{"id":15352,"date":"2025-04-16T20:08:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T00:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/?p=15352"},"modified":"2025-04-16T20:08:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T00:08:44","slug":"are-swiss-army-knives-still-relevant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/are-swiss-army-knives-still-relevant\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Swiss Army Knives Still Relevant?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I see this question on EDC forums all the time, and I\u2019ve been asked more than a few times myself. Is the Swiss Army Knife still relevant? Does a brand that\u2019s been around for 130 years still have anything to add in today\u2019s marketplace, or is it merely a relic of a bygone era that has managed to overstay its welcome?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you know me at all, or if you\u2019ve ever read anything I\u2019ve written about Swiss Army Knives or EDC in general, then you probably have a pretty good idea of where I\u2019m going with this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve owned more than a few Swiss Army Knives in my lifetime. I know they\u2019re old-fashioned, but like a great record or a classic car, there are certain things that never truly go out of style. I\u2019ll make the case that SAKs are still very much relevant, but you don\u2019t have to take my word for it. There\u2019s more than one reason why if you don\u2019t own a Swiss Army Knife<\/a> already, then you probably should. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Instantly Recognizable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Relevance is hard to quantify, but consider how easy it is for any lay person\u2014no matter how much or how little they know about knives\u2014to spot a Swiss Army Knife. Hand someone a SAK and ask them what it is; everyone will know the answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other type of knife, even a high-profile brand with a singular look like Spyderco, enjoys that level of notoriety. Victorinox has created one of the most iconic and instantly recognizable tools of all time, and it\u2019s arguably just as distinctive and unmistakable today as it was a century ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also safe to assume that it\u2019s still one of the most widely used and carried knives in the world. Victorinox makes 10 million pocket knives annually, which is roughly 45,000 per day. If you don\u2019t own one, you can be sure that several people you know do. There\u2019s no hard data on this sort of thing, but there can be little doubt that SAKs are in more pockets and drawers around the world than any other knife. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Ideal EDC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a Swiss Army Knife<\/a> for everyone. Hikers. Hunters. Fishermen. Farmers. Campers. Carpenters. And one of the reasons that the SAK is still such a great all-around knife for so many different people is that it stays true to the core concepts of everyday carry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, EDC is all about being prepared for any everyday situation that might arise without being overburdened. You want to be ready, but you don\u2019t want to be weighed down. That\u2019s EDC, and it\u2019s also a perfect description of what a Swiss Army Knife<\/a> provides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could argue that a Swiss Army Knife isn\u2019t the best<\/em> at anything. There are way better knife blades out there. The scissors that come with most SAKs pale in comparison to real scissors. Same goes for the screwdrivers, files, corkscrews and saw blades. Even the tweezers leave a lot to be desired compared to a real set of tweezers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just try carrying all those tools in your pockets. The reason a Swiss Army Knife is great isn\u2019t that its individual components are the best in the game. It\u2019s that a SAK is so much more than the sum of its parts. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Generations of Quality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If it sounds like I\u2019m trashing the quality of the individual tools within the Swiss Army Knife, let me be clear about one thing: these are not low-quality items. Victorinox has been making these things in Switzerland since 1891\u2014yes, they\u2019re still Swiss-made\u2014and the quality control and attention to detail continues to be remarkable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every SAK I\u2019ve ever laid eyes on had a mirror-like polish to the stainless steel, airtight fit and finish, and smooth and snappy detent even without a true locking mechanism. They have also, without exception, come out of the box hair-splittingly sharp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stainless steel also has a great balance of hardness and toughness. It resists corrosion beautifully, and it\u2019s also impressively easy to sharpen. Returning the blade to a razor-like edge is easy with a simple sharpening stone, a leather strop, or even a flat river rock.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Big Business, Great Value<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Financial success and relevance are not the same thing. But there\u2019s undoubtedly a connection, and it\u2019s impossible to deny that Swiss Army Knives are big business. Victorinox, the company that makes them, has an annual revenue of $716.2M per year according to Growjo<\/a>, making it arguably the biggest knife brand on earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granted, that\u2019s not all SAK sales\u2014Victorinox also makes watches, kitchen cutlery and luggage, among other things\u2014but it dwarfs its closest competitors. Even perceived giants like Gerber ($110.4M per year) and Leatherman ($132.1M per year) are several steps below Victorinox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s worth considering that Swiss Army Knives aren\u2019t expensive. Most models retail for between $35 and $65, and a few of the simplest models cost even less. In a world where knives and multi-tools seem to be marketed more and more as premium products, Swiss Army Knives have yet to out-price the average consumer. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Revolutionary Design, Continued Evolution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to imagine just how revolutionary it must have felt in 1891 when the first Swiss Army Knife dropped. Soldiers in the Swiss army who got one of those initial 15,000 \u201cSoldier Knives\u201d must have felt like they had gotten the first iPod. There was nothing else like it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s still, really, nothing else like it. Though it\u2019s been imitated by countless no-name knockoff brands and arguably supplanted as an innovator by the likes of Leatherman, the Swiss Army Knife is still the one that started it all. There almost certainly wouldn\u2019t be a Leatherman if there wasn\u2019t a Swiss Army Knife first. And the fact that more people continue to reach for a SAK than a Leatherman speaks volumes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while Victorinox has made only minimal changes to its core SAK line, the company also continues to innovate. Sometimes it\u2019s leading the way, and sometimes it seems to be trying to keep up with the competition, but for a brand that\u2019s been around for more than a century, it\u2019s anything but stuck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might say that Swiss Army Knives will never go out of fashion, because they\u2019ve already been<\/em> out of fashion since before you or I were born. But they\u2019re still the most well-known knives on Earth, and chances are they still will be long after we\u2019re gone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explore whether Swiss Army knives still hold value in today\u2019s world. Learn how their versatility and timeless design continue to serve modern needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Are Swiss Army Knives Still Relevant?","_seopress_titles_desc":"Explore whether Swiss Army knives still hold value in today\u2019s world. Learn how their versatility and timeless design continue to serve modern needs.","_seopress_robots_index":"","pmpro_default_level":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"iawp_total_views":343,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[132,185],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday-carry","category-knife-education","pmpro-has-access"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":132,"label":"Everyday Carry"},{"value":185,"label":"Knife Education"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Are-Swiss-Army-Knives-Still-Relevant.jpg",900,675,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Blair Witkowski","author_link":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/author\/witty\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":132,"name":"Everyday Carry","slug":"everyday-carry","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":132,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":40,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":132,"category_count":40,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Everyday Carry","category_nicename":"everyday-carry","category_parent":0},{"term_id":185,"name":"Knife Education","slug":"knife-education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":185,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":185,"category_count":9,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Knife Education","category_nicename":"knife-education","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techwriteredc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}