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- Feb 28, 2002
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The Victorinox One-Hand Trekker is an interesting hybrid of classic Swiss Army Knife with an almost "tactical" one-hand opening blade. That blade is about three and 1/4th inches long, while the handle is roughly four and 3/8ths inch long.
The ergonomic handle has a mostly smooth texture, though it's not as mirror-smooth as the phenolic handles on the typical Swiss Army Knife (SAK). The butt of the knife features a small split ring for attaching the knife to a fob or keyring, and of course it sports the usual toothpick and tweezers. Such little tools are easy to do poorly; Victorinox never disappoints when it comes to doing them right. The tweezers are very precise, while the plastic toothpick is, well, a plastic toothpick, but I've seen some on knockoff SAKs that were flimsy and useless. These are anything but that.
The broad, humpbacked opening hole allows the user to open the blade with one hand. The coated blade is rust-resistant and was very nicely sharp out of the box (fit and finish were the usual high quality one expects from Victorinox). The knife opens smoothly enough, but is so deeply buried within the thick SAK handle that it feels slightly awkward when you get it started. Once locked in place, it has slight lateral play and more noticeable vertical play. What threw me about the lock, however, is that it is backward -- to release it, you push it "up" to the right, rather than "down" to the left. The liner lock is half the width of the blade tang and engages it at the left, which means there is no room left for wear on this reversed setup.
The blade is chisel-ground, nicely sharp, with serrations starting at the tip and progressing back toward a plain edge section at the bottom of the blade. This makes it ideal for the sort of utility and emergency cutting that this knife is designed to do.
The Trekker has, officially, a bottle opener, a screwdriver with wire stripper (the screwdriver locks in place thanks to its own reversed liner), a smaller screwdriver with a can opener, a Phillips-head screwdriver, and an awl or "reamer" (huh-huh-huh, huh-huh). Hiding in the depths of the handle, and not visible in these pictures, is the viciously sharp cross-cut wood saw that Victorinox uses on its knives. I've used that saw on different SAKs for a variety of utility chores when nothing else was at hand, and I have been impressed with its cutting ability every time. I wish the saw locked, but it does not.
All of the tools function as designed, though I've never actually needed the little wire stripper. Also, it seems to be a law of existence that the awl on SAKs is incredibly hard to pry out. The "reamer" on this knife is no exception.
There are smaller SAKs that possess the tools of the trekker (without the wood saw), but one buys a knife of this type in anticipation of needing either that saw or the large, one-hand knife blade. While it's a little larger than the average SAK of this thickness, the Trekker is light enough that it can be slipped into a pocket and kept on hand for utility needs, both indoors and outside. That is what I use it for. I encourage you to investigate it for the same reasons.
The ergonomic handle has a mostly smooth texture, though it's not as mirror-smooth as the phenolic handles on the typical Swiss Army Knife (SAK). The butt of the knife features a small split ring for attaching the knife to a fob or keyring, and of course it sports the usual toothpick and tweezers. Such little tools are easy to do poorly; Victorinox never disappoints when it comes to doing them right. The tweezers are very precise, while the plastic toothpick is, well, a plastic toothpick, but I've seen some on knockoff SAKs that were flimsy and useless. These are anything but that.
The broad, humpbacked opening hole allows the user to open the blade with one hand. The coated blade is rust-resistant and was very nicely sharp out of the box (fit and finish were the usual high quality one expects from Victorinox). The knife opens smoothly enough, but is so deeply buried within the thick SAK handle that it feels slightly awkward when you get it started. Once locked in place, it has slight lateral play and more noticeable vertical play. What threw me about the lock, however, is that it is backward -- to release it, you push it "up" to the right, rather than "down" to the left. The liner lock is half the width of the blade tang and engages it at the left, which means there is no room left for wear on this reversed setup.
The blade is chisel-ground, nicely sharp, with serrations starting at the tip and progressing back toward a plain edge section at the bottom of the blade. This makes it ideal for the sort of utility and emergency cutting that this knife is designed to do.
The Trekker has, officially, a bottle opener, a screwdriver with wire stripper (the screwdriver locks in place thanks to its own reversed liner), a smaller screwdriver with a can opener, a Phillips-head screwdriver, and an awl or "reamer" (huh-huh-huh, huh-huh). Hiding in the depths of the handle, and not visible in these pictures, is the viciously sharp cross-cut wood saw that Victorinox uses on its knives. I've used that saw on different SAKs for a variety of utility chores when nothing else was at hand, and I have been impressed with its cutting ability every time. I wish the saw locked, but it does not.
All of the tools function as designed, though I've never actually needed the little wire stripper. Also, it seems to be a law of existence that the awl on SAKs is incredibly hard to pry out. The "reamer" on this knife is no exception.
There are smaller SAKs that possess the tools of the trekker (without the wood saw), but one buys a knife of this type in anticipation of needing either that saw or the large, one-hand knife blade. While it's a little larger than the average SAK of this thickness, the Trekker is light enough that it can be slipped into a pocket and kept on hand for utility needs, both indoors and outside. That is what I use it for. I encourage you to investigate it for the same reasons.
