Reviews > Knives > Folding > Victorinox Spartan Swiss Army Knife > Owner Review by Kevin Hollingsworth

Owner Review:  Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Spartan

Date: September 27, 2006

Reviewer Information

Name: Kevin Hollingsworth
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Height: 6’ 1” (1.9 m)
Weight: 190 lb (86 kg)
Email address: kholling55@yahoo.com
City, State, Country: Williamsburg, Virginia. USA

I started backpacking and camping when I was in the Scouts. I spent 20 years in the military, which curtailed my personal outdoors adventures. I have mostly gone camping and then day-hiking in the surrounding area, but have been on a few multi-day hiking trips. While day-hiking, I normally carry a light load, a waist pack with mostly food and water, with a few other things. On three to four day trips, I will carry a pack weighing about 45 - 50 lb (21 - 23 kg). I have been hiking in Colorado, Korea, Egypt, and most recently Shenandoah.

Product Information

Manufacturer:  Victorinox
Year of Manufacture:  Unknown (around 1990)
URL:  http://www.victorinox.com/
Note: All measurements are mine (unless otherwise specified)
Listed weight: 2.6 oz (73.7 g)
Measured weight:  2.1 oz (60.8 g)
Length (closed):  3.5 in (9.1 cm)
Width: .5 in (1.4 cm)
Number of functions: 12
Color: red (model no 1.3603)

MSRP: $24.00

The Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Spartan was packaged in a shrink-wrap plastic pack. The handle is made from cellidor resin, and has the Victorinox logo embossed on the side. The Spartan comes in five colors: red, black, camouflage, red translucent and blue translucent. The Spartan comes with a key ring and two blades and six tools to provide for twelve functions:

• large blade - 2.8 x .5 in ( 71.1 x 12.7 mm)
• small blade - 1.6 x .4 in (41.0 x 10.0 mm)
• corkscrew - 1.6 x .4 in (39.6 x 9.7 mm)
• small screwdriver (also for Phillips screws) (.13 in (3.2 mm))/can opener - 1.6 x .4 in (39.6 x 9.7 mm)
• screwdriver (.24 in (6.0 mm))/bottle opener/wire stripper - 1.6 x .4 in (39.6 x 9.7 mm)
• reamer, punch/sewing eye - 1.5 x .3 in (38.1 x 6.4 mm)
• tweezers - 1.8 x .1 in (44.5 x 3.3 mm)
• toothpick - 1.6 x .1 (41.4 x 3.3 mm) 

The blades and tools (except for the plastic toothpick, and the top of the tweezers) are of stainless steel, with rust-proof aluminum alloy separators. The knife is assembled with brass rivets and bushings. The Spartan is covered by a lifetime warranty.

I have had the Spartan since the early 1990’s.  I have used it in many trips on terrain including deserts, swamps, mountains with elevations between 3000 ft (914 m) and 5600 ft (1708 m) and in general wooded areas.  The temperatures have been as low as 0 F (-17 C) and as high as 120 F (49 C), in areas with the relative humidity as low as 10 and as high as 100. I have used it in both damp, misty conditions and in a continuous rain. I usually attach a lanyard made from about 7.9 in (20.0 cm) of parachute cord to the key ring and normally carry it in my pant’s side cargo pocket or in an outer pack pocket.  The normal usage has been to cut open food packages, cut and slice food such as cheese and sausages, cut cord, open cans, and other common camp tasks.  I have used the screwdrivers to repair or adjust basic items, such as stoves, lights, etc. I have never used any of the tools to really pry things, so I can not attest to the prying strength. The corkscrew works very well, I like it better than my large corkscrew for ease of use. The tweezers are not the best in the world, they are rather weak, but have been used to extract splinters and bee stingers.  The tooth pick has hardly, if ever, been used. Both the toothpick and the tweezers fit into slots cut into the handle, but because of their size they are they easy to lose. I have used the Spartan in varied weather conditions, and even though it has been used continuously damp weather and submerged in all sort of water; I have not seen any corrosion on the blades, tools or the frame. The tools are tight in the frame, but open and close easily.  The blades maintain the edge well. The cellidor resin handle has stood up very well.  I have banged it up against things, dropped it from various heights and generally rough handled it, with the only visible damage some superficial scratches.  The only maintenance has been the occasional sharpening, cleaning and a little WD40 at the pivot points.

Summary

 Overall I am quite pleased with the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Spartan. The size, durability, and functionality are just what I need. If I needed to replace the Spartan, I would definitely buy another.

Things I like:

• Durability
• Functionality
• Stainless steel
• Ease of use

Things I don't like or improvement:

• Tweezers too weak
• Toothpick and Tweezers easy to lose

Reviews > Knives > Folding > Victorinox Spartan Swiss Army Knife > Owner Review by Kevin Hollingsworth