Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment :) I'm very happy that I could tell you something about your knife! I hope you'll enjoy your Soldier for a long long time!
Great video! I too grinded the keyring of my Pioneer with a small file and after I used a thin strip of sandpaper 150 and after 400.. The result was really good, like factory made!
Just catching up on videos now. Very interesting - thanks for sharing your knowledge! Very jealous of your '82, and I can certainly see what you mean about the texturing of the Alox being kind of flattened.
I used the pioneer for many years as my go-to pocket knife! That was red, and it had a large silver cross on the front, that was from about 1996 ,I purchased a couple of spares as it was already getting hard to get and one of them had 97 on the back of the blade like a Soldier! But I think they used up over stock from soldier models back then ? The pioneer was the model the soldier was based on, so I've never been bothered about the Soldier, but I'm not so keen on the current pioneer with the standard crest and worthless engraving plate but I may get one as a spare?
Unfortunately, I didn't even know about these back then. Great that you have so many years of experience! :) Yes, Victorinox used up remaining Soldier blades in their civilian models. They even did it in 2007 (I have an Apprentice with a 07 blade), and I've heard that they still do it with the new 111 mm Soldier. I believe Wenger did the same with their Professional models. (They didn't have 93 mm civilian Alox models, but their 95 mm Professional series has year stamped blades.)
I now edc the Soldier alox over the pioneer! The tool set is the same apart from the keyring and as I use an early version with the Elsener Victorinox tang stamp it has the thicker tools and pat+ on the can opener. Mine is also my birth year model and just makes it more special !
I have both, my daily carry is the one eith the keyring, I can p[ut a small loop thru it and it makes it easier to get out of my pocket. I used to carry it in a leather pouch on my belt, but it became too troublesome so I carry in my right pockte. I have been using this model for at least 29 years now and will not consider anything else. I am a maintenence supervisor for high end peoperties in Aspen, Co. and I cannot carry a lot of tools, I leave it to my subs. Thank you, this knife is wonderful and most useful for me.
So you watched this again? You really don't have anything better to do? :D Thank you my friend! Yeah, that OC Electrician Plus is almost mint, only the tip of the awl seems to be incomplete. I was lucky with that one, I won it on ebay as part of a lot of 4 used knives: this one, a new shield silver Pruner (with a name engraved in the back), an old, dirty and worn Cadet II, and a very good condition Wenger Soldat that happened to be from my birth year. I didn't even know that until I got it because the listing only included 1 photo with all knives closed, so it was a little bit of a gamble but I think it ended up to be a good deal for around $100 I believe.
Yeah, its been a long winter, haha! No man, seriously this is good stuff and I'm looking at some things again, trying to figure out some time frames. Score on that knife buy, no kidding!
+Shahriar Yeasin Khan Hi, thanks for your comment! I could actually do that because I have 2 Wenger Soldats, and for both of them I have a Victorinox Soldier from the same year ('82 and '96) so it would be a fair comparison. There are not too many differences though, especially for the 1996 knives. Anyway, I put this on my to-do list, thanks for the suggestion! :)
+Shahriar Yeasin Khan The Wenger Soldat vs. Victorinox Pioneer video is available now on my channel: ruclips.net/video/xI3lCfsmTcU/видео.html Please check, I hope you will enjoy it! I plan to record some EDC pocket dump videos, too. The Wenger Soldats will be featured there for sure. :)
Hi :) thanks for watching! I keep looking on ebay mainly, and local auction sites here in Hungary. Ricardo.ch is a good source too, but many sellers don't ship internationally, and a few months ago they blocked access to the site from some countries, including Hungary, for "security reasons" - so I cannot buy anything there anymore. Other good sites for specific Soldier years are: mein-schweizermesser.de and LCSAS: www.couteaux-du-soldat-suisse.ch/J02/index.php/en/
I like these knives but I HATE how they placed the key ring attachment - why dos it have to point straight upwards and dig right into your palm when using the knife?? Wouldn't it have been much better if pointing backwards or at least at a 45 degree angle, like with the Swiss Officer knives?
I guess it's because of the reamer. They would have to cut it out more to make space for the key ring, making the awl less stable. But I hate it too - I have ground off the key ring attachment from all my user knives. (Even from Cellidor ones already because I have no use for the key ring anyway.)
+Mark Fan Hi, I have mine from ricardo.ch, a swiss auction site, but sometimes you can also find one on ebay. I usually search for "Victorinox Soldier" and if I'm looking look for a specific year, I would add 82 or 1982 to the keywords. However, you may need some luck and/or patience, the ones from the 80s are not that common anymore. Another site I would suggest is www.couteaux-du-soldat-suisse.ch/J02/index.php/en/category/15-genuine-swiss-army-soldier-knives Currently he only has 11 Alox Soldiers for sale but in the last few months he had much more, it's worth to check his shop on a regular basis. Good luck!
Great video Miklos. Can you comment on the blades and tools? Are they the same thickness and quality? I just bought a Pioneer, and have never held a Soldat. Thank you.
+Karl Roberts Thank you for stopping by, and for the compliment! :) OK, then I assume you've just started a looong journey... Prepare your wallet for more Alox! These things are so beautiful and addictive... :D The Pioneer and the Soldier have the exact same tools. Same thickness, same quality. Of course, an older Soldier may have a different finish on the opener tools (not that polished look, sharper edges), the bottle opener may be thicker(!) and have a sharpened part for stripping wires instead of a small notch, the nail nick or the blade may have a slightliy different form - but all that is true for older Pioneers, too. So if you compare a a Vic Pioneer to a Soldier from the same year, the tools should be absolutely identical. (The shape of the awl and the blade is slightly different on the Wenger Soldat, I talk about that in another video.)
+jak middleton Hi, thanks for stopping by! Is it a Victorinox or a Wenger? Can you please show some photos of that knife? There are a few small things that could help us to identify what it is and how old. Year stamp: If it's a Soldier that was used by the Swiss Army, it should have the year stamp on the blade. They stamp the official Soldier knives with the year since 1920 I believe. I can see 3 possible reasons for a Soldier knife not having a year stamp: 1. The knife has been repaired and the blade has been replaced by one without a year stamp. 2. After the Swiss Army switched to the current 111 mm Soldier knife in 2009, Wenger continued to produce the very same knife without year stamp on the tang. They called it Swiss Army 70. I think it also came with a bail (see my comments about the hole in the rivet below). 3. The most unlikely version: Wenger had an error run where they produced knives without a year stamp and even without the Wenger stamp on the other side. If this is the case, you wouldn't have anything stamped on either side of the blade. Hole in the rivet: Does your knife have a fully hollow rivet where you can see through the whole knife, or is there just a hole on both sides and they are not connected? Before 1992, the Soldier knives had a hollow rivet (you can see it at 8:13 in this video on my '82 Soldier). The hollow rivet was used for aiming longer shots with the rifle granade: they used the knife as a weight to hang down vertically on a string, and they had markings on the rifle's bipod that told them the correct angle for the given distance. Anyway, after 1992, they got a new type of rifle and the hollow rivet was not needed anymore so they started to use the normal rivets. A few years earlier than that, Wenger started to put a bail on the civilian version of their Standard Issue knife. The knives with a bail were not issued to the Swiss Army. I think yours is either older than 1992, or it might have had a bail but it was broken or removed. So if you could post some photos of your knife, I would be interested to see them.
I believe the soldier has stainless not Nickel Silver bolsters. Just get a nespresso model, no keyring to poke holes in pockets so no need for clips of printing to bystanders , made from 24 recycled pods along with their usual steel makes for the greenest most recycled blade available.
My definition of "bolster" might not be correct, but I believe this knife has no bolsters. If you mean the rivets that hold it together: I think they are nickel silver, except for the hollow rivet (until 1993) and the middle rivet before 2003/04, those were probably stainless steel. If you mean the spacers/liners, I believe those are nickel silver as well, unlike the aluminium of the 91 mm Cellidor knives. Thanks for the idea with the Nespresso! They didn't even exist when I made this video back in december 2015 :) I have the Nespresso knife from the last 3 years, but unfortunately I don't have the first one.
Yes, ordered Pioneer X just yesterday. I just love that farmer blade (my Grandpa didn't go anywhere without it lol), compared to my other SAK's like Huntsman it is much thicker on back. But I also needed daily Alox SAK with Scissors too, so was in two minds about farmer for blade or X for scissors. Since blade is same, I'm all the more happy with X.
I have an 81' that I really knew nothing about, until now, thanks.
I love and am very jealous of your collection, very nice.
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment :)
I'm very happy that I could tell you something about your knife! I hope you'll enjoy your Soldier for a long long time!
thank you for making and posting this video.
Impressive presentation with good comparison with the other similiar models
Great video! I too grinded the keyring of my Pioneer with a small file and after I used a thin strip of sandpaper 150 and after 400.. The result was really good, like factory made!
Just catching up on videos now. Very interesting - thanks for sharing your knowledge! Very jealous of your '82, and I can certainly see what you mean about the texturing of the Alox being kind of flattened.
+EveryDay Knife Guy
Thanks for watching and for your feedback! :)
great video ;) beautiful collection
I used the pioneer for many years as my go-to pocket knife! That was red, and it had a large silver cross on the front, that was from about 1996 ,I purchased a couple of spares as it was already getting hard to get and one of them had 97 on the back of the blade like a Soldier! But I think they used up over stock from soldier models back then ? The pioneer was the model the soldier was based on, so I've never been bothered about the Soldier, but I'm not so keen on the current pioneer with the standard crest and worthless engraving plate but I may get one as a spare?
Unfortunately, I didn't even know about these back then. Great that you have so many years of experience! :)
Yes, Victorinox used up remaining Soldier blades in their civilian models. They even did it in 2007 (I have an Apprentice with a 07 blade), and I've heard that they still do it with the new 111 mm Soldier.
I believe Wenger did the same with their Professional models. (They didn't have 93 mm civilian Alox models, but their 95 mm Professional series has year stamped blades.)
I now edc the Soldier alox over the pioneer! The tool set is the same apart from the keyring and as I use an early version with the Elsener Victorinox tang stamp it has the thicker tools and pat+ on the can opener. Mine is also my birth year model and just makes it more special !
I have both, my daily carry is the one eith the keyring, I can p[ut a small loop thru it and it makes it easier to get out of my pocket. I used to carry it in a leather pouch on my belt, but it became too troublesome so I carry in my right pockte. I have been using this model for at least 29 years now and will not consider anything else. I am a maintenence supervisor for high end peoperties in Aspen, Co. and I cannot carry a lot of tools, I leave it to my subs. Thank you, this knife is wonderful and most useful for me.
great video and very informative
I've never noticed that my 2002 Soldier has different coloured rivets, but now I see it.
Still a great video despite the (not so bad) lighting issues. Cheers!
Sweet Electrician's Plus! How did I miss that the first time I watched this? Thumbs up!
So you watched this again? You really don't have anything better to do? :D
Thank you my friend! Yeah, that OC Electrician Plus is almost mint, only the tip of the awl seems to be incomplete. I was lucky with that one, I won it on ebay as part of a lot of 4 used knives: this one, a new shield silver Pruner (with a name engraved in the back), an old, dirty and worn Cadet II, and a very good condition Wenger Soldat that happened to be from my birth year. I didn't even know that until I got it because the listing only included 1 photo with all knives closed, so it was a little bit of a gamble but I think it ended up to be a good deal for around $100 I believe.
Yeah, its been a long winter, haha! No man, seriously this is good stuff and I'm looking at some things again, trying to figure out some time frames. Score on that knife buy, no kidding!
Great Video ! I have an 02 Model !
Great info. Found an 88 soldier today!
Hi, I just got soldier 03, awesome knife. Nice addition to electrician and rancher. 😉
The hollow rivet is for a lanyard
Great review 👍
do upload some videos about the wenger soldat, and how it compares with the pioneer or the soldier
+Shahriar Yeasin Khan Hi, thanks for your comment!
I could actually do that because I have 2 Wenger Soldats, and for both of them I have a Victorinox Soldier from the same year ('82 and '96) so it would be a fair comparison. There are not too many differences though, especially for the 1996 knives.
Anyway, I put this on my to-do list, thanks for the suggestion! :)
+Shahriar Yeasin Khan
The Wenger Soldat vs. Victorinox Pioneer video is available now on my channel:
ruclips.net/video/xI3lCfsmTcU/видео.html
Please check, I hope you will enjoy it!
I plan to record some EDC pocket dump videos, too. The Wenger Soldats will be featured there for sure. :)
Hi there, thanks for the explanation. Do you happen to know where to find good quality swiss army knives? I'm looking for some specific years. Thanks!
Hi :) thanks for watching!
I keep looking on ebay mainly, and local auction sites here in Hungary.
Ricardo.ch is a good source too, but many sellers don't ship internationally, and a few months ago they blocked access to the site from some countries, including Hungary, for "security reasons" - so I cannot buy anything there anymore.
Other good sites for specific Soldier years are: mein-schweizermesser.de and LCSAS: www.couteaux-du-soldat-suisse.ch/J02/index.php/en/
I like these knives but I HATE how they placed the key ring attachment - why dos it have to point straight upwards and dig right into your palm when using the knife?? Wouldn't it have been much better if pointing backwards or at least at a 45 degree angle, like with the Swiss Officer knives?
I guess it's because of the reamer. They would have to cut it out more to make space for the key ring, making the awl less stable.
But I hate it too - I have ground off the key ring attachment from all my user knives. (Even from Cellidor ones already because I have no use for the key ring anyway.)
Hi there, I was born in 82 as well, wondering how can I get a 82 model you mentioned towards the end of ur video. Thanks
+Mark Fan
Hi, I have mine from ricardo.ch, a swiss auction site, but sometimes you can also find one on ebay.
I usually search for "Victorinox Soldier" and if I'm looking look for a specific year, I would add 82 or 1982 to the keywords. However, you may need some luck and/or patience, the ones from the 80s are not that common anymore.
Another site I would suggest is www.couteaux-du-soldat-suisse.ch/J02/index.php/en/category/15-genuine-swiss-army-soldier-knives
Currently he only has 11 Alox Soldiers for sale but in the last few months he had much more, it's worth to check his shop on a regular basis.
Good luck!
Great video Miklos. Can you comment on the blades and tools? Are they the same thickness and quality? I just bought a Pioneer, and have never held a Soldat. Thank you.
+Karl Roberts Thank you for stopping by, and for the compliment! :)
OK, then I assume you've just started a looong journey... Prepare your wallet for more Alox! These things are so beautiful and addictive... :D
The Pioneer and the Soldier have the exact same tools. Same thickness, same quality.
Of course, an older Soldier may have a different finish on the opener tools (not that polished look, sharper edges), the bottle opener may be thicker(!) and have a sharpened part for stripping wires instead of a small notch, the nail nick or the blade may have a slightliy different form - but all that is true for older Pioneers, too. So if you compare a a Vic Pioneer to a Soldier from the same year, the tools should be absolutely identical.
(The shape of the awl and the blade is slightly different on the Wenger Soldat, I talk about that in another video.)
I have a soldier but it has no date stamp on it how come? Also one of the rivets has a hole
+jak middleton
Hi, thanks for stopping by!
Is it a Victorinox or a Wenger?
Can you please show some photos of that knife?
There are a few small things that could help us to identify what it is and how old.
Year stamp:
If it's a Soldier that was used by the Swiss Army, it should have the year stamp on the blade. They stamp the official Soldier knives with the year since 1920 I believe.
I can see 3 possible reasons for a Soldier knife not having a year stamp:
1. The knife has been repaired and the blade has been replaced by one without a year stamp.
2. After the Swiss Army switched to the current 111 mm Soldier knife in 2009, Wenger continued to produce the very same knife without year stamp on the tang. They called it Swiss Army 70. I think it also came with a bail (see my comments about the hole in the rivet below).
3. The most unlikely version: Wenger had an error run where they produced knives without a year stamp and even without the Wenger stamp on the other side. If this is the case, you wouldn't have anything stamped on either side of the blade.
Hole in the rivet:
Does your knife have a fully hollow rivet where you can see through the whole knife, or is there just a hole on both sides and they are not connected?
Before 1992, the Soldier knives had a hollow rivet (you can see it at 8:13 in this video on my '82 Soldier).
The hollow rivet was used for aiming longer shots with the rifle granade: they used the knife as a weight to hang down vertically on a string, and they had markings on the rifle's bipod that told them the correct angle for the given distance.
Anyway, after 1992, they got a new type of rifle and the hollow rivet was not needed anymore so they started to use the normal rivets.
A few years earlier than that, Wenger started to put a bail on the civilian version of their Standard Issue knife. The knives with a bail were not issued to the Swiss Army.
I think yours is either older than 1992, or it might have had a bail but it was broken or removed.
So if you could post some photos of your knife, I would be interested to see them.
I believe the soldier has stainless not Nickel Silver bolsters.
Just get a nespresso model, no keyring to poke holes in pockets so no need for clips of printing to bystanders , made from 24 recycled pods along with their usual steel makes for the greenest most recycled blade available.
My definition of "bolster" might not be correct, but I believe this knife has no bolsters.
If you mean the rivets that hold it together: I think they are nickel silver, except for the hollow rivet (until 1993) and the middle rivet before 2003/04, those were probably stainless steel.
If you mean the spacers/liners, I believe those are nickel silver as well, unlike the aluminium of the 91 mm Cellidor knives.
Thanks for the idea with the Nespresso!
They didn't even exist when I made this video back in december 2015 :)
I have the Nespresso knife from the last 3 years, but unfortunately I don't have the first one.
An interesting review, like from Ukraine!
І тобі лайк брат!
How is pioneer x blade compared to farmer?
Both the Framer and the Pioneer X are 93 mm Alox knives, so the blades are the exact same size in every dimension.
Yes, ordered Pioneer X just yesterday. I just love that farmer blade (my Grandpa didn't go anywhere without it lol), compared to my other SAK's like Huntsman it is much thicker on back. But I also needed daily Alox SAK with Scissors too, so was in two minds about farmer for blade or X for scissors.
Since blade is same, I'm all the more happy with X.
Don't understand why you removed the keyring... I would not even buy a knife with no keyring
Magyar vagy?
Igen :)
Miért beszélsz angolul videókban?
És mért nincs több videó?
Poorman's black beauty 😂
Nice one
Thanks :)
miklospinter By the way you're making great videos, keep it up
+Federico Risicaris - Fedrisssi
Thank you for the compliment! I'll do my best to record even better ones. :)
A lot of words only to conclude that there's no major difference between the two.
Exactly :D
It would be quite strange to find major differences between knives that were made based on the same military specifications, right? :)
👍