Swiss Army Knife

It’s hard to imagine not owning a Swiss Army style knife. I keep a few around including one with a bent knife blade tip, the results of flicking it into a wooden seat. The straight blade screw driver and bottle opener have proven in valuable to me!

The original knife was actually built by two different companies, both of which shared the Swiss military contracts. Why two companies? Here lies the tale of romance, competition and intrigue. But I’m going to leave that all out.

In 1890 the Swiss Army was supplied by a German company. This caused Karl Elsener a patriotic Swiss citizen, to start a Victorinox to provide the Swiss Government a knife made in the homeland. Later, his general manager, Theodore Wenger started a different company. I think you can guess the company’s name.

Hummm…the plot thickens!

The two companies were located in different parts of Switzerland, each with their own regional dialogs. In an effort to stay neutral, the Swiss government split the military contracts down the middle.

Eventually it was for naught, Victorinox now owns Wenger, but swears the two lines will remain separate and whole.

As a side note, Wikipedia claims “The term "Swiss Army knife" was coined by US soldiers after World War II, presumably because they had trouble pronouncing its original name, "Offiziersmesser.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Army_knife

One additional note: I asked Victorinox rep at the SHOT Show if they were ever considering the tactical knife market. At the time they said no, largely due to price considerations. Their studies suggest $30 was the best price point for their markets and they worked to stay in that neighborhood.

WIRED Magazine’s website thinks the Victorinox’s Presentation Master is one gadget no truly self respecting geek should be without. www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_victorinox_pm_knife

It has the normal tools plus a few more. I don’t need to detail them for you, follow the link and find out for yourself. Just let me say 16 gigs of computer memory and a Swiss army knife for a $240 is quite a difference from $30.

You’ve come a long way, babe!