when did victorinox/wenger switch to a larger size?

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Blackhearted

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Jul 6, 2005
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i just received 4 new victorinox SAKs (got them at a great price), and putting them beside my older ones i notice theyre significantly larger. i went to both the victoriinox and wenger sites and noticed their old, smaller sized models are all discontinued.
im not talking about the tiny keychain ones - the regular knives like the soldier, tinker, etc are now noticeably larger.
i never noticed this before because ive had a large collection of SAKs for over a decade now and i never had the urge to buy more. in store display cases - often behind glass - you dont really notice the size difference either, not without putting it beside an older SAK. fit and finish actually seems better (hah, usually its the other way around these days), and the liners seem like they are hardened as opposed to soft aluminum which would easily deform (especially around the corkscrew as it closed).

how do you folks feel about the change? im undecided yet. the larger knife fits my hand better, but theyre heavier and bulkier - im used to an SAK being pretty much 'invisible' in a pocket, now i can actually feel this thing in there. anyone know what prompted the change?

cheers,
-gabriel
 
Blackhearted wrote: "i just received 4 new victorinox SAKs (got them at a great price), and putting them beside my older ones i notice theyre significantly larger. i went to both the victoriinox and wenger sites and noticed their old, smaller sized models are all discontinued. "

Could you please tell us which Victorinox models you got?

As far as I know Victorinox SAKs are available mainly in the standard 91mm length (eg: Spartan).

There are also 84mm (eg: Waiter and small Tinker models),
93mm (the Alox Soldiers and Pioneers, although they are still advertised as 91mm).
Then there is the significantly larger 111mm models with locking blades (Picnicker).
picnicker9io.jpg

image from SwissArmy.com

--
Vincent
http://UnknownVT2005.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVT.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVincent.cjb.net/
 
no i am not referring to the locking models or the larger ones like the rucksack :)

i may be off with my measurements a little....
but the new models i purchased (huntsman plus, camper, etc) are 3 5/8" long.
my older ones - same models (spartan, camper, tinker, etc) are 3 1/4" long. thats 3/8" difference. this is all around as well - knives are wider by nearly 1/8".
and yes, these are victorinox and wenger models not knockoffs. i know there was definitely a change in size because sites that sell replacement scales sell them in many sizes - including the older smaller size and newer larger size. i am just not aware as to when this change took place - and how i missed it :)

cheers,
-gabriel
 
My tinker from ~12 years ago is much smaller than the one I picked up a year or so ago.
 
heres a photo to show the difference:
sak6dt.jpg


*edit: i also notice that the old victorinox corkscrew used to have a groove running along it, whereas the new one looks just like the wenger one used to - plain smooth corkscrew.

not complaining, just wondering when/why they changed is all, and how people who have both the smaller and larger SAKs feel about the change.

cheers,
-gabriel
 
Blackhearted wrote: "but the new models i purchased (huntsman plus, camper, etc) are 3 5/8" long.
my older ones - same models (spartan, camper, tinker, etc) are 3 1/4" long. "

Thanks for the clarification.

The Victorinox standard length for years has been 91mm - which is close to 3 5/8" (but usually advertized as 3 1/2").

There are also 84mm models as cited above, that's closer to 3 1/4".

From a Victorinox brochure circa 1988 - showing the Standard/Spartan length as 91mm -
Vic88_Spartan.jpg


I have catalogs that date back as far as 1967 that show the standard size/length of Victorinox SAKs as 3 1/2".

--
Vincent
http://UnknownVT2005.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVT.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVincent.cjb.net/
 
hardheart wrote: "My tinker from ~12 years ago is much smaller than the one I picked up a year or so ago"

Yes, the Tinker is a special case - everywhere other than the USA it's been an 84mm (3 1/4") model. The early US models were also 84mm - but sometime in the 80's the USA designated the 91mm equivalent model as the "Tinker" -

SwissArmy.com the official Victorinox USA site actually lists BOTH knives -

(91mm) Tinker

(84mm) Tinker small

--
Vincent
http://UnknownVT2005.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVT.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVincent.cjb.net/
 
its not just the tinker. all of my old SAKs are/were this size (84mm). at the time i wasnt versed on their different designations, but i have/had tinkers, spartans, sportsmen, campers, etc. ive also had their wenger counterparts - and these were nearly the exact same size (although wengers didnt taper). i do remember that i was a kid who was nuts about SAKs, so i would have noticed if there were larger ones available - kids never miss things like that. however i did purchase them all in europe, so perhaps that was a factor? although i was in scouts here in north america and my friends' SAKs were not any larger - again, kids dont miss things like this.

its been at least 15 yrs since ive purchased an SAK - so these are easily pre 1990.
 
Blackhearted wrote: "its not just the tinker. all of my old SAKs are/were this size (84mm). at the time i wasnt versed on their different designations, but i have/had tinkers, spartans, sportsmen, campers, etc. ive also had their wenger counterparts - and these were nearly the exact same size (although wengers didnt taper)."

If a "Spartan" was 84mm -
then it is not a Spartan -
but more likely a "Tourist"

As far as I can remember the Spartan (and the non-keyringed Standard) have always been 91mm (3 1/2") models.

Here's an early 80's listing (I only have a photocopy) - that shows the Spartan as a 91mm (3 1/2") model -
Spartan_Early80s.jpg


The Sportsman has always been, and still is an 84mm (3 1/4") model.

Wenger's standard size is 85mm (which is close to 3 1/4"), and that hasn't changed.

I have EDC a Victrorinox SAK since early 1982, and am well aware of their sizes - to me the standard size has always been 91mm (3 1/2").

--
Vincent
http://UnknownVT2005.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVT.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVincent.cjb.net/
 
As far as I can remember the Spartan (and the non-keyringed Standard) have always been 91mm (3 1/2") models.
Click to expand...

wierd. i assumed the red one in the photo was a spartan, but apparently its a 'tourist' then..

perhaps its just that the 84mm ones were far more common in europe at the time i collected them, and by some twist of fate all of my friends back in north america had 84mm ones as well. the ones i saw in stores could all have been 91mm ones - on a shelf behind glass i wouldnt have been able to tell anyway, not without an 84mm one beside it.

illl take your word for it - seems like you know a lot more about SAKs than i do :)
i actually miss the grooved corkscrew. i wont say i think it 'performs bettter', but it certainly looks better. its always a shame when they cut features like that - no matter how small and insignificant seeming.

how about wengers then? all of my wengers are the small format as well. heh. same deal with them?
 
I bought a Victorinox Spartan in 1981 that subsequently was carried/used for about 16 years. It's length is the same as the modern, "regular" models (longer than some of the early shorter ones). Its red scales do not include a tweezers and toothpick, and it feels of a slightly tougher plastic that the current type. The key ring is connected to the knife via an extension in one of the aluminum liners, whereas most current models connect the keyring with an extension of a steel backspring.
I have seen a smaller-model Tinker being sold in a major knife store here in San Diego. So perhaps they are making a comeback. Although its keyring uses the aluminum liner to hold the ring. I personally prefer the longer Tinker as it feels more comfortable in use to me.
Jim
 
I have a Tinker that I got sometime in the 80s that is shorter than the Tinkers I bought for my kids, starting in the 90s. So the sizes available in the US have changed in that time span.
 
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