Victorinox SAK sold under multiple names?

On Friday I picked up a Victorinox SAK on sale.

After a lot of searching, it appears that this SAK is sold under two different names.

I have found two stores here that sell the SAK as the Victorinox Driver. When looking at the Victorinox/Swiss Army site, it's listed as a Victorinox Recruit. It's the same SAK.

The packaging for the SAK I bought actually has a retail chain specific model number. The package information indicates that it was made in Switzerland but the cardboard insert was printed in Canada.

Is it common for Victorinox to package a SAK under a different name for retail chains?

I've never heard of a vic "Driver". it's not on SAKwiki

Three guesses:

1) The shops have mislabelled it. Unlikely as it's on more than one site.

2) It's a canada-only thing. Seems weird, but all the shops selling the "driver" are canadian.

3) the driver is 91mm, the recruit is 84mm. Would explain it if true, just a guess though.

I'd ask at SOSAK if I were you. Someone will know what's up, and I know they'll be interested.

user24 said:

3) the driver is 91mm, the recruit is 84mm. Would explain it if true, just a guess though.

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I just measured it, and the Driver is also 84mm.

I posted over at SOSAK and got the info I needed.

Another search shows that the knives I bought are models 2.2503 from the EcoLine.

They just put it in a different package (plastic hanging card vs a box) and gave it a different name.

Other than the handle material, is there any difference between a regular SAK and an EcoLine SAK?

Black Rose said:

I posted over at SOSAK and got the info I needed.
Another search shows that the knives I bought are models 2.2503 from the EcoLine.
They just put it in a different package (plastic hanging card vs a box) and gave it a different name.
Other than the handle material, is there any difference between a regular SAK and an EcoLine SAK?

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No difference between the econo-line and the full-price line except for the handles and shield cross logo
- econo logo is press printed (so often wears off),
full-priced is embedded metal (does not wear - but can very rarely fall off).

I don't think Victorinox (Switzerland) gives any of the economy line names.

Unfortunately although names are much more "user friendly" they are sometimes an unreliable way of identifying a Vic SAK - since Victorinox sometimes gives quite different SAKs the same name - a good example is the notorious "Golfer" fiasco - please see Victorinox "Golfer" model (in SOSAK) to be fair Victorinox does not give the same name to any models in the same generation of knives - they just re-use the name in different generations.

The other problem is as Def (over at SOSAK) stated - different countries again sometimes give the same SAK different names the PLumberjack and Waiter/Bartender - - or like the Tinker is an 84mm model everywhere else in the World, except the USA where it was a 91mm model - until the USA started to sell the original Tinker, and had to name it the "84mm Tinker" - whereas the rest of the world does not have to have that extra designation - but the 91mm model does NOT have a name......

Then there are mistakes/assumptions - the same name may be given (by people other than Victorinox or affiliates) to models differing by a small feature - eg: with or without keyring.
Confused yet?

from Victorinox econo line brochure


It would appear that your econo line model was given a name in Canada - perhaps by Canadian Tire?

Is there a separate Victorinox Canada -
or is Canada serviced by SwissArmy.com (Victorinox USA)?

UnknownVT said:

No difference between the econo-line and the full-price line except for the handles and shield cross logo
- econo logo is press printed (so often wears off),
full-priced is embedded metal (does not wear - but can very rarely fall off).

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That's good to know. These are my first real SAKs.

Confused yet?

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Brain....starting....to....hurt

It would appear that your econo line model was given a name in Canada - perhaps by Canadian Tire?

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Both Canadian Tire and Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) refer to it as the Driver, but they each have their own product numbers for them.
I'm going to go to MEC and see how theirs is packaged compared to the one the CT sells.

CT sells this econo SAK model slightly above the CDN MSRP of the actual Recruit, whereas MEC sells it for almost $10 less than CT.

Is there a separate Victorinox Canada -
or is Canada serviced by SwissArmy.com (Victorinox USA)?

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victorinox.ca does not exist and SwissArmy.ca redirects to SwissArmy.com

Now I'm curious how MEC can sell the Classic Alox for quite a bit less than CDN MSRP.

Black Rose said:

That's good to know. These are my first real SAKs.

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The standard full-priced SAKs have polished cellidor (plastic) handles (this is for both Victorinox and Wenger - that latter was bought out by Vic a few years ago).

Your econo-line Vic has textured nylon handles which some people actually prefer - as they are gripper, and less prone to scratching (polished cellidor models are far too easily marred). Textured nylon handles are also used on the (non-econo) larger 111mm Victorinox "SAKs".

This is the range shown in a Victorinox brochure


those are the two models I like from this econo-line range.