Swiss Army knife
A
Swiss Army knife (
SAK) is a multifunction
hand tool. Generally speaking, a Swiss Army knife sports a blade as well as various tools, such as screwdrivers and can openers. These attachments are stowed inside the handle of the knife through a pivot point mechanism. The handle is usually red, and features a white cross, the emblem of
Switzerland. The knife model that is actually used in the
Swiss Army has an aluminium-plated handle.
The term "Swiss Army knife" is often used synonymously with the term "
pocket knife". It is also sometimes used generically to describe a tool, such as a software tool, that is a collection of special-purpose tools.
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Some of the various designs produced by Victorinox. |
Various designs and types of Swiss Army knives exist, with different tool combinations for specific tasks. The
version supplied to the Swiss Army has a corrugated metal surface with a red emblem, and includes a blade, a
reamer, a
bottle-opener/
screwdriver/
wire stripper, and a
can-opener/screwdriver (smaller).
The simplest model sold includes only a single blade. The most popular models typically include some combination of the tools included in the official army model, a second blade,
tweezers,
toothpick,
corkscrew,
phillips-head screwdriver,
nail file, and/or
scissors. Other models include a
saw,
hook,
magnifying glass,
ballpoint pen, fish scaler which doubles as a 7cm (3 inch)
ruler (presumably for measuring the fish),
pliers/wire cutters, and/or
key chain. Recent technological features include
USB flash storage,
digital clock, digital
altimeter,
LED light,
laser pointer, and
MP3 player.
The official army model also contains a brass spacer, which allows the knife, with the screwdriver and the reamer extended at the same time, to be used to assemble the Swiss Army assault rifles, both the
SIG 550 and the older
SIG 510: the knife serves as a restraint to the
firing pin during assembly of the
lock.
The standard full-size SAK is approximately 3.5in (9cm) long and .75in (2cm) wide; smaller models are typically about 2.25in (6cm) long and .5in (1.5cm) wide. Thickness varies depending on the number of tools included. A flat version with somewhat fewer tools (but still retaining a knife) the size and shape of a
credit card, known as a SwissCard, can be stored in a typical wallet. Although red SAKs are most common, black, blue, white,
phosphorescent yellow,
camouflage patterns, and other colors are available. The plastic cladding is usually opaque but may be transparent; metal- and wood-clad models are available.
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A Victorinox Swiss Army knife |
Origins
In 1891,
Karl Elsener, then owner of a company that made surgical equipment discovered (to his dismay) that the pocket knives supplied to the Swiss Army were in fact made in
Germany. Outraged, he founded the Association of Swiss Master Cutlers. Its goal was simple: Swiss knives for the Swiss Army.
Elsener began working on what was the predecessor to the modern Swiss Army knife, called the "Soldier's Knife". The original had a wooden handle (as opposed to the plastic and metal seen today), and featured a blade, a
screwdriver, a
can opener, and a
punch. This knife was sold to the Swiss army, but Elsener was not satisfied with its first incarnation. In 1896, after 5 years of hard work, Elsener managed to put blades on both sides of the handle using a special
spring mechanism, allowing him to use the same spring to hold them in place, an innovation at the time. This allowed Elsener to put twice as many features on the knife; he added a second blade and a corkscrew.
Victorinox and Wenger
Elsener, through his company
Victorinox, managed to have the market completely for himself until 1893, when the second industrial cutlery of Switzerland, Paul Boechat & Cie headquartered in
Delémont in the French-speaking canton of
Jura, started selling a similar product. This company was later acquired by its then General Manager,
Theodore Wenger and renamed the
Wenger Company. In
1908 the Swiss government, wanting to prevent an issue over regional favouritism but perhaps wanting a bit of competition in hopes of lowering prices, split the contract with Victorinox and Wenger each getting half of the orders placed. By mutual agreement, Wenger advertises as the
Genuine Swiss Army Knife and Victorinox uses the term the
Original Swiss Army Knife. However, on
26 April,
2005 Victorinox acquired
Wenger, thus once again becoming the sole supplier of knives to the Swiss Army. However, on the consumer side Victorinox has stated that it intends to keep both brands intact.
The two Swiss Army knife manufacturers,
Victorinox and
Wenger, together supply about 50,000 knives to the
Swiss army each year. The rest of production is devoted to exports, mostly to the
United States. Commercial Victorinox and Wenger SAKs can be immediately distinguished by their logos; the Victorinox cross is surrounded by a shield with
bilateral symmetry, while the Wenger cross is surrounded by a slightly rounded square with
quadrilateral symmetry. The knives supplied to the Swiss Army bear a simpler bilaterally-symmetric shield.
There are also many other manufacturers of similar-looking multi-tool folding knives, at a wide range of price/quality points.
The Swiss Army Knife is a signature of the American TV show
MacGyver, wherein MacGyver often improvises tools that are needed to solve problems. He often uses his SAK to help build mechanisms out of common items, which led to sayings such as "making a rocket out of a match box".
The Swiss Army knife has also been parodied in animated TV shows such as
The Simpsons and the animated version of
The Tick, in which a fictional Swiss Army squad carries backpack-sized versions of the knife.
In
Eddie Izzard's performance of
Glorious, he portrays the
Pope's Swiss guards as being armed with SAKs, and proceeds to highlight the perceived uselessness of some of the tools commonly featured on them: "I don't know what this does. And with this I can open a can of beans in a week."
In his 2002
HBO special
Robin Williams: Live on Broadway,
Robin Williams asks in regard to the
Swiss Army, "How can you trust an army, that has a wine opener on its knife?" then impersonates a Swiss Officer briefing his men before battle: "Many of you, men, have never opened a Chardonnay under fire. You take out the wine bottle, pull out the cork and throw."
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SwissChamp*
Victorinox manufacturer's web site
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Wenger manufacturer's web site (English version)
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sosakonline SOSAK is the Secret Order of Swiss Army Knife, a collectors' and users' community
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Does the Swiss army really use the Swiss army knife? at The
Straight Dope |
Victorinox Swiss Army knife closed |
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Victorinox Swiss Army knife open |
