Victorinox new fixed blade line

This Victorinox is meant to compete with the Mora Garberg.

Morakniv Garberg Fixed Knife Multi-Mount Sheath - Blade HQ

Morakniv has dubbed the Garberg fixed blade their most robust knife to date. Its full-tang, Scandi grind makes it easier to keep a sharpened edge.
www.bladehq.com

Very similar price, size, features etc.

Not the Mora Companion and similar knives that sell for around and often under $20.

Morakniv Companion Carbon Steel Fixed Blade Knife OD Green (4" Satin) - Blade HQ

Features: Stainless steel made blade with a satin finish. Black and OD green rubber no-slip grip handle. Comes with a sheath. Description: Morakniv knives are robust and economical tools with a strong reputation. The Morakniv Companion is an all-in-one fixed blade knife for outdoor enthusiasts...
www.bladehq.com

All of the Mora's just plain work and if you don't have one you need to get one, or 3 of them budget versions. I sometimes wonder why I bother with more expensive knives.

Between the Mora Garberg and the new Victorinox I like everything about the Garberg better except for the flat blade grind of the Victorinox vs the scandi grind on the Mora Garberg. Not sure it is worth $75 for me to try. I'll have to see one in person before I decide.
 
I just picked up a couple Mora Pros for <$8 last week. Hard to beat that kind of value. Vic has had a winning formula for many years, but seems to be reaching for new markets. The Venture seems like a good first attempt, but many opportunities missed or still to be realized in terms of alternative handle scales, sheaths, kits etc.
 
rust collector said:
Vic has had a winning formula for many years, but seems to be reaching for new markets. The Venture seems like a good first attempt, but many opportunities missed or still to be realized in terms of alternative handle scales, sheaths, kits etc.
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I agree. As I said, I'm a fanboy, but the only SAK I have is my EDC. My hunting knives are Benchmade and Case. Yes, Victorinox made some attempts at dedicated outdoor knives before-the Hunter Pro comes to mind, but, for whatever reason, it didn't grab me-especially at those $120-$150 price points. I mean, at this point, you could buy this Venture for $75 and have, essentially, a fixed blade version of the folding Hunter. I always thought the Hunter was designed to compete with the Buck 110. Indeed. I wonder if sales of the Venture, at $75, will be strong enough to bring down the price of the folding Hunter (or perhaps even discontinue it.)
 
What is blade length, what steel?
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Blade length is 105mm, or about 4.13".

The steel is 14C28N. Victorinox went with 59HRC hardness which seems to indicate that they were trying to maximize toughness. It should be plenty tough for a stainless knife with decent, but not spectacular edge-holding and easy sharpening.

For comparison, all else being equal, it should be about halfway between AEB-L and 440C for edge-holding, not quite as good as 440C but better than AEB-L. Pretty close to AEB-L in toughness, but not quite as tough.
 
I like Mora knives, I have two. I also gifted one last year. Never gift what you wouldn't own. There is just something about Victorinox. The final straw was cutting my dads lunch with his small Victorinox paring knife. After serving him lunch, stright to the laptop, knifecenter and an order. If it don't work good, at least it looks great.
 
JohnKSa said:
The steel is 14C28N. Victorinox went with 59HRC hardness which seems to indicate that they were trying to maximize toughness. It should be plenty tough for a stainless knife with decent, but not spectacular edge-holding and easy sharpening.
Click to expand...
While not perfect, it's still way better than their usual hardness levels of 55-56 HRC for the stailess. My biggest gripe, on both Victorinox and Mora is, that they make a decent designed low budget knives, but their products are inadequate when hard work is needed. The steel is fine (for the price point), the design is fine, but the blade hardness sucks big time - soft like a pancake, as we use to say in "my neck of woods". The other good thing I see here, is a pure utility knife masked as a bushcrafters one - the step away from the scandi grind is quite refreshing...
 
Mizar said:
...the blade hardness sucks big time - soft like a pancake...
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There may be some logic behind that. I've heard a theory that, in a survival scenario, a softer blade is better than a harder (more brittle) blade. The theory goes that a harder a blade will snap and break, leaving you with no knife, whereas a softer blade is more likely to bend, leaving you with a bent, but still somewhat useable-better than a knife with no blade. It's something to think about.
 
D.B. Cooper said:
Define "hard work." My SAK has never failed to do anything I ever needed it to do.
Click to expand...
Everything above the occasional use of cutting a paper sheet, steak or pencil once a month... They just can't handle it well enough - cutting cardboard boxes, river dragged canvas, cutting leather, food processing on a camp... You name it. And I do care about my knives, especially the ones that I have sharpened recently - I never, ever, abuse a knife. SAKs are just too soft - nice steel for the price, but the heat treating is no good.
There may be some logic behind that. I've heard a theory that, in a survival scenario, a softer blade is better than a harder (more brittle) blade...
Click to expand...
Yup. For a guy that doesn't know how to use a knife... Sadly, Mora and Victorinox are too far into that philosophy - they care about the "averege Joe" too much. And this comes from a guy, that really likes their products in general and possesses more than just a single example of their knives.
 
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Mizar said:
Everything above the occasional use of cutting a paper sheet, steak or pencil once a month... They just can't handle it well enough - cutting cardboard boxes, river dragged canvas, cutting leather, food processing on a camp... You name it.
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Shrug. I dunno. I've done pretty much all of that with my One-Handed Trekker at one time or another. (Not really sure what the river-dragged canvas is, though, but I have cut canvas and burlap.) As well as gut and decapitate fish (Sockeye Salmon, 8-10 lbs), field dress and decapitate small game up to ducks...

One thing I've never tried to do with it is baton firewood. I have a hatchet for that. I have used the saw quite a bit, though.

I just can't imagine what you're putting an SAK through that made you feel it wasn't up to the task. Can you give a specific example of a task that an SAK wouldn't do or that damaged the knife in some way?
 
D.B. Cooper said:
Can you give a specific example of a task that an SAK wouldn't do or that damaged the knife in some way?
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It just gets dull rather quick, because of the soft low carbon stainless - and trust me, I know how to sharpen a knife and I know how to use a knife... That's why I like the new offering - a quite decent design, with quite decent steel and adequate heat treating. It just feels refreshing to see such a blade from the Swiss and at a moderate price point (for what it is).
 
I have read that the steel used in most SAKnives is comparable to 420, with a heat treat more suited to high yield and toughness than to edge retention. Let's face it, most don't get used all that much, are often misused to pry or punch holes, and seem to satisfy the target demographic. Bushcraft, though beginning to fall into the mall ninja, tactical and high speed/low drag hype bin, usually involves doing the most with what is at hand, and using a knife for a variety of tasks for which most knives are sub-optimal. It is fun to see Victorinox trying to appeal to more sophisticated or demanding users, and gratifying that they are competing against other cutlery producers with an identified, well-liked steel. There is likely one in my future.
 
Mizar said:
It just gets dull rather quick, because of the soft low carbon stainless...
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I'll agree to that. And they're time consuming to resharpen as well. You'd think a knife that dulled easily would also sharpen easily and vice-versa, but apparently not.
 
14c28n is VERY close to AEB-L in all respects, which is one of my favorite stainless steels for a hard use blade.
 
Good video on 14c28N.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFnUzM97OFI
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10...ness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/ for the basis of it.

Fixing sheath rattle
www.youtube.com

Victorinox Venture: How I fixed the rattle and retention issues... / Hot Water Trick

In this video i want show you, how i fixed the retention- and rattling problems form the Victorinox Venture Sheath.More Informations to the Venture Kives: ht...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Pretty brutal destructive abuse video
youtu.be

Victorinox Venture zerbrochen, Victorinox Venture Pro zerbrochen

Besten Dank für die zahlreichen FeedbacksDamit keine Verwechslungen und falsch Interpretationen entstehen möchte ich folgendes genau erläutern.Spitze gebroch...
youtu.be youtu.be
 
So what have I done with it so far? Not much.

Feather sticks were easy. Breaking down boxes wasn't a challenge. Cutting chicken, pork, vegetables was simple enough, but I wouldn't use it over available kitchen knives. Making holes and slits in leather wasn't difficult.

How did the edge hold up? The edge held up to a half dozen cardboard boxes, but lost that hair popping edge. It came back to hair popping sharp with just some stropping on the cardboard box material I was cutting.

Is it any better than the Moras I have? In some ways yes and others no. The grip is more comfortable. The high grind is "slicier" with foods.
 
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I went down a 14c28N research rabbit hole today and came across the Joker Knives. Some nice looking offerings.
 
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Between the Mora Garberg and the new Victorinox I like everything about the Garberg better except for the flat blade grind of the Victorinox vs the scandi grind on the Mora Garberg. Not sure it is worth $75 for me to try. I'll have to see one in person before I decide.
Click to expand...

Quoting myself from July. I did recently get to see one in person and bought it. Compared to the Mora Garberg I like the Victorinox knife better, but I like the Garberg sheath better. And as I suspected it is the blade grind that made the difference.

The Scandi grind that Mora uses is hard for me to get really sharp and keep it sharp. There are several complaints about Mora's not staying sharp above. IMO that is due to the blade grind more than the steel.

I think the Scandi grind is better for hard use like batoning, or chopping wood where you don't need a fine edge. But the flat grind of the Victorinox is better suited for most of the everyday cutting chores I do.
 
The Venture features Sandvik 14c28n, which should give better service than the standard 1.4116 euro steel of most other Victorinox knives.
 
Not only the steel, but Victorinox claims a hardness of about 59HRC, instead of 55-56HRC for the "regular" models, including SAK.
 
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