Swiss Army Knife Guide
The Best Multi Tool For Survival
A multi function tool is an essential bit of survival kit to have at home and in your bug out bag. The reason a multi tool is widely accepted as a high priority item by survival preppers is the fact that they can be so versatile, offering a wide range of tools that are ideal in a survival situation.
* Typical Multi Tool Designs
A multi function tool comes in many different combinations which makes it ideal for any prepper and has all those odd little tools you always seam to need – by that I mean things like, a nail clipper, bottle opener, can opener, scissors, fine files, tweezers etc etc … the list goes on and on.
Below are three examples of the typical multi tool
but showing different styles of design:
* Company History
Whenever we think about the multi tool, the first name that jumps right out at us, is the Swiss Army Knife - the company itself was founded back in 1884, and in 1890 they started manufacture and delivering their knives to the Swiss Army, hence the name was born.
Manufactured in Switzerland, by Victorinox, the Swiss Army Knife is recognisable by its distinctive red shield with a red cross logo and has been used by Victorinox since 1909.
As well as the knife they manufacture clothing, watches and travel gear.
The company founder, Karl Elsener named his company after his mother "Victoria" in her honour, In 1921, and then added the words of "inox" (which is an abbreviation for acier inoxydable, being the French term for stainless steel) into their product range, an hence the company brand and name became the very recognisable "Victorinox". The mixture of "Victoria"+"Inox"
Their knives are made of Swedish steel from Sandvik.
* Welcome to the Best Swiss Army Knife Guide.
The very basic multi tool, or Swiss Army Knife, as we should call it, is the Victorinox Classic SD Swiss Army Pocket Tool
Shown here in black: this is the minimum amount of survival tools you will get on a multi tool.
Available in Black, Red, Silver and Blue, but all have 1x cutting blade, 1x nail file & 1x nail clippers / scissors.
This particular Swiss Army Knife will get you out of a few scrapes, but lacks a lot of essential survival items to really be considered a decent tool for prepping.
The cost is under £15
On the complete opposite end of the scale there is an impressive range, offering different survival choices to everyone.
There is even a fully racked out Swiss Army Knife that has all the tools on one, 87 to be exact...!
Made by Victorinox sister company Wenger, this is the Wenger Swiss Army Knife
The basic Classis SD model will set you back a measly £15, whereas this top of the range kife is knocking on the door of £700…!
I don’t think there are too many people who would buy the Wenger Knife / multi purpose tool – but you never know.!?
* Basic To Most Expensive
There is, as you would expect, a Swiss Army Knife to suit most needs, and in various combinations. Starting from the very basic Classic SD (shown above).
At the top of their price range you have the Victorinox S557 Evolution Wood Swiss Army Pocket Knife. Shown here:
Tools on the S557 Evolution
This Knife has 11 tools with 19 functions, but what makes it different is the natural walnut handle scales.
In my opinion it's not the best Swiss Army Knife, although the walnut scales do look nice. But it does come at a price of nearly £80. So a bit of thinking required there before purchase I think.
* My Choice For Best Swiss Army Knife
Personally I have the Victorinox Champ
* Tool functions for the 'Champ' knife:
One of the very good things about the Swiss Army range is that for most of the multi purpose tool they manufacture, they also have a very good quality knife pouch available as well.
This multi tool pocket knife is just about the right size to carry – fits nicely into your hand and has a lot of tools on it. They all click back into the closed position very neatly and the whole knife will fit nicely into the Victorinox purpose made leather pouch.
All the pouches are riveted together and very strong, and will just slide onto your belt and they are very secure.
I use the Victorinox Leather Pouch 5-8 Layer
The Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Champ has a main knife blade that can be closed and is under 3″ long, which means it is a legal knife to carry on you.
Other colours and styled pouches are also available and will fit a 5 - 8 layer Swiss Army Knife.
The Champ is a 8 layer knife.
One odd point I have found – you open each tool by inserting your fingernail into a groove along each separate tool – this can be a bit tricky, especially if your hands are wet or muddy,
there's also a toothpick, pen and a pin that are built into the sides at each end of the multi tool which have hard plastic heads with allow you to pull them out – you definitely need dry hands and good fingernails to get these out.!
But all in all this is by far one of the Best Swiss Army Knife I have used – in fact I don’t think it has ever let me down.
For a cost of £50 for the knife and £15 for the pouch it does represent good value for such an excellent quality multi tool knife.
Another multi purpose tool I have been thinking about getting is Victorinox 08623MN Rescue Tool
This too looks very impressive and gets very good 5 star ratings on Amazon.
It might just become an addition to my emergency pack.
Its designed to help aid escape from an emergency situation and has some impressive features that I like a lot, especially the window breaker tool and disc saw tools as well as the rounded belt cutter that can be used to cut through seatbelts.
The knife blade is lockable, making it a solid knife, again designed for escape.
By the time you have read this article I would probably have bought one..!!
The price is around £58 including a pouch.
* Other Knives Worth Considering
Without a doubt, the Victorinox, Swiss Army Knife is a top quality brand that world renowned.
I personally own several of them and the have never let me down - they have proved over and over again, to be a very useful tool to carry with you.
For prepping and survival, I think they are a 'must have' and essential part of your kit.
Happy Prepping Folks, Steve
1 comment
Is the rescue tool legal to carry as it has a locking blade and is more than 3 inches in length