Customer Reviews

Wenger 16319 Ranger 61 With Clip Swiss Army Knife

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

 

 

Wenger started making models with pocket clip, which is a novelty in the world of Swiss Army knives. This is the first one of this kind that I own. It is well made overall and I like it.

The knife is pretty big, in fact surprisingly large. Bigger than the Victorinox Trekker series. The pocket clip is very sturdy and works well for deep tip down carry. On the down side, it is shiny, a little too large, and cannot change position. In fact the pocket clip is almost as thick as the other tools, which is overkill - they should have made it thinner to save weight.

The blade locks with a liner lock, and unlocks by pressing the Wenger logo on the side of the handle. It is for right-handed opening only. On the left side, the screwdriver bottle opener gets in the way, so if you are a leftie, it will be a two-handed opening blade. Although the blade is long, an area of almost an inch (2+ cm) closest to the handle is unsharpened. It is not obvious why they decided to do that.

Compared with the Victorinox Trekker / Soldier:

- both have the same length of cutting edge although the Wenger has a longer blade
- both weigh roughly the same, although Wenger is larger
- blade shape is different: Victorinox has a rounded tip and serrations, while Wenger has plain edge and a sharper tip
- Victorinox can be one-hand opened with left or right hand; Wenger, only right hand
- Wenger liner lock closing is safer since your fingers never get in the way of the blade
- Victorinox liner lock, back springs, and tools are thicker and feel more solid
- Wenger has no toothpick, tweezers, or other tools in the scales, unlike Victorinox
- Victorinox awl is slightly sharper but has no eye; Wenger's has an eye
- differently shaped can openers; Wenger's is sharper and better at actual can opening, while Victorinox's can be also used as a small screwdriver
- both have locking large screwdrivers / can openers; liner lock on Victorinox is probably slightly better than the pressure lock of the Wenger
- Victorinox feels better built and more solid overall, but Wenger is not bad at all

Overall this knife feels like a cross breed between a large Spyderco and a traditional Swiss Army Knife: one handed opening, long blade, pocket clip, and a bunch of other useful tools. If you have ever been curious about this combination, try it out :) If you do not care about the pocket clip, you are better off buying a Victorinox Trekker, since it is slightly smaller (still large), better made, and has more tools.

The issues with this knife are:

- only the most basic set of tools for a Swiss Army Knife; no file, scissors, saw, Philips, tweezers...
- a little too big for comfortable pocket carry (especially without using the pocket clip)
- no ambidextrous one handed opening (this is actually my biggest complaint)
- pocket clip is crude compared with what you get from many other pocket knife brands

The biggest selling point of this Wenger is the pocket clip. This is the best factory made Swiss Army knife with a clip right now. Victorinox has one very simple and crude model, and there are some overpriced and somewhat crude aftermarket options. If you want a SAK with a pocket clip, this is where it's at, as of the time of this review.

I think this is a nice knife. It is pretty unique and has its pluses and minuses. I hope to see more Swiss Army knives with pocket clips in the future, and this is a good step in that direction.

My first knife I was given as a young man was a Wenger Swiss Army Knife and that was almost 48 years ago and I still have it and its still is just as usable as it was 48 years ago. I bought the Ranger 61 to replace it mainly because of the pocket clip and the locking blade. I know this knife will not fail me and it will most likely be the last knife I will need for the remaining of my life. I am very happy with this knife but I wish Wenger would add the pocket clips to some of its other models. The pocket clips is what makes this knife stand out to me. I often wear bib overalls and do not have a belt for a sheath so the pocket clip works better for me. So if you need a general multi purpose knife for work or the outdoors you will not go wrong with a Wenger made knife.

This knife is of the same quality as all other wenger/ swiss army products- excellent would buy it again, see ya

I researched several of large models and decided on this one because it has a cork screw (I have narrowed it down to cork screw vs. philips-head vs. saw). I hate it when you have a nice bottle of wine and I do not have a cork screw around. It has a large plain locking blade which I like very much. Well made Knife for the money. It has a nice pocket clip also. This knife will not be left behind when my family is out camping.

I wanted to get a knife like this for the ocassional lunch/picknick outing, it will be a very usefull tool for me.
In the product pictures, the handle looks like a softer type of plastic. But it is really a 'cheap' hard, hollow plastic.
The belt clip is WAY to big. I decided to remove the clip; but, the plastic handle has a recessed (molded in) area that the base of the clip fits into. Dosen't look good with out the clip, because of the recessed area, but because the clip is so large I will leave it off.
The blade is four inches long, but only three inches of it are sharpened. The first inch (closest to the handle) is not sharpened.
The can opener, cap lifter, and pointy thing (owl/needle) are just fine.
The cork screw seems to be large enough to work well.
The knife blade is very sharp, and seems to be made of decent quality steel.
If I had it to do over again I would buy the 'Wenger 16304 Ranger 61 Swiss Army Knife' instead. This is the exact same knife, but without the belt clip. Amazon sells it for 2 bucks less than the belt clip model.
Over all, I am happy with my purchase.