Victorinox question

Knifeoholic · Feb 4, 2018

Hello all,

I was looking at a couple of my SAKs and noticed one has a different handle material than the rest. I can't remember how much I paid for it or where I bought it. Were they made as a budget version to the original? It doesn't seem to wear as well as the others that I have.
Here's a shot for comparison. The knife in question is on the left. Any thoughts are appreciated!

supratentorial · Feb 4, 2018

The one on the left is nylon and the one on the right is cellidor. The nylon is an economy "ecoline" version but personally I like both.

Hickory n steel · Feb 4, 2018

Nylon on the left , cellidor on the right.

I believe the nylon is in what's normally called the ecoline.

Ernie1980 · Feb 4, 2018

I never knew the official name for the handle materials, you learn something new every day!

Knifeoholic · Feb 5, 2018

supratentorial said:
The one on the left is nylon and the one on the right is cellidor. The nylon is an economy "ecoline" version but personally I like both.

Thanks man. I appreciate the reply! As Ernie1980 stated, "you learn something new every day". I actually like it when knives get that worn look, so it works for me!

redsparrow · Feb 5, 2018

supratentorial said:
... The nylon is an economy "ecoline" version but personally I like both.

I'm with you Jake. I like both but the nylon seems to have better grip and I suspect it may be somewhat more durable. I only have two nylon but I'm not sure Ecoline stands for economy as both were identically priced as similar models in cellidor.
BTW, thanks for posting the chart, nice to see what available.

sodak · Feb 5, 2018

Walgreens used to have these, and evidently they didn't sell too well. I picked up the last 2 in my local store on closeout for $5 each. What a steal.

BladeScout · Feb 15, 2018

supratentorial said:
The one on the left is nylon and the one on the right is cellidor. The nylon is an economy "ecoline" version but personally I like both.

redsparrow said:
I only have two nylon but I'm not sure Ecoline stands for economy as both were identically priced as similar models in cellidor.
BTW, thanks for posting the chart, nice to see what available.

I dont know jack about the Ecoline but this post on the Ecoline from a SAK site seems to back up supratentorial's post;
"This line or category carries the Officier Suisse tang stamp and the Victorinox Emblem. These two identifies the quality and product. In 1994 Victorinox introduced or decided to use Nylon as the handle material on the EcoLine and this makes the handle material better than the regular line in terms of scratch resistance and it can take impact better than the regular knives. I would believe there are different names for the handle material as well. In general my information is a Nylon material. The precision on the Economy made knives today with springs and parts are just as high as the regular line. The only part I have noticed is the aluminum liner or dividers that may have some less resistance against changes on the aluminum surface. This I have only seen on knives used by others and I suspect it is a maintenance issue because I have never seen any quality problems on the knives I have used. The quality is a “user knife” with quality. I would guess there are some steps in the production and how they are made that are less expensive done. I do not know if the steel grade is less, what i can say is that the functionality and usability is very high. I do not know any knife that can compare to the price VS quality of use.

Update
It started with the Elinox knives in 1957, under Economy 1979-1999 and from the year 2000 it was named EcoLine short for Economy Line. I believe they all can be called economy knives."

redsparrow · Feb 15, 2018

BladeScout
I agree it's likely that Victorinox intended "Ecoline" to be a designation for their economy line.
What I was referring to in my previous post was that "in practice" (in other words internet shopping) "Ecoline" did not equate to any noticeable cost differential over similar cellidor models.

BladeScout · Feb 16, 2018

Got ya.

supratentorial · Feb 16, 2018

Some (all?) of the dealers in the USA used a "II" designation for the Ecoline... e.g. "Climber II" (nylon ecoline) instead of just "Climber" (regular cellidor). I'd need to dig through storage boxes to find the price list for the MSRP. Dealer prices varied but all the knives were fairly cheap back when the catalog was printed. The catalog is from before Victorinox implemented a pricing policy and there were crazy sales, especially from one well known large ecommerce website.

The economy knives have been around a long time. Here's an older one from 1989. The cross is a bit different but it has cellidor covers just like the other knives. I had an even older knife that was stamped "economy" on the back of the tang.