I am going to start this update with something not Swiss, but trying very hard to be...
During my short time away, I came across what I first thought was a SwissChamp in a locked display case in one of the local stores. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a RUKO knockoff. Now for 14 dollars, I figured I couldn't go wrong, and I wanted a closer look at this made in China piece.
The RUKO logo was on the backside.
The knife is a rather good knockoff in that they got most of the things correct. Missing is the back hook. I guess they must have copied an older SAK. I was amazed that they even copied the small screwdriver. I am fairly certain that Victorinox didn't sell them the patent. Note the absurdly short toothpick, tweezers, and poorly made mini screwdriver.
Quality wise, not so good. There is a bit of side to side wiggle in a few of the tools. The magnifying glass is a blob of distortion. I do like the metal frame though, and wished Victorinox would follow suite...but that is just an aesthetics thing. The tools themselves are a bit crude in places. Overall, you get what you pay for. I have seen the real thing go for as low as 45 US and that is an even better steal. I did feel dirty buying it though, knowing it was a craptacular copy of a nice Victorinox SwissChamp. I was just rather surprised that someone would go to the trouble and expense to copy a difficult and many parted SAK. A cheap conversation piece.
Back on solid ground, I also found a nice SwissCard Lite. This being my third SwissCard, I may have to start looking for a few more in the future.
I also bought a nice little Victorinox toy truck.
Here is something a bit different. The complete new series of Victorinox Zodiac Classics. There is also an older series, but I haven't seen any of those up for sale yet.
They come in this nice packaging. The seller tells me they are sold mostly in the Asian market. I believed him once I opened them up and found they come with a nice matching card in some sort of Asian language.
Here, you can see the card, the cover slip, and the separate knife graphics.
The back side has the more traditional Zodiac symbols.
I also received a Victorinox Traveller Lite.
I had to find the instructions online to figure out how to run it. I had some bad flashbacks to those digital watches that nobody knows how to change the time on. This is one complex SAK, especially when you access different functions dependent upon the length of time you press the Swiss emblem. That is dependent upon which mode you are in also. Thank god the instructions were easy to find online.
Definitely more complex then the Altimeter Plus shown above the Traveller Lite.
Here is a side view showing the differences between the Altimeter Plus and the Traveller Lite on the right.
Last but not least, I just received another special scaled SwissChamp. This now makes the third in the series that I currently have. I am still missing the Horn and the Mother of Pearl.
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