Thursday, April 5, 2012

Swiss army knife: A small companion for multifunctional tasks

Swiss army knife is not just a knife but a multifunctional tool for tackling small as well as big tasks. This specially-designed pocket knife is skillfully attached with a wide range of everyday carry a name given to screwdriver, bottle opener, corkscrew, scissor, etc. In fact, all things that a person needs to carry to perform mundane to sophisticated routine jobs are sometimes packed in small pack called officer knife or popularly Swiss army knife.

It is named so because the knife was primarily supplied to army barracks and recruits engaged in the battles. Incontrovertibly, its history dates back to 1890s when this thingamabob was invented. Field officers preferred to carry it with them. First usage was recorded in Switzerland back in 1897 when a company namely Victorinox started manufacturing this engineering-masterpiece. The manufacturer is indeed the pioneer.

Later on, a number of makers bobbed up in the market with undoubtedly versatile and elegant penknives. However, no one got the guts to get hold of overwhelming market shares of Tomo and Classic for example, the two favorite brands.

The mother Victorinox got big so much so that it acquired another official supplier of Swiss knives in 2005. The synergy led to the world’s knife champ, The Giant. Guinness World Book declared it the world’s first multifunctional knife as it encloses 87 tools.

Slice up fruits or pull out a bottle’s cork
What if you are in a camper driving through a deserted place in a tropical south and suddenly your vehicle breaks down because of a minor fault. A small screw driver could fix it, but unluckily you missed it somewhere in your car. During this nerve testing time, a small companion in your pocket, Swiss army knife, could help you way out of the sticky problem. Similarly, you needn’t worry about how to open up a bottle and remove a cork during a party at home if you have such a lovely multipurpose everyday carry.

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