Has anyone ever had a defective Swiss Army Knife?

Jack Black

Jack Black

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There are regular posts on this forum from members who have purchased knives with various defects. Sometimes these problems can be easily sorted out, or are merely cosmetic, other times they can be quite serious. In terms of factory-made knives, faulty knives seem to sometimes be sent out irrespective of price, though we are perhaps more forgiving with less expensive ones.

I've probably had at least twenty Swiss Army Knives over the years, made by both Victorinox and Wenger (mostly Victorinox), and apart from a blunt main blade on a relatively recent Wenger, I've never been able to find the slightest fault with any of them. SAKs are churned out by the thousand, sent out all over the world, and sell for relatively little. Their reliability is legendary and many are in regular use for years.

I can't recall seeing anyone posting about a defective SAK, but maybe that's just because they're so inexpensive. So I'd be interested to hear people's opinions on this, if you've ever had a faulty SAK, and if defects really are rare, what are they getting right that other manufacturers could learn from.

Jack
 
Never happened to me. The old locking version I have has major vertical blade play in the large blade, but even that does not make it useless. I just treat it like a slip joint.
 
Never. I've bought 19.

I think there QC is very VERY good.

The only issue I've had was on my Wenger Evowood 17 (SOSAK 2010 knife). The scissors 'crossed' over the wrong way and got twisted, making it tricky to operate and put away. Not even sure if it was a fault or act of carelessness by myself. It was covered under warrantly and I was sent a brand new one....plus the 2010 laser etched scales.

I would say that, especially lately, the quality of the Wenger knives has seemed a little lacking. I have sent a couple back because they didn't quite compare to the Victorinox. However, that said, the F&F on both is incredibly good, especially in comparison to some MANY other manufactures, traditional or contemporary.

Recently I contacted Victorinox direct by email, querying a supplier for an 'unobtainable' spare. I wasn't sent a supplier, nor price, I was sent half a dozen of the item, with a personal letter.

Although you might expect as much from a smaller company, I was impressed at the speed of reply, the generosity and the fact that I wasn't a 'lost voice', in what must have been hundreds or thousands of queries they much recieve each week.

The level of customer service, for such a MASSIVE company, arguably, the biggest our interest puts us into contact with, really is second to none.
 
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HFinn said:
Never happened to me. The old locking version I have has major vertical blade play in the large blade, but even that does not make it useless. I just treat it like a slip joint.
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Do you mean the slide lock, such as on the Rucksack model? Its an unavoidable and known 'issue' with this design, and why they subsequently moved to the liner lock.

My Rucksack is my oldest and most favoured model, I must have had it 15+ years. I picked it up in Helmsley, North Yorkshire after losing my first SAK which I picked up in Grindlewald on a school trip to Switzerland back in Secondary School *sigh*.
 
I think that Victorinox, and indeed the Swiss in general, do take an enormous amount of pride in what they manufacture.

I have a Hunter with a side-lock, one of the first produced, and it's seen a lot of use, but there's only a couple of mm of vertical play. I don't think it's any worse than when I got it 20+ years ago.

It'd be great to hear from someone whose actually toured the Victorinox factory or knows anything about their impressive QC.
 
scruffuk said:
Do you mean the slide lock, such as on the Rucksack model? Its an unavoidable and known 'issue' with this design, and why they subsequently moved to the liner lock.
Click to expand...

The lock looks like this, allthough it is a different model.

show_image.php
 
I would say Swiss army knives are the most consistent knives I have ever had. You get what you expect. They are not for everyone, but they have very little quality issues compared to most knife manufacturers.
 
I have a traveller, camper, waiter and recruit. Only issue I've ever had is that the clock on the traveller didn't work after I changed the battery. Might have been something I did though...

Paul
 
I am a SAK collector, and carried one every day for a quarter of a century. Not only have I never had a defective one, but I judge the walk and talk of knives costing multiples of what I pay for a SAK by that very SAK. Victorinox is a great company and they make an amazing product.
 
HFinn said:
I would say Swiss army knives are the most consistent knives I have ever had. You get what you expect. They are not for everyone, but they have very little quality issues compared to most knife manufacturers.
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Yes, I think they're SO consistent we kind of take them for granted. Yet they're produced so inexpensively and in such huge numbers, why can't manufacturers who produce lesser quantities, charge far more for their knives, and in some cases, have just as much experience, have similiar levels of consistency? I guess if they did, it'd give us a lot less to talk about mind! :D
 
I've had dozens, and never a problem.
I do have to deburr the saws though when getting a new SAK. The saws always have metal flake burrs hanging off the cutting edges.
 
Jack Black said:
Yes, I think they're SO consistent we kind of take them for granted. Yet they're produced so inexpensively and in such huge numbers, why can't manufacturers who produce lesser quantities, charge far more for their knives, and in some cases, have just as much experience, have similiar levels of consistency? I guess if they did, it'd give us a lot less to talk about mind! :D
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I wonder what they would be like if the blades were made of top notch materials. Now they are a bit soft, or what is your experience? Anyway they are easy to sharpen.
 
I dunno...

I've destroyed maybe 8 or 10 Classics. Most last less than 2 years before the scales fall off. Key ring carry is hard, admittedly.

This sort of QC is almost entirely about tooling but also about a good work force.

I've had better luck with Leatherman products, FWIW. Not so much with Buck (recently).
 
No, never had a SAK fail or be defective in any away. My old Wenger SI has a bit of blade rub on the back of the knife blade where it rubs on the inside of the awl, but not bad. I don't care a bout a bit of vertical scuff mark on an alox working knife. I've had a classic scissors spring break after few years, but it was easily replaced with a spare part from a knife store that had a whole tray of Victorinox spare tweezers, toothpicks and scissors springs. I've had a scale or two come off, but a little Goop fixed that.

Victorinox is so reliable to me, that it's my go-to knife when I have to fly someplace. If I don't send a knife ahead, I'll just pull the rental car in at the very first Walmart or Target and buy a Vic classic or recruit. When I leave, I'll just gift it to someone. I'll only do this with Victorinox because they are so consistent in their QA that I know that no matter where I go, the next Vic out of a store will be just like the last Vic. Near perfect fit and finish, sharp out of the box, and ready to go. We're flying to Medford Oregon on the 1st of July for a week of river rafting, hiking, sight seeing at Crater Lake and the giant redwoods, and I'm flying knife less. So I guess I'll be stopping at the 'mart or target again, and some lucky Oregonite will get a very mildly used SAK.

SAK, for when you buy blind, but want a good knife.
 
They are great quality knives for those of YOU that like them, and those of YOU that have them. :cool: enjoy!
 
only problem i had with sak's was broken string in scissors and pliers, and lost of toothpick and tweezer. all my fault, easy replaceable :) cheap, dependable and neat tools.
 
A scale on my mom's Classic fell off within a couple of weeks. Does that count?

- Christian
 
Heh. Par for the course for my experience.

Not a big fan of their Alox either. I find it really holds a nasty wire edge. And does off the chart pulls on some of the blade/tools count?

One word here: branding.

Ok, make two: deep branding.

Or four: really successful deep branding.
 
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