Victorinox Champion Plus Knife - '08 Overstock

Comments about Swiss Army Champion Plus Knife - '08 Overstock:

Beware that this is not the venerable Victorinox Champion, the knife that has a comprehensive set of all the most useful tools. It is essentially the Champion minus the wrench, which is one of the more useful tools in my opinion. I have no idea why they ever decided to make this knife, and their decision to call it the Champion Plus seems blatantly deceptive. An unwise decision by Victorinox, which is probably the reason why the knife is on overstock clearance. This being said, it may not be so bad to get a Champion minus the wrench for a heavily discounted price.

Comments about Swiss Army Champion Plus Knife - '08 Overstock:

I love this knife. When I thought I had lost mine, I fretted for a month, then bought a new one. I am seldom without it, and can't begin to list the number of times it has come in handy, either in camp, on the trail, at home, or in the office.

The mix of tools seems ideal. In addition to the knife blades, I frequently use the pen, small eyeglass screwdriver, scissors and magnifyer. The saw is handy for roughing in wood carvings, or preparing kindling for a fire.

I've cleaned fish with it in Ontario, removed splinters in Manhattan, trimmed moleskin at Disney World, stripped wire, measured screws, fixed about two dozen pairs of other peoples' eyeglasses, and I never have to ask to borrow a pen.

Other reviewers have lamented this knife's lack of a wrench. I suppose there are a host of tools it doesn't have, but for a pocket-sized, carry it everywhere utility tool, it's hard to beat.

I have a drawer full of other knives and multi-tools, but this is the one I always have with me. I bet you'll find it handy too.

Comments about Swiss Army Champion Plus Knife - '08 Overstock:

What is there to say? It's a Victorinox knife, and it has most of the really useful tools Victorinox makes on it -- including the wood saw, not seen in the picture here, and the straight pin, not listed in the specs. (Hard to find -- open the corkscrew and it's in a hole in the scale near the corkscrew's base.) It'll last a good long time (I don't wear out Victorinox knives, I lose them!) and be endlessly handy until then. The one negative is that some of the tools are pretty difficult to open unless you have strong, short fingernails. (And if you need to trim your fingernails, the scissors work great!)

What there is to say is to correct a misstatement made in another review. It's called a Champion Plus because it has more tools than a Champion, a now retired model (as is the Champion Plus). The model the other reviewer was thinking of is not the Champion but the SwissChamp, which does indeed have everything the Champion Plus has and also pliers. Go for that one if you must have a Swiss Army Knife with pliers, but they do add bulk and weight, and if you really need to carry around pliers you might be better off with a Leatherman or SwissTool.

Service and delivery comments:

Delivery was prompt and everything was in good condition.

Comments about Swiss Army Champion Plus Knife - '08 Overstock:

I had the Champ with the pliers. They were a little light for most chores and I ended up breaking them. The Leatherman is much more useful for those chores. I just lost my explorer. I use the magnifying glass the most for rock hounding. The other tools are all a bonus. Went to buy another Explorer and found this model on sale..What can I say. Sold.

Comments about Swiss Army Champion Plus Knife - '08 Overstock:

I have to qualify this with the fact that this is a knife built with EXCELLENT quality, craftsmanship, and ingenuity. It has tons of cool little features that make it loveable, and without the flimsy pliers of the SwissChamp, this tool is actually small enough to be half-way reasonable to carry. And if you find yourself fishing and sawing metal and sewing things a lot, this is the tool for you.

That being said, this is a bit overkill for myself. I had a SwissChamp for somewhere around 10 years, and although I loved, it was still a lot of knife. When I lost it, I ended up going in a different direction and getting the smallest Victorinox that had everything I wanted. As it turned out, I really wish I had the scissors, which prompted me into buying yet another knife, and while I think the Huntsman would be the absolute perfect knife, in size, utility, and cost, I ended up going with the Champion Plus because after getting it on sale plus discount etc. etc. etc., it was actually cheaper than the Huntsman. More for less? You can't argue with that.