Would you rather have a Vitrinox Pocket/swiss army knife or a Wenger? Based on any knife, size, quality, and its components.

I can't recall ever seeing any major difference and typically buy whichever is available. Is there some significant and functional difference between the two that I've been heretofore unaware of but need to know? Please, illuminate the issue for me.

I think they're pretty equivalent, especially since Victorinox has owned Wenger for almost 5 years. My only real preference is that for keychain sized knives I prefer the Wenger Esquire over the Victorinox Classic. This is mainly because the Wenger scissor design is better. They use slightly serrated or toothed blades which don't slip. The lever action torsion bar spring can't break or get pushed out like the Victorinox hairspring. I've never broken a Victorinox hairspring, but it must happen since replacements are available for sale. The Wenger design also puts side pressure on the blades to cut cleanly, but to call it "self sharpening" as they do might be a stretch. My EDC includes a black Wenger Pocket Tool Chest, which adds a cap lifter/screwdriver, eyeglass screwdriver, and awl with sewing eye to the standard pen knife blade, pointed nail file (also great staple remover and emergency small Phillips screwdriver), toothpick and tweezers. The Wenger Esquire is also a few mm longer than the Vic Classic. Either fits in the watch pocket of my jeans.

Wenger has also seemed willing to try some things that Victorinox hasn't, like the contour grip handles of the Evo (Evolution) line, some left handed models, and minor things like the old Soldier model having lanyard bails that the Vic models didn't have.

Both are several steps above any Chinese imitations that I've seen. One of the reasons Vic bought Wenger was to prevent the Chinese from doing so, and thus being able to market "genuine Swiss army" knives.

Quality wise, there's no noticeable difference. Victorinox is more open to unconventional components a-la pens, flash drives and LED lights - which makes it the ideal choice for keychain carry.



Wewnger, on the other hand, has the evogrip series, which is an absolute delight to use and thus preferable in "working" and outdoor knives. The gap widens when the New Ranger line enters the equation.



New Rangers also sport some of the baddest components to grace any SAK, ever, with their locking flatheads, massive scissors, full size folding pliers and enormous - and ergonomic - wood saws.

Marantz, I agree fully on the chinese pieces of ... every one i have seen other people use has a bent blade, missing parts, or is completely wrong!! i have been using my victorinox tinker forn about 7 years, After my grandpa owned it and used it for whittling for 4 years!!! the blades are easy to sharpen, they "lock" pretty well! and some of the chinese knives are alot bulkier than Wenger or Vict. i personally havent had any experiences with Wenger, besides the fact that I have a great Wenger watch from my grandpa!! And thats why I wanted to know, thats cool they bought them out so china couldnt!! I never knew it was victorinox, i thought it was vitrinox! big mistake on my part!! well, i want to get a Wenger Giant!! just for recreational purposes!! thaks guys!
777!

Wenger has been owned by Victorinox since 2005.

I have broken one, but the scissors work just about as well without the hairspring.

You are pretty much splitting hairs in comparing the virtues of these two very fine lines. I upgraded to a Leatherman many years ago and have never looked back.

the Victorinox Midnight Manager is my edc, and a gem - I have a big Wenger (forget which model) as my out and about knife and itr works a treat.

Beautifully engineered bits of kit with lovely design features, in a light and entirely non-tactical format - for the UK the SAk is the go-to knife of choice I think and does a good job for a lot of tasks (if you need something bigger, you probably need something MUCH bigger)

Wenger have a proper Philips screwdriver instead of the shouldered flat blade that Victorinox use and their scissors are a little better.

Victorinox have an excellent aftersales, lifetime free replacement as far as I can tell, I'm guessing Wenger do the same though.
Especially as someone said they have owned Wenger for the last few years.
Both companies took a big hit with new airport security. It means a fewer people carry one on their key chain and a lot less are sold in duty free - except in switzerland where you could buy any you wanted in the airport after baggage check!

I have a Victorinox Spartan in my pocket right now that I have carried just about every day for the last 28 or 29 years. (If I have pants on, it is in the pocket). The makings on the scales wore off years ago, but everything else is just fine. I just reached for it a few minutes ago to get into one of those #$%&! clam shell packages. If I do not loose it, I suspect that I will wear out before it does.

I have a similar Wenger that I picked up on sale several years ago (pre merger days) that I keep in the glove box of the car. It is a good knife also, but I have not done the extensive wear test on it that I have done on the Victorinox.

I would rate either as a fantastic value for the price.