Customer Reviews

Victorinox Swiss Army Swisstool Spirit Multi-tool Plus Free Pocket Knife

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

I just received mine after ordering from Amazon (after waiting almost a month!). It's a very solid tool, and it's lighter than the comparable Leatherman, which I was also considering. My only two complaints are that the scissors are very small - moreso than my previous Swiss Army Knife that was significantly smaller - and the knife is the combo-blade without a sharp point. Rating this tool down one star for this might be too much, though.

Locking tools are very nice, the case looks nice, and the bonus mini-knife is a good addition too.

I've used many different multitools in the past - leatherman, gerber, SOG, and Victorinox - and while they all worked hard, some had more limitations than others. My most recent multitool prior to acquiring the Spirit was the Victorinox Swisstool X, which is a heavy duty tool that took amazing punishment for over 5 years. I love the Swisstool X but found it to be rather heavy in certain cirumstances, so I decided I'd give the Spirit a try. After a few weeks of use, I can say that with a single exception, the Spirit has been able to do anything the Swisstool X could do, and do it with far less weight and bulk. The only thing the Spirit lacks that I used extensively on the Swisstool X is the ruler engraved along the handles. Other than that, I've basically replaced the X with the Spirit with no regrets. As with all Victorinox products, the fit and finish on the Spirit is impeccable and is really in a league of its own in terms of quality compared to other brands. The leather sheath is classy looking, but tough and compact. The tools are well chosen and effectively designed; they lock of course as well, and can be accessed individually without having to open the tool. To keep a long story short, I highly recommend this fine multitool. Victorinox does it again!

I bought the Swisstool spirit a few months ago to replace my old leatherman multitool. I had lost my leatherman, one of my favorite tools and immediately started looking for a replacement. I've always been a fan of swiss knives so I started there. For the price, the swisstool is competitive against the other brands. I loved the polished finish of the swisstool spirit. The only drawback to this is if you're like me and work with greasy things, it's hard to keep a grip. Otherwise, if you're using this as a plyer, the grip is very comforable and easy to work with. The other tools included in the Spirit are also top notch, although the lack of a straight blade knife can is lamentable. The serrated knife included in the Spirit is plenty sharp and will cut a bunch of things, just when it comes to sharpening it, you might have some trouble. The rest of the tools are easy to use and lockable, something my old leatherman didn't have. The locking mechanism is good, I have tried to close the screwdriver with the lock on and it didn't move.

The few nitpicks that I have about this tool may depend on the user, but to me the chisel included in this tool is very sharp, but so is the rest of it. So upon opening this tool, if you don't put your finger in the right place to extend it fully, you might end up cutting yourself. Some might find the file a bit too course, but that's why I have my swisschamp with me too. The scissors on swissknives are awesome, but the one on the swisstool spirit needs some work. Unlike the swisschamp and others whose scissor open fully, the spirit only opens about a quarter inch. And lastly the case is durable and should be able to last for a long time...except for the velcro snap. I wish they would have included a button for this, but I heard you can get someone to change it out.

Overall I love this tool. This tool feels substantial in your hands and you can use it almost all day without pain. Other than the little nitpicks, I reccommend this tool.

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.

After having owned and used Gerber Multipliers, a BuckTool, and several Leatherman's of all styles, 3 years ago I settled on the original Vic SwissTool as my Multi-tool of choice. Creative, robust design, with the best ergonomics in the industry. I purchased the Swisstool Spirit to keep one as backup to my old SwissTool. It's even more ergonomic, a little more compact, with the same excellent design. Great product, Vic!

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

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.

The Swisstool Spirit is my second multi-tool. I have the Leatherman Core to compare it to and all I can say is that both are equally high quality.

The Swisstool Spirit comes in different variations and I chose this one because it was at the time, on a discount sale price of $10 off any $50 or more Victorinox Swiss Army Knife purchase. Foolishly, I bought this on impulse because of the freebie Rally miniature knife.

The tools feel like they ooze high quality steel and workmanship and I've read many times on different fora out there that Victorinox "Lifetime Guarantee" is REALLY a LIFETIME GUARANTEE. Unlike what you'd get with others that have so many exclusions and limitations included in the very, very fine print written in lawyer's "lingo".

Pros: Good quality stainless steel, high quality workmanship, an honest lifetime guarantee, enough tools to do just about any quick and dirty DIY repairs/tweaking for the regular homeowner

Cons: Only one I can think of is the layout of tools. With the Leatherman Core I have and the Leatherman Wave that I gifted recently...the tools are well layed out where on one side you'd have all the different flathead screwdrivers with 2 larger tools and the philips screwdriver and non-screwdriver tools with the other 2 larger tools on other side. With the Swisstool spirit...the small and medium sized flathead are together with the philips and the larger flathead is with the chisel and awl.

Maybe I just haven't gotten used to the layout of the tools, but as far as multi-tools that are in this weight and especially in this size range... I still think the Swisstool Spirit is King.
But if I could do a do-over, I would still buy the Victorinox Swisstool Spirit but this time the Swisstool Spirit X with the normal non-serrated blade replacing the sheep's foot serrated blade found on this Swisstool Spirit.

4 out of 5 stars only because of the tool layout.

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.