What/Who is the real SAK?

Teague

Teague

Joined
Jul 11, 2007
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633
What/Who is the real SAK? Victorinox or Wenger? Why?

I believe I found my answer:

THE COMPROMISE OF 1908

The company from which Wenger emerged had been a supplier to the Swiss Army as early as 1893, and its sister-company, Victorinox, since 1890. Wenger is in the French-speaking Jura region and its competitor is in the German-speaking canton of Schwyz. To avoid friction between the two cantons, the Swiss Government decided in 1908 to use each supplier for half of its requirements. So Victorinox can lay claim to being the “original”, Wenger can state its Swiss Army Knives are “genuine”. In any case, both have been manufacturing Swiss Army Knives for over 100 years and both must meet identical specifications defined by the Swiss Army.

http://www.wengerna.com/content1039

So, I'll change the question. Which of these two Swiss knifemakers do you like best and why?
 
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Teague said:
What/Who is the real SAK? Victorinox or Wenger? Why?
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If wikipedia is trustworthy, than Victorinox was founded a little while before Wegner. It seems they were rival companies for a little more than 100 years until Victorinox bought Wegner out in 2005.
 
Well...I don't know the whole story (who knows, really?) but Victorinox AND Wenger were both under contract with the swiss 'army'. In 2005, I believe, Vic bought Wenger...so now, they're one and the same. Personnally, having owned both companies' knives, I prefer Victorinox.
 
I also prefer Vic, their knives just feel more solid and better made to me, and my Vics seem to hold a better edge than my Wenger. Maybe its just me but the Wengers have always felt more plastic-like to me
 
Vic gets the nod for being slightly better quality and steel, but Wenger has some really cool designs that you'd miss out on if you went Victorinox-only. For instance, don't miss out on the Nail Clipper models and the small locking models like the Evolution S13.
 
never liked wenger knives, and ike vic much better. That being said I have a wenger watch=P
 
I just recently found that Vics were much more than I had originally thought. So, now I've loaded up on them. And, am tickled with the ones I've purchased. But, I don't like corkscrews, so I avoid buying Vics with corkscrews.

Does anyone here ever use the corkscrew on their Vic?
 
I prefer Victorinox. I have a few Wengers and they just feel slightly inferior. Also the can opener on the vic is much better.

Teague, I've tried using the corkscrew to open wine and found it not quite up to the job.
 
I've used the corkscrew to untie knots on several occasions. I've also used it to open wine, it's not an elegant tool for that but gets the job done.
 
I personally think the phillips screwdriver is more functional than the corkscrew. I also like the scissors.
 
Teague said:
What/Who is the real SAK? Victorinox or Wenger? Why?

I believe I found my answer:

THE COMPROMISE OF 1908

The company from which Wenger emerged had been a supplier to the Swiss Army as early as 1893, and its sister-company, Victorinox, since 1890. Wenger is in the French-speaking Jura region and its competitor is in the German-speaking canton of Schwyz. To avoid friction between the two cantons, the Swiss Government decided in 1908 to use each supplier for half of its requirements. So Victorinox can lay claim to being the “original”, Wenger can state its Swiss Army Knives are “genuine”. In any case, both have been manufacturing Swiss Army Knives for over 100 years and both must meet identical specifications defined by the Swiss Army.

http://www.wengerna.com/content1039
Click to expand...
In other breaking news, water is wet, and the sun is bright, and Elton John is gay.

Excuse the sarcasm, but this topic isn't exactly anything new. Both companies make the "offical" knives for the Swiss Army. It used to be the "Soldier" (Victorinox) or the "Soldat" (Wegner), which were made to the same specs, but I think they very recently changed the standard issue knife to a 1-handed Trekker variant.

So, I'll change the question. Which of these two Swiss knifemakers do you like best and why?
Click to expand...

Like others above have mentioned, Victorinox makes better knives overall, however, Wegner has a far superior spring mechanism for the scissors/pliers. Whether you prefer the serrated scissors of the Wegner over the normal ones of the Vic is a matter of taste. For utility, I'd rather have the serrated scissors of the Wegner, but trimming your fingernails with them sucks.

Personally, I've carried a Victorniox Cybertool 29 for several years now, and I never leave home without it.
 
Teague said:
Does anyone here ever use the corkscrew on their Vic?
Click to expand...

Yes I do. To pull corks out of wine bottles. I also use the jewelers screwdriver that fits inside quite often.

I however have never used the parcel carrier hook for anything whatsoever.

Edit:

Actually, scratch that, I think I've used them to help untangle a shoelace knot...once.
 
I sometimes use the corkscrew to open a bottle of wine, only if there is no real corkscrew available. But most of the time I use it to keep a mini screwdriver in it.

I have a number of SAK's from both brands. My favourite brand is Victorinox, it feels a bit better and I like the can opener more. Also Victorinox has more and good alox models. On the other hand, Wenger has some Evogrip models which have a nice grip. The Wenger Ranger models are bigger than the Victorinox 111mm models, but I don't own a Wenger Ranger, so I can not really tell if they are better built or not.
 
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