Swiss Army Knife - Is it Genuine Or Original?

Can you imagine a little red pocket knife with 87 tools and 141 different functions? How about another knife from the same manufacturer that holds the Guiness Book of Records recognition of 314 blades? How about a novelty knife by the same company that within it's 9 inch thick case holds 85 tools and is able to perform 110 functions? Who in their wildest imagination could possibly conceive of or have the knowledge and skill to produce these kinds of knives? Well actually the firm that produced those unusual knives produces over 34,000 knives a day.

Certainly most of them do not contain these record breaking number of tools but still remain one of the most respected utility tools built in a pocket knife. And to prove their worth and value the company has been around for over 100 years.

It all started back in 1891 when Carl Eisner was bothered by the fact that the standard knife used by the Swiss army was actually manufactured in Germany. His nationalism took hold and he decided to produce the Swiss army knife in Switzerland. The first version had wooden handles and included a knife blade, screw driver and can opener and in a later version held two blades.His company was and is the Victorinox firm.

The genius of the Swiss Army knifes ability to hold so many tools in later versions was possible because Eisner devised a method to add blades to both sides of the pocket knife. This required a specially designed spring. Using this new spring and the double sided approach his knives soon carried a nail file, toothpick, tweezers, scissors, can opener, leather punch and screwdriver and a number of blades. Current versions of these knives have red aluminum handles and are emblazoned with the cross-and-shield emblem, and the words SWISS ARMY on every knife.

In 1893 Eisner's company Victorinox lost it's monopoly of producing these knives for the Swiss army. To try to impose competition and possibly lower prices the Swiss government split it's knife contract between Victorinox and a second company called Wenger. The companies devised a method to determine which company made a particular knife. Wenger advertised as the Genuine Swiss Army Knife and Victorinox used the slogan the Original Swiss Army Knife

One of the more popular knives favored by the U.S. military is the Swiss Officers Knife. The Swiss name is "Schweizer Offiziersmesser". This was too much of a mouth full for American military personnel who began calling these knives the "Swiss army knife". The name stuck and is known worldwide. In April of 2005 Victorinox purchased the Wenger company and once more became the sole supplier of knives to the Swiss Army.

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