- Joined
- Jul 13, 2011
- Messages
- 2,090
I’ve been EDC’ing the Wenger Soldier for about six months now, and since I'd already taken the below pics for another thread, I figured I had enough material for a review, so here goes.
My goal was to have a fairly thin and discrete folding knife for daily pocket carry. It also had to be low-maintenance and easily sharpened. For those particular goals, this knife has been fantastic. I’ve only ever used the blade and the cap lifter on the Wenger Soldier, but both perform admirably. The no-frills geometry of the blade is excellent for basic slicing tasks, and the cap lifter works great. As for the other tools, since I’ve only ever used this knife for city EDC and basic city-boy cutting tasks, I’ve had no use for them (although I can see them being useful in some camping settings).
I personally find the knife aesthetically pleasing in a utilitarian way, and I like the knurled aluminum (ALOX) scales; they are durable and attractive. The tension in the springs and the blade and tools are built stronger than most SAK models due to this knife’s POU; it was issued to Swiss Army soldiers before being replaced by the current Soldat model. As a result, this knife will not close easily on your fingers; it takes a little pressure to open and close, which is good. The action of the joints has performed perfectly, especially considering that I keep them dry as a bone (oil attracts lint and dust in a pocket, so I don’t oil the joints). The 15% Chromium in the steel used by Wenger and Victorinox makes for extraordinary corrosion resistance, and the knife is very easy to clean and maintain. Since I pocket-carry this knife daily, dust and lint are my number one and number two enemies. So every few days, I wipe the blade and tools down with my shirt and clean the interior space with a cotton swab. I get at the little crevices in the joints with a bamboo toothpick and blow everything out with a Giotto Rocket. The whole process takes a few minutes.
All in all, two thumbs way up! This knife will last a lifetime with proper care. If they made an even thinner model without the awl and can opener, it would be perfect. But I’m not complaining; I might even want those tools at some point in the future. And besides, they don’t really add much to the weight and thickness.
Cheers,
Mag
Here’s a vid of me sharpening it up:
[YOUTUBE]RiXvUme1Szk[/YOUTUBE]
My goal was to have a fairly thin and discrete folding knife for daily pocket carry. It also had to be low-maintenance and easily sharpened. For those particular goals, this knife has been fantastic. I’ve only ever used the blade and the cap lifter on the Wenger Soldier, but both perform admirably. The no-frills geometry of the blade is excellent for basic slicing tasks, and the cap lifter works great. As for the other tools, since I’ve only ever used this knife for city EDC and basic city-boy cutting tasks, I’ve had no use for them (although I can see them being useful in some camping settings).
I personally find the knife aesthetically pleasing in a utilitarian way, and I like the knurled aluminum (ALOX) scales; they are durable and attractive. The tension in the springs and the blade and tools are built stronger than most SAK models due to this knife’s POU; it was issued to Swiss Army soldiers before being replaced by the current Soldat model. As a result, this knife will not close easily on your fingers; it takes a little pressure to open and close, which is good. The action of the joints has performed perfectly, especially considering that I keep them dry as a bone (oil attracts lint and dust in a pocket, so I don’t oil the joints). The 15% Chromium in the steel used by Wenger and Victorinox makes for extraordinary corrosion resistance, and the knife is very easy to clean and maintain. Since I pocket-carry this knife daily, dust and lint are my number one and number two enemies. So every few days, I wipe the blade and tools down with my shirt and clean the interior space with a cotton swab. I get at the little crevices in the joints with a bamboo toothpick and blow everything out with a Giotto Rocket. The whole process takes a few minutes.
All in all, two thumbs way up! This knife will last a lifetime with proper care. If they made an even thinner model without the awl and can opener, it would be perfect. But I’m not complaining; I might even want those tools at some point in the future. And besides, they don’t really add much to the weight and thickness.
Cheers,
Mag
Here’s a vid of me sharpening it up:
[YOUTUBE]RiXvUme1Szk[/YOUTUBE]
