Why Wenger SAKs are still relevant today.

[Captain Hook]

It's astounding that a knife company still has so many cult followers after being closed down for 7 years. I feel it is a true testament to Wenger's craftsmanship an innovation! Here are 3 reasons Wenger SAKs are still relevant EDC tools.

1. They're not Vics. For 100 years there was a friendly rivalry between two Swiss cutlery companies. Wenger and Victorinox, now that Victorinox has finally won the centuries old battle there are still those loyal to the Wenger brand just because they've always carried them.

2. Different design. The Can Openers are claw shaped and in this humble author's opinion much easier to use than the victorinox can opener.  The hole punch is not sharpened but has a wicked point at the end. To me for leather and soft material the Wenger wins here. The victorinox punch usually makes a nasty looking belt hole but the Wenger makes a very clean one. Also many Wengers have a nail file in place of the redundant small blade, I'm always filing my nail with that little thing and I've used it to sharpen hooks and strike matches in a pinch. These are only a few design differences between the two companies.

3. The aesthetics. The Wenger logo is a square shield bearing the swiss cross in the middle. Usually this is a metal inlay that is a lighter shade of red than the handle scales. This makes the Wenger very pleasant to the eye. Also the toothpick and tweezers are hidden on the inside of the scales and give it a much cleaner look, especially if you lose the toothpick.

At the end of the day personal preference always wins out, but there is a very strong market for second hand Wengers and they shouldn't be counted out of the game yet! Hope you enjoyed the read

[tosh]

I have to agree - but then I’m bias as the bulk of my collection is Wenger.

Sorry I forget the actual statistics, but from memory Vic churns out 22million SAKs per year, think Wenger was just over 2million! 1/10th !!
We will never see the likes of Wenger again, as in pure Swiss pedigree. Now vic holds both patents, thus preventing others coming in to the SAK market, we are at the mercy of what vic wants to offer us. Unsurprisingly nothing new has come out in those 7 years besides cloned wengers and coloured Alox.
I guess that’s the way it will be. If you don’t like it...tough is what  vics mantra seems to be.
Personally I think Victorinox will never take the crown from Wenger.  Yes, better marketing and higher sales volume. But their range is so undeniably dull in comparison to Wenger, that they frankly bore me to death.
Wenger branded SAKs are destined to become very much sought after, that’s my prediction. New collectors will emerge and after the initial rites of passage through Victorinox waters, They will stumble quite by chance upon Wenger.....It’s almost like a guarded secret!

A true Templar of the Swiss Army Knights

[Don Pablo]

Wenger SAKs are every bit as useful as Vic SAKs.

[dks]

they are extinct, so they are likely to go up in value, making us money for our retirement

[ElevenBlade]

Nice write-up.  I'm in the Victorinox camp for all the reasons you mentioned, oddly enough.  I like the claw opener, but I like the Vic quarter circle for the SD... and it gets the job done when it comes to opening cans (which is something I've done 1000x more than filing.

 It's not the most fun to prefer discontinued tools and things... That's for sure.

It's nice that Wenger always has a place at the table in the Victorinox lineup. One of the small SAKs is named the Wenger, And the Executive gives you the option of Vic scissors, or Wenger scissors on the Executive 81.  It's thought that Vic won't bring back the 84mm scissors so they don't take away from their Evo sales.   In all honesty, the last two SAKs I saw in the wild were Evo scales - one was someone's fidget toy at a committee meeting, and another was seen in a coffee... party surrounding a wedding.

[Barry Rowland]

I love my Wengers!  I only wish I had picked up more when they were still around

[smiller43147]

The Wengers have been dismissed as cheap knock-offs by many.  While I've always felt that the Vics are better quality, it's not by a lot.  Wengers are far from cheap low quality look-a-likes.  Then there is the innovation on Wenger's part.  And competition always pushes all players to up their game.


While I've considered myself a Vic guy, I do have a number of Wengers, and have an attachment to them.  A Pocket Toolchest is in my pocket right now.  The 1, 2 and even 3 layer (Teton, Traveler) with traditional scales are a very pocket friendly carry.  With the wrap around scales and flush back springs they are wonderful worry stones.  It's a shame that, with the exception of the 65mm "Wenger" model (Esquire) Vic has only included Evo's in the Delmont collection.  And with the change to Vic T&T and scale attachment method, the Delmont Evo scales are even thicker.


And why substitute the Vic design can opener, reamer T&T and leave the Wenger scissors?  I would love if they made a Teton all Wenger tools except Vic scissors and the Wenger traditional scales!!

[nate j]

Unsurprisingly nothing new has come out in those 7 years besides cloned wengers and coloured Alox.

The release of the Pioneer X in 2016 marked the introduction of scissors into a factory 93mm knife, and the 93mm line was further expanded with the Farmer X in 2020.  I do agree Wenger was more innovative vs. the more conservative Victorinox.


For various reasons, I've always gravitated more towards Vics than Wengers for carry and use.  I do have some Wengers in my collection though, and they are solid tools.  I was sorry to see Wenger go under, but glad that some Wenger models survived under the Vic brand.

[jlomein]

Seems like Victorinox's innovation and focus has been on non-knife products. A YouTube documentary had an interview with Victorinox's CEO who mentioned that sales of SAKs dropped 30% after 9/11 in 2001. He said they saved their company by branching into their other products (fragrance, bags, watches). 

I assume the same sales problems hurt Wenger more due to their smaller name power when branching into other products and must have been a big part of their buyout in 2005.

[tosh]

I assume the same sales problems hurt Wenger more due to their smaller name power when branching into other products and must have been a big part of their buyout in 2005.

But aren’t all those outsourced to cheap labour countries then simply badged up. I know all the new Wenger stuff available has the “made in China “ label - so guessing Vics the same??

If I recall correctly the Wenger business tool is accredited to being the straw that broke wengers back.

Never a company to do half measures

[ElevenBlade]

But aren’t all those outsourced to cheap labour countries then simply badged up. I know all the new Wenger stuff available has the “made in China “ label - so guessing Vics the same??

If I recall correctly the Wenger business tool is accredited to being the straw that broke wengers back.

Never a company to do half measures

  no? When Victorinox acquired Wenger it rebranded it as SwissGear and focused the subsidiary on budget friendly backpacks and luggage etc.  They're all still made in Switzerland.

[Ray S]

Picked this one up today from a friend who looks out for knives for me.Never used and still has the factory lubricant on the pivots.Ten bucks.The last one I bought was twelve. At this rate I should be getting them free in no time at all!

[tosh]

no? When Victorinox acquired Wenger it rebranded it as SwissGear and focused the subsidiary on budget friendly backpacks and luggage etc.  They're all still made in Switzerland.

That’s odd, I own a laptop bag (Wenger) with made in China logo inside
Also seen various Wenger  rucksacks in stores, when I examined all had the made in China label??

Plus I read on a watch connoisseurs site that the movements within Victorinox watches were utter garbage, Infact they didn’t hold back at all in saying exactly what they thought. I’m guessing Wenger adopted the same movements into their watch line too??

[ElevenBlade]

That’s odd, I own a laptop bag (Wenger) with made in China logo inside
Also seen various Wenger  rucksacks in stores, when I examined all had the made in China label??

That is odd... Is it still called Wenger? Or SwissGear?

[SirVicaLot]

I just read around the Sak wiki and found the Wenger Multigrip. Does one of you fine folks have one and could show us and maybe tell us how they were to use? 

[tosh]

That is odd... Is it still called Wenger? Or SwissGear?

My laptop is Wenger has the metal emblem
The bags in store usually have the same emblem too ( they might have been Swiss gear...truth is I’ve seen so many and all were either made in China or no labels I could see.

Fact is, it doesn’t even surprise me. How could a company in Switzerland make bags that are sold for so little here. I’ve seen rucksacks £30 new. No way is that profitable. We all know that Asia manufacturing supplies most of the top brand names...it’s no secret.

[dks]

I thought victorinox automatics had ETA etc. movements.

Their INOX is also interesting.

Certain watch forum members will disregard anything that is not made by the company they have most money invested in.
If it not e.g. Patek it is rubbish etc. 

[Sawl Goodman]

I thought victorinox automatics had ETA etc. movements.

Their INOX is also interesting.

Certain watch forum members will disregard anything that is not made by the company they have most money invested in.
If it not e.g. Patek it is rubbish etc.

Indeed.

All mechanical watches from Victorinox have an automatic Swiss movement to ensure the greatest precision and accuracy. We use the Kaliber ETA 2824-2 with a power gauge of 38 hours, the Sellita SW 200 with a power gauge of 38 hours, and the ETA VALJOUX 7750 with a power gauge of 48 hours. We prefer to use the last of these for our Swiss mechanical watches with a chronograph function.

These are all well regarded workhorse movements. The Sellita is a clone of the ETA, made since the ETA patent expired.

I believe they use Ronda movements for their quartz watches, and they're plenty OK as well. I have a quartz diver (not a Vic or Wenger) with a Ronda movement that's accurate to within a few seconds a year. Amazes me given the low price of the watch.