Most Wenger and Victorinox large blades in the 84, 85, 91, 93mm ranges have an asymmetric, longitudinal grind-profile because, when closed, they have to make room for a small blade, or other tool, in the same layer at the other end of the frame and sharing the same spring. There are however some large blades with a symmetrical profile in models that don't have an additional tool in the same layer.
The main way to determine if a Swiss Army Knife is an original is to check the tang stamp on the main blade, given that tang stamps changed over the years, stamps can also be useful in determining the period during which the model was manufactured. See the Tang Stamp page for more details.
The many different blades are described below, grouped by manufacturer and size.
VICTORINOX
Victorinox reports: "After hardening at 1,040 degrees and tempering at 160 degrees, the blades have a hardness of RC 56 (RC = Rockwell C, unit of hardness)."
To resharpen the blades, Victorinox recommends using a honing stone, as the alloy from which the blades are manufactured is too hard for a honing steel.
Victorinox Blade Comparison #1 Victorinox Blade Comparison #2
58mm
Pen Blade
This is the knife blade found on nearly every 58mm model. The back and the edge of the blade slope at the same degree to the point (also known as a drop-point blade). The pen blade is very well suited to smaller tasks. It is only produced in a straight edge, non-serrated version.
Emergency Blade
This blade is only found on only a few 58mm models. It has a Wharncliffe shape that produces flatter edge than the standard pen blade. This blade is well suited to small precision straight cuts, and from the factory is considerably sharper than the pen blade. This blade is also well suited to whittling.
The Wharncliffe blade was invented around 1832 by Lord Wharncliffe.
Cut & Picker Blade with Scraper
Only found on 58mm models, according to information from the factory its sole purpose is to cut the plastic tie used to seal a pill bottle cap, and then to pick the cotton filler out of the bottle. More recently this blade has been renamed the orange peeler.
See the Cut and Picker Tool page for more details.
58mm Main Blade
| 58mm Wharncliffe Blade
| 58mm Cut & Picker Blade
|
74mm
The 74mm Executive and Director also contain this unusual orange peeler with screwdriver tip blade, which is a very unique tool, found only on these two models.
See also: The Orange Peeler Tool Page.
84mm
Large Blade
Most 84mm models have a large blade. The large blade is almost as long as the knife itself, with a cutting edge of 52mm and a standard v-grind, with a drop-point tip.
Small Blade
The small blade is found on most of the 84mm models. Its shape is very similar to the large blade, with a cutting edge of 35.5mm.
Small Clip Point Blade (Angle Blade)
All 84mm SAKs prior to 1973 had a clip-point style small blade. However this design was dropped in 1973 in favour of using the drop-point design - in line with the main blade.
Some Victorinox manuals and catalogs refer to this as an Angle Blade.
Pen Blade
A small 'pen'-blade is present on some narrower framed 84mm models such as the Pocket Pal. This blade is thinner than the regular small 84mm blade and has the shorter profile of a pen blade.
Electrician's Blade
This is a small sheepsfoot blade with a special insulation cutting/wire scraper dimple near the tang. This blade is only available in the Electrician 84mm model.
Electrician's blade usage guide here.
91mm
Large Blade
Most 91mm models have both a large blade and a small blade. The large blade is almost as long as the knife itself. It has a standard v-ground edge, 58mm in length, and a drop point tip. The large blade is normally straight-edged, however, in a few models it is serrated, and very occasionally has a combo/partially-serrated edge, where approximately half of the blade, starting at the tip, is straight and the remaining edge to the tang is serrated.
Small Blade
The small blade is found on most 91mm models. Its shape is very similar to the large blade, and has a cutting edge of roughly 36mm.
Small Clip-point Blade (Angle Blade)
All 91mm models prior to 1973 had a clip-point style small blade. However this design was dropped in 1973 in favour of using the drop-point design - in line with the main blade. Some Victorinox manuals and catalogs refer to this as an Angle Blade.
Small Pruner
The small pruning, or hook blade, was only available on a couple of discontinued 91mm models: the Picnicker and the Outdoorsman; it also features in the X-model SwissChamps.
See below for an image of the 93mm version of this blade.
Electrician's Blade
A small sheepsfoot blade with a special insulation cutting/wire scrapper edge near the tang. This blade was only available in the Master Electrician and in the larger 'X' 91mm models.
See below for an image of the 93mm version of this blade. Usage instructions in the link above
Baker's Knife Blade
Whilst not a typical 91mm Swiss Army Knife the Baker's Knife has an unusual, curved, serrated hawkbill blade, unique to this model. It was also available with a non-serrated edge, although this version is quite rare.
93mm
Large Blade
The 93mm Pioneer range of Swiss Army Knives all contain a large main blade that is thicker and longer than its 91mm counterpart, and of course is the blade found in the 1961 Soldier model. See the main image at the top of this page. The blade is good for tough work and in the past Victorinox have referred to this range of Swiss Army Knives with their tougher, thicker tools as their 'Sturdy Range'.
Small Pruner
A small pruning hawkbill blade available on a number of 93mm Alox knives, such as the Harvester.
Electrician's Blade
A small sheepsfoot blade with a special insulation cutting/wire scrapper edge near the tang. This blade is most often found on the 93mm Electrician's models, but does appear on a few special 91mm and 84mm models. Usage instructions in the 84mm link above
93mm Pruning Blade
| 93mm Electrician's Blade
| |
100mm
After the Original Soldier Knife was retired in 1951 the 100mm models were primarily used in the Victorinox gardening range.
Sheepsfoot
The sheepsfoot or utility blade uses a chisel, or flat grind, that is uncommon on Swiss Army Knives. The straight sharpened edge is 55mm in length.
This blade is well suited to precise cuts and is the main blade on the Gardener and Grafter.
Grafter
There are a few different grafting blades that are available. The most common one is a special purpose blade designed to aid in the grafting of plant stems. The blade has two sharpened edges, the traditional one on the bottom of the blade, and a special grafting edge sharpened on the top (base/spine) of the blade. The grafting edge is available on two similar knife blades, and is often supplied on a model with a separate small brass bark-lifter blade. The different blades are useful for different plants and trees, and different grafting techniques.
Pruner Blade
Is a hawkbill blade available on the Pruner model and has a chisel-ground edge. Its shape is useful in pruning of flowers and small shrubs or trees.
Wharncliffe
The 100mm Wharncliffe blade has a completely straight blade edge, with a tapering, pointed tip. This blade is fairly rare, and is no longer in production.
100mm Modified Clip-point Blade
| 100mm Sheepsfoot (top) and Wharncliffe (bottom) Blades
| |
108mm
Large Blade
All the 108mm Safari type models have a strong main blade with a plain edge and a drop-point tip - See image below.
Safety / Gutting Blade
This blade was first introduced on 108mm knives. It was produced in both plain and serrated edge versions. The serrated version of the blade has a rounded unsharpened safety tip making it into a emergency/rescue belt cutter blade. The emergency-blade was carried over to the 111mm line for the Fireman, Parachutist and others - See the 111mm Belt Cutter / Rescue Blade below.
Clip-point Blade
The large clip-point style blade is only available on the Mauser and Walther models. This style was the norm for the small blade on 91mm sized knives prior to 1973, but is uncommon on larger sized SAKs. See the 111mm Clip-point Blade - below for an example.
108mm Main Blade
| 108mm Serrated Gutting or Rescue Blade
| |
111mm
Large Blade
Victorinox had two types of 111mm pocket knives with different blades and locking mechanisms: The older side/slide-lock models, such as the Rucksack and Workchamp, and the later liner-lock models, models such as the 2008 Soldier and the Rescue Tool. From 2017, Victorinox migrated to only produce liner-lock versions. See the 111mm model links above for details.
Both blade types come with plain or (partially) serrated edge; the slide-lock blades were all nail-nick opening; the liner-lock versions come in nail-nick or one-handed opening. The photo on the right shows the liner-lock (top) and partially serrated, side-lock (bottom) knife blades. Note the different shaped tang for the liner-lock blade.
This photo shows the plain-edge and serrated-edge versions of the 111mm liner-lock blades, the bottom blade also shows the one-handed-opening (OHO) version of the blade. The OHO blade became available with the new models that were introduced in ~2003.
The OHO blade is the same length as the traditional opening blade. The hole on the spine of the blade near the tang is used as a thumb or finger catch, so the blade can be opened with the same hand that is holding the knife. This image shows the plain-edge and partially-serrated versions of the OHO blade. The shape of the hole has changed slightly over the years, originally being more elliptical, but currently more rounded.
Note: The OHO partially-serrated blade is the blade found on the 2008 Soldier model.
The serrations on the partially-serrated, OHO main blade in the custom version of the Rescue Tool made for the Italian Police, are at the tang-end of the blade, as opposed the tip-end, as is found on the other versions of this blade.
Belt Cutter / Rescue Blade
Is a special, serrated blade that appears on several 111mm models, in a few versions. Versions 1 to 2 are non-locking, however version 3 is locking.
Version 1 - of this blade was first included on the WorkChamp XL, and was identical to the 108mm serrated gutting blade.
Version 1a - On some later models of the Fireman, and others, the blade was given a more curved spine starting at the tang with a large dip, however, the cutting edge remained unchanged.
Version 2 - This was the first true 111mm designed rescue blade, and was introduced with the Rescue Tool. The blade has a lower profile, and the cutting edge has more curvature which significantly increases the length from 59mm to 70mm - not including the extra length as a result of the curvature. The nail-nick is replaced with a protrusion on the tip of the blade (similar to the woodsaw), which is large enough to snag on clothing or other materials/items, allowing the blade to be opened one-handed.
Version 3 - One-handed opening and liner-locking, this unusual blade was introduced in 2010 on the DAK-2010 and the Dual Pros, it also featured in the Hunter X.. models. This brand new 111mm design was the first secondary blade to feature one-handed opening and locking. It's cutting edge is a linear 64mm and ~68mm true.
111mm Rescue Blades
| 111mm One-handed Rescue Blade
| |
Small Gutting Blade
This is a smaller curved serrated blade for use in dressing out an animal. It is used to cut open the stomach cavity of any animal brought down by a hunter in the field. You will find this blade on the Hunter model.
Clip-point Blade
The large clip-point style blade is only available in the original slide-lock version WorkChamp XL. This blade is identical to the 108mm version, and it is likely that Victorinox adapted the 108mm version for the WorkChamp XL. (As was also the case for the large serrated belt-cutter blade on the WorkChamp XL).
Cheese Blade
The Cheese Blade was introduced in 2010 as the main feature of the Cheese Knife, it is ~90mm in length, with a sharpened edge of 70mm. The blade's edge slopes upward from the tang to the tip, as the blade narrows. This provides more clearance between the handle of the knife and the cutting surface, when the edge is parallel to the surface, which makes slicing on the cutting surface easier.
111mm Clip-point Blade
| 111mm Cheese Blade
| |
130mm
Large Blade
The 130mm line of Victorinox Delémonts models inherited the large blade from the 130mm line of Wenger Rangers. See images in Wenger section below. The large main blade is liner-locking and uses a push button on the handle scale to push on the liner and release the lock. It comes in nail-nick, or one-handed opening versions, and also plain or partially-serrated.
Foil-cutter Serrated Blade
The foil-cutter serrated blade, for cutting the metal (or plastic) foil found around the top of a wine bottle, was introduced in 2017 as a feature of the Wine Master.
136mm
The single-bladed Hunter Pro and Evoke models have large, sturdy, lock-back blades.
The Hunter Pro models have looped, one-handed; or non-one-handed, nail-nick, drop-point blade options.
The Evoke models have clip-point, or drop-point blade options; both have removable thumb-studs, which are used for one-handed opening.
Swisscard
Most versions of the SwissCard feature a very small blade, sometimes known as the letter opener, located in a slot in the SwissCard.
Locking Systems
The Victorinox 111mm, Wenger 120mm and 130mm models, plus some of the other smaller Wenger Swiss Army Knives, feature a locking system on the main blade - and sometimes other tools - For more details: - See this linked page.
WENGER
65mm
The 65mm blade normally has a straight edge, but was also available in a much less common serrated version.
85mm
The Wenger 85mm models have a drop-point main-blade, which is available in plain-edged, partially, or fully-serrated options - depending on the model - eg the Commander. It had at least two evolutionary design changes, the later blade having more of a belly than the earlier version. In the image below the top blade is the later design (yyyy and later), with the bottom blade being the older design.
- The Tactile - Soft-Touch Series and SwissBuck Series had clip-point main blades
- The Titanium Series featured a specially designed partially-serrated main blade, incorporating 7mm (M4), 10mm (M6), and 13mm (M8) wrenches, and a large 14mm screwdriver
120mm
Large Blade
The 120mm family featured a clip-point blade design, apparently because this blade style was favoured in the United States at the time. It employs a liner-locking mechanism with a sliding button on the scales to release the lock.
The exception was the Ranger 38-36 and 38-38 that used blades from 130mm Alinghi Series.
Older (pre 1986) and More Recent 65mm Blades
Reverse Side
| Later (top) and Earlier (bottom) 85mm Blades
65mm Serrated Blade
| 120mm Large Blades: Plain, Serrated, Alinghi Serrated
|
130mm
Large Blade
The large main blade on the 130mm models is a liner-locking, drop-point blade, that uses a push-button on the handle scale to push on the liner and release the lock. It comes in nail-nick vs one-handed opening versions and also plain or partially serrated options.
One-handed Serrated; One-handed Plain
| Nail-nick Plain
| |