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Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT

jzmtl · 21 · 18056

ca Offline jzmtl

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Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
on: July 15, 2009, 02:14:17 AM
I’ve always wondered why Wenger ranger was not selected as an option for the new soldier, but I suppose whatever behind the reasoning will never be known to us. But I’d like to compare the predecessors of the new soldier, the OHT, and potential candidate from Wenger, the ranger 78

Both have comparable tools, which consists of locking blade, wood saw, can opener, bottle opener, flat and Phillips screwdriver, and awl.

Size wise, ranger 78 is quite a bit larger than OHT, in both length and girth. This allows the blade and saw on ranger to be longer. The difference in girth from what I can tell is due to two different things. First the scale on ranger is much thicker, this may help the ergonomics when there is only the blade layer. But on models with three or more layers it doesn’t really add anything aside from unnecessary bulk. Also the ranger is fully decked out with aluminum liners between each layer, plus steel locking liner for the blade. On OHT, inside liners have been omitted, leaving only two outside liner plus steel locking liner. This does not seem to affect the functionality of the knife.





Onto the main blade. OHT has a serrated blade while ranger has a plain edge blade. Most people include me prefer plain edge, but there are times serrated blade is useful. Both blade are opened via thumb hole and locked open via locking liners. Ranger’s blade is optimized for right hand open and closing. To unlock the blade, simply push down the Swiss shield. It needs to be pushed down quite a bit before unlock so it’s unlikely to be accidentally unlocked. It can be unlocked with left hand just as easy, but the blade is hard to open with left hand. OHT’s blade can be opened easily via either hand,, however the liner lock is optimized for left hand unlocking. It can be done with right hand with some practice, but still nowhere as smooth as ranger’s lock.



Both knife have a wood saw as well. Both use the same double toothed design and are equally as effective. Ranger’s wood saw is longer so will cut faster, and is wider so can resist bending and perhaps breakage better. Ergonomic wise, because ranger’s main blade has a smaller hump compare to OHT’s blade, it’s more comfortable to hold while sawing. Sometimes OHT’s saw will catch on the aluminum liner while closing, mine already bit a chunk out of the liner.



Bottle opener/flat screwdriver is standard on both as well. Ranger’s opener is longer while OHT’s is wider and thicker, but I don’t think it matters either way because the weak link is mostly at the pivot. Both locks open. OHT use liner while ranger use Wenger’s pressure lock. It locks the blade open when it’s under pressure, i.e. while turning a screw, and unlock as soon as the pressure is released. I don’t mind either mechanism, but OHT offer a half stop where bottle opener stops at 90° to handle to allow more torque.



The can openers are the same as those found on standard Victorinox and Wenger. They could’ve been made larger to take advantage of the larger frame in my opinion.



On the back there are Phillips driver and awl. OHT’s awl is sharpened so better for drilling, but did not include an sewing eye like those found on other Vics for some reason. Ranger’s awl does have the sewing eye but is not sharpened. It could not be used for drilling but can be used for sewing and other tasks where sharp edge is not desired.



The Philip driver on ranger comes to a finer point, and can be used to turn some small screws that OHT cannot, like those found on back of car remote fobs.



OHT does include toothpick and tweezers that ranger lacks, however when transformed into soldier they are deleted.

Overall I like both. For EDC tasks I will probably pick OHT due to its more compact size. I feel the evo scale on ranger is really unnecessarily bulky in this case and doesn't add to any ergonomics. This also applies to the contoured handle on OHT, your fingers won't fit into the contours, because all the folded tools get in the way. I haven't had the chance to compare them in outdoors yet, so can't say anything about that.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2009, 02:47:51 AM by jzmtl »


scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #1 on: July 15, 2009, 02:26:44 AM
Great comparison, and I'm glad to see you're getting on well with the Ranger.  :tu:  I agree almost totally with your thoughts on it as well.

BTW pics 1,2 and 7 don't seem to be working, but that could just be me.
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hn Offline cliosguy

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #2 on: July 15, 2009, 02:27:38 AM
you made me want a another ranger :D great comparison  :tu:

@Gareth is not just you :think:
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ca Offline jzmtl

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #3 on: July 15, 2009, 02:42:46 AM
Hmm that's strange, try refresh the page (ctrl+F5 if you are using IE), they show up on both of my browsers.

  I agree almost totally with your thoughts on it as well.

I'm curious to know what we do not agree on.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2009, 02:49:26 AM by jzmtl »


ca Offline Chako

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #4 on: July 15, 2009, 03:11:33 AM
Work fine for me.

I can't wait for the pair of Wenger Rangers from Tim to come in now. I didn't realize they were that large compared to the Victorinox.

Good review and comparison.
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00 Offline Freudian Frog

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #5 on: July 15, 2009, 03:45:36 AM
The Rangers I wanted are all out of my price range. =(
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gb Offline Mike, Lord of the Spammers!

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #6 on: July 15, 2009, 06:48:34 AM
Great comparison mate :tu:
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Offline ringzero

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #7 on: July 15, 2009, 06:49:38 AM
I’ve always wondered why Wenger ranger was not selected as an option for the new soldier, but I suppose whatever behind the reasoning will never be known to us. But I’d like to compare the predecessors of the new soldier, the OHT, and potential candidate from Wenger, the ranger 78

Great job reviewing two great SAKs, jzmtl.  Very nice comparison pics.

Both are awesome knives, but I agree that the OHT is better for pocket EDC due to being less bulky.

For outdoor use I'd probably prefer to carry the big Ranger in a sheath, due to its bigger blade and woodsaw.

IMO, these are the two best, most practical, most all around capable OH knives on the planet.

.
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scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #8 on: July 15, 2009, 09:34:18 AM
Hmm that's strange, try refresh the page (ctrl+F5 if you are using IE), they show up on both of my browsers.

  I agree almost totally with your thoughts on it as well.

I'm curious to know what we do not agree on.

Actually I've just read it again and I don't disagree with anything you've said.  :D
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england Offline Benner

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #9 on: July 15, 2009, 11:37:51 AM
Great comparison!  :tu:

I do in fact disagree on one point though  :D and that's that the Ranger's scales don't add ergonomics.  I personally find them more comfortable, but don't like the hollow feeling they seem to give.

Great point made about the smaller hump on the Ranger.  I much prefer the Ranger (like you) comfort wise and if I wanted to go the Vic route I'd sooner chose a non OH option like the Forester as I find this much more comfortable in the hand.
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ca Offline jzmtl

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #10 on: July 16, 2009, 01:45:51 AM
Wait till you get a 4+ layer ranger, it's wider than it's height.  :-X


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #11 on: July 22, 2009, 04:01:35 AM
Great comparison/review :tu: I hadn't realized they were that different in size as well :o I like the look of both and am still undecided on which I would prefer :think: Guess I'll have to get both :ahhh :D


ca Offline jzmtl

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #12 on: July 22, 2009, 04:42:42 AM
I bought ranger 58 first (which is even bigger), so when I bought OHT I was like dang, this thing is tiny!  :D

I noticed something interesting. Regular Vic has sewing eye on awl but OHT did not include one, yet regular Wenger has no sewing eye on awl but Ranger has it. Not sure what they were thinking.


ca Offline PyroJames

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #13 on: July 23, 2009, 12:12:31 AM
Nice writeup, jzmtl!  I've had my eye on the Ranger 78 for a while now but I won't get that until I get a RangerGrip first.  :-\
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us Online WhichDawg

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #14 on: August 02, 2009, 12:37:25 PM
nice review and pics :cheers:

I think I want a ranger now! :twak:


00 Offline papercut

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #15 on: March 27, 2013, 11:51:47 AM
Anyone know if the ranger 78 is going to go the way of the dodo?
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scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #16 on: March 28, 2013, 01:01:32 AM
I don't believe we have heard anything yet.  My personal feeling is that it's days are numbered, but that is a gut reaction and not based on anything concrete.
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00 Offline papercut

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #17 on: March 28, 2013, 02:38:26 AM
I am very keen on one.  My Ranger 172 is quite a beast, almost too thick really, but the problem is the blade is very proud of everything else, so it is unpleasant to use the (impressive) saw.  Does the ranger 78 suffer from this problem?  It looks like the blade is more recessed, can anyone confirm this? 
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us Offline Heinz Doofenshmirtz

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #18 on: March 28, 2013, 10:47:29 PM
One thing about the Ranger blades compared to the Vic 111 blades is that although they're larger, the cutting edge is nearly identical.  I noticed this with my PER 179 in comparison to the blade on my Work Champ and my Hunter.  I'm sure the larger blade of the Ranger is to accommodate the larger saw compared to the 111 Vics, but I don't understand why Wenger didn't take advantage of the opportunity to provide more cutting edge on the main blade as well.  Seems a design mistake IMHO.
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00 Offline papercut

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #19 on: March 29, 2013, 03:19:28 AM
So you don't accidently slice your finger off?

Nanny State Rangers, Ho!!!

:p
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ca Offline jzmtl

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Re: Wenger Ranger 78 vs. Victorinox OHT
Reply #20 on: June 12, 2013, 05:01:32 AM
One thing about the Ranger blades compared to the Vic 111 blades is that although they're larger, the cutting edge is nearly identical.  I noticed this with my PER 179 in comparison to the blade on my Work Champ and my Hunter.  I'm sure the larger blade of the Ranger is to accommodate the larger saw compared to the 111 Vics, but I don't understand why Wenger didn't take advantage of the opportunity to provide more cutting edge on the main blade as well.  Seems a design mistake IMHO.

I don't have mine in front of me but if I recall part of the unsharpened section is used as blade stop resting against the backspring, so there is less reclaimable real estate than it looks.


 

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