With all the attention placed firmly on the new Issue knife from Victorinox, there has been some wonder as to what will happen to Wenger's Standard Issue knife, aka the Soldat. Well, the simple answer is that nothing is happening- or rather, it will continue, at least for the time being, with only one minor change.

My new Standard Issue arrived not too long ago, and the only discernible difference between it and previous models is the date stamp- new, non issue models aren't stamped with the year of manufacture, which I am certain will not come as welcome news to collectors as there will no longer be any way to gage how old a knife is, just that it is newer than 2009.

Still and all, I am glad to see the knife continuing on. Unlike Victorinox, who has a complete lineup of ALOX knives, Wenger only produces one model, and there was some concern that they would discontinue this model when there was no longer a reason to continue to produce it. I am personally quite glad to see it still in production, and hear that Wenger has no current plan to stop.