vic sak...how do they do it for the price.

7

79mongoose

Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Messages
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I just got done reading a thread on case knives, and it seemed there were some unhappy people talking about case quality. How is it then vic sak have such a popular and happy fan base. i have a couple of sak and they all are made pretty nice for the 25 bucks i paid. how is it then vic builds such a great knife for so little money? and if they can do it, why cant other production knife companies build awesome knives for 20 bucks? ( this is all just my opinion yours may differ)
 
Well, they've been doing it for over a century. They also make more knives than just about everybody (except Buck maybe, I don't know). Because of this, they can afford the customer service they give (they seem to replace free any knife that you break). There's probably a ton of rejected knives and parts that don't pass their QC, but they're big enough that it doesn't matter, and they don't need to sell sub-par stuff to make ends meet.

It's kinda like comparing Mag Light and Surefire. If you break a Surefire, they fix it. If you break a Mag Light, they send you a new one. But for every Surefire light sold, Mag Light sells a zillion. That's the way companies work at the ends of the spectrums.

It seems though that it's inbetween where problems happen most. People don't buy enough for them throw out the bad ones or give free replacements for broken ones. But they don't (can't) sell them for enough that free, no-questions-asked repairs are economically viable.

I don't know if I'm talking out of my ass or not, this just seems to be a trend I've noticed. Low-mid price products get sold the most, and people tend not to even bother with sending in bad/broken ones. What happens when you break your Timex? Throw it out and get another, right? What if it's a Rolex?
 
Victorinox Production figures

---------------------Models--Per day---Per year.
"Swiss Army Knives"--100-----34'000----7 Mio.
Other MultiTools-----300-----43'000----9 Mio.
Professional knives---400-----43'000----9 Mio.
Total----------------800-----120'000---25 Mio.

These are the production figures posted on Victorinox.com. 25 million knives a year, that's how they do it.
 
they also stick to what their good at. The swiss tool though good is a bit new for them and thus need tweeks. They didn't rush bringing it out though after leatherman came on the seen

The kitchen knives are simple but work well. I guess the taxes bump the price up but there are others companies that make cheep knives that just work
 
I guess we should add in a couple of other things that help Victorinox do what they do. The SAK is a very simple knife to make when compared to other kinds of folders. The simplicity makes it easier to achieve a high level of quality at the volumes they produce. The second is that changing models on a production line doesn't require changing tooling. Most SAK models are made my stacking tools and spacers and then riveting them together. To change models they change the number and type of tools and spacers. That's a lot easier than changing from, say a trapper pattern to a whittler pattern.

There is no doubt they've virtually perfected the process of making SAK's.
 
A company does not stray in buissness for 114 years and not know what they are doing. Victorinox is most likely to be one of the most modern and automated factories in the world. Modern CNC machines are amazing in the presision and volume of their work. They don't have the monday blaas, of friday jitters.

One other thing, the guy who is the head of the thing is the grandson of the founder. When it's a family operation it makes a difference.

Same as Opinel!
 
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