# The Swiss Army Rocks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 12, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118 "2002-09-12T15:09:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/1 "2002-09-12T15:09:09Z")
So about a year ago the scissors on my swiss army knife gave up the ghost. The screw fell out somewhere, leaving me with two distinct single-bevel edged pieces, prone to falling out and being totally useless. After letting the knife sit on my shelf for a long time, I finally went down to the local knife shop on a rainy day. “Can’t help you,” they said, “but here’s the address for Victorinox. They’ll fix it.” So, I mail off my knife, with a letter saying how the scissors broke, and could they please fix it pretty please. Yesterday a package arrives at my home. It’s from Swiss Army! And they didn’t fix my knife. They replaced it. Free. 😃 My knife was _eight years old_, scuffed, scarred, with grunge all over the hinges from being carried in my pocket. And now I have a brand new knife. That’s one great company. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/2 "2002-09-12T15:24:34Z")
Is anyone else envisioning a rock with a zillion blades and a corkscrew sticking out of it? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/3 "2002-09-12T15:47:54Z")
Either: 1. You were the only person to write to them for any reason over the past five years or so, or 2. They didn’t wanna piss off anyone named **Barbarian**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/4 "2002-09-12T16:03:45Z")
No, they are really cool. A friend of mine sent his in because the red plastic on one side had partially broken off. They sent him back his old blade, but compeltely refurbished, all blades sharpened, hinges cleaned and oiled, new tweezer-n-toothpick set, all in addition to the repair requested (no charge of course!) ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/5 "2002-09-12T16:09:23Z")
I thought this was going to be a thread about a rock that turns into a knife, corkscrew, tweezers, etc. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/6 "2002-09-12T16:16:05Z")
I thought there was some new kind of Swiss artillary. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/7 "2002-09-12T16:35:09Z")
Dammit, **sapiens** , ya beat me to it! 🙂 If anything happens to one of my Swiss Army knives (other than losing one to airport security - forgot that I’d left it in that knapsack, durnitall!), I’ll remember this. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/8 "2002-09-12T17:11:20Z")
I haven’t been without a Swiss Army Knife since the 1970’s. (Make sure to get Victorinox; better quality.) I must admit, though, I have flirted with the idea of switching to Leatherman – anybody made a comparison? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/9 "2002-09-12T17:34:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > **2. They didn’t wanna piss off anyone named Barbarian.** “Raaaa!!! ME BREAK! YOU FIX! RRARRGGHHH!” “Um, Anton, how’s about we just send the nice barbarian a new knife?” Personally, I envisioned a rock with a bunch of little rocks coming out of it… ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/10 "2002-09-12T19:13:37Z")
Ray-Ban did the same thing for me and my sunglasses after I took a softball to my face. Considering it was obviously not a manufacturing defect, I was extremely suprised they sent me a new pair, gratis. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/11 "2002-09-12T19:32:59Z")
I love Swiss Army knives. So cool. 🆒 Leatherman Pocket Toolkits are _good_…I have one right now. But SAKs are absolutely the greatest! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/12 "2002-09-20T12:59:16Z")
This is the first time I’ve been able to get through to the boards for more than a week. Now I want to camouflage the sides of my knife-- build them up with Bondo, paint it mottled grey… ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/13 "2002-09-20T13:04:57Z")
Doesn’t Zippo do the same thing? Cool service. ---
**Author:** ![Mundo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mundo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/14 "2002-09-20T13:32:50Z")
Yeah Zippo does the same thing. I requested info from them on collecting Zippo’s and in return the sent me the info plus extra flints and a key chain that has a penny in it. On the back it says “the cent never spent to repair a Zippo Product”. ---
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/15 "2002-09-20T13:53:50Z")
Leatherman’s have an enormous flaw, apart from being ugly pieces of kit with no style: they have no bloody corkscrew on them! The corkscrew is one of the really essential tools on a penknife, so this is something of a remarkable oversight from the chaps who make them. The Swiss may be a boring bunch, but they pay attention to detail. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/16 "2002-09-20T14:28:42Z")
And here– > **[Victorinox Swiss Army (USA) | Victorinox Homepage](https://www.swissarmy.com/us/en)** > > Victorinox ✚ Makers of the Original Swiss Army Knife ✚ High quality products ✚ Watches, Cutlery, Travel Gear and Fragrances ✚ Order online now! > **[Victorinox Swiss Army (USA) | Victorinox Homepage](https://www.victorinox.com/us/en/)** > > Victorinox ✚ Makers of the Original Swiss Army Knife ✚ High quality products ✚ Watches, Cutlery, Travel Gear and Fragrances ✚ Order online now! are the prerequisite links. But, Victorinox doesn’t seem to have an on-line purchasing option. Strange… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/17 "2002-09-20T16:43:56Z")
Love that corkscrew. It’s surprising how often somebody will bring a bottle of wine and no corkscrew. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/18 "2002-09-20T16:52:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zorro \* > \*\*Leatherman’s have an enormous flaw, apart from being ugly pieces of kit with no style: they have no bloody corkscrew on them! \*\* A lot of my co-workers in theatre and film had, at one point or another, a Leatherman tool. Most ended up having “issues” with them. (Mine I tossed because the pliers got all weird and useless and mostly just ticked me off.) But I _love_ my Swiss Army knife! ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/19 "2002-09-20T17:32:13Z")
i have the BIG swiss army knofe. As well as several of the “tinker” size. And about a dozen of the penknives. I have sent them all back to Vic, and they always repair or replace them free; here’s the amazing thing: Most of the time they do actually fix them. They fixed mine, and the only way Iwas able to tell was a piece of pocket lint jammed in between the blades of the tweezers that cam from my pants! They did SUCH a good job of repairing it it was almost indistinguishable from a new knife! I have a Sog paratool, a Leatherman, a leatherman wave, a Gerber Multi-tool, and several others. I still like the Vic the best. BTW, Vic makes a nice leatherman-like tool as well. And the quality is everything you’d expect. b. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-swiss-army-rocks/128118/20 "2002-09-20T22:57:49Z")
\ When I saw the title I thought it was about the joys of joining the actual Swiss army. :rolleyes: Crazy young’n.