Victorinox Soldier

purple95 said:
He will treat you well and purchases from him help to support his charity which helps those who cannot afford medical care for their cats.
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Well then I absolutely HAVE to buy one from him. Even my wife can't say no to helping the cats. :p

DO IT FOR THE CATS !!!!

A question for you SAK nuts. There is a regular red pioneer on his site, and one that has had a soldier blade put on it. What is the difference between the pioneer blade and the soldier blade? Thanks
 
I believe the difference is the year stamped on the blade.
Both 93MM alox knives have a thicker stock blade then non alox knives.
However, the soldier always had the date stamped on it.
Pioneers normally don't have the date.
 
Voltron said:
I believe the difference is the year stamped on the blade.
Both 93MM alox knives have a thicker stock blade then non alox knives.
However, the soldier always had the date stamped on it.
Pioneers normally don't have the date.
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Nope, I've seen Soldiers w/o the date stamp. I asked about that & was told all Soldiers issued to Swiss military had the date stamp.
Those meant for the civilian market didn't have it, although there are plenty out there for sale with the date stamp.
There's no difference in the civilian version, but if you want one that would have been issued to a soldier, look for the date stamp.
Here's a good site for SAKs or Swiss rifles.
http://swissrifles.com/
 
When they made a lot of blades for the Soldier models and there was an overrun, they would sometimes put the blades into the Pioneer series models. I don't think a Soldier model is actually considered issued until it has their WR stamp on it.
adam
 
Gents, let's please adhere to the forum guidelines and keep vendor endorsements and discussion out of forum threads. Thanks.

(This is no reflection on any dealer or seller. It is a means of keeping the forum clear of commercial content and endorsements and maintaining a focus on the knives under discussion.)
 
According to SAKWiki...

"The Pioneer is essentially the civilian version of the Victorinox 93mm Soldier and has the identical blade tool selection.
The Pioneer however almost always includes the Keyring and has three subtle cosmetic differences; first, the logo on the scales is different; second, it does not have the year of production stamped on the tang of the main blade; third, on the opposite scale from that with the logo (bottom), the Pioneer has a small flat area meant for engraving."

"...It is possible to find a Pioneer with the year stamped on the tang, these are thought to be repaired knives or units assembled with left over production of knife blades intended for the Soldier model."

Also...

"ALOX scaled models are listed in the catalogues as 91mm, but measure 93mm."

Didn't know that...

http://www.sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Knife+List#93mm
 
The alox Victorinox Soldier is a great pocket knife, I think you will enjoy it. The Dutch army used to issue the old model of the Soldier and later issued the Pioneer. The Soldier is one of my favourite pocket knives; a relative simple design and a very useful set of tools.

I'm currently carrying a Cadet, which has almost the same configuration of tools, but it's a bit smaller and thinner.
 
Mick57 said:
Nope, I've seen Soldiers w/o the date stamp. I asked about that & was told all Soldiers issued to Swiss military had the date stamp.
Those meant for the civilian market didn't have it, although there are plenty out there for sale with the date stamp.
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Pioneer = civilian Soldier.
Yes, there are Soldiers with no date, and Pioneers with dates, but those were the exceptions, the ones that slipped through.
 
I don't know about that. There were/are enough Soldiers on the market for me to think that the Soldier is also produced for civilians during the off years that the Swiss Army doesn't order any. From what I understand, they don't order knives every year.
 
My soldier just showed up at work. This looks like it is going to be a great everyday knife. It's a little uncomfortable in the pocket right now, but I think it's because I'm used to the feel of the peanut, which you can't even tell you have. The soldier looks well built and durable. I can't wait to really put 'er to use.
 
The alox Soldier is an awesome knife. I own two, plus a red Pioneer. I EDC'd one of my Soldiers for several years; the other slipjoint I carried (and still carry) is a black Vic Executive. Together, these two knives make a great all-around EDC team. I only stopped carrying the Soldier since I've been carrying a Swisstool Spirit S. If I had to leave that at home, I'd put the Soldier back in-pocket. The Soldier still gets lots of use around the house, though.
Jim
 
Voltron said:
I believe the difference is the year stamped on the blade.
Both 93MM alox knives have a thicker stock blade then non alox knives.
However, the soldier always had the date stamped on it.
Pioneers normally don't have the date.
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My first Soldier has the date 97 on it, and my old red Pioneer has 98 stamped on it, so it must have been a blade meant for a Soldier. My more-used Soldier is stamped 01.
Jim
 
mdsmith said:
My soldier just showed up at work. This looks like it is going to be a great everyday knife. It's a little uncomfortable in the pocket right now, but I think it's because I'm used to the feel of the peanut, which you can't even tell you have. The soldier looks well built and durable. I can't wait to really put 'er to use.
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You're gonna love the soldier!:thumbup:

Not only is it one of the most rugged pocket knives on the market, not to mention one of the most versitile, but also an example of how well fitted and finished a production knife should come from the factory. I've long believed that Victorinox should be the industry standard that the other knife companies should strive to be like.

Going from a peanut to a soldier, it's going to take you a few days to get used to the increase in size. It's like driving a Honda civic and going to a SUV.

Carl.
 
What jackknife said.

+ congrats on that soldier, i've had mine for about a month and it's a really great knife. I think you can't go far wrong with Victorinox, i particularly like the Alox range (i have the Soldier, Farmer, Solo and Bantam II models) really sturdy pocket knifes.
 
Vic Soldier and Ontario Camp Knife. :)

campsoldier.jpg
 
Regardless of what else I'm carrying, I haven't left home without my Soldier since 2003. The Alox has held up great despite being smooth around the edges and dinged up here and there.

I own and carry knives that cost ten times as much, but I think I'd be more heartbroken if I lost the Soldier. It feels right in my pocket.
 
jackknife said:
Not only is it one of the most rugged pocket knives on the market, not to mention one of the most versitile, but also an example of how well fitted and finished a production knife should come from the factory. I've long believed that Victorinox should be the industry standard that the other knife companies should strive to be like.
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It's funny you should mention that. While I do love this knife so far, mine is a little rough around the edges. There is some gaps where the handle scales meet the knife, and the edges of the scales along the backsprings are a little on the rough side. This doesn't bother me considering the price of the knife, and the fact that it's going to be used anyway, but I was a little surprised to see it. This is one of my first Vics, so I wasn't sure if this was the norm.
 
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