First Mate – Swiss knives info

The First Mate

By Marsax | 5. May, 2014 - 13:12 |6. July, 2014 Alox 93mm

In 2012 Victorinox produced a small quantity of about 200 pieces of the well known First Mate. It has the standard silver scales with the red logo. The backside scale carries the engraving panel. This is probably the first First Mate batch with this new backside scale with engraving panel with the cut out for the marlinspike. All First Mate models produced before had the old style scale without the engraving panel. In 2012 Victroinox ran out of stock of this type of scales and was forced to produce new scales with the engraving panel to be able to produce more marlinspike models.

On the next few images we can see the two differences between this new silver First Mate and the batch produced between 2005 – 2008.

Backside scales and tang stamp were changed. The new tang stamp shows the V in the same size as the other characters.

A bit First Mate history …

The First Mate was first produced by Victorinox in the 1960’s. Back then it had red scales with a silver cross. The early models had brass liners and an Elinox tang stamp. Later the brass liners were replaced with nickel silver and also the tang stamp change a few times as for all Alox models.

Between 2005 and 2008 Victorinox produced about 600 pieces of the First Mate with silver scales. This batch had the old backside scales without the engraving panel. The V on the tang stamp was higher as the other characters.

In 2011 two First Mate special run were produced. A blue one with the old style front scale and an olive green with the new style frontscale. Both with the old backside scales. And both with all tools black coated.

From 2012 till 2014 six more First Mate special run were produced. For details about these six other First Mate see my earlier posts. Links are below the last images…

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Links to older blog posts about First Mate special run.

Thailand FM 2012
Dark Blue FM 2013
Marlinkspike serie 2014

Marlinspike series 2014

By Marsax | 6. April, 2014 - 16:28 |21. June, 2014 Alox 93mm, Special run

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In March 2014 Victorinox released seven Alox models with marlinspike. Each model is available in three colors limited to 40 pieces in red, 30 pieces in blue and 30 pieces in gold.

The models

Seaman

The Seaman is a standard model. It was produced with red scales until the 1990s. On the picture below the new Seaman sits above the blue special run version made in 2011.

Sailor

The Sailor is another standard model which was produced till after 2000. On the picture below the new blue version lies above the special run version from 2011, which was made in a small batch of only 50 pieces.

Marine Soldier – Sea Pioneer – Pioneer 2223

The next model is called Marine Soldier. This model was produced till about 1980s and it never had a name. Because it’s model number was 2223 it’s often called Pioneer 2223. The blue special run version made in 2010 was called Sea Pioneer.

Sea Rancher – Long Rancher

The fourth model is called Sea Rancher. It’s not a standard model and was produced the first time in 2011 as a special run of 100 pieces with Aqua-green scales. It’s called Long Rancher.

First Mate

The First Mate is a standard model which was produced in red till about 1999 and between 2005 and 2008 with new silver Alox scales in a small quantity of only a few hundred pieces. The picture below shows the new version together with the blue special run version from 2011 with all black coated tools.

Midshipman

The sixth model is called Midshipman and is another standard Victorinox Alox model. It was produced with red scales until the 1990s. In 2011 a special run with blue scales was released.

Castaway

The last model of the serie, the Castaway, is a new model with a new tool combination. It has two main blades but no bottel opener. It’s similar to the model called Carver from 2013, but the marlinspike replaces the awl/reamer.

Color comparison

All three colors used for these new series are standard colors. Several other models were produced with the same scale-colors. The pictures below show a few knives to compare the colors. The models showed for comparison are Pioneer, Solo and Cadet respectively an advertising Pruner in gold.

Logos

Different color version of the Victorinox logo were used for the knives. The blue and gold series have an uncommon color version. Logo’s contour and cross are not silver but the same color as the scales and it has a red shield. The red serie has a standard color version with silver logo and red shield, but with one exception. The Midshipman has a full red logo.

Some more images…

First Mate Thailand 2012

By Marsax | 30. March, 2014 - 12:46 |14. January, 2017 Alox 93mm, Special run

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This pink – yellow First Mate was produced by Victorinox in December 2012. It’s a special run of 100 pieces. The knife is dedicated to the King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and was ordered by a Thai knife enthusiast.

The frontside scale is pink (rosa) with a Victorinox logo with a red shield.

The front side of the blade carries an etching. It shows the outlines of Thailand and a picture of the King. The phrase between the two pictures means “85 birthday of the King 05.12.2012”.

The print on the engraving panel says “Rama IX.“, which means King of Thailand 9th generation.

An engraving on the backside of the blade shows the year 2555, which is in the Buddhist calendar 2012, and a serial number 087/100. (This knife is the 87th out of a total of 100 pieces.)