Wenger alox Standard Issue?

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Foilist

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Dec 20, 2004
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I have a Wenger Standard Issue coming to me soon as part of a trade. In pictures it looks just like a Vic Cadet or Soldier except that it has a shakle or bail. I have never had a Wenger before. Does anyone have this knife? What can you tell me?
 
Foilist said:
I have a Wenger Standard Issue coming to me soon as part of a trade. In pictures it looks just like a Vic Cadet or Soldier except that it has a shakle or bail. I have never had a Wenger before. Does anyone have this knife? What can you tell me?
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howdy,

the Wender Si is the exact same knife as the Soldier and is milspec for the swiss army. the difference is the bale through the rivet.

Great knife!

Brett
 
I have a Wenger SI, and untill I started the "experiment" it was my edc carry. No matter what else I may have had on me, the SI was a day in, day out item because it was such a versitile, bomb proof, ideal edc pocket knife.

When the experiment is over I expect to carry my SI again. It is one of the few knives I miss. It is essencially an all metal boy scout knife like I grew up with. I love the bail, thats part of the reason I will not own a Victorinox soldier- no way to attach a lanyard to it, and thats a deal breaker for me in an edc urban/woods, potential survival knife. Plus in warm weather I spend alot of time in some sort of boat out on the water and I lost a knife overboard once because it did not have a bail for a lanyard.

I really love my Wenger SI!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
Wenger SI is Top Shelf! The Vic is the same. Some like the Bail on the SI & others like the Vic for sleek pocket carry. You can't go wrong with either.
 
I like a lanyard attachment on a knife too. The SI/Cadet/Soldier design seems like maximum versatility in a minimum package. Plus, I've been curious to try an Alox SAK. I guess I'm making a good swap!

Jacknife, why didn't you choose the SI for the Experiment? Are SAKs not minimal enough for the idea behind it?
 
pogo said:
...Some like the Bail on the SI & others like the Vic for sleek pocket carry...
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The bail on SI can be easily removed, leaving a hollow rivet. So, SI is more versatile in terms of carry. The Vic advantage is only in price - it seems to regularly go on sale here and there, while Wengers don't...
Alexei
 
Foilist said:
Jacknife, why didn't you choose the SI for the Experiment? Are SAKs not minimal enough for the idea behind it?
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Well, the first knife I bought for myself after I did a good job of trying to wear out the Imperial barlow grandad gave me, was a stockman. I wanted to try going back to my roots before I got my first sak when I was in the service. Kind of like going ALL the way back to basics like our forfathers who got by with a barlow or stockman. If I need a screwdriver or can opener I'll have a Sears 4-way pocket screwdriver and a P-38 on my keyring, the way my dad did.

Yeah, you could say its a really back to basics thing.
 
Interesting. For me reverting to a SAK would be going back to my own roots. I've often described the Huntsman I got as a 12 year old in about 1983. I've gotten that very knife out of semi-retirement and have been carrying it a lot the past couple of days. I'm surprised by how often I've used it compared to the others I'd been edcing lately.

The scales are pretty scratched and pitted and the main blade even has a "patina" of sorts from a time that I got battery acid on it back in the early
'90's. Whoops.
 
You shouldnt leave the Vic farmer out of the discussion , basically a Standard issue , in Alox with a split ring , there are variations on the theme which have a saw or scissors , which only adds minimal weight an about 3mm in thickness .

Chris
 
The Vic farmer is a fine knife, but it shares a defect that I do not like as there is no good reason for it. For some reason known only to the honchos at Victorinox, the soldier model did away with the hollow rivit that could serve as an attachment point for a lanyard. So to get a alox Vic with a lanyard attachment you have to go with a farmer. Unfortunatly the farmer puts it key ring attachment in just a positon to dig into the heel of my hand under a strong grip. And its a thin little brass thing unlike the thicker keyring attachment on other vic's like the tinker or such. On other vic knives the keyring attachment is angled back more so it does not interfear as much with a grip.

I don't require a saw blade on my pocket knife, so I don't want a farmer. To me a saw blade is not nessesary, its just as easy to notch the tree limb or whatever I'm cutting, and break it off.

For my uses as an edc pocket knife, the Wenger SI is a better design.
 
Whoop Whoop... I understand 100%. I don't know what Vic was thinking when they marketed the Farmer.
 
pogo said:
Wenger SI is Top Shelf! The Vic is the same. Some like the Bail on the SI & others like the Vic for sleek pocket carry. You can't go wrong with either.
Click to expand...

The Vic Pioneer is a Soldier with keychain ring attachment. It provides sleek pocketability and dummy cord/lanyard capability, take your choice. Wenger's bail adds a tad thickness to the package, IMHO, but better for some purposes, like rigging a plumb bob. Isn't it frustrating when you have to choose between two great knives (or do you?) :D
 
The Wenger Soldier is tough as nails. AI bought it over the Wenger because of the lanyard bail. I haven't tried any very recent Wenger cellidor models, but my experience with the older ones has been that the backsprings are not as strong as the Victorinox cellidor backsprings. With the alox models, I noticed that both are equally good. You are going to enjoy the Soldier a lot. It is a good knife for the money.

Wenger's bail adds a tad thickness to the package, IMHO, but better for some purposes, like rigging a plumb bob.
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When you want to slim it down a little, you can easily pop the bail off the Wenger, and you are left with a hole through the knife. Reinstallation is easy- it takes about two seconds.
 
jackknife said:
The Vic farmer is a fine knife, but it shares a defect that I do not like as there is no good reason for it. For some reason known only to the honchos at Victorinox, the soldier model did away with the hollow rivit that could serve as an attachment point for a lanyard. So to get a alox Vic with a lanyard attachment you have to go with a farmer. Unfortunatly the farmer puts it key ring attachment in just a positon to dig into the heel of my hand under a strong grip. And its a thin little brass thing unlike the thicker keyring attachment on other vic's like the tinker or such. On other vic knives the keyring attachment is angled back more so it does not interfear as much with a grip.
Click to expand...

The Vic Soldier follows Swiss Military specs, the spec changed so that the Bail was no longer needed and Vic eliminated it to save money.

Vic 93mm Alox knives (Pioneer, Farmer, etc) are 1.5mm smaller across the width (not thickness) than the 91mm Cellidor models (the other vic knives you reference, compare the two styles side by side, the spine tools make it wider). This extra width on the 91mm knives allows the lanyard ring to sit in a better position so that it doesn't hurt your hand. Open the awl and/or can opener on a 93mm Alox and look at where the lanyard ring sits, now look at the knife, now find a better spot to put the lanyard ring. Vic couldn't find a better spot, one of the best modders of SAKs, Scibeer, couldn't find a better place for it (he resorted to using Wenger style Bails). All the 93mm knives by Vic use the Swiss milspec parts, Vic will not change the design of the 93mm knives unless the Swiss military changes the specs on the knife. (I'm getting sick of posting this every 2 weeks or so.)
 
sunshaker said:
The Vic Soldier follows Swiss Military specs, the spec changed so that the Bail was no longer needed and Vic eliminated it to save money.

Vic 93mm Alox knives (Pioneer, Farmer, etc) are 1.5mm smaller across the width (not thickness) than the 91mm Cellidor models (the other vic knives you reference, compare the two styles side by side, the spine tools make it wider). This extra width on the 91mm knives allows the lanyard ring to sit in a better position so that it doesn't hurt your hand. Open the awl and/or can opener on a 93mm Alox and look at where the lanyard ring sits, now look at the knife, now find a better spot to put the lanyard ring. Vic couldn't find a better spot, one of the best modders of SAKs, Scibeer, couldn't find a better place for it (he resorted to using Wenger style Bails). All the 93mm knives by Vic use the Swiss milspec parts, Vic will not change the design of the 93mm knives unless the Swiss military changes the specs on the knife. (I'm getting sick of posting this every 2 weeks or so.)
Click to expand...

Interesting that victorinox makes the knife exactly to the Swiss Military contract, and leaves out the ability to attach some sort of lanyard. Yet the Wenger SI is also made to the same contract, but Wenger uses the hollow rivit and a bail, giving the owner of the knife the option of lanyard or no lanyard, as the bail can be removed in an instant.

I like a company that gives me the option. :thumbup:
 
jackknife said:
Wenger uses the hollow rivit and a bail, giving the owner of the knife the option of lanyard or no lanyard, as the bail can be removed in an instant.
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jackknife: If the bail can be removed in an instant, is it all that solid?

jackknife said:
I like a company that gives me the option. :thumbup:
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I like a company that gives me a can-opener with a screwdriver on the end of it. ;) Wenger ought to put the Vic-style can-opener all all their knives, not just the SI.
 
jackknife said:
Interesting that victorinox makes the knife exactly to the Swiss Military contract, and leaves out the ability to attach some sort of lanyard. Yet the Wenger SI is also made to the same contract, but Wenger uses the hollow rivit and a bail, giving the owner of the knife the option of lanyard or no lanyard, as the bail can be removed in an instant.

I like a company that gives me the option. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Maybe the Swiss milspec has the bail listed as optional, maybe the guys at Wenger just like bails (the older Wenger knives have lots of lanyard dohickies as standard on all knives).

You can always get a modder to put a Wenger styles Bail on a Farmer or other Vic 93mm knife.
 
mnblade said:
jackknife: If the bail can be removed in an instant, is it all that solid?
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Its pretty solid. I've pulled really hard with no effect on the lanyard I have on the bail. The ends of the bail are kind of shaped inward and are hooked in there good. The bail itself is like a spring temper, it takes a dedicated prying with a small screwdriver to lift the end clear to come out. That, and the strength of the spring preasure of the bail itself makes for a interlocking sort of design.

It ain't comming outa there with just a strong pull.
 
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