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The next Swiss Army Knife won't have a knife:
The Swiss Army Knife has become such a shorthand for multifunctionality that companies producing does-a-lot-of-stuff wares will often say that their goods are the "Swiss Army Knife" of whatever category they're a part of. You can use the tool to cut stuff, snip stuff, uncork stuff, file stuff, in some cases download stuff.
But Victorinox, the company behind the famous gadget, is working on a Swiss Army Knife without the knife part.
"We are in the early stages of developing pocket tools without blades," a spokesperson for the company told CNN. Though it won't be discontinuing its bladed version, the company has been trying to figure out how to serve customers in places — specifically England and some Asian countries — where knives aren't as welcome a pocket sight than in other markets. The British government, for example, is considering new legislation on carrying blades in public.
The Swiss Army Knife has its roots in 1880s Germany. Then the Swiss Karl Elsener took production over the border. Soon a competitor emerged in the company Wenger, and for a while the Swiss government split its orders for the tools between the two of them. Wenger called its version the "genuine" Swiss Army Knife, and Elsener's Victorinox called its version the "original." The two companies ended up merging in 2005.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday May 10 2024, @09:31AM
So it shouldn't apply to the Victorinox Swiss army knives then? As I recall it those blades are not very long, or have a long cutting edge nor are they locked, or if they are locked the lock is so weak that its broken by slight force. Bigger models might require more force and such but I wouldn't want to fight anyone or anything with that blade since it will fold over and cut you to if struck in the wrong direction. It's good for cutting small cables and opening containers and such. That is about it. In that regard it might hurt more if you get stabbed with other implements on the tool. Like the tiny screwdrivers, you could probably jam those in with force.
I have a couple of them. They were all gifts. Still with that said I'm not a big fan. I think I mainly use mine to clean dirt from under my fingernails and cutting my nails. I'm not even sure where I placed one of them. One is in the bathroom and one in the office. But cleaning dirt and opening small boxes that is about it as far as usefulness goes imo. Perhaps that is how it usually is, you find one or two things and then use them for that. All the other things remain in large unused -- so I mainly use the small blade and the tiny scissors. I have not really found a use for the other tiny implementations.