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Comment by Ron Cooper on January 26, 2014 at 19:32

That's an interesting video you posted, Toby. Personally, I have never been too much of a fan of the Victorinox can opener. Probably because I had so much experience with the military P38. The Vic opener seems counterintuitive to me.

Wenger makes a can opener that works almost like a P38 and I feel is much more efficient than the Victorinox. Just like the P38 the Wenger opener works in a clockwise manner. Unlike the Victorinox which goes in a counter clockwise motion.

Here is a side by side picture of the two different openers with the Victorinox on the left, the Wenger on the right.

If you'll notice there is no screwdriver option on the Wenger like there is on the Victorinox. Again, I'll sacrifice the screwdriver for the more efficient opener.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 26, 2014 at 18:30

It cuts differently than that of P-38.   You cut away from you i instead of toward you. It takes some getting used to .

Comment by Ricky L McConnell on January 26, 2014 at 17:29

I just had to add here I used my can opener on my Swiss army knife for the first time yesterday. It was not as good as a p38 but it did a good job on opening a can of chili at work . I did have a little trouble keeping the hook part of the blade under the lip on the can. Anyone have some good tips on using this opener ?

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 3, 2014 at 14:38

Brad. Mine came with the instructions.  I'll see if I can find them.  If I can I'll Scan it and post it here.

Comment by Brad T. on January 3, 2014 at 12:58

Ricky - It is new, just picked it up last night.

Tobias - Haven't figured out how to remove the bits you say are replaceable.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 3, 2014 at 12:51

Excellent Rescue Tool, Brad.  I think that one is known as the One Handed Fireman or OHF.  The original Rescue Tool has the glow in the dark handles. The saw blade on the bottom is designed to cut through safety glass. That blade and the glass breaker are also designed so that the operator can remove andf replace them.

Comment by Ricky L McConnell on January 3, 2014 at 10:28

Nice Knife Brad. Is it new or used ?

Comment by Brad T. on January 3, 2014 at 9:25

My Rescue Tool.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on December 9, 2013 at 17:22

Ron, I agree that the impact on the US, knife market would not have been as substantial but I feel even a 5% drop in sales would have an impact.  Companies such as  Case which have a "collectors" market would probably be better able to withstand the hit but companies such as Camillus and Imperial were not as "collectable" 

Worse for Camillus was they government and BSA contracts.  The Boy Scouts came under strong opposition by Gay Activists and the government contract profit margin was under 1%!   With a union demand for higher wages at such a point in time, how could a company survive?

As this discussion is not specifically Swiss Army, I started a discussion in the General Knife discussion list  ( http://www.iknifecollector.com/forum/topics/globalization-or-9-11 )

Comment by Ron Cooper on December 9, 2013 at 16:52

Toby,

I believe that Victorinox and Wenger were particularly impacted due in large part to the sales of their knives in airport gift shops and duty free shops around the world coming to a screeching halt after 9/11/2001.

According to Elsener a 40% drop in sales! Airlines and airports were returning huge lots of SAK's to Victorinox. And the only other knife company authorized to make knives for the Swiss Army, Wenger, went bust! Elsener came to their rescue and purchased Wenger in 2005.

I can't think of another company in the USA that might have been impacted to such a degree? I think that domestic knife companies were probably impacted more by the economic downturn and subsequent recession--loss of discretionary spending--more than they were by airport regulations, like Victorinox was? 

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