Victorinox Swiss Army Pioneer

Iconic design from a company with unsurpassed manufacturing process control and product quality control. The Victorinox Pioneer is a great all around knife to have at home and afield. I'll not be caught without mine.

This is a great all around knife. Not just for camping but for everyday use too.

This is a bit longer (93mm) and a bit beefier than most Swiss Army Knives. It's a four tool/blade scout pattern (main blade, can opener/small screw driver, cap lifter/large screw driver/wire stripper, and punch/awl). The steel is Scandinavian stainless (on the order of Sandvic 12C27) with the main blade's hardness at 56-58 Rc. Other tools are treated to be softer so as to be less brittle and less likely to snap with the sideways force/torque they undergo when used as designed.

The tool steel is extremely corrosion resistant as are the aluminum scales. Holds an edge yet is easily sharpened. Blade comes very sharp right out of the box. Best knife can opener currently on the market. You push the can opener around a can lid vice pull it as you do with most scout knife beak-type can openers. As far as scout knives go, this is about the toughest made. Main blade is thicker at the spine and tang than any other yet it remains a great slicer. 

This knife is at home doing camp chores or whittling or slicing in the camp kitchen. The awl too is the best in the business and works great striking ferrocerium rods to generate sparks. Fit and finish are excellent and uniformly so across production. None of the blades rub each other or the liners. Extremely little blade crink which is necessary to fit so many blades in a single knife. Good snap on all springs and no side to side blade play. 

The two downsides — the key ring lanyard and lack of instructions to properly use the wire striper. A standard scout knife bail would be better than the key ring lanyard in that it could be removed if you don't like bails. Without proper instructions on use of the wire stripper, many just don't know how to use that tool. It isn't intuitive. Note that the wire stripper has no sharpened edge.

Here's how to strip wire with this knife:  open the main blade, then open the bottle cap lifter. Place the wire in the wire notch of the cap lifer.  With wire in place close the cap lifter. Now close the main blade on top of the wire. Rotate wire and let the main blade cut the insulation. 

This is a great all around knife to have afield. I'll not be caught without mine.