Wenger SAK alert! :O

Mecha

Mecha

Titanium Bladesmith
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
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You'll notice there are a lot of threads lately about Swiss Army Knives. I notice that they are always referred to as Victorinox knives. Well, I have always been of the opinion that the Wenger SAK is the real Swiss Army Knife. o_O And I know I'm not alone.

https://bladeforums.com/threads/which-is-the-real-swiss-army-knife.1515379/

After looking into this Swiss Army Knife situation, I have just discovered that Wenger knives were phased out of existence in 2013, after the company was engorged by the Victorinox in 2005. :eek: The once illustrious Wenger is now just a brand name for cheap watches and luggage! :thumbsdown::mad:

Meanwhile, Victorinox is circling the drain by excreting bladed insults such as the "Rangergrip." :rolleyes:

https://bladeforums.com/threads/big-sexy-swiss-army-rangergrip.1698757/#post-19419089

What all of this means, is that a real Wenger SAK, in brand-new condition, is now a priceless collectible. :confused:

ALERT: I happen to know of an obscure brick-n-mortar knife shop that happens to have a stock of Wenger SAKs on display and for sale. They must have been acquired before 2013...possibly WAY before. All of them brand-new.:cool:

I will be visiting this knife shop next week. o_O Wengers...real, authentic, NOS Wengers will be acquired.

Do you, dear reader and fellow Bladeforumite, need a BRAND NEW OLD STOCK REAL WENGER SAK? Let me know, and if there is interest, I will post photos of the knife store's stock in real-time, and should be able to grab knives for others who are true believers in the Ways of the Wenger. :thumbsup:
 
Personally I'm not a " SAK " kind of guy, I'm a Vic kind of guy.
I don't carry " Swiss army knives " I simply carry Victorinox knives, if I had an actual Swiss army issue knife then I suppose then I'd be carrying a " SAK" but till then they're just Vic's to me.

As far as Wenger goes I simply have no experience with them.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Personally I'm not a " SAK " kind of guy, I'm a Vic kind of guy.
I don't carry " Swiss army knives " I simply carry Victorinox knives, if I had an actual Swiss army issue knife then I suppose then I'd be carrying a " SAK" but till then they're just Vic's to me.

As far as Wenger goes I simply have no experience with them.
Click to expand...

That is unfortunate. Sounds to me like you need to experience the Power of Wenger ©®ɀʶ™℗
 
i will agree that the pre-Victorinox Wengers are
collectable now, more so since its demise as an SAK brand.
Wengers with its Swiss French background
had come in to being as main competitors
to the Swiss German Victorinox.
Well, they lost...
Sure they had some really neat and innovative
patented tools of their own; but I always found
the action on their back spring less "snappy"
than what one usually finds in a victorinox.
but than just maybe, the standard wenger's
product range being 84mm, fell short
of victorinox's standard 91mm.
if there was one thing i appreciated on wengers
was the perfectly centered main large spear point
blade on Wengers SAKs versus the off centered
ground victorinox.
and they even came up with a locking main blade's
a feature termed as "paclock" in the security range.
it could be due to technical differences
or perhaps differences in blade steel composition
because when compared to victorinox main blades,
wengers dulled faster on me.
yeah, wengers were SAKs too but
one can't help but to compare between brands.
i must admit that owning a wenger now
is more for the sake of collecting a piece of
genuine SAK history.
 
GIRLYmann said:
i will agree that the pre-Victorinox Wengers are
collectable now, more so since its demise as an SAK brand.
Wengers with its Swiss French background
had come in to being as main competitors
to the Swiss German Victorinox.
Well, they lost...
Sure they had some really neat and innovative
patented tools of their own; but I always found
the action on their back spring less "snappy"
than what one usually finds in a victorinox.
but than just maybe, the standard wenger's
product range being 84mm, fell short
of victorinox's standard 91mm.
if there was one thing i appreciated on wengers
was the perfectly centered main large spear point
blade on Wengers SAKs versus the off centered
ground victorinox.
and they even came up with a locking main blade's
a feature termed as "paclock" in the security range.
it could be due to technical differences
or perhaps differences in blade steel composition
because when compared to victorinox main blades,
wengers dulled faster on me.
yeah, wengers were SAKs too but
one can't help but to compare between brands.
i must admit that owning a wenger now
is more for the sake of collecting a piece of
genuine SAK history.
Click to expand...


Interesting stuff, GIRLYmann, thanks for the info!
 
On the comments section of the video GIRLYmann linked, you see this:


labrat73573 years ago
Hi, you mention the shiny finish on the Victorinox compared to the Wenger knife. I believe that there is a plating process applied to Victorinox knife blades. I had a cadet sized knife with a main blade that had been abused and it had what appeared to be electroplating peeling off the blade. I thought this might be of interest to you as Victorinox is very secretive about how they sharpen and finish their knives.All the best.



If the Victorinox blades are plated in some way then that would be yet another reason why Wenger knives are the superior SAK.
 
DocJD said:
The mighty Kingdom of Rebranded Watches & Luggage ! :rolleyes::thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

The Wenger knives rule as the superior SAK. And as the thread suggests, they are even more collectible now since they have been discontinued, probably because Victorinox eliminated them out of jealousy.
 
My first SAK was a Wenger. It may still be around here someplace, but I haven’t seen it in years. I’d like to find it, as the scissors are much better than the fragile Vic scissors. I would be interested in getting a NOS one, depending on the price, of course. I am not a collector, and would not pay an inflated collector price for one.
 
Thank you for the Alert and offer Mecha. I've read alot of people prefer some of the Wenger tools. No doubt they made a high quality product. It's always sad to see competition fade, and I had never heard about a plating on the blades, but that's worrisome. That's the kind of thing that would kill my interest in Victorinox. I really like what you did with this thread, especially with a lighthearted tone. Before anyone disrespects the old Wenger name, remember Victorinox kept and used some of those designs after they bought them out, because they are a good product. I have never carried a Wenger, but I'm sure I'd be just as happy with it as with my Victorinox as long as the edge retention is reasonable.
 
I own a few Wenger SAKs and generally speaking I didn't find them particularly appealing over a Vic branded SAK. So, for me, the Wenger name doesn't mean much and I don't collect knives. Bottom line, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy an old Wenger SAK of any kind. I do own a Wenger watch.
 
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