Alox – Page 22 – Swiss knives info

Victorinox and Wenger have produced the Soldier model 1961 from 1962 untill 2008. This model is 93mm long and has Alox scales. It was officially issued to the Swiss Army during these years. Victorinox knife is also called “Soldier’s knife”. Wenger’s knife is called “Standard Issue” (SI). Each knife has the year of production stamped on the tang of the backside of the main blade. Untill 1987 each knife carries a WK-stamp on the frontside scale. WK stands for Waffenkontrolle. This is the quality inspection stamp of Swiss Army.
During this long period of time, the knife was changed a few times. Most of the changes concerned the scales.
In this article I describe 5 variants of the model 1961.

Model 1961

Model 1961 started with red Alox scales and was issued between 1962 and 1965.

It has a mainblade, an awl, a cap lifter with screwdriver and wire stripper and a can opener with small screwdriver.

Picture: Soldier model 1961, Elsener 1962

Picture: Soldier model 1961, backside, Elsener 1962

Pictures: Cross with W-K stamp and tang stamp Elsener and Wenger Delemont

The year stamp on the Victorinox knives is deeper and bold than on the Wenger knives.

Pictures: Year stamp on an Elsener 1962 and a Wenger 1963

Model 1961 Variant 1 (1966 – 77)

From 1966 the scale color changed. They were no longer red, but silver. The main reason was that the anodizing was not very wear resistant. Therefore Swiss Army renounced the red color and the scales were anodized in silver.
During a few years (1965 – about 1975) the soldier was still produced with red scales simultaneously with the silver one. Probably because the two companies had red scales on stock and didn’t want to waste the material.

Picture: Soldier model 1961, Variant 1, Wenger 1966

Pictures: Tang stamp and Cross with W-K stamp, Wenger 1966

Model 1961 Variant 2 (1972 – 1977)

1972 the W-K stamp was rotated 90° to the right. The reason is unknown.

Picture: W-K stamp from 1972 rotated 90° to the right

1976 (maybe 1975) Victorinox changed the tang stamp from ELSENER SCHWYZ VICTORIA to VICTORINOX SWITZERLAND STAINLESS ROSTFREI

Picture: Victorinox tang stamp since 1976

Model 1961 Variant 3 (1977 – 1987)

Between 1977 and 1987 new scales with a red shield and Swiss cross were used. The W-K stamp was placed at the bottom of the knife above the hollow rivet into a quadratic spot.

Picture: Soldier model 1961, Variant 3, Victorinox 1979

Picture: Swiss arms Picture: W-K Stamp

Model 1961 Variant 4 (1987 – 1993)

In 1987 Swiss Army decided that it was no longer required to put a W-K stamp on each knife. After Victorinox and Wenger delivered so many years high quality knives, Swiss Army stopped quality inspections. Victorinox and Wenger than produced new scales without the spot for the W-K stamp.

Picture: Soldier model 1961, Variant 4, Victorinox 1991

During some years (1987 – about 1990) both companies still used their old stock Alox scales with the W-K spot for the soldier knife simultaneously with the new scales. These knives did not longer have the W-K stamp, but a blank spot.

Picture: Soldier model 1961, Variant 4 without W-K stamp, Wenger 1988

Picture: Empty quadratic spot

Over the years Wenger produced knives with a bail attached to the hollow rivet. But these knives were not issued to the Swiss Army, they were produced for the privat market only.

Picture: Bail on a Wenger

Model 1961 Variant 5 (1993 – 2008)

From 1993 Victorinox replaced the hollow rivet with a usual rivet like the other two rivets. The cap lifter became a notch to bend wire and the wire stripper was eliminated.

Picture: Soldier model 1961, Variant 5, Victorinox 2004

Picture: Cap lifter before and after 1993

2008 Victorinox and Wenger produced the last soldiers model 1961.

Picture: Final Production Run, Victorinox 2008

Wenger continued with the production of this model untill 2013, but without year stamp on the tang. It was sold to the privat market only.

Picture: Commemorative knife, Wenger 2011

2008 Victorinox started with the production of the new Soldier model 2009. This new Soldier is no longer an Alox 93mm model, but a modern 111mm knife.
Wenger is no longer a supplier for the soldier’s knife to the Swiss Army.

The Alox Cadet is a 84mm knife made by Victorinox. It has a mainblade, nailfile, cap lifter, can opener and keyring. It’s a nice little knife for every day carry. But I wanted to make it even more usefull and suitable for outdoor activities. Therefore I added a wood saw and a steel striker to it. Now it’s a traditional flint and steel striker knife you can use to start a fire.

The steel striker is made by Mr. Fischlin. He also made the steel strikers for the 93mm Alox soldiers which were produced by Victorinox in 1996 – 2002.

I did two pieces. One with standard silver scales and one with black scales.