Sosakonline Archive

Please note that all content in this section has been imported from our old Sosakonline website and may contain broken links. We are revising it as we can, but these things take time, and it's a lot of content to get through!

 Like the rest of us, celebrities suffer from a condition called mortality, and as such it seems that hardly a day goes by these days that we don’t hear about one or another passing away. Tragic indeed, but not usually the kind of thing we take note of on this website, so it’s only normal for you to be asking why we are paying attention to this one? Simple, Elizabeth Taylor has a Victorinox knife named for her, and we’ll honour her memory the best way we can- by looking closer at the knife that bears her name.

 When the Mike Horn model was released a couple of years ago it was revolutionary, what with its dual one handed opening blades, round awl and special scales made from recycled plastic bottles and wood pulp. It stands as a testament to the lengths to which Wenger is going to ensure that professional adventurers like Mike Horn are getting exactly what they need to keep doing what they do. So far, they’ve been succeeding.

 There were a lot of mixed reactions to the new titanium series knives from Wenger when it was announced at SHOT in January. Some folks were supportive, some not so much, and others were merely skeptical. When the price was announced that shifted a lot of people’s views of this series somewhat south, but folks should remember when looking at the price tag that titanium isn’t cheap.

Model 51
In 1951 The Swiss Army knife was seven millimeters shorter and was made a little slimmer. The weight fell from 125g to 90g. That was a 35 g loss. The knife blade material was rust resistant and the blade was again arched. This blade design was very similar to original Model 1890. The screwdriver blade now had a notch cut into it and could be used to strip electrical cables. The rivets holding the can opener and awl are now the hollow rivet style
. The diameter of the hole is about two millimeters. This hole in the knife allowed a cord to be attached. This cord on the knife became a plumb line when you needed to estimated distance for the assault Rifle Mod 57. This greatly aided in the accuracy at longer distances for the Mod 58 rifle grenades.

See my April 2010 article.
http://www.sosakonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=531&Itemid=35

 I first saw this a while back, done by Neil Bee, aka NKB, and I finally got around to trying it myself. The recent scale swap video gave me the extra scales I needed to experiment on, so I decided to give it a shot myself and see what happens! I’m not certain if I’m doing it the way Neil did, but I do like the results!

One question I get asked an awful lot is what to do with a broken blade- send it in for warranty work, ask Victorinox to repair it, find a modder to do it or try to do it yourself.  Well, here's one member's answer- Ptisuisse has put together a step by step guide to replacing a single tool, and he makes it look easy!  I'm not saying it is easy, but he sure makes it look that way!

 A couple of months ago I did a video on swapping scales, which according to our in-house parts dealer Rotokid was a major success. I’m glad to hear that many of you liked it, and found it helpful. Since so many people watched it, I’m going to assume you all remember the results of one of the swaps- the yellow scaled Compact, a knife that has found its way to the very top of my Every Day Carry list.

 Some of you noticed that there were no ALOX articles last month- the first time in quite a while that some ALOX model or another hasn’t been shown off! Well, for those of you who didn’t get your fix last month, here’s enough ALOX to hold you for a bit!

Every once in a while someone spots one of these for sale and wonders if these are indeed issued to French Troops. I have wondered the same thing each and every time someone has asked, and now, thanks to Ptisuisse, we have the answer.

 Anyone in Canada who spends any time biking, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, or camping is probably familiar with Mountain Equipment Co Op. They are a large outfitter up here in the Great White North, and a usual shopping spot for me. In fact, they have been the supplier for a number of articles here in the past- articles like the Wenger Sharpener for example.