John's Shameless Discontinued Challenge Thread

[Barry Rowland]

John, that Craftsman is gorgeous!  Those scales throw a whole new personality to it    There are a VERY few left on Amazon....when I picked up mine there were 5 left BNIB.  I love mine, being pretty much a pocket-friendly Swiss Champ.

[Ron Who]

John, that Craftsman is gorgeous!  Those scales throw a whole new personality to it    There are a VERY few left on Amazon....when I picked up mine there were 5 left BNIB.  I love mine, being pretty much a pocket-friendly Swiss Champ.

Yes, my fave bigSAK is a Handyman (corkscrew instead of Philips).

[magentus]

You're a (gold) mine of information John - Love this and your other threads! 

[jalind]

Discontinued Challenge Day 27
Victorinox 91mm Champion

At one time the Champion was Victorinox's flagship and it evolved over the years as Victorinox's Officer Knife tool sets evolved. It started as a 6 layer that is closer to the Craftsman and Handyman than the later Champion and Champion Plus. It had the metal saw, wood saw, scissors, and fish scaler, with the long fingernail file on the back side. Some had a corkscrew and others had the square Phillips with a file on its side on the back layer, along with the awl. Some of the oldest had a bail in the years prior to a keyring nub and split ring.

The earliest 7 layer, from which this one evolved, added the in-line Phillips and the v1 magnifier layer. The long nail file was dropped along with the back layer Phillips variant. As the years went by and additional tools were added to the back. Along with the traditional awl and corkscrew, the back also had the fine flat-tip, chisel and multi-purpose hook, and round handle version of the micro-driver stored in the corkscrew was added. I don't know if the scales ever had the straight pin hole. This one, with v1 magnifier, and riveted scissors with spring follower groove, still has the wider 2.4mm large blade tang and does not have the straight pin hole under the corkscrew. I believe it to be one of the last before the Champion Plus was introduced. I found this one used floating around in deBay and fished it out. I came with the heavy leather pouch that was made for the 6-7 layer. IMHO, Victorinox should still be making them as they are very nice.





The Champion evolved into the 7 layer Champion Plus which is nearly identical, and that was eventually displaced by the 8 layer SwissChamp. If you can live without the SwissChamp's pliers, and don't need the Plus scales with pen, these can be found used in excellent condition, and they're typically not as expensive as a BNIB (NOS) Champion Plus or a SwissChamp. They're noticeably thinner than the SwissChamp without its 8th pliers layer, and not much thicker than a Craftsman or Handyman, which some prefer to carry and hold in use. A look through the older Victgorinox catalogs in the SAKWiki shows the Champion featured as their flagship in the same manner the SwissChamp is now.

John

[Barry Rowland]

    

[jalind]

Thanks Barry!

[jalind]

Discontinued Challenge Day 28
Wenger 85mm Teton (with Corkscrew, locking plain edge large blade, and hiker imprint)

The Wenger Teton came in two major variants. The more common one has a Phillips on the back layer, and the less common has a corkscrew with a hiker imprinted on the front scales below the Wenger logo. Each of those major variants had some with locking large blades, and some without. If that weren't enough variation, some also have serrated large blades, others do not. Most of the Teton I see offered for sale have serrated non-locking large blades and a Phillips on the back layer. This more unusual Wenger Teton variant has a locking large plain edge blade and a corkscrew, with a faint imprint of the hiker remaining on the scales. Also has the chain attached to the keyring nub. Blades and tools are in excellent condition. The faint imprint of the hiker makes me reluctant to refurbish the scales much.



While the Teton with corkscrew and Phillips are very similar to the Classic 14, Classic 16, Evo (S)14 and Evo (S)16, what separates them from those four is the clip point small blade opposite the large blade. The Classic and Evo (S)14 and (S)16 have a pointed nail file opposite the large blade. This Teton is the Wenger equivalent of the 84mm Small Climber.

Not that eventful a day for this Teton on its maiden voyage with me. Most of the excitement of late has been on the SAKs and Coffee thread. I keep learning more about Wenger variants of major tool configurations, and it seems they had much more model variation than Victorinox.

A recount of all my discontinued SAKs shows that I won't have to use any one of them twice! Just two more days go go!!

John

[jalind]

Belated New Page Dance:

[jalind]

Discontinued Challenge Day 29
Wenger 93mm Model 1961 Soldier Dated 2007

This is the end of an era, a 2007 Model 1961 Wenger Soldier, the last year Wenger made them for the Swiss Army. Victorinox made and delivered all of the Model 1961 during 2008 (have one of those also), and the first groups of recruits in 2009 received the new Model 2008 Soldier derived from the Victgorinox Trekker. Unless you look at the tang proof marks, these are all but identical to the Victorinox. They use the Vic Alox scales and Can Opener.



Typical of the 1961 Soldier made by Wenger, the year stamped into the reverse side of the tang is light compared to the deep marks stamped into the blade tang by Victorinox.



Wenger continued making the Standard Issue for a number of years after 2007, all of which I've seen with a hollow rivet and lanyard bail. Little known is the reason the Wenger and Victorinox 1961 Soldier had a hollow rivet until they were replaced with solid rivets during 1993. The hollow rivet had been introduced with the its predecessor, the 1951 Soldier. While they were often used for lanyards or home-made lanyard bails, the purpose of the rivet was for the Swiss Army's rifle grenade. The rifle's bipod had grenade range markings on one leg. By stringing a cord through the hollow rivet, the knife could be suspended from the forward stacking/sling swivel and used as a plumb bob and show the range for a given elevation. It also assisted in the more accurate traverse (azimuth) as that leg could be pointed toward the target with the cord just brushing against it. Following are photos from their training manual showing how this is done:





Prior to the hollow rivet in the 1951 Soldier, the leather (??) knife pouch had a grommet allowing it to be used with the knife inside for the same purpose. After the rifle grenade system using this was retired from the Swiss Army inventory and replaced by a different grenade launching weapon and method, the hollow rivet was discontinued.

John

[magentus]

Ms Pansy is mooning over that Soldier - She does like a good mustache.
WP_20161124_006 by magpie2112, on Flickr

[jalind]

Discontinued Challenge Day 30
Victorinox 91mm SwissChamp

Selected this one for the last day as I thought it the most fitting. Although the SwissChamp a current model, this one has the v1 magnifier introduced in 1973, indicating it was made some time before 2007, possibly before 2004 as the v1 to v2 implementation spanned a number of years. Further narrowing the range is the scissors. It have the spoon shaped spring end and the spring follower groove introduced in 1990, but also has the screw pivot which was replaced by a rivet in 1991. Has all five back layer tools (corkscrew, fine screwdriver, chisel, multipurpose hook, and awl with eye). Also has the broader handle v2 pliers without the crimper, and neither the cap lifter with 90 degree stop, nor the Phillips have the notches. Micro-driver in the corkscrew has a round handle. All this is consistent with a very early 1990's manufacture date, at some time between 1990-1992, most likely in 1991 while the running change from scissors with screw pivots to rivets was still in progress and one of the earliest to contain all the back layer tools.

Introduced in 1985, it displaced the Champion as Victorinox's flagship, although the Champion continued for a number of years, becoming the Champion Plus before it was discontinued. The difference between this SwissChamp and a Champion Plus is the pliers layer, which I've no doubt ultimately resulting in the retirement of the Champion Plus.



Today was Thanksgiving . . .

The turkey . . . roasted in a shallow pan lined with baking paper (no cleaning afterward) using a convection oven with temperature probe. In 40 minutes it was roasted to 180F, the standard poultry recommendation.



Basted in butter, lemon juice, minced onion, minced garlic, and ground pepper. It's ready for carving.



Learned how to cut up and carve chickens and turkeys in the Boy Scouts decades ago. This carcas is all that was left after I carved off the wings, legs & thighs, breasts and back (not much to the back).



Ready for the feast with a glass of Reisling and some black coffee, including the wishbone . . .



All that was left after the feast!



Followed by some quick bread made a couple of days ago: pecan, cinnamon, apple slices and brown sugar.



It was a good Thanksgiving. The cats were very, very interested in the bird. Put a little bit of the drippings on their kibble which kept them distracted long enough for me to eat!

John

[jalind]

Ms Pansy is mooning over that Soldier - She does like a good mustache.
WP_20161124_006 by magpie2112, on Flickr

 
Does Thomas Elleck know about this?

[cali-SAK-attack]

CONGRATS , John! 


What a cool thread......................................... 

[jalind]

Addendum #1
More discontinued I have that did not appear in the Challenge:

Victorinox 58mm Bijou SD:
A Classic SD without a keyring nub.



Victorinox 58mm Caddy:
Similar to a Classic with a divot tool in place of the nail file, and a ballpoint pen in place of the toothpick.



Victorinox 58mm Alox Companion:
A Classic with smooth Alox scales, without T&T



Victorinox 58mm Tomo:
A Classic with frame created by Kazuma Yamaguchi's ABITAX Design Studio Tokyo. Came in egg carton style packaging. A leather pouch was created specifically for the Tomo.



Victorinox 84mm Alox Sentry:
One of the slimmest of all Victorinox. Some models had the Old Cross, and some did not.



Victorinox 91mm Champion Plus:
Successor to the Champion, at one time Victorinox's flagship until it was displaced by the SwissChamp in 1985 when the pliers were introduced. This was among the last made as it has the v3 magnifier. I replaced the original red Plus scales with the blue sapphire plus scales.



Büscher & Hertzberg 108mm "Old" (pre-2003) German Army Knife:
Issued to German enlisted soldiers from 1976-2003, Victorinox's Safari line leveraged their manufacture of these for the German Army. They were one of nearly a dozen companies that made these. It was superseded by the 111mm German Army Knife made by Victorinox, and based on the Trekker.



Wenger 65mm Esquire:
Wenger's equivalent of the Victorinox Classic, their "keyring" size knives were 7mm longer than Victorinox's 58mm line. I've got a number of these, a couple with corporate logos.



Wenger 65mm Swiss Clipper AT:
This is the allegedly TSA friendly version with a micro flat-tip driver in lieu of the blade.



Wenger 85mm EvoGrip 11 Blackout:
A special build for this forum to celebrate its 7th anniversary.



Wenger 85mm Evolution 28:
The Evo version of the Classic 28 "Champ", it can be considered Wenger's answer to Victorinox's Champion. The tool sets are not identical but they're very similar. While the Classic 28 is in the SAKWiki, the Evolution 28 is not.



Wenger 85mm Safari:
The Wenger equivalent of the Victorinox Fieldmaster, this one has a locking plain edge large blade. For reasons known only to Wenger, the Safari doesn't have toothpick or tweezers.



John

[jalind]

CONGRATS , John! 


What a cool thread......................................... 

Thanks! I had fun doing it.

John

[magentus]

Congrats John  terrific thread.

[Barry Rowland]

  Congrats John!!!

Congrats John  terrific thread.

[magentus]

Ms Pansy is mooning over that Soldier - She does like a good mustache.
WP_20161124_006 by magpie2112, on Flickr

 
Does Thomas Elleck know about this?

Thomas Elleck has issued an open challenge to the soldier concerned to fight for Ms Pansy's love. Mortars at dawn! I wish just one person here on board had a straightforward relationship. 

[hiraethus]

Excellent thread John - award granted with pleasure.

[Thunderpants]

Wow, so many great SAKs!

I'm so proud of myself for buying a Craftsman only a few months before they were retired (at least here in Europe, they were available until 2015 or so.) Hard to beat that thing in terms of usefulness per gram.

And like everyone else, I am terribly nostalgic for anything with the old Wenger cross. What a great bunch of SAKs they made.

[glenfiddich1983]

Congrats on completing the challenge! So much nice knives and great pics and stories! 

[jalind]

Addendum #2
Yet one more discontinued not appearing in the challenge:

First, thanks to everyone for their kind remarks. This challenge was fun to put together and I'm glad it was entertaining, which was my goal, to go beyond simply posting a photo a day to make it interesting.

Victorinox 111mm Garant:
Forgot about this one, and I've no clue why. This was a special version of the 2-layer Nomad made for Hoffmann Group's Garant, a German tool maker. If features tools not included in Victorinox's standard 111mm models. These include the corkscrew microdriver, a hole for the straight pin (the pin isn't included), a ballpoint pen like that found in the Plus scales, and a ruler etched onto the tweezers. The scales are unique: Garant's corporate blue color (Grarant's corporate color) with Garant's logo molded into them. I liken it to a Nomad Plus.





John