German Army knife (111mm OHO)

[lowtech]

On my search for a nice folder for outdoor activities or to compliment my MT, i stumbled upon the Vic 111 mm series (and many other, but you know that already from your own experience, i guess)
When a batch of used GAKs was available, i thought i´d jump at the offer to have some stuff for playing around.



Just like with the 108 mm ones (see the mod section) they - although described as needing repair to different tools - all have busted blades.



Some are even bent



I bought another one in "very good condition" and received one with a blade ground to a straight edge. Well, here i am with 6 GAKs and no real idea what to do...

Meanwhile i thought I´d do some pics for you - I have not (yet) read all 165 pages of SAK stuff, but hav not seen torn apart 111mm Vics, so here we go.

Scales and 1st liner off



Saw layer removed



In pieces



Didn´t have a caliper handy, but pin stock seems to be 3 and 2,5 mm.

And as a little trivia: The Channels for Tweezer and Toothpick are there in the GAK scales, with some filing you can use them.

Blurry, sorry





I guess i will try to rescue as many blades as possible, maybe build a thinner one without teh saw / Philips.
any ideas on what to do with teh blades? Is there a way to straighten them without (further) weakening them?

[Marius]

Nice and informative post

One interesting detail for me is confirmation that the nylon 111 mm GAK scales are hollow, just as the rest of other nylon and DD 111 mm scales. The previous 108 mm nylon GAK scales were solid/filled in.

I believe Tim (Felinevet) has them NIB in stock, if you are looking for one in better shape than these used ones:

http://www.edcsource.com/Victorinox-OH-German-Bundeswehr-Army-Knife--Free-US-Shipping,name,112891,auction_id,auction_details

[Reinier]

By the way, did you notice that one of your GAKs has a round thumb hole?

[Zed]

By the way, did you notice that one of your GAKs has a round thumb hole?

I did    cool, look forward to mod pics thomas, you could grind these down and remove the serrations 

[J Mackrel Jones]

Anybody know why the locking divider has the zig-zag slots rather than just a straight cut?  Stronger?  Cool-looking but invisible !

[lowtech]

Yes, indeed. I do believe the oblong hole is teh older version and the round one teh newer?! My Sentinel OHO has the round hole and a Trailmaster OHO had the oblong hole - do the Soldier knifes have the oblong hole until today or have they been updated? If so, the knife with the round hole might have been to a service at Victorinox, i guess?!

[Frankctz]

Good information, I will be aroubd to see your mods...
An idea is to mod one that include 2 blades, one flat and another serrated, probably will be no possible  but could be a good idea.....

[Marius]

Correct. The oval (oblong) thumb hole is the older and original variant, the round hole is the newer and improved variant, still in production today.

Yes, indeed. I do believe the oblong hole is teh older version and the round one teh newer?! My Sentinel OHO has the round hole and a Trailmaster OHO had the oblong hole - do the Soldier knifes have the oblong hole until today or have they been updated? If so, the knife with the round hole might have been to a service at Victorinox, i guess?!

[lowtech]

Good information, I will be aroubd to see your mods...
An idea is to mod one that include 2 blades, one flat and another serrated, probably will be no possible  but could be a good idea.....

I have not had a slide lock 111 mm apart (yet) but i would think you shuold be able to combine a OHO linerlock balde layer with a slide lock 111 mm blade.

Double blades in a knife are not my cup of tea, but it´s an interesting mod idea.

[gustophersmob]

Good information, I will be aroubd to see your mods...
An idea is to mod one that include 2 blades, one flat and another serrated, probably will be no possible  but could be a good idea.....

I have not had a slide lock 111 mm apart (yet) but i would think you shuold be able to combine a OHO linerlock balde layer with a slide lock 111 mm blade.

Double blades in a knife are not my cup of tea, but it´s an interesting mod idea.

I think the pin stock on the side lock models is thinner than that of the linerlock version.  You may be able to enlarge the hole on the blade to work, though.

There may also be other differences, but I'm not sure.

[lowtech]

Another question, not regarding teh GAkS but the 111 mm Vics in general:
There are Variants (Sentinel) that are equipped with a pocket clip.

They come only on knifes without back layer tools.
Does anybody have experience with those clips? Will teh scales pop off with the clip and make you loose the knife?

how do you modders fix clips to those knifes - Dou you do so only on custom scales or do you tap the liners?

[lowtech]

Seems no one wants to share the secret of how to fix a pocket clipe securely? 
I´m afraid the scales would just pop off if you did only fif the clip to the scales and teh liners seem too thin to tap them.

Nevermind, I´ll have a go...

To make this answer to my own post at least a little bit entertaining, here is a pic i took after breathing too much gasoline fumes in my shop...



There seems to be enough material at the tang to actually do this without too much work.

[SAKnight]

Lowtech, would you be willing to sell one of those? I need a good knife for school, and the gak looks like the right one, I just don't want a shelf queen. Let me know how much if you do please 

[lowtech]

I´ll PM you this late afternoon.

[SAKnight]

Much appreciated 

[Mattexian]

Very cool, thanks for the exploded view. 

I'm thinking of modding my OHT into an OH Centurion by removing the saw layer, tho I know I'd need to switch the backsprings, which leads to my question:  will the saw backspring work for the main blade?  Without taking my OHT apart yet, I can tell the springs are different (saw has the back Phillips driver, which I'd like to keep), but can't tell if the blade will hit the saw's backspring once switched.  (Thinking back to my 111m Adventurer, it had the same tool setup as the Centurion, without any trouble from the blade hitting the backspring with the back Phillips, so I *should* be in the clear.) In truth, what I'd *really* like to do is make it into silver Alox scales, but one step at a time, right?

Matt in Texas