Victorinox Swiss Army Junior 9 Pocket Knife, Red, 85mm

This was a hot topic of discussion for my me and my husband. He wanted to order this for our 7 year old for camping, while I DID NOT think a 7 year old needed his own knife. The tip of the knife is rounded, he said, which would keep him from accidentally stabbing himself. And besides, he said, he’ll teach him about safety. So against my wishes, it was ordered. My son was so excited when it arrived, but I made him wait until Daddy got home… so they could have the safety talk. Dad got home, and within 10 seconds of opening the darn thing, my son managed to cut himself! Rounded tip, yes… but still sharp as all heck! Both boys were sheepish but insisted that it was a small snafoo and “he’s fine!”. Over the course of our weekend, my son had a fantastic time whittling many a stick into marshmallow roasters. However, he did end up with several knicks and cuts. Nothing serious, but something to be aware of. Constant supervision and expect a few accidents. Be aware of the learning curve. If I were giving an age appropriate number, I’d say 9 or 10… not 7.

I’m 19, and have carried a knife since I was 9. I’ve carried a Victorinox knife since I was 10. None of them had this “Junior” blunt blade, and I never had any problems with that. I never managed to stab myself. Then, I was looking at this one here on Amazon. I thought, blade, saw, Phillips–this is all I actually use on a Swiss Army Knife”, and bought it, even though I knew I would hate the blunt blade. After receiving it today, I have realized that in an emergency, I can use the blade to cut near a person or animal (like using it to remove a seat belt, or removing a tight halter from a horse) without risking harm.The Junior 09 originated as a Wenger product–Victorinox bought Wenger in ’08, and merged their products into a Victorinox line called the “Delemont Collection” in some time after ’12, thus ending Wenger’s more than 100 year history. I have a hard time calling this a Victorinox–it’s still a Wenger in my bookTools:Locking blunt blade: Razor sharp (which it should always be on a knife). I had no issues with a sharp knife as a kid (learned after slipping and cutting myself bad many, many times), and any kid should learn how to use a sharp knife. A dull knife is useless in my opinion. The lockup from the “Packlock” system (a Wenger innovation) is solid, but that lever is problematic–it makes the knife uncomfortable to use some tools (like the saw), and hangs up when drawing it from my pocket occasionally. At least I can release the lock one-handed, a requirement.Saw–Wenger’s saw used to be one of the worst pocket tool saws ever. In the mid ’00s, they redesigned it. After that redesign, the Wenger saw, though shorter than Victorinox’s 91mm knives, is far more aggressive, and cuts wood much quicker.Nail File/Nail Cleaner–I use it for filing nails occasionally, and it does the job well. The combo tool (can/bottle opener and screwdriver) would have been a better use of prime space on the knife.Phillips Driver–I’ve used the Phillips driver on both Victorinox and Wenger knives, and they all work well. Of course, I have slightly chipped a few, but that didn’t do any damage that affected function of the tool. Like on the modern (without the slot cut into it) Vic Phillips, this works on the smaller No. 1 Phillips screw as well.Toothpick and Tweezers–The tweezers I’ve used for everything on Swiss Army Knives–working with putting motor brushes in small HO scale slot cars, removing splinters and thorns, you name it, and they’ve always performed well. The toothpick I’ve used as intended, but only a new toothpick on a new knife, but most of the time I only use it as a poker and scraper. In general, it’s a good thin, small SAK. But, it would be great if Victorinox started offering some of the Junior knives (many of them exclusive to the series) under different model names without the blunt tip.

First, the good. This is a real Swiss Army Knife (SAK) with all the concomitant quality. The saw is brilliant and though small cuts through wood with ease. In fact, at 57 grams this may be the lightest SAK available with a wood saw if one is particularly interested in that feature.Now the bad. This is a real Swiss Army Knife with a really sharp blade, no different than any other SAK other than having an unsharpened rounded tip. The blade out of the box is easily able to slice paper. Although the rounded tip makes the knife not readily capable of stabbing or poking eyes out, the razor sharp edge is quite capable of inflicting a lethal slashing wound, especially if directed at the neck. Even if you decide your child is not going to hurt himself/herself with this knife, be aware that one of their friends might want to “see it for a minute” and then all bets are off.In fact before I gave this to my 8 year old daughter as a gift, I was a bit concerned about the sharp edge but decided she was able to handle it. The problem turned out to be in the blade locking mechanism, which, despite some instruction, proved to be a bit tricky for her to use. One has to depress the unlock button (which typically involves placing one’s fingers in the path of the closing blade), moving the blade to the one-half open detent position, then moving one’s fingers out of the way and pushing the blade the rest of the way into the handle.Not having quite mastered the closing process, my daughter sustained a (fortunately not very serious) cut on her finger. That’s when I decided to make the blade less sharp, with which my daughter fully agreed.I used a surgical black Arkansas stone and put a 45 degree per side mini-bevel on the blade, which prevents cutting flesh without considerable effort but is still capable of a lot of useful tasks, such as whittling wood and cutting fruit. The blade is no longer capable of slicing paper.The locking mechanism itself is fine as far as it goes and in fact I wouldn’t mind having one on my own SAK. However, for less experienced users it does add the potential for fumbling and an ensuing injury. This is ironic, as a locking blade has the advantage of preventing the blade from accidentally closing on one’s fingers whilst the knife is actually in use. There is nonetheless another disadvantage of the locking mechanism, which is that it makes the knife illegal to carry in some areas, such as the UK.In sum, although I would have preferred that the knife had come with a non-locking blade with a steeper edge angle, the quality is just superb and deserves 5 stars. Happily I was able to make the knife safer and more appropriate for my daughter with a small modification to the edge, though I appreciate that not everyone who has the same concerns may have the means to make this modification. However, one option is to take the knife to a professional sharpener who can tame the edge.

First knife for our grandson. He loved it.

Fits the bill.