Victorinox Soldier Knife

Reviewed 11/21/2017 by Fritz

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I was given this knife by a worker in the factory. The knife I habitually carry is a camper model which is much more practical than this behemoth. Aside from the unnecessary size and serrated edge, it lacks a small blade and the invaluable tooth pick and tweezers. Further, I could, in a pinch, dress a deer with the smaller knife, but the configuration of this blunt tipped and impossible to sharpen blade would make it exceedingly difficult to do so.

Reviewed 06/29/2016 by

-Price Paid: $40.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

Pleasantly surprised with this one. I like it same as the older alox model. Excellent ergonomics, i only would preferred plain edge, but i don't mind serrations much because those are easy to sharpen, and the tool combination is excellent. Maybe it is a more bulky for pocket carry, but with belt pouch it is perfect.

Reviewed 05/28/2013 by Matt

-Price Paid: $40.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

The Victorinox Soldatenmesser 08 knife, also known as the Soldier knife is fantastic all around. The hole in the blade is my favorite feature, because it makes opening the knife really easy compared to other swiss armys. It has the right tools, without having anything unnecessary. This would be ideal for scouts or someone looking for a small and compact multitool. I use mine all the time and so far it has withstood the test of time. I'm pretty hard on it because I use it in the yard quite a bit. I have done some things with it that aren't really ideal, such as cut cardboard(which is really bad for any knife, which is why they make box cutters). It held an edge well and hasn't required much sharpening. Overall I love it and recommend it.

Reviewed 04/09/2012 by Nike

-Price Paid: $43.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Advantages - very well made. Surprisingly strong liner lock especially for the price - no blade play at all even after hard uses as cutting and batoning . Non - standard but extremely sharp and durable blade. I'm not fan of serrated blades but this knife convince me. By me this is the most appropriate serrated blade design in the world!
Saw is awesome as and screw-drivers. The handle is very ergonomic
Disadvantages - the blade is blunt so I file the tip of the blade to achieve needle point tip
The blade can not be open quickly with one hand even with flip - there is some kind of barrier to prevent this so you must make two movements with thumb to open the blade
I think - will be much better if victorinox start make the folders with clips - the luck of clips is the most annoying things of this excellent knives.
That's why I can rank soldier as EDC knife

Reviewed 12/28/2011 by Jan Förster

-Price Paid: $8.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Knife rated by experience, as having served in the german federal army with the original army version as seen here:http://www.dieklinge.de/images/product_images/popup_images/2481_0.jpgThis item is about as much utility one can in a fingerthick package. It contains a useful saw, big small slotted and a phillips screwdriver, a vital can opener, a pointy pick and a one-hand serrated blade. No useless knick knacks like pincer and toothpick, this is a real workhorse.It's compact build and design is outstanding as is ergonomics, weight and value/tools for the money (8 €uro for replacement if you lose your knife while in training or service). It's the perfect EDC seeing as it is always up to every task, and thanks to the double lock system

Reviewed 10/30/2011 by Dillon

-Price Paid: $40.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

This knife is a rather interesting piece. First, unlike many other knives I am used to, it has a number of tools in it. These tools perform quite well for what they were meant to do. On one note, the flat headed screwdriver locks into position. This makes it useful for light prying, and one does not need to worry that the screwdriver will fold when used.

One gripe I have about this knife is that like most Victorinox knives, it has a blade made from a relatively soft steel. I find myself sharpening it quite often. Another note is that it is a chisel ground blade with serrations on the front of the blade and a small 2.5 cm piece that is unserrated. I personally rebeveled my knife so that the blade is no longer chisel ground, but I retained the serrations. Due to the type of serrations this knife has, one can cut fibrous things like seat belts and ropes without the serrations catching on the material. The blade is serrated with an even, smooth wave with no points. The blade also lacks a sharp tip.

The liner lock on this knife is secure and one does not need to worry that it will fail. The liner has an interesting configuration with a hooked tip that fits into a corresponding cutout on the tang of the blade as opposed to the normal flat end. One thing I don't like about the liner lock in this knife is that unlike the locks found on my other knives, there is up and down play in this lock. It's not very noticeable during normal use, but if you look for it, it is there. It is not as though you could just shake the knife, and the blade will rattle up and down. Another thing of note is that compared to most other liner-locks, the liner of this one is on a different side of the blade. This makes it easier for left-handed people to unlock the knife with their thumb. Personally, I can open and close the blade one-handed with either hand just as quickly, so it is possible to close the knife with the right hand. One needs to practice a bit to get a hang of the fact that this knife is different.

Blade deployment is an oval hole. It is easy to deploy one-handed but is not as fast as most other knives due to the tightness of the pivot.

In the usual Victorinox style, everything is mirror polished and all metal surfaces are fingerprint magnets. Most metal parts have rounded edges. The handle is a little different than your usual fare of cellidor handles. This knife has a fiberglass fill nylon handle with soft inserts. This gives one a positive grip that is probably the best grip you can get on a Victorinox. The balance is quite good in this knife, and it is comfortable to use. It manages this despite all the tools in it. This knife does not have the spaces for the toothpick and tweezers which are quite liable to be lost. It is a plus if you do not need these.

This knife is quite a good choice if one is looking for a knife that one can deploy with one hand but still wants some tools like a saw, can opener, screwdrivers, and reamer. It is not a tactical blade and cannot be used to stab. It is a good working blade though and will shine in those situations.

Reviewed 12/14/2010 by Arjun

-Price Paid: $60.00
-Used for Other
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

Some see this ranking and might be appalled. How could I score the knife this low. The scoring I assigned was in relation to other Swiss Army Knives. Frankly I am not happy with the direction this model has taken and find it to be a weak choice in a market filled with more viable and superior options.

overall the design feels chunky and not in a good way. The old soldier was known for its simplicity, clean lines and sheer usefulness. It seems like the designers were lazy on this one. The handle material while nice has nothing on alox. The ergonomics while OK are nothing stellar. The wide handle gives you something to hold onto but there are multiple hot spots due to the protruding tool parts. One handed opening is fine, but nothing great (nor necessary on a SAK). If it's something you must have on a SAK, then this is all you've got. The awl has plenty of flex, as does the screwdriver

The attempt at a liner lock is very disappointing. The design looks tacked on and there is up and down play. In comparison to the lock used on the Swiss Tool Spirit X it sucks. I know Victorinox can do better.

Then there is the blade. It would be good if it weren't for those serrations. Victorinox's steel is very corrosion resistant, takes a nice polish and 'usually' is easy to sharpen. Unfortunately serrations are not easy to sharpen and it dulls quickly.

This is just a one handed trekker with new scales slapped on. On paper the tool compilation sounds promising, but I'm not happy with the execution. If you are a camper I would suggest you buy a Swiss Tool spirit X etc. For only slightly more weight you get a plethora of useful tools, better locking system, better ergonomics, and with the X model a superior traditional pen blade. Buy that.

Victorinox is one of my 4 favorite knife companies, but that doesn't mean they get a pass on this. Purely average and in comparison with their other offerings it doesn't hold a candle to them.

Reviewed 08/03/2009 by Francis

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

In my quest for a practical no-nonsense pocket knife with a serrated front and plain edged rear blade, I found this pocket knife.

The "Soldatenmesser 08" in Swiss Army nomenclature is a well thought out, sturdy, nicely finished knife. All 6 folding parts work properly.

The Soldier Knife 08 features an 111 mm (4.4 in) long ergonomic handle with two-component polymer grip shells and a double liner locking system, one-hand 86 mm (3.4 in) long locking partly serrated drop point blade, wood saw, can opener with small 3 mm screwdriver, locking bottle opener with large 7 mm screwdriver and wire stripper/bender, reamer, Phillips (PH2) screwdriver and key ring. The overall length opened is 197 mm (7.8 in) and it weighs 126 g (4.44 oz).

The blade can be opened with one hand by an adult user and works equally well for left and right-handed users. In addition, the opening hole offers the possibility to open the blade with gloves.

When the blade and the bottle opener with 7 mm screwdriver and wire stripper are locked by the liner locking mechanism the locks produce a clearly audible click.

The handle is composed of multiple materials. The black outer edge of the scales is made of an anti skid polymer. The inside of the scales is made of smoother hard polymer, with included slightly elevated black anti skid materiel parts. This combination of materials provides sufficient grip with dry and wet hands.

A critical remark that could be made is that the Phillips screwdriver does not state it has a PH2 head. Losable components that could weaken the grip, such as tweezers and a tooth-pick, are absent in this knife.

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