Victorinox is the most prolific producer of pocket knives in the world. Although most of their knives are made for the international civilian market, it is the knives that they make for the Swiss Army that supply the inspiration and cachet that drives the sale of the company’s nonmilitary models.
Since 1890, Victorinox has manufactured five different knife models for issue in the Swiss Army: the 1890, 1908, 1951, 1961, and 2008 models. Prior to 2008, the models that Victorinox produced for issue to the Swiss Army lacked the three essential features of a modern everyday carry (EDC) knife. Those features are ambidextrous one-handed blade deployment, a locking blade, and a pocket clip. The new “soldier knife” that was adopted in 2008 incorporated two of these three EDC features: ambidextrous one-handed blade deployment and a locking blade.
The Victorinox Swiss Army Trailfinder (also known as the Trailmaster or the One-Hand Trekker) appears to be identical to the military issue knife of 2008 with the exception of the scales.
The Trailfinder has a 3.25-inch serrated blade made of X55CrMo14 Martensitic stainless steel. That German-made steel is composed mostly of iron (of course ) alloyed with between 14 and 16 percent chromium, at least 1 percent manganese, at least 0.7 percent silicon, between 0.6 and 0.75 percent carbon, between 0.4 and 0.8 percent molybdenum, at least 0.04 percent phosphorous, and at least 0.015 percent sulfur.
A plain-edged version of the blade is also available. The thumb hole on the spine of the blade allows for easy, ambidextrous, one-handed opening. A liner lock holds the blade open securely. The blade is approximately 0.07 inches thick.
The scales are made of polymide. They come in a variety of shades. The unit I tested has camo scales.
In addition to the blade, the Trailfinder includes:
- Phillips screwdriver
- Reamer
- Key ring
- Large flathead screwdriver
- Bottle opener
- Wire stripper
- Can opener
- Small flathead screwdriver
- Saw
- Tweezers
- Toothpick
The knife is 4.25 inches long closed and is 0.69 inches thick.
The Trailfinder cost $74 at the time of this writing at www.victorinox.com
I was able to add a deep carry pocket clip to the key ring of the Trailfinder, thus giving it all of the functionality of a modern EDC knife with the addition of some handy tools. I missed the pliers on my Leatherman Skeletool on a couple of occasions, but the screwdrivers gave me a definite advantage over most other modern EDC knives. If you like Swiss Army Knives, this is one of their best.
Background
I have long found Swiss Army knives to be delightful objects. So when I saw a good price online for the Trailfinder, I couldn’t resist. I placed my order, and the knife arrived several days later. The knife arrived via UPS in an unpadded envelope. The 4.5 x 1.44 x 0.81-inch, silver-colored paperboard box inside the envelope was somewhat battered during transport. The knife inside the product box was undamaged.
The box announced that the knife was made in Switzerland by Victorinox AG, 6438 Ibach-Schwys, Switzerland.
First Steps
As I mentioned, the first thing that I did after I took the knife out of the box was to add a deep carry pocket clip to the key ring on the knife. This greatly enhanced comfort and ease of access when carrying the knife.
I also replaced the toothpick with a Tortoise Gear Firefly ferrocerrium rod that I previously reviewed. I tested the backs of the various tools on the Trailfinder, and discovered that the reamer struck the best sparks from the Firefly. It is convenient to have a backup method of starting a fire with me all of the time while I am carrying the knife.
I was grateful to have a locking blade on the knife. I have become so used to locking blades that I have become too careless when using slipjoint blades. The last time I regularly carried a Swiss Army knife with a slipjoint blade, I accidentally closed the blade on the index finger of my left hand, cutting it fairly deeply. It is interesting that I never closed the blade on my fingers back when I used pocket knives with slipjoint blades on a regular basis.
The saw was so well hidden within the frame of the knife that it took me a few weeks to even realize that it was there. I had to compare a picture of the knife with the saw open with the knife that I was holding in my hand to finally locate the saw. I guess that I don’t deserve any extra points for my powers of observation.
A four-page instruction booklet in the box was printed on a 3 x 4.63 inch piece of paper. That tiny piece of paper contained instructions in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Russian. It includes a diagram identifying the various components of the bottle opener/screwdriver/wire-stripper tool, instructions for cleaning and lubricating the blades when movement becomes stiff, details of the warranty (two years for normal wear and tear, lifetime for defects in material and workmanship), and diagrams and instructions regarding the use of the can opener.
My Testing
I clipped the knife into the left front pocket of my pants, and carried it every day for a month.
Because it includes many tools in addition to the blade, the Trailfinder is a bit beefier than most other EDC knives. That bothered me a little at first when my left front pocket felt a little bulky, but I quickly became used to it.
I used the knife for a host of different tasks over the course of a month of daily use:
Opening mail.
Cutting a flattened cardboard box to put under my daughter’s car to pinpoint the source of a small oil leak.
Removing a staple from a packet of volunteer job descriptions so that I could make copies for the membership class at our church.
Opening the shipping box and the product boxes containing a couple of thermal optics for review.
Opening a package from the butcher containing a smoked dog bone so that we could distract Tucker the Beagle while we were watching deer at the feeder in the front yard.
Opening a package of CR123a batteries to power a thermal monocular.
Opening a shipping package containing a couple of fire starters for testing.
Tightening a screw on the handle of a cleaning tool for the outside wood boiler.
Using the Phillips screwdriver to open the battery compartment of a toy in order to replace the batteries during a Saturday morning playgroup for young families at our church.
Cutting wood shavings for a fire that I was kindling.
Cutting fatwood shavings for another fire that I was kindling.
Removing tags from a couple of pairs of gloves that I was testing.
Cutting up boxes from a couple of new folding tables at church so that the boxes could be disposed of.
Cutting pieces of twine to hold a couple of extra pairs of gloves on the pegboard over the workbench in the pole barn.
Opening a package containing a magazine for an AK underfolder that I was testing.
Opening Tucker the Beagle’s monthly flea and tick treatment.
Opening a ream of paper so I could print my 2025 Estimated Tax Payment Vouchers. Anything related to the IRS tends to make me a bit grumpy. Then the printer would not print the vouchers. I got grumpier. Then the print troubleshooter kept telling me that the printer was turned off when I could plainly see that it was on. That made me even grumpier. Finally, after turning things on and off repeatedly, I convinced the printer to do its job. But I was still grumpy.
Then I opened a package of checks to make the first quarterly tax payment. That made me grumpy too. Fortunately, my wife “Kari” knows enough to leave me alone when I am working on taxes, so the domestic tranquility was not disturbed.
Opening a package of mozzarella cheese to shred to use as pizza topping.
The knife performed all of these tasks well. A plain-edge blade probably would have done a better job at many or most of these tasks (especially cutting wood shavings for starting fires), but the serrated edge was at least adequate.
Notes for Future Study
In the course of researching this article, I ran across the Victorinox catalog for 2017. Among their 80 pages of offerings, I was interested to discover their One-Hand Sentinel, which incorporates all of the features of a modern EDC knife (ambidextrous one-handed opening, a locking blade, and a pocket clip). I hope to research the Sentinel for a future review.
Conclusions
I really like the Trailfinder. It is sharp, attractive-looking, versatile, durable, and corrosion-resistant. If you like Swiss Army knives in general, you will probably like this one a lot. I recommend the knife to those who would like a modern take on an old classic.
Disclaimer
Tortoise Gear provided me with a sample of their Firefly Fire Starter for a previous article. Innovyx provided me with a sample of their scales for a Swiss Army knife for a previous article. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.
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