to have acquired one each decade since the 1980’s. They are as follows:
- Two Blade – currently called the Excelsior (1980’s)
- Swiss Champ with SOS Kit (1990’s)
- Original Cybertool (2000’s)
- Traveller Lite (2010’s)
- Classic SD – Transparent Fire Opal (2020’s)
2 bladed knife from the 1980’s
The little two bladed knife was a present from my Dad, who was given it by a customer of his but had no use for it so he gave it to me. It saw me through my school life, and the small blade has a chunk taken out of it near the tip. Its metal scales (outer case) bear the hallmark scars of something that has been battered by coins and pocket litter over the years, but is still very red and shiny. It was a great starter knife.
The next knife I acquired, in the early 1990’s, was a world away from my twin bladed starter. It was the Victorinox Swiss Champ, and I purchased it in the form of the ‘SOS Kit’. The kit came with a large leather case, which has two interior compartments, each with its own individual flap closed with Velcro. One compartment holds the knife, and the other holds a variety of accessories. There are also two smaller pockets on each side of the case. One holds a Mini Mag-lite (supplied with the kit), the other holds a slim sharpening stone. The case has a belt loop, which is very useful because the whole thing is not exactly pocket sized. The knife itself was the top of the range at the time. It even has an analogue clock built into the scale. This was my first proper Swiss Army Knife. It has everything on it from a magnifying glass to a fish scaler. It has been around the world with me, and used to travel in my hand luggage until the world of air travel changed thanks to events in 2001, and it now has to travel in my checked bags. One of its most recent uses was when I used the pliers, to open a connecting hotel room door when people in the connecting room had lost their keys! One of the accessories is a ruler with a compass at one end, a magnifying glass in the middle and a thermometer at the other end. In Bangladesh in 1995, the Thermometer, an accessory in the SOS kit, got up to over 50 degrees C – in the shade. The knife and whole kit are still in excellent shape, although I have had to replace the spring in the scissors, and one of the scales is slightly battered as it has doubled as a hammer on occasion.
The third addition to my Victorinox collection was a purchase inspired by career choice. It was purchased in the early 2000’s and is the aptly named ‘Cyber Tool’. Designed for people who work in the IT business, this is my most used knife. It is now almost 20 years old. I have replaced the scissor spring as well as some of the torx bits, but aside from that its still going strong. The version I have was the original 34 function version (they released a 29 function one at the same time which had no pliers, scissors or hook). It has proved invaluable as a tool and has helped me fix more computers than I care to mention. As of 2021 this is known as the CyberTool M.
My fourth knife is the ‘Traveller Lite’. I got this in 2019, when Ford & Field became Victorinox resellers. This has a 7 feature LCD display on one of the scales, controlled by pressing the Victorinox logo, which cunningly doubles as a button. It gives you the Time, the Altitude, temperature plus an alarm, stopwatch, timer and Barometer. On top of the electronic features, it has 20 functions including an LED torch, so does require 2 batteries – one for the torch and one for the display. Not the cheapest knife (this costs £145), but it feels great and does everything it says on the tin.
The SOS kit goes everywhere I go, even today. The Traveller Lite generally stays in the car, Even though all of these are classed as ‘Knives’, I have made more use out of the pliers, scissors and screwdrivers than the actual blades, certainly on the Swiss Champ and Cyber Tool. I would recommend everyone own’s one of these little beauties. They are available online at Ford & Field, where they carry a modest range of some of the most useful knives.
Remember that in the UK, it is illegal to: “carry a knife in public without good reason, unless it has a folding blade with a cutting edge 3 inches long or less”. Please remember, these are tools and not weapons. If you do use one, practice good knife safety. Below are some useful links to laws and safety:
UK Government guidance can be found by clicking here. (correct as of November 2023).
Click here for Victorinox Nine Safety Rules. (correct as of November 2023)
Posted 20th January 2021