Victorinox Signature Lite #55191

by AJ
(Texas)

My everyday survival knife is a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, Signature Lite, which is a small but useful knife. It is only 2.25.inches long and weighs only three quarters of an ounce but it has a pointed cutting blade, a nail file blade with screwdriver, scissors, a pen and a red LED light.

I keep the cutting blade razor sharp with my Spyderco Sharpmaker. I use it to open boxes and envelopes, strip wires, dig out splinters, whittle and notch wood and any number of cutting tasks. I have amazed friends and associates with its sharpness and its ability to hold an edge. The Signature cuts and bores holes in leather, plastic and wood within reason. It is small so limit your cutting to twigs, leather up to 3/16" thick and soft or thin plastic and be patient. Get in a hurry and you may break the blade or fold it back, breaking the spring mechanism.

The nail file/ screwdriver and scissors are fully functional. The screwdriver is good for the screws it truly fits but if the screw is frozen with rust, get a real screwdriver. I have used the nail file to file finger nails, toe nails, plastic and wood. I have even used it to remove corrosion but never on hard metal. The scissors are very useful for cutting paper, string, fishing line as well as thin to medium weight gasket material. The scissors can be kept sharp with the Sharpmaker as well.

The pen is a ball point pen and behaves like any ballpoint I have ever owned. Enough said except that refills can be bought from the Victorinox. I even found some on eBay at a real savings.

I previously carried a Victorinox Classic but retired it when the Lite series was introduced. Having a light, however small is truly a blessing. I found this out during Hurricane Ike. Living on the Gulf Coast, the electricity went out in the middle of the night and did not return for 17 days. We had other means of lighting but the little Signature stayed around my neck on a dog tag chain for convenience. It does not compete in brightness with larger lights like the many multi-cell laser lights now available or a Mini-Maglite but in a truly dark situation it throws enough light to navigate in the house or on a trail. You can also check a trotline, the number of rounds in your magazine or read a map. The knife itself will deflect a compass so watch out. It burns seemingly forever on one button cell and spares are easy to carry.

I carry it every day on that dog tag chain around my neck. So light it is never a bother and always ready. It would make a good key chain knife as well since it has a built in split ring for attachment.

I highly recommend it. - AJ


As of this writing, the Signature Lite may have been superseded by the Signature Laser model. The names Victorinox, Swiss Army Knife, Signature Lite and Signature Laser are the trademarks of Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc.