Victorinox, the company that produces the multi-functional Swiss Army Knife, also known as the “Swiss Army Knife”, has announced that it will produce a version of it for the first time that will not include a blade, The Guardian reports.
The Swiss Army knife is produced by Victorinox, a family companyPhoto: Valera Golovniov-SOPA Images / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
“We are concerned about the increase in knife regulations because of the violence in the world,” says Carl Elsener, the fourth CEO of this Swiss family company.
“In some markets the blade creates the image of a weapon. I have in mind creating a tool that will be useful for cyclists. Cyclists need specific tools, but not necessarily a blade,” he explained, also recalling that Victorinox already produces a specific razor for golfers.
The Swiss company produces around 10 million multi-functional keys every year, they being one of the symbolic exports of the Country of Cantons and even reaching space thanks to some NASA astronauts. Victorinox sells around 400 different models of its pocketknife, including one with 73 different functions.
But so far all models have had at least one blade.
The pocketknife was named the “Swiss Army Knife” in 1897
The pocketknife was first created in 1891 in the Swiss town of Ibach and was originally called the Offiziersmesser, “officer’s knife”, as the company had entered into a contract with the Swiss army to supply them with such products.
He was called the “Swiss Army Knife” 6 years later.
Victorinox has had to adapt the knife in the past due to tightening regulations on pocket knives, such as after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers in the US on September 11, 2001.
Debates regarding the knife and the right to carry it freely took place even in his native Switzerland. In 2016 the Swiss parliament debated a ban on knives with a blade longer than 5 centimeters.
“Will the famous Swiss army knife be banned?”, a parliamentarian asked rhetorically at the time. In the end, the amendment that would have provided for that measure was abandoned.
Tags: Swiss army knife produced bladeless version time #133year history
