Giveaway: First Production Run Soldier Knife '08

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Congrats on the new knife. You'll have to let us know how you like it when you get it.
 
YAY! This is such a treat! What a thrill to actually win something so nice. Thank you so much, Supratentorial. Now I'll sit and stare at my mailbox for the rest of the week. :D
 
Congrats, znapshatz! Any plans for your new knife?

Great giveaway, supratentorial, and thanks again.
 
znapschatz said:
YAY! This is such a treat! What a thrill to actually win something so nice. Thank you so much, Supratentorial. Now I'll sit and stare at my mailbox for the rest of the week. :D
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Cool! I'll take it to the post office today... I'd wait a couple days before you camp out by the mailbox. ;) If you get a chance, maybe you can post some of your impressions of the new Soldier knife when you receive it. :thumbup:
 
supratentorial said:
Cool! I'll take it to the post office today... I'd wait a couple days before you camp out by the mailbox. ;) If you get a chance, maybe you can post some of your impressions of the new Soldier knife when you receive it. :thumbup:
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Depend on it. :thumbup:
 
Congrats znapshatz!:thumbup:

You got a sweet knife.Use it well :)
 
As the lucky recipient of the new Swiss Army 08 drawing, after a week of examining and working with it (much by proxy, explained later), these are
my impressions:

If you need yet another incentive to join the Swiss Army (go ahead, you know you want to:D), the new Victorinox Soldier knife should seal the deal because every recruit gets one. It is in almost every way an improvement over the previous alox model except in size (of that more later). Basically, the Swiss military has adopted the One Hand Trekker with only minor modifications. Because of those, the New Soldier supersedes the alox Soldier with addition of a saw and Phillips head screwdriver.

The Soldier scales are made of a different material than those on the OHT with a softer feel than the OHT plain black hard plastic. Although the difference is small, the new Soldier feels better in the hand, a touch more grippy, and looks great in a two-tone olive and black color scheme. As a practical matter, the military version dispenses with tweezers and toothpick. Recruits are loutish by nature and tend to lose little things. Long ago, during basic training, one of my squad (a college graduate!) managed to lose a machine gun tripod. Although this level of carelessness was not usual, you can imagine how long a plastic toothpick would remain with an average trainee; not very.

Because the above noted changes and the Soldier’s blade stamped with year of production are the only differences between it and the OHT, for evaluation both models can be considered identical. A friend has kindly allowed me to use his OHT in place of the commemorative Soldier. This past week I have carried it exclusively, using it a fair amount for various chores. The following comments came out of my experience with the OHT, but I will refer to them as if Soldier 08.

Normally, I prefer a plain edge, but serrated edges retain sharpness much longer than plain ones, I think by a 10X factor. Since the great majority of these knives will never be sharpened, a serrated blade makes sense for the intended users. Actually, I have found that this one performs almost as well for just about anything. The Soldier’s partially serrated blade has its shallow scallops on the right side. Due to muscle mechanics, with right-handed use, this is the proper placement for better cutting control. It has a reversal of the usual CE blade setup, serrated about 2/3ds of the front, with the rear part plain, which actually works pretty well. Lately, I have been doing a great deal of yard work, and the knife has zipped through all manner of vegetation, including twigs and small branches of various hardness. After a week of daily use on these chores, the blade continues to cut well, and lockup seems solid.

The large screwdriver has been beefed up into a dandy pry bar for paint can lids or whatall. The locking bottle opener is awesome. What authority! All beers tip their caps to the mighty lifter! The little driver on the end of the can opener can be used to turn both small slotted screws or some Phillips heads, depending. There is a proper PH driver on the backspring, along with an awl. The T arrangement can be awkward, compared to in-line placement of these implements, but they are functional most of the time. It’s an acceptable compromise, I believe, to pack in all the tools. The saw is excellent. Often I have been using it for this “review” instead of the dedicated one I normally take to the brush. It saws better than any other Vic or Leatherman I have ever used, and I have been happy with those.

The new Soldier takes up more EDC room than the alox, but that can be easily finessed by dummy cording with a quick release and suspending it into the pocket. That’s how I carry any multi tool that has a lanyard ring or bail (none on the alox), resulting in no felt weight and out of the way pocketability. That way it rides less noticeably than a loose alox Soldier, IMHO. The liner lock works opposite of most with the release lever on the right. For one-hand closing, this arrangement requires activating it with an index finger, a little awkward for those of us accustomed to the usual layout. It works great for left-handed users, though. There has been a report this was deliberately designed to prompt two handed closing as a safety measure, but I think it simply came from left-handers in Vic’s design department. It’s only justice for lefties to get a break once in a while, so long as they don’t get too pushy about it. :p

No doubt the Soldier makes for a good all around utility and camp knife, although to be honest, if I were joining the army today, my EDC choice would be some sort of Leatherman. However, way back when I actually did serve, pliers-based multi tools were decades in the future. What I brought with me then was an Imperial Schrade Kamp King, a knockoff of the original Swiss army multi tool pattern.

At that time, KKs were available in hardware and sporting goods shops. They sold for maybe less than $5 a copy, and were not bad quality. Mine got used for all sorts of camp and personal purposes. To open C rations, the parrot beak can opener was easier to work than a P38, and the awl was helpful to break up the rock hard disk of cocoa (which never really dissolved in hot water anyway, no matter what). Since there were no twist offs then, the cap lifter opened many a Coke and the occasional beer. I have no idea what steel was used for the blade, but it held an edge reasonably well. Suspended with a bail by dummy cord into my RF pocket, it was secure from accidental loss, so the KK stayed with me for my entire enlistment and beyond until I gave it away to a girl friend, who promptly lost it. Out of nostalgia, I have a copy of that knife in my "collection," but never use it it because SAKs are better in every way. However, I didn't know that then.

I bring up my old Kamp King because excellent as the new Swiss Army Soldier may be, the older pattern, even in knockoff form like the KK (or demo knife), was a faithful companion to millions of troops both here and elsewhere in the world. It now resides in a drawer, to be looked at, occasionally fondled, a souvenir of my youth. Likewise, I must admit, will the inscribed Soldier 08, which I can’t bring myself to mess up with nasty old work. Those are my only two knives which I will probably never use.

Once again, I must thank Supratentorial for his generous gift. I will try to be worthy of it by becoming a better person. :)
 
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