Elsener Soldier's knife, help please ;)

[Reinier]

I have had this Soldier for some time, and I have always wondered how old it actually is:













It measures 100mm, like the original 1891 soldier, but those had wooden handles. This one has the fiber handles from the 1951 model, but those were a bit smaller (93mm I think). The liners are steel and there's a brass spacer at the reamer/awl.
Also, there is no year stamp on the tang.

Can anyone tell me a bit more about this knife? Thanks guys 

[Fronta]

I think this is a SAK issued between 1920 and 1929.
I've got a picture of a similar SAK - 1924 in my post about Swiss Army Knives (on Russian forum) and have a plan to post it in English as well.

Victorinox and Wenger - Swiss Soldier Knives

[Stirling3749]

What's that tool with the bend in it?
Beautiful knife btw. 

[Chako]

Can opener.

[rp252]

Well, I can't help you with the age of the knife sorry...  But that is an awesome SAK mate.  Thanks for posting pictures 

[duder]

I`d say this knife was made between 1908 and 1915.
Because of the bladeshape (clip-point) I`m quite sure it`s a model 1908 and this stamp (cross) was used in both variations of the model 1891 (wood and fiber grips) but also in the first years of the model 1908. From about 1915 a newer WK-stamp was used on the model 1908. Year-stamps on the blade were introduced in 1921.

The second little cross on the handle might indicate that the knife was repaired once. But that`s just a guess; I only know a theory about double-cross-repair stamps in later models.

In any case your knife is a very nice collector piece ! 

[jazzbass]

Year-stamps on the blade were introduced in 1921.

I've seen a 100mm soldier knife with a "18" stamped on the blade - I always assumed that meant 1918. If the year stamp was introduced in 1921, did this mean something else? The blade was stamped "E" on one side and "18" on the other. No cross or WK stamps on the scales.

[duder]

I`ve seen such "E"-stamped knives too, but I don`t know if the "E" really stands for "Elsener", as some may assume. I don`t know why Elsener (Victorinox) would do this when they used their full name in all other knives. But that`s just my opinion, I have no information about this.
As far as I know the information about the introduction of a yearstamp was confirmed by Victorinox.
Maybe the "E"-knives were no official Soldier knives and not made by Victorinox, but the manufacturer used a yearstamp before Vic and Wenger started to use it. It`s just a theory...  

[North Man]

Hi

Very nice knife and a interesting reading here also, the letter E? Just a speculation from me and may be something to do with E Euler`s constant if not for Elsener...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_(mathematical_constant)

[Reinier]

Guys, thanks for the info

[jaydar]

I think this is a SAK issued between 1920 and 1929.
I've got a picture of a similar SAK - 1924 in my post about Swiss Army Knives (on Russian forum) and have a plan to post it in English as well.

Victorinox and Wenger - Swiss Soldier Knives

Great article ... google translate did a great job of switching it to English  for me

[Reinier]

That's right, thanks for the article, Fronta! Interesting read!

[nuphoria]

It certainly is a great piece - I have nothing constructive to add though!

Thanks for the pics.