Well-used Spartan

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FranklinG

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Aug 27, 2021
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I just got back from hanging out with my wife's family. My father-in-law saw me using my Rambler, and disappeared in his garage for a while. When he came back, he handed me this:

https://imgur.com/a/OmYOy0h

I'm not sure if he used the blades as pry-bars because he couldn't physically open the can opener/screwdriver anymore, or if he just hated cutting things with his knife. The awl is also pretty wobbly when opened. He was an engineer before he retired, and loved gadgets. A few years back I asked my wife if I could get him a SAK. It seemed to fit his personality. She said it'd be a wasted gift. Now, I wonder if it would have been wasted or just put to hard use.

Anyway, my father-in-law told me to clean this one up, if I could, and give it to my son. It's beyond me, so I sent it in for repair. I've never used Victorinox's repair service, so I'll post an update when I get the knife back.
 
Sending it for repairs means everything that’s damaged will get replaced with new parts. No sure what’s gonna be left off that tortured folder.
Worth it if this was some expensive, hard to find, rare item.
But a Spartan?
You’re better off just buying a new one for your son.
And keep this to teach him what not to do with a victorinox.
 
Buy new why? Isn't that the kind of old fashioned wasteful thinking?
Of course we can go to the debate if it makes sense to ship something forth and back but that's another thing.
Hard to think that the parts themselves are destroyed, probably just bent liners and/or pins.
That thing can be repaired with little effort by Victorinox.
I think OP made the right choice.
 
If the tools are wobbly you can press them tighter or lightly hammer (did with my rambler and tinker delux)

In both case I covered in a beany cap and lightly tapped the relevant pivot areas with a small ball peen hammer until the play stopped

Scales , tooth pick and tweezers are easy to come by
 
tek77 said:
Sending it for repairs means everything that’s damaged will get replaced with new parts. No sure what’s gonna be left off that tortured folder.
Worth it if this was some expensive, hard to find, rare item.
But a Spartan?
You’re better off just buying a new one for your son.
And keep this to teach him what not to do with a victorinox.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I can't say it was the smartest financial decision ever. My son already has a Tinker, so getting a Spartan isn't going to really change his life.

But 1) I wanted to try out Victorinox's warranty/repair service. This seemed like a low-stakes way to do it.

And 2) I hate throwing things away might have a useful life left. The Spartan looks like it can be brought back.

My father-in-law also gave me two(!) knock-off "swiss" army knives that are truly hideous. They're so bad that Dad apparently never used them. He'd rather beat that poor Spartan within an inch of it's life than try using a knock-off. I have many questions about that, but I have no use for the actual knives. Maybe I'll send one on to my brother, who will pass it on to one of his kids, who will... like a bad Christmas fruitcake.

Anyway, I'm curious to see what comes of this, and will keep you posted.
 
FranklinG said:
Yeah, I can't say it was the smartest financial decision ever. My son already has a Tinker, so getting a Spartan isn't going to really change his life.

But 1) I wanted to try out Victorinox's warranty/repair service. This seemed like a low-stakes way to do it.
Click to expand...
If your son already has a Tinker, I think I’d put the refurbished Spartan up and take it down once in awhile to appreciate the great company Victorinox is.

And then someday when he’s a little older and wiser, you can present him with it and tell him the entire story and that his grandpa wanted him to have it. I bet he’ll cherish it even more.
 
I found one a few weeks ago! The can opener and bottle opener won't open yet, I haven't spent any time on truing up the liners yet.
YOw1mxt.jpg
 
Guy McVer said:
To be fair, some of those knock-offs can be dangerous. If you're going to put something to hard use and abuse, it's probably better than not to have quality on your side.
Click to expand...
Yup. I think that's the logic. I wouldn't want to use either of those knock-offs either.

LimpCroissant said:
I found one a few weeks ago! The can opener and bottle opener won't open yet, I haven't spent any time on truing up the liners yet.
YOw1mxt.jpg
Click to expand...
Oh my! Was a lawnmower involved?
 
FranklinG said:
Yup. I think that's the logic. I wouldn't want to use either of those knock-offs either.


Oh my! Was a lawnmower involved?
Click to expand...
Haha not sure. A co-worker found it and picked it up somewhere and then said I could have it when I saw it and asked him about it. The liners are pretty buggered up though. I already had to bend the edge of the liners in a couple small spots to get those 3 tools out.
 
A.L. said:
Buy new why? Isn't that the kind of old fashioned wasteful thinking?
Of course we can go to the debate if it makes sense to ship something forth and back but that's another thing.
Hard to think that the parts themselves are destroyed, probably just bent liners and/or pins.
That thing can be repaired with little effort by Victorinox.
I think OP made the right choice.
Click to expand...
FranklinG said:
Yeah, I can't say it was the smartest financial decision ever. My son already has a Tinker, so getting a Spartan isn't going to really change his life.

But 1) I wanted to try out Victorinox's warranty/repair service. This seemed like a low-stakes way to do it.

And 2) I hate throwing things away might have a useful life left. The Spartan looks like it can be brought back.

My father-in-law also gave me two(!) knock-off "swiss" army knives that are truly hideous. They're so bad that Dad apparently never used them. He'd rather beat that poor Spartan within an inch of it's life than try using a knock-off. I have many questions about that, but I have no use for the actual knives. Maybe I'll send one on to my brother, who will pass it on to one of his kids, who will... like a bad Christmas fruitcake.

Anyway, I'm curious to see what comes of this, and will keep you posted.
Click to expand...

Both blades have bent tips; a liner is bent; the awl/corkscrew pin either needs to be lightly hammered or replaced; & it needs a new scale. Repairing it would be a much bigger job than it appears. I feel that Victorinox or its distributor are more likely to send back a new replacement Spartan than spend time on this poor abused thing.
 
Just wanted to give an update. Victorinox charged me $5 for processing, and the knife is beautiful. My son thought it was a completely different knife. Turn around time was incredibly fast.

https://imgur.com/a/pD2OYK7

They replaced far less than I expected. The awl is perfect, but I think the photos show the liners are still a little scratched up. The secondary blade is "slightly" bent at the tip, but it looks worse on the photo than in person. It still has some scars from my father-in-law's ownership, but just enough to ID it as grandpa's knife.

This was a bit of an experiment to check out Victorinox's repair service. I'm incredibly pleased with the speed of the process, communication with Victorinox, cost of the work, and the final outcome. Just really happy about the whole package.
 
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