Wenger, the manufacturer of the classic Swiss Army Knife, has revealed a 9-inch long, 2-pound "knife" which carries 85 instruments, or:
almost every tool that has ever been on a Swiss Army Knife, ever. The list includes seven different knives, a golf shoe spike wrench, a bike chain rivet setter, and a laser pointer with a 300ft range (but where's the freakin'
USB flash drive?). Presumably this is so seasoned golfers can tune their bicycle's rivets before heading off on a deer hunt / cycling trip armed with blinding lasers and an entire collection of 3-inch knives. An equivalent "indoor" do-it-all gadget would feature Apple's entire
iPod line-up, a SCSI to Parallel adapter and the collective consciousness of the Engadget staff in
BBS form, contained in the form factor of a combination
Bluetooth headset / wristwatch.[Thanks, William S]
posted Aug 24th 2006 6:35AM
Not so much a knife as a giant board of flick-out gadgetry.
That must be a joke, right?
The flash drive is in competitor (now owner) Victorinox's product range ...
That logo doesnt look like the Real Swiss Army Knife logo.
sweet
now i can brush my teeth,
wipe my ass,
and check my tempature.......
in that order
Saw a comment here before that has now vanished about this not being from Victorinox so its not real. I sort of felt the same way but I just did some googling and it turns out that Victorinox bought Wenger in April 2005. You could still consider Wenger a lower end brand or something but its one company anyway.
Happen to be looking at your response from last year, and you are incorrect about the standing and quality of Wenger knives vs. Victorinox.
1. Both are the only ones approved by the Swiss Confederation(Swiss Army) to manufacturer a specific unit for their soldiers(called the Standard Issue).
2. Victorinox was always a larger company in worldwide sales, but Wenger sold more knives in North America.
3. As the quality of both companies products are equal for the most part, Wenger tools are superior in design and function; ie. scissors is serrated and has no spring to fail. Screwdriver is self-locking and will not fold back in to the body of the knife while in use.
Always a matter of personal tastes, Wenger is equal(if not superior) in form and function.
the company is wergner, which makes swiss army knives. that is why the logo looks different, Ades.
I think its not practical unless you go living in the woods and you need a bycicle rivet setter for some reason...
Hm. I have counted 86. Did they forgot to include "throwing brick" into the list of tools? ;)
Stephen Almada wrote:
"sweet
now i can brush my teeth,
wipe my ass,
and check my tempature.......
in that order"
____________________________
Or if someone's a butthead, they could do all that at once.
But joking aside, this thing apprarently is very real and can be all yours for $1200 USD. What are they, nuts?!? How on earth is a person supposed to hold this clumsy thing in their hand? The ergonomics are all wrong. This thing would be unusable. I think rethinking it and scaling back with a redesign are in order.
And I thought my SwissChamp XLT was big. Crikey. I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing some additions to the XLT, but this thing is ridiculous!
some sites offer them for less: $950
http://theknifewarehouse.com/catalogz/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21742
if macguyver had that the episode would last 5 minutes.
actually there are two companies that produce swiss army knifes... one is wenger http://www.wenger-knife.ch/ with the pictured army knife above, and one is victorinox http://www.victorinox.ch/
the original swiss army knife is produced by victorinox (which also supplies the swiss army, but all you get is a real basic-basic knife, nothing fancy)
victorinox and not wenger produces the usb-flash army knifes, along with altimeter-knifes, etc.
but both companies produce very high quality knifes. if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact mr. guyver
This would be great for a back alley surgeon/dentist. If the cops catch you in the middle of a job, you'd only have one tool to grab before you ran. (I'm assuming it has a coat hanger in it?)
Try sneaking this baby inside an airplane, you'll be escorted out faster than you can say "paranoid frenzy".
One would have to use two hands to hold it when using it.
...Let me just tighten this screw here using this two pound chunck of metal...unf.
I thought the company made "pocket" knives. This is ridiculous!
Holy Cow that's more tools then I have in my tool box!
I just wonder if it can open human skulls so I can get to the juicy brainy center faster! Yum!
At Geneva's airport, there was a pocket knife (as we call them here in switzerland) on display that had 2000 blades. It was for sale of course but can't remember the price.
As I read in another comment, Victorinox is the official Swiss army knife supplier for the military in Switzerland and they bought Wenger not so long ago...
This thing is only like a collection item, there is no way you can use it. If have the cash I will love to buy it, I have like 80+ knifes of Wenger and Victorinox and still like to buy more!
Kitchen sink?
This is obviously not meant to be useful, just a collectors item. Having a swiss army knife fetish myself, I'd love to own one.
And I have to disagree with the quality of Wenger knives. I own several from both Wenger and Victorinox, and the Wenger knives seem to be made very cheap in comparison.
Can you imagine how bumbed you'd be if you showed up at an airport and someone took that away!
You'd probably try to fight them off...
Is that a dental probe near the middle?
AHAHAHAHAHA!!! That's great.
So with all this have they figured out what the hook "tool" is for yet?
For all of you talking about how pointless/useless this is, you should probably know that this is more of a promo item to show all the different stuff that's been on swiss army knives through the years, not a serious attempt at making a useful knife.
Wow, I wonder if you could wire tap phone lines with that; someone should let the NSA know.
That's 86 tools - in addition to a screwdriver, it can be used as a club.
Check out the offerings at http://www.victorinox.ch/index.cfm?site=victorinox.ch&page=9&lang=E They even have one with IT tools "CyberTool" (without USB) and it is quite useful. Phreel0aderr, the "hook" is used for carrying things and for helping in tying nots with twine...
Sweet, does that Swiss Army Knife come with Thief Deterant?
*cue Sprint commercial*
Put a hat on it and call it Inspector Gadget. How the heck is it supposed to fit in my pocket now?
Now, add a "Hello Kitty" logo, and you've got yourself another sale!
It would have been neat if it were made up of several "regular" knife-sized portions that somehow clip together. This way it can be transported in the pictured board-type form, but could also be broken down to actually be used.
Victorinox is the "original" or military SAK, Wenger is considered the "scout". Wenger has useful knives too, it just depends on what you use SAKs for. They make watches too...I just came back from Switzerland (where SAKs and watches and chocolates and Audis and Bimmers are abundant) and I got a nice Wenger watch...only 125 francs!
But anyway, i have seen this humongous knife...it's absolutely ridiculous in size and price. But then again, i was in Switzerland...everything is ridiculously priced (except chocolate, most of the time).
p.s. theft deterrant? just swing it in the direction of the thief, problem solved.
cool.....i had swiss cheese earlier
I don't see a fork and a spoon as was on the original. I still want one just to admire. How much?
Too bad they didn't show the French Army Knife......no special tools, just six corkscrews......
they should consider making an ipod accessory version
Hey great now I wanta patent the pants that have a pocket for this knife!!
Z wrote:How on earth is a person supposed to hold this clumsy thing in their hand? The ergonomics are all wrong. This thing would be unusable.
Problem would be solved if the tools were in removable clusters, say 3 or 4 tools on each side, that could be slid alongside each other to separate or combine. Each cluster would be easily hand-held.
I'm assuming this is a pocket knife. You better enlarge your pocket size.
The Swiss Army doesn't do anything. When was the last time the Swiss Army did anything except to declare being neutral? That is why they have more time to play with gadgets.
Stephen Almada wrote:
"sweet
now i can brush my teeth,
wipe my ass,
and check my tempature.......
in that order"
Yes, Stephen, but which attachment did you use to spell "temperature"? Was it the Swiss Army dictionary or the Swiss Army "Hooked on Phonics" CD?
____________________________
AND I THAUGHT THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS ALL IN (ONE)EIGHTY FIVE.!
WHO THE HECK HAS TIME TO INVENT THESE THINGS?
Where is the jack that I could use to change a flat tire on my car?
Once you go Victorinox you never go Wenger. I got my first Victorinox over 30 years ago.
WELL SOMEONE UP ABOVE THIS MESSAGE ASKED "IF HE HAS NOW FOUND THE PERFECT TOOL TO GO CAMPING WITH"? HE SAID HE CAN NOW SCALE HIS FISH KILL A BEAR AND WIPE HIS BUTT WITH ONE TOOL. I AM GUESSING THE KIND OF CAMPER HE IS. HE WILL BE USING THE CORK SCREW TO DO HIS WIPING...GOOD LUCK ON THE DRIVE HOME BROTHER!!!
Good Tool. Lightload Towels is also quite a tool. The swiss and Lightloads can be used in the same breadth.
And I thought I had seen everythong. This tool is useless and illogical. 1,200 US Dollars for an item that someone would appreciate when they purchase it, and discard it anyways. This isn't a tool. It's a novelty item, and nothing more. Why don't these companies spend their time and money on more useful items? I doubt this will have may sales.
Wow Now I Can Become McGuyver with this tool. What a great invention, it's almost like duct tape.
Damn, I just wanna throw this thing towards someone not looking and yell, CATCH!!!!!!!!
Lightload Towels www.ultralighttowels.com are entertainment for the masses.Like the Swiss Army Knife it is quite a winner. Lightloads though are only $1.68 and the Knives are close to $100 dollars.
Hi guys, I'm italian so excuse me for my bad english...
Both Wenger and Victorinox supplied knives for the Army (50% each one of the government request).
The army model is very simple and only has a blade, a can opener, a bottle opener with cork screw and a reamer/punch. Sides are not in plastic but in grey aluminium, with a logo differents from either Wenger and Victorinox ones. The blade of the military issue is more thick than others.
About quality, I only owned Victorinox so I can't say what's the better.
Ciao! :-)