The legendary “Swiss” will be bladeless. Knife manufacturer Victorinox does not want to have the image of a gun maker

The manufacturer of the legendary Swiss army pocket knives, Victorinox, will start producing them in a version without a blade. According to the head of the company, Carl Elsener, the company responds to the increasing regulation of weapons in the world, including the restriction of carrying knives. “In some markets, the knife gives us the image of a weapons manufacturer,” said the head of the company in an interview with the Swiss daily Blick. According to him, this image of the company is not desirable.

“We are concerned about the increase in knife regulation because of the violence in the world,” Elsener said in an interview. As an example, he cites Britain, which in recent years has significantly tightened the rules for the possession of knives. Only those who need it for work or outdoor activities can carry knives there. Some Asian countries also have similar rules, he said.

“We are working on pocket tools without a blade. For example, I have an interesting tool in mind for cyclists,” said Elsener. The company already produces tools for golfers and also offers a pocket “Swiss army knife” in which the longer blade of the knife has been replaced by a USB flash drive.

According to Elsener, this is not the first time the company has had to deal with the bad public image of knives. “September 11th painfully showed us that we must not be dependent on one type of goods,” Elsener said in an interview. According to him, the company’s sales of pocket knives fell by 30% almost overnight due to fear and later restrictions on potential weapons at airports.

The company will continue to produce pocket army knives, which are bought from them by, for example, the Swiss or American army or NASA. In addition to pocket knives, however, the Swiss company also scores points in the production of watches. Despite talk of a changing pocket knife market, the 2,200-employee company is clearly thriving. Although it offers its products at up to a quarter of the price of other pocket knife makers, it has increased the price of its pocket knives by an average of 9% this year, which Elsener says is due to less competition in the pocket knife market.