Wenger vs Victorinox

Pizzini, Yeah, the Victorinox springs are not difficult to replace, but it is an obvious weakness with Vic knives. It also is'nt covered by the Vic warranty, but if the Wenger scissor-spring breaks all you have to do is send it back to Wenger and they will repair or replace.

I feel like the Lone Ranger defending Wenger but I think some folks really don't give them their fair due. After all, Victorinox is only about two years older than Wenger and they've both been around for over one-hundred years, so they must be doing something right. I also honestly think the Wenger has some great ideas the Vic should incorporate (like the scissor-spring, the locking screwdriver, the slip-joint pliers).

I own quite alot of both Vics and Wengers and I like them both. I've carefully inspected all of my Swiss knives and I can't find a dime's difference between the two brands when it comes to fit and finish.
The sharp edges are sharp, the smooth edges are smooth, the scales match and fit perfectly, no burrs, no blemishes...all in all, both are really amazing for the price. I'm sure most other traditional pocket-knife makers are envious.

I'll give Victorinox credit for the Cadet. This has become my favorite SAK of all. I love the aluminum SAKs the most but they're just too long and bulky for comfortable pocket-carry...until the Cadet came along.
Now I have to decide between the Cadet and the Leatherman Micra for my EDC.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
FEATHERSTONE said:
Victorionix hands down hold a good edge and fit and finish are better also.
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A Little History on these 2 Companies.....Elsener, through his company Victorinox, managed to have the market completely for himself until 1893, when the second industrial cutlery of Switzerland, Paul Boechat & Cie headquartered in Delémont in the French-speaking canton of Jura, started selling a similar product. This company was later acquired by its then General Manager, Theodore Wenger and renamed the Wenger Company. In 1908 the Swiss government, wanting to prevent an issue over regional favoritism but perhaps wanting a bit of competition in hopes of lowering prices, split the contract with Victorinox and Wenger each getting half of the orders placed. By mutual agreement, Wenger advertises as the Genuine Swiss Army Knife and Victorinox uses the term the Original Swiss Army Knife. However, on 26 April 2005 Victorinox acquired Wenger, thus turning the Swiss Army knife market into a monopoly for supplying the knives to the Swiss Army once again. However, on the consumer side Victorinox has stated that it intends to keep both brands intact.

So, in less you are Buying a Pre-2005 Swiss Army Product....Then They ARE the EXACT SAME THING!!
 
Have owned a couple Victorinox Tinkers and a Super Tinker back in the day. Great knives. Kinda wish they would make one with a long Philips head driver that opened on the end instead of the back but beside that...

I do like the look of te Wenger Evo Grips though.

Never owned a Wenger. For some reason I always thought they were a knockoff or budget bingo version.
 
TubesBroker said:
So, in less you are Buying a Pre-2005 Swiss Army Product....Then They ARE the EXACT SAME THING!!
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Welcome to the forum.

You are allowed to start a new thread on the subject; you dont have to comment in and old thread from 2002.

Ohh and BTW; I like SAKs. Quality of the SAK Spartan is hard to beat.

 
I don't have any Wenger, but my Victorinox models hold a fantastic edge. They get crazy sharp and hold it for a good while. No complaints!
 
TubesBroker said:
So, in less you are Buying a Pre-2005 Swiss Army Product....Then They ARE the EXACT SAME THING!!
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just because one company acquires another does NOT make it the same thing. I would imagine the wenger line are made in the same factories by the same employees as before victorinox got them. meaning that, for the most part, they are just as different as when they were two separate entities. other than upper management type decisions.
 
I have been a swiss army knife fan my entire life.

As long as it is a Victorinox or a Wegner, it doesn't matter. Its goooooood:D:thumbup:.
 
I love both companies for different reasons, I cannot tell a difference between the fit and finish or the blade hardness.
Both victorinox and wenger have little quirks that make them different.

I like wengers scales because they cover the liners and make the knife feel more rounded and smoother in hand, I like victorinox inlay shields and can opener design better, I like how the wenger awl sits flush with the handle and the blade has more belly, and I like the victorinox toothpick and tweezer design better.
I could keep going but it doesn't matter what I like about both companies, it's a personal preference thing.
I don't think we give wenger enough of a chance, we tend to assume victorinox makes a superior SAK, but you can't really tell unless you give one some pocket time, if you do you may find you like some of the differences wenger brings to the field.
 
I own both Wenger and Victorinox knives. I prefer the Victorinox knives. In general they have a stronger backspring and I'm very much used to their can opener, it works more comfortable to me. A great thing of Wenger though is their innovation. Their scales for example. Those have ergonomic scales and some of them have rubber/plastic inlays. Also, Wenger has locking screw drivers and even on some of the smaller knives, they implemented locking blades.

When it comes to the larger SAKs, I think the Ranger series of Wenger is just as good as the 111mm series by Victorinox. The Rangers are larger than Victorinox their 111mm models. I handled several Rangers. Those a bit too large for my taste, but good quality knives.
 
Small sized SAKs - Victorinox (Farmer)
Large sized SAKs - Wenger (Ranger 78)
Multi-Tools - only Victorinox (SwissTool)

Not a fan of anything smaller, and I hope to see larger Multi-Tools.

I would like a Micra for my key chain though.
 
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My first SAK was a Wenger Toolchest. Not because they were better but because they offered a left-handed version which Victorinox did not. I have a slight preference for Victorinox over Wenger but enjoy both product lines. If Victorinox ever produces lefty versions of their knives I will be first in line to purchase. :)
 
Not a big fan of the Victorinox can opener...but it works. On all other points, I give a huge advantage to Victorinox.
 
Victorinox has better pliers. Wenger has a better bottle opener/screwdriver (it locks when pressure is put on it). Wenger has locking blades on the small knives, which is really useful. Wenger has interesting attachments on some of their knives. Telescoping pointer, cigar cutter, carabiner, nail clipper, whistle, etc. It's fun to hunt down the knives with the strange or oddball attachments.... though *some* of those attachments have now made it into production Victorinox knives. Wenger made some knives for Buck, and they have clip point blades. The Wenger can opener works faster is useful for other tasks. Wenger scissors are self-sharpening, while Victorinox are not.

What it really comes down to though, is that a 4-layer Wenger easily fits in the coin pocket of most jeans. Doesn't get damaged by keys, doesn't share a pocket with my phone, it has it's own protected little place and it's always with me. Honestly, I prefer Victorinox. I like the larger tools. But a 5-layer Wenger is smaller in all dimensions than a 4-layer Victorinox. You can fit more tools in less space, and it fits nicely in a coin pocket -- which the victorinox cannot. I find I carry my Wenger Handyman or Swissbuck Taskmate far more than my Victorinox, just for that reason. I carry the vic in a belt holster... and because of that, I'm thinking of eschewing the 91mm vic and going to just Wengers and a 111mm Victorinox Hercules or WorkChamp.

Charles.
 
C ChopperCharles nice necro posting and as noted in post #22 as of 2005 they are one company and then IIRC sometime after that the manufacturing was all put into one factory so even if the label changes it was made by the same people on that same equipment from the same materials.
 
jbmonkey said:
16 years later......wow
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necro29844976_lrg.jpg
 
craytab said:
Well, not really. Looks like it was also necroed in 2013. The rare double necro!
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The necro-poster from 2013 revived the post, and never posted again...his or her sole post. Interesting to see if the same happens with the current reincarnation.
 
Astronaut FX said:
The necro-poster from 2013 revived the post, and never posted again...his or her sole post. Interesting to see if the same happens with the current reincarnation.
Click to expand...

Reviving this post is part of the curriculum at the school of thread necromancy.
 
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