Is the pocketknife the most Swiss thing about Switzerland?
Is the pocketknife the most Swiss thing about Switzerland?
Thu, Apr 28th 2022
In the world of stereotypes, the French walk with a baguette under their arm and the Swiss always have a knife in their pocket. The original pocketknife was a German idea with French execution, commissioned for the ultra self-sufficient Swiss people. It continues to be timeless and indispensable with a cult following of young and old alike.
Is there anything it cannot do? Open a bottle of wine, if you’re using this late 1990s model instead of a more classic version which always features a corkscrew.
Used by soldiers, campers, DIY enthusiasts, nibblers or simply anyone who thinks ahead, the Swiss army knife is the cult object par excellence in this country. And for good reason: it’s not just a knife, it’s a portable toolbox, which has even become a metaphor over the years.
“To be a real Swiss army knife:” this expression praises anything or anyone for their adaptability, efficiency, or potential.
Victorinox Swiss Army knives are recyclable as scrap metal — a true mark of a Swiss design.
A portable survival kit
This multi-functional tool helped a certain world-renowned adventurer get out of all kinds of tight spots, again and again. We’re talking of course about Angus MacGyver here, the man who could do anything thanks to his Swiss army knife. But he’s not the only one to have thrust it into the limelight around the world.
The Swiss tool also appeared in Lethal Weapon 3 and The Fantastic Four, as well as in the hands of Dana Scully in the X-Files series and in those of Matt Damon in The Martian. The latter certainly made a good choice, given that the Swiss army knife has been part of NASA astronauts’ survival kit since 1992. Just as it is part of the outfitting of the Dutch, German, Malaysian, and of course Swiss armies.
In 1880, the Swiss Armed Forces ordered a folding knife that allowed soldiers to eat and to dismantle their service rifle. Ten years later, the Swiss military opted for the 1890 model, which included a knife, a screwdriver, a reamer and a can opener. But the first 15,000 ones were produced in Germany, where John S. Holler had invented history’s first multipurpose knife, consisting of a hundred or so tools including a cigar cutter, a razor and a mini-shovel. (Read more about the Swiss Army in “Lots of guns, but no mass shootings” )
Only about 40% of Victorinox products are actually knives. The company produces everything from cookware to suitcases and watches with the iconic emblem on each item.
A simple tool or art?
It was not until 1896 that the Schwyz surgical instruments manufacturer Karl Elsener developed his first folding officer’s knife, to which he added a second blade and a corkscrew produced in France. Elsener founded Victorinox, named after his late mother Victoria and the stainless steel in use since 1921.
Elsener continuously expanded his product range – a quest that continues to this day and has given rise to such bizarre inventions as the Wenger 16999 model – of a competitor company bought by Victorinox in 2005 – which weighs almost 1.4 kg. A collector’s item, the Wenger is sought after by many a multipurpose-knife lover.
You don’t need to be a professional to know that among all the multipurpose knives on the market, the Swiss army knife – SAK, for those in the know – remains a must-have. Embossed with its white cross logo, it has become a work of art and is on display in MoMA in New York, the Design Museum in London and in the Neue Sammlung in Munich.
The knife that went to space: This Master Craftsman Swiss Army knife was designed specially for NASA.
Fast Facts about the Swiss Army knife
It was the first two-sided multitool ever invented.
Some Swiss army knives feature flashlights, ballpoint pens, thermometers and even USB ports.
The knives issued to the actual Swiss Army are not red, but dark aluminum, with few features.
All knives issued to the Swiss Army have screwdrivers so soldiers can maintain their firearms out in the field.
American soldiers fell in love with the pocketknives during World War II and brought them home to the U.S. where they grew in popularity. This is when the knife’s name changed from Schweizer Offiziers und Sportmesser (Officer and Sports Knife) to “Swiss Army Knife,” as American soldiers called it.
American presidents, such as Lyndon B. Johnson, give original Victorinox Swiss Army knives as gifts to honored guests, although many other, similar knives are now produced in the U.S.
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