Outdoor: Victorinox Spartan
Heeeyho Readers! More pocket knives!
I retrieved the box from my mom's place. The box is a plastic tote containing all sorts of trinkets and relics I gathered over the decades. It's sort of a time capsule of personal stuff; or my own version of a treasure chest, hence the obscure nickname "the box". Those who have one are familiar.
Exploring the box inspired me to compose some product photos and made for a perfect excuse to post about yet another Victorinox pocket knife. Knife in hand, it's time to unbury props for the scene — everything from the box, of course.
This is Sparta!
The last time I posted about the Victorinox Huntsman, which has been my go-to pocket knife lately. Now, let's talk about the Spartan — perhaps the closet in my collection to the historic officier knife.
A cousin — who's also a pocket knife collector — gifted me this beautiful Spartan camouflage. The Spartan is probably the most common 91mm Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, although you may be more familiar with the classic red colour. It is considered the "base" model, containing six main tools. From the Spartan derive countless variations and related models that are not in the scope of today's post.
Starting with the tools, there is a cap-lifter with large screwdriver, can-opener with small screwdriver, a keyring (who cares), a reamer + awl with a sewing-eye and the all-time life-saver corkscrew. There are also the classic toothpick and tweezers (not shown in the picture).
As the name suggests, this knife is quite basic, frugal... spartan... at least compared to the Huntsman and other better-packed models. Still, I consider it a valuable and useful knife to carry around, especially when it weights 60 grams. In terms of tools that is that; you'll find the same tools in nearly every Swiss Army Knife.
The blades on the Victorinox knives are the caveat. Don't get me wrong here: I also love the blade on my Opinel N°7, but stainless steel requires less care. The Spartan has the same blades as the other Victorinox knives in my collection, the so-called large and small blades.
The large blade has a standard v-ground edge, 58mm in length, and a drop point tip. The small blade is essentially the same as the large blade, but has only 36mm of cutting edge. I particularly don't use the small blade that much, so don't really get why having both when they could install a different tool in there.
Although I'm the type who actually puts the knives to use, the Spartan hasn't seen the light as much as the Huntsman or the Opinel. It is back to the collection along the others. Some have been through miserable use, like the Fisherman you see above; others haven't seen any use at all.
The great thing about quality pocket knives is they'll absolutely outlive me, and whoever inherits "the box" will be able to keep them for another century.
The photos
I took the photos using a 2013 Nikon D7100 and a 1980's all-manual 50mm f1.8 lens. The idea was to compose the scene with props that made sense, all in the military theme.
I hope you've enjoyed this photo / review
Peace.
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Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
You had me at this is Sparta! Lol.
A decent pocket knife is a necessity in my opinion and it looks like you'd agree.
Yup! And these quality ones last for ever. I was not sucessful at sharpening them though.
Knife sharpening is a bit of an art to be honest. I'm reasonable at it but have a mate who is the knife-sharpening-god. Seriously, that guy knows what's up.
And having the correct tools. Victorinox has a sharpening tool, but I never got one; or we can send them the knife and it comes back brand new. To be honest, depending on the model it's easier to just retire and get a new one xD
I like to have the skills to be more self-reliant, it's something of a hobby for me to work towards acquiring them, but some things must be left for the professionals I guess.
I also like the Victorinox pocket knives. I see that you have a collection.
Which one do you have? Pics pics pics!
Mine is not in the photo, I do not know the model name, it has many functions, including a magnifying glass. I plan to write a post about it.
Awesome! Please do, i'm curious xD
This is my precious. I love my Victorinox Officier. I was 8 years old in 1986 when the German maintenance guy, Ferd, at my grandmother's hotel at the south entrance to Yosemite gave it to me after he returned from a trip to Germany. I then lost it a couple years later then found it when I was 14 in the dirt under an oak tree in our yard. I washed it off and it was like new, not a dot of rust or anything. I have made sure to keep it close ever since and it has seen most all my adventures and travels. I have rarely ever seen a black version aside from mine.
What a story! That's really cool about Swiss knives is that most of them have a story behind them. Very rarelly someone buys one just for the sake of it. Yours is testament to the quality. I'm on my phone rn, but will see if the catalog from 1986 is online to find yours.
That has always been the biggie for me, the quality is pretty unmatched. The abuse I put it through yet it is still in amazing condition all these years later. I had no clue the catalogs were still available.
Just wondering, have you ever sharpened or had it sharpened? I need to restore the blade on a Fisherman I have.
I have only honed the main blade a little. Every tool in it has maintained a nice edge all these years, even the scissors are nice and sharp still.
And they cost 300% more than when I was in High-School. 50 % more since 2020. I think I shall be aiming at a collection, too.
Pocket knives, the new Bitcoin!
Indeed, I just checked the price and concluded: my collection won't grow anytime soon 😔 I still want a SwissChamp though.