GolF Club

Great Swiss army knife (2008-08-30)
The Swiss Tool Spirit is a great piece of equipment, much more than a knife. About the only thing I don't like about it is the name. Sounds, to me, a little girly. Still it's a great knife. I bought it after some wallpaper hangers were doing work in my house and my trusty Swiss Tool suddenly went missing. I loved that knife but it was, in fact, a bit too bulky. The one feature i really liked about it -- though in truth didn't use that often -- was the ruler on the straight side which the Spirit does not have.

The Swiss Tool Spirit is slightly smaller but, I'd say, about 98 percent as useful as my original Swiss Tool. The blades/tools come out much smoother than those in the Swiss Tool and, when used as pliers, the knife has a much more comfortable feel in my hand. Also, the leather case it came with is much nicer and classier than the nylon/mesh case I had with the other knife. I'd highly recommend the Swiss Tool Spirit.

Spirit exudes quality, but its blade is an odd duckling (2008-05-18)
I own Leatherman multi-tools including the new Wave, Pulse, Juice S2, Skeletool CX, Micra, Squirt S4, and Squirt P4. I also own about 20 Victorinox Swiss Army Knives ranging from nearly all the recent Alox models and many cellidor models including the old Champion, Swiss Champ, Swiss Champ XLT, and Cybertool 41. After owning all of these types of pocket knives and multi-tools, I can say that Victorinox makes the highest quality, highest consistency multi-tools and pocket knives. (Don't get me wrong, I like Leatherman a lot as they make well-designed tools, too. But the consistency is lacking with Leatherman when compared to Victorinox.)

The primary strengths of the Vic SwissTool Spirit include:

All locking tools
Access to tools with the pliers in the closed position
Presence of scissors (which distinguishes it from the Spirit "S" model)
Reputation of extremely good corrosion resistance
Chisel (which is unsual in any multitool)
Extremely good wood saw (better than Leatherman)
Very light weight for its size (only 5.5 oz)
Premium brown leather case (best case I've seen that comes with a tool, only downside to the case is that it cannot be worn in the horizontal position on a belt)
Extremely attractive with highly polished metal handles and tools
Extremely comfortable handles for pliers

There are downsides, however, and they are in my opinion:

"Butterknife" shape of the only blade (it does NOT have the familiar drop point that Victorinox usually uses in their SAKs or MTs)
Serrations on that blunt blade take up most of the length
Plain edge is a very small part of the blade near the joint
Philips screwdriver that needs to be squared off as it slips quite easily
Scissors are tiny (and smaller than any other multi-tool I own listed)

The Vic Spirit exudes quality and precision crafting. People are always split on their opinion of the blunt, "butterknife" shape of the main blade. I dislike it. The serrations are also in the front of the blade, rather than the back part like most other brands. The serrations can be ground off, however.

If you want a drop point blade, then you can get the Spirit "S" version which substitutes a drop point blade, but removes the scissors.

Vcitornox multi tool (2008-01-09)
This was a gift for my son. He was very excited to get it. He especially liked the leather case that came with it. And the bonus pocket knife was nifty.

Victorinox Swiss Army Multi-Tool (2007-09-08)
The quality of Victorinox products is legendary, and this is no exception. Everything about the multi-tool is top notch and I heartily recommend this to anyone who needs this type of equipment.

David Legrand

My second multi tool. (2007-06-28)
My first multi tool was the original old school Leatherman. It's so old that it doesn't have locking tools like the current versions. It's still going strong, though and I didn't have any major gripes about it other than the tools didn't lock. I thought I'd lost the Leatherman at the park playing with my son so I finally got into the 20th century and bought the Victornox Spirit. What a difference! The tools all lock so they don't fold up and threaten to cut your fingers off if you use them hard, it's very nicely polished and radiused (comfortable to the hand), and it's easy to use. I love the fact that you don't have to open the pliers first to access the tools. Most multi tools have this feature now and it shouldn't be designed any other way. Folding the tools away is easy with the button sliders in the handle. Actuation of all of the tools and pliers is smooth and feels like a quality instrument. All of the tools are useful and well thought out. It is a BARGAN at the Amazon price! The only thing that kept it from being a total 5 out of 5 and it's a very minor point is that the knife isn't configured like a conventional pocket knife with a point at the tip. It is a blunt nosed serrated blade. So far no issues with that, though. The blade is so sharp, I haven't had a need to poke into an object before I could get a cut started.