Victorinox RangerGrip 79 and EvoGrip S54.

[Chako]

First time I get to inspect these new models in person. Looks good.

First up, the RangerGrip 79.





This is different from Wenger's toothpick and tweezers. This in my opinion is an improvement. I have always felt removing the Wenger tools a bit finicky for my liking.



Yes, pressing the Victorinox logo unlocks the blade.





I also figured if I was going to get a few of these newer Victorinox models, the EvoGrip S54 was a must have.

[captain spaulding]

Both look excellent. I love how the shield unlocks the blade. 

That S54 is a monster!

[Quartz]

I've never been a fan of press-button locks. When holding the knife horizontal the button is exactly where you put your thumb for grip, so you either have to hold the knife in a really awkward way or just hold the button and pretend it's not a locking knife.

I think the Wenger ranger series is better both visually and ergonomically vs Vic's 111mm series, but that button lock just kills it.

[Corwyn]

They look stunning. Can't wait to get my hands on one.

Are the T&T on the same side? Is anything on the other side? Was it the same for the Wenger version? (I only have a Ranger 51 at home and it doesn't have T&T).

[asmitty]

I've never been a fan of press-button locks. When holding the knife horizontal the button is exactly where you put your thumb for grip, so you either have to hold the knife in a really awkward way or just hold the button and pretend it's not a locking knife.

I think the Wenger ranger series is better both visually and ergonomically vs Vic's 111mm series, but that button lock just kills it.

I guess I see your point, but I don't ever hold the knife in the way you're describing.

[Quartz]

How else would you hold it if you're cutting into something from the side though?

[Top-Gear-24]

I've been holding my RangerGrip 55 in various ways for the last ten minutes or so and to me it feels pretty unnatural when my tumb is on the button, when I'm holding the knife at an angle like shown in the pic above, my tumb always ends up on the backsprings. 

And when I forced myself to put my tumb on the lock button while holding the knife as shown in the pic, I can't see it unlocking by accident because you have to use the tip of your tumb specifically on the button and push it quite deep before the linerlock is pushed so far out of the way that the knife will unlock.  While placing your tumb flat on the unlock button doesn't even move the linerlock for 1mm. 

And I also found that these new Vic Rangers seem to require more force to close when they are unlocked.  Where the "old" Wenger versions require no force at all to close once they are unlocked, the new ones have quite a strong backspring.

I will try to take some pics of one of my Vic RangerGrip knives while I'm holding it in my hand, but since I'm working late this week you guys might just have to wait for them until saterday or so ... 

[Top-Gear-24]

Here's a video I made of the press-button lock on the RangerGrip knives, at first I wanted to take some pics but then I thought a video would say a lot more.

In the video I place my thumb flat on the Vic shield (like you do when you hold the knife firmly) and apply a lot of pressure, you can tell by the print of the Vic shield on my thumb that I pressed hard, still the liner only moved for about 1mm at most, not nearly enough to unlock the knife by accident. 

It is only when you specifically place the tip of your thumb on the Vic shield and push it in until it's under the inside of the scales that the liner is moved far enough for the knife to unlock.  And like I said before, it seems to me the backspring on the Vic RangerGrip is quite a bit stronger than the one on the Wenger Ranger, even when unlocked, you still need a bit of force to fold the knife, while on the Wenger Ranger you need no force at all once the knife is unlocked (at least not on the two I own).

So, can this happen by accident ...  well, I won't say that it's impossible, but it is very (VERY !!) unlikely to say the least ...

[Nhoj]

I have an old style Wenger ranger and want to get one of these new victorinox rangers. I've always felt the backside philips on my old ranger looked too tiny for the scale cutout. Is it like this on the new rangers?

[Top-Gear-24]

I have an old style Wenger ranger and want to get one of these new victorinox rangers. I've always felt the backside philips on my old ranger looked too tiny for the scale cutout. Is it like this on the new rangers?

Can't help you with that, I own three new Vic Rangers and all of them have the corkscrew.  I always favor the corkscrew over the phillips because I will always carry a plier based multitool along with my Ranger knife, so I got the phillips screwdriver covered by that one, and since most plier based tools don't have a corkscrew ...

[Nhoj]

I have an old style Wenger ranger and want to get one of these new victorinox rangers. I've always felt the backside philips on my old ranger looked too tiny for the scale cutout. Is it like this on the new rangers?

Can't help you with that, I own three new Vic Rangers and all of them have the corkscrew.  I always favor the corkscrew over the phillips because I will always carry a plier based multitool along with my Ranger knife, so I got the phillips screwdriver covered by that one, and since most plier based tools don't have a corkscrew ...

That's a good point. If I have a sak on me, I have a multitool too. For some reason my wish for redundancy and the theoretical situation where I only have a sak makes me want a philips on one too. The victorinox can opener can turn philips screws though... Ok you convinced me to get a corkscrew ranger instead of philips.

[Top-Gear-24]

I have an old style Wenger ranger and want to get one of these new victorinox rangers. I've always felt the backside philips on my old ranger looked too tiny for the scale cutout. Is it like this on the new rangers?

Can't help you with that, I own three new Vic Rangers and all of them have the corkscrew.  I always favor the corkscrew over the phillips because I will always carry a plier based multitool along with my Ranger knife, so I got the phillips screwdriver covered by that one, and since most plier based tools don't have a corkscrew ...

That's a good point. If I have a sak on me, I have a multitool too. For some reason my wish for redundancy and the theoretical situation where I only have a sak makes me want a philips on one too. The victorinox can opener can turn philips screws though... Ok you convinced me to get a corkscrew ranger instead of philips.

Nooo, don't listen to what I say ... I'm a bit   

If you're going to follow me in the madness anyway, I will fully explain my choice, I read there were some problems when using the backside phillips on the 111mm Vic knives, I saw pics here on MTO of broken screwdrivers when used with a lot of sideways force (while unscrewing a stubborn phillips screw), so I thought a corkscrew never sees such heavy use because, for most corcks, you don't need a lot of sideways force, just pulling force ...

Hope this makes sense ... 

[Caranthanus]

 

 

[Goatlord666]

These are mandatory

Sent from my Cruize W280 using Tapatalk

[Chako]

I can now also add the EvoGrip 18 to this short list.