Any love for Wenger?

[basilio]

The AP blaze feels very good in hand, great feel. The finish seems to be some thick hard plastic paint, matte. No idea how it is applied. Cannot see any spot where is missing, inside of the scales for example. Very well done. Time will tell how it will wear.

 

Unfortunately I did not have the same good experience with the camo paint from a Ranger 57.
Please excuse the very bad quality of the pictures, but I took them with my mobile phone to show the problem to Amazon (where I bought it).
In my model the camo paint was missing inside one of the scales.
I returned the knife and received another one...... which has exactly the same problem

[enki_ck]

ps people!
i have still not been able to confirm the patent for pressfit scales, i know it was mentioned by Wenger they allowed Vic to use their patent for hidden rivets. Was it the type today with the pressfit over the rivet/bushings? Or just the fact it is "hidden" ?
I can see Wenger have used different methods for attaching the scales over the years that is hidden,? anybody

This is what I have on Wenger scales and rivets. I don't know if wenger allowed Vic to use them or had a patent on it. This is the first time I hear about it.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3...le_Attachment_Methods.pdf

[enki_ck]

thanks
yes it does have locking fl.screwdriver. I believe these are mid 90s knives, also the scales are attached like today. Pressed over the rivits/bushings, probarby so  since i can not see any other way?
Wenger have used this from time to time since its their invention..

The reason I ask is cause I have the same model without the scouts logo with a locking blade but without the locking fl. screwdriver.

[North Man]

thanks
yes it does have locking fl.screwdriver. I believe these are mid 90s knives, also the scales are attached like today. Pressed over the rivits/bushings, probarby so  since i can not see any other way?
Wenger have used this from time to time since its their invention..

The reason I ask is cause I have the same model without the scouts logo with a locking blade but without the locking fl. screwdriver.

hi
thanks alot for the scale info, hopefully we will get info on this one day. Even if its just because of the 10 year patent mentioned one place.

interesting you got one without locking on the screwdriver , probarbly its been produced some time and maybe before the locking arrived, or it is because of production reasons

[North Man]

thanks
yes it does have locking fl.screwdriver. I believe these are mid 90s knives, also the scales are attached like today. Pressed over the rivits/bushings, probarby so  since i can not see any other way?
Wenger have used this from time to time since its their invention..

The reason I ask is cause I have the same model without the scouts logo with a locking blade but without the locking fl. screwdriver.

ps it could just be a variation on the Forester you got, not sure. Since without the emblem(scouts logo)

[Marius]

The AP blaze feels very good in hand, great feel. The finish seems to be some thick hard plastic paint, matte. No idea how it is applied. Cannot see any spot where is missing, inside of the scales for example. Very well done. Time will tell how it will wear.

 

Unfortunately I did not have the same good experience with the camo paint from a Ranger 57.
Please excuse the very bad quality of the pictures, but I took them with my mobile phone to show the problem to Amazon (where I bought it).
In my model the camo paint was missing inside one of the scales.
I returned the knife and received another one...... which has exactly the same problem

Oops.

Can you tell what color were the uncovered scale parts? Gray, or the base color on the camouflage pattern? Glossy or matte (same texture as the painted surfaces)?

Never had one of these camo Wengers myself (and to get a taste of the blaze I decided to get just this small one). It could also happen that the large 130 mm and the small 85 mm scales are finished in a different manner, given that first are hollow and the later solid (true, false? - never removed one but anyway they don't feel hollow).

 

[basilio]

Oops.

Can you tell what color were the uncovered scale parts? Gray, or the base color on the camouflage pattern? Glossy or matte (same texture as the painted surfaces)?

Never had one of these camo Wengers myself (and to get a taste of the blaze I decided to get just this small one). It could also happen that the large 130 mm and the small 85 mm scales are finished in a different manner, given that first are hollow and the later solid (true, false? - never removed one but anyway they don't feel hollow).

 

Not sure, I just took two pictures from my "replacement".
The color seems matt gray.
It is probably the "base" color on which the camo pattern is printed

[North Man]

The AP blaze feels very good in hand, great feel. The finish seems to be some thick hard plastic paint, matte. No idea how it is applied. Cannot see any spot where is missing, inside of the scales for example. Very well done. Time will tell how it will wear.

 

Unfortunately I did not have the same good experience with the camo paint from a Ranger 57.
Please excuse the very bad quality of the pictures, but I took them with my mobile phone to show the problem to Amazon (where I bought it).
In my model the camo paint was missing inside one of the scales.
I returned the knife and received another one...... which has exactly the same problem

Oops.

Can you tell what color were the uncovered scale parts? Gray, or the base color on the camouflage pattern? Glossy or matte (same texture as the painted surfaces)?

Never had one of these camo Wengers myself (and to get a taste of the blaze I decided to get just this small one). It could also happen that the large 130 mm and the small 85 mm scales are finished in a different manner, given that first are hollow and the later solid (true, false? - never removed one but anyway they don't feel hollow).

 

i noticed on my Ap Blaze 10 on the inside - see picture
It is coarse on the surface inside this area, and the camo is very thin or almost not there. Also on the edge of the scale it is so. Not sure if is applied in the same way the two camo patterns.
I checked up on another AP Blaze 10 and it is almost perfect. I have the one on picture as EDC  in my pocket to see the wear resistance, so far so good. back to your question it may be variations from batch to batch i am not sure??

[Marius]

I see some texture pattern on that gray surface, apparently that may continue the full camo pattern. Could it be that this is what is painted there and not that there is paint peeled off or not painted at all? Especially that you saw the same thing on two different Rangers. Anyway even if paint is indeed completely missing from that area then it looks it was missed from being applied at the factory, not that it was worn out in use.

Ignore it and use the SAK without fear of wearing out the remaining scale paint?  What I would do.

[Marius]

i noticed on my Ap Blaze 10 on the inside - see picture
It is coarse on the surface inside this area, and the camo is very thin or almost not there. Also on the edge of the scale it is so. Not sure if is applied in the same way the two camo patterns.
I checked up on another AP Blaze 10 and it is almost perfect. I have the one on picture as EDC  in my pocket to see the wear resistance, so far so good. back to your question it may be variations from batch to batch i am not sure??

This blaze shows it even more clear. So probably they apply that hard coating in the factory primarily on the exterior scale sides and the interior gets only some and not always full coating spray.

I'm lucky then - my little blaze is 100% purrfect all around. The coating on the visible parts of the scale backsides looks exactly the same as on the front - very well done.

[Outback in Idaho]

  Does anyone know how the walnut wood scales are attached to the EvoWood & RangerWood knives?

  Or pictures of what the scales & liners looked like when taken apart? Merely curious, and don't want anyone taking theirs apart. The S557 looks like it was inset into the wood by half a liner's thickness. Am guessing the walnut wood scales were epoxied near full surface to surface.

[North Man]

  Does anyone know how the walnut wood scales are attached to the EvoWood & RangerWood knives?

  Or pictures of what the scales & liners looked like when taken apart? Merely curious, and don't want anyone taking theirs apart. The S557 looks like it was inset into the wood by half a liner's thickness. Am guessing the walnut wood scales were epoxied near full surface to surface.

good question, i also wonder alittle on this. It was mentioned by SwissBianco some time ago on the EvoWood  - scales are attached by a double sided 3m tape. This to avoid the problem with glue and so on.
Must be a really strong tape if so

[enki_ck]

  Does anyone know how the walnut wood scales are attached to the EvoWood & RangerWood knives?

  Or pictures of what the scales & liners looked like when taken apart? Merely curious, and don't want anyone taking theirs apart. The S557 looks like it was inset into the wood by half a liner's thickness. Am guessing the walnut wood scales were epoxied near full surface to surface.

good question, i also wonder alittle on this. It was mentioned by SwissBianco some time ago on the EvoWood  - scales are attached by a double sided 3m tape. This to avoid the problem with glue and so on.
Must be a really strong tape if so

If it's the 3M VHB tape, then yes, very strong tape.

[ICanFixThat]

  Does anyone know how the walnut wood scales are attached to the EvoWood & RangerWood knives?

  Or pictures of what the scales & liners looked like when taken apart? Merely curious, and don't want anyone taking theirs apart. The S557 looks like it was inset into the wood by half a liner's thickness. Am guessing the walnut wood scales were epoxied near full surface to surface.

good question, i also wonder alittle on this. It was mentioned by SwissBianco some time ago on the EvoWood  - scales are attached by a double sided 3m tape. This to avoid the problem with glue and so on.
Must be a really strong tape if so

If it's the 3M VHB tape, then yes, very strong tape.

That's interesting, I don't think I had heard that these were using, or possibly using, 3M tape.  I do really like Evowood although I'm not a fan of the other 85mm evo scales, and so so on it for the 130mm line as they make the knives so big... but they are big knives and they do allow for a good grip and the larger knives.  I Really like the pushbutton lock release.

[Outback in Idaho]

  Wonder if it is worth trying to get a Wenger Ranger? Are they overly big? Anyone have a photo of one in their had so as to get a visual? Are they about the size of a Leatherman Wave?

   Don't think will go for the walnut handles though, since they are not riveted on or held in a secure fashion. Wouldn't want the tape to come apart if I put it in the car's cubby.

    Then to decide if worth getting a new one, or a user from eBay or something.

[North Man]

  Wonder if it is worth trying to get a Wenger Ranger? Are they overly big? Anyone have a photo of one in their had so as to get a visual? Are they about the size of a Leatherman Wave?

   Don't think will go for the walnut handles though, since they are not riveted on or held in a secure fashion. Wouldn't want the tape to come apart if I put it in the car's cubby.

    Then to decide if worth getting a new one, or a user from eBay or something.

here is the RangerGrip model Handyman 90.822 - this is on the to thick side, or the handle to is to bulky, still you get large functions that is very handy. The hex/bit opening is what makes it much extra , besides the medium use plier one get a multitude of use. I took some pictures, some of the tools/bits on the table is to much for normal use. Just examples on how one can do in an emergency. Or just if one what to custom build a pack with bits. I did not picture the two bits that follow the tool in the sheath.

[North Man]

there must be many more combinations and handy gadgets to be used in the hex opening...

[North Man]

i can just aswell picture the sheath. These are for me a better generation of sheaths and good.

[ICanFixThat]

I just got back from the post office and in the mail was an older 1979 Wenger Catalog from US distributor.  Mostly pictures and/or names, but on the sportsman series with all the different imprints, like we were discussing a few pages back, I see a Sailfish and Eagle, which don't show up often, and of course the Mustang. 

Interesting it lists the main name for the 'Pointer' correctly as the Setter, with 'Pointer' as an alternate.  of particular note is that it states that it is the worlds largest SAK.  I guess I need one of those in my collection one day.

The catalog also seems to confirm what we had already determined; it states that Wenger 'were the first Swiss Army Knives with a lifetime warranty'.

Well I won't spoil all the fun, but it's a catalog from a distributor so it only has a few pages for Wenger, but it helps date a couple knives.

Sidenote: The catalog is shows quite a few different series made by Aitor which are very close copies of some of the swiss knives, they are much closer that those that they offer today.

[North Man]

I just got back from the post office and in the mail was an older 1979 Wenger Catalog from US distributor.  Mostly pictures and/or names, but on the sportsman series with all the different imprints, like we were discussing a few pages back, I see a Sailfish and Eagle, which don't show up often, and of course the Mustang. 

Interesting it lists the main name for the 'Pointer' correctly as the Setter, with 'Pointer' as an alternate.  of particular note is that it states that it is the worlds largest SAK.  I guess I need one of those in my collection one day.

The catalog also seems to confirm what we had already determined; it states that Wenger 'were the first Swiss Army Knives with a lifetime warranty'.

Well I won't spoil all the fun, but it's a catalog from a distributor so it only has a few pages for Wenger, but it helps date a couple knives.

Sidenote: The catalog is shows quite a few different series made by Aitor which are very close copies of some of the swiss knives, they are much closer that those that they offer today.

this is good news!
could you take some fast pics of this catalogue(Wenger) and post?

[AimlessWanderer]

  Wonder if it is worth trying to get a Wenger Ranger? Are they overly big? Anyone have a photo of one in their had so as to get a visual? Are they about the size of a Leatherman Wave?

   Don't think will go for the walnut handles though, since they are not riveted on or held in a secure fashion. Wouldn't want the tape to come apart if I put it in the car's cubby.

    Then to decide if worth getting a new one, or a user from eBay or something.

here is the RangerGrip model Handyman 90.822 - this is on the to thick side, or the handle to is to bulky, still you get large functions that is very handy. The hex/bit opening is what makes it much extra , besides the medium use plier one get a multitude of use. I took some pictures, some of the tools/bits on the table is to much for normal use. Just examples on how one can do in an emergency. Or just if one what to custom build a pack with bits. I did not picture the two bits that follow the tool in the sheath.

I'd agree with Northman, the RangerGrip 90 is too thick, but it's all the fault of the "ergonomic" scales 

Across the widest part of the scales the tool is 34mm (nearly 1.3/8"), but inside the scales the width of the tool layers is 19mm (3/4"). This puts the scale thickness at nearly half the thickness of the entire tool! If we compare this to the Ranger 14 which has the same number of tool layers, although with the shears which are much slimmer than the RG90's plers, the overall thickness is just under 26mm (1"), and the thickness inside the scales is 17mm (11/16"). The Ranger 14's scales only adds 9mm to the tool thickness but the RangerGrip 90's scales adds 15mm.

If the RG90 had the old scales, it would be about 1/4" slimmer !!!

[North Man]

i really like the evolution alot, best on the 85mm(big fan). For comfort it is 85mm Evolution and EvoGrip that works best for me. Evolution 16 and EvoGrip S17 is really comfortable and safe. Maybe the S Security lock "button" would be the only small part that could be in the way sometimes. The 85mm in these sizes up to EvoGrip S17 is absolute best. By this i mean comfort safety and ergonomics for all the functions.
The EvoGrip works on wider models and up to S557. It is ok and the grip material or rubber inlay works well. Here i feel the Grip S557 is best.

On the 130mm Rangers. Here i would say up to Rangergrip 79.821 (standard functions + a wood saw) It is well and comfortable, safe and ergonomic. -Not so ergonomic as the 85mm. The RangerGrip 79.821 worked very well in both dry and wet conditions. Every function could be used, i got no blisters or cuts or hurt in the hand. The ergonomics on 130mm will not work well in a thicker model.

The RangerWood is so far the absolute best i have had in hand.

[ColoSwiss]

I just got back from the post office and in the mail was an older 1979 Wenger Catalog from US distributor.  Mostly pictures and/or names, but on the sportsman series with all the different imprints, like we were discussing a few pages back, I see a Sailfish and Eagle, which don't show up often, and of course the Mustang. 

Interesting it lists the main name for the 'Pointer' correctly as the Setter, with 'Pointer' as an alternate.  of particular note is that it states that it is the worlds largest SAK.  I guess I need one of those in my collection one day.

The catalog also seems to confirm what we had already determined; it states that Wenger 'were the first Swiss Army Knives with a lifetime warranty'.

Well I won't spoil all the fun, but it's a catalog from a distributor so it only has a few pages for Wenger, but it helps date a couple knives.

Sidenote: The catalog is shows quite a few different series made by Aitor which are very close copies of some of the swiss knives, they are much closer that those that they offer today.

That catalog sounds very interesting. Only seen one 'Sailfish', with no name; and never heard of an 'Eagle'. Looking forward to seeing it.

The old Aitors were almost clones of Victorinox. Some of them even had the long manicure blade. One minor difference was their t&t, which were more like Wengers.

[ICanFixThat]

....
this is good news!
could you take some fast pics of this catalogue(Wenger) and post?

Well I'm so far behind on SAK pictures I try not to waste my time with quick pics.... because I might as well be spending the time doing not so quick pics or eating ice cream. 

The good news is I scanned the 7 pages processed them and sized them for the Wiki... go take a look some interesting stuff in these small number of pages.

....

Not shown on the Wiki but the next 2 pages of the catalog showed a number of Swiss Fillet/Fishing knives.  They use the name Swissflex to describe the flexible blades (available with different flexibility), but the handles are molded colored similair to current Swibo knives.

[North Man]

....
this is good news!
could you take some fast pics of this catalogue(Wenger) and post?

Well I'm so far behind on SAK pictures I try not to waste my time with quick pics.... because I might as well be spending the time doing not so quick pics or eating ice cream. 

The good news is I scanned the 7 pages processed them and sized them for the Wiki... go take a look some interesting stuff in these small number of pages.

....

Not shown on the Wiki but the next 2 pages of the catalog showed a number of Swiss Fillet/Fishing knives.  They use the name Swissflex to describe the flexible blades (available with different flexibility), but the handles are molded colored similair to current Swibo knives.

yes
interesting you mentioned the SwissFlex and flexible knives. Just the other day i checked out two of the Swibo fillet knives - i would say very good for fish work. They had very thin and flexible blades. The handle was alittle different from the one i did show here. Very nice handle aswell.

[North Man]

by the way - discussing comfort and ergonomic. I got medium size hands so it may vary for people. However this Evolution S111 is not talked so much about. Maybe a more minimalistic type - it got interesting tools. One lockblade, small blade, can opener, cap opener with flat screwdriver. It also got awl and Phillips screwdriver.

I hear talk about whittling, for less experienced people whittling without lockblade is more demanding. So the lock is helpful. I have also used this for fishing gear.

[ICanFixThat]

Does anyone know more about Wenger's collaboration with Frost Cutlery?  A few of these showed up on ebay recently, I only grabbed the Traveler model.  I'm not sure if I'll carefully slice the package open, but I was surprised to see these manufactored for Frost Cutlery. 

[dks]

Does anyone know more about Wenger's collaboration with Frost Cutlery?  A few of these showed up on ebay recently, I only grabbed the Traveler model.  I'm not sure if I'll carefully slice the package open, but I was surprised to see these manufactored for Frost Cutlery.

I would suspect that they were either only assembled by Frost or just sold by them.

I do not see the point of them actually making them.

Right?

[stax]

Does anyone know more about Wenger's collaboration with Frost Cutlery?  A few of these showed up on ebay recently, I only grabbed the Traveler model.  I'm not sure if I'll carefully slice the package open, but I was surprised to see these manufactored for Frost Cutlery.

Nice find

[ICanFixThat]

Does anyone know more about Wenger's collaboration with Frost Cutlery?  A few of these showed up on ebay recently, I only grabbed the Traveler model.  I'm not sure if I'll carefully slice the package open, but I was surprised to see these manufactored for Frost Cutlery.

I would suspect that they were either only assembled by Frost or just sold by them.

I do not see the point of them actually making them.

Right?

Right; I'm thinking they were probably completely made in Switzerland and just sold by Frost, not too different than the Buck deal.  I am interested if it would have any Frost stamp or engraving on it, but have not wanted to open the package just yet. 

By the way this knife is from 1995.