Product Description

The Victorinox Swiss Army 53800 SwissTool Spirit has the following unique features: 1. Needle Nose Pliers 2. Screwdriver (2 mm) 3. Screwdriver (3 mm) 4. Wire Cutter (for wire up to a hardness Of 40 hrc) 5. Screwdriver (6 mm) 6. Bottle Opener 7. Crate opener 8. Combi-edge Blade 9. Scissors 10. Metal Saw 11. Wood Saw 12. Reamer 13. Phillips Screwdriver 14. Chisel-Scraper 15. Isolation length cutter 16. Wire Bender 17. Wire Stripper 18. Wire Scraper-Round cutter 19. Multi-Purpose Hook 20. Can Opener 23. Hard Wire Cutter 24. Lanyard Hole 25. Ten Individual Springs 26. Lock Release and 27. Leather Case Included The NEW ergonomically designed SwissTool Spirit is light and easy to use. At 3.24" (closed) and weighing only 5.75 oz. the SwissTool Spirit is perfect for everyday users either at home or on the go. Individual tools can be opened from the outside of the handle without opening the pliers, while individual springs hold other tools in place. Tools lock into place when opened. To close, simply slide the release button to fold the tool away. Loaded with 27 functions, the SwissTool Spirit is extremely user friendly, versatile, and comes with Victorinox's Lifetime Warranty. In 1884, Master Cutler Karl Elsener started his cutlery factory in the small village of Ibach, Switzerland. In 1897, he crafted the Victorinox Original Swiss Army Knife. Since that time, the Elsener family has continued to craft tools in the Victorinox tradition of in genius design, durability, and quality. This is why all Victorinox multi-tools, made of first class stainless steel, are guaranteed a lifetime against defects in material and workmanship. REMEMBER, If it doesn't say Victorinox, it's not the Original Swiss Army Knife. Comes with free leather pouch.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2178 in Sports & Outdoors
• Color: Black (oxidized)
• Brand: Victorinox
• Model: 53800
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 2.00" h x 2.00" w x 6.00" l, .45 pounds

Features

• 27-function multitool for around-the-house or job site use
• Includes screwdrivers, wire cutters, bottle openers, saws, pliers, and much more
• All-stainless-steel construction protects tool from rust or decay
• Stores comfortably in leather case or hangs from neck via lanyard hole
• 3-1/4 inches long; weighs 5-3/4 ounces; lifetime warranty

Amazon.com Product Description
Victorinox, the company that introduced the original Swiss Army knife in 1897, invigorates a new generation of adventurous craftsmen with its 53800 SwissTool Spirit. The user-friendly multitool measures a mere 3-1/4 inches in length yet offers approximately 25 clever and convenient functions. Among the essential features for the casual camper are bottle and can openers; 2, 3, and 6 mm screwdrivers; and traditional cutting blades and scissors. However, it never hurts to be prepared, and more specialized users will no doubt appreciate the needle-nose pliers, wire cutter, chisel/scraper, wire bender, wire stripper, and crate opener. Whether you're a carpenter looking for a handy, compact tool for the job site or a cyclist who believes in vigilance, the SwissTool Spirit multitool is a must.

The tool is made of 100 percent stainless steel, with a pair of durable plier handles that fold up neatly when not in use. Many of the arms open from the outside without disturbing the handles, adding to the tool's accessibility. The tools are controlled by a series of springs that hold the arms securely in place when open or closed. The SwissTool Spirit even includes a lanyard hole for hanging around the neck (it weighs only 5-3/4 ounces), or, alternately, users can store it in the included leather case. The tool carries a lifetime warranty against defects in material and workmanship.

Customer Reviews

One of the best multi-tools out there.
I've been on a quest for the best multi-tool for years. Over the last twenty I've had leathermen, SOGs, Schrades, Gerbers, swiss army knives and more. In this review I will put the Spirit up against the Leatherman Charge Ti and the Gerber Legend 800 - what I consider the primary competitors for best multi-tool on the planet at the moment. I owned the Gerber Legend 800 from 2002-2004 - and lost it when the cheesy nylon case broke. I owned the Charge Ti from 2005-2006 and recently had it stolen or lost in my living room by either my kids or a houseguest when I left it out over a vacation week. I got the Victorinox Spirit to tide me over until I found the Charge Ti. As the months pass I'm pretty happy with the Victorinox and can live with the fact this might be a permanent arrangement. I've had it for 3 months now and it has answered every call.

As way of background I'll share that I'm a computer guy and medium-duty handyman. I use multitools to repair electronics, gutters, minor carpentry & electrical; around the house and work stuff mostly. (Work has been a museum construction site for years).

Short and sweet - the Victorinox is smaller and more dainty - yet stands with the big boys in performance. Smaller and lighter than the others, the Spirit is superbly laid out and moves with solidity beyond its size and a fascinating precisions that is ... well... Swiss. Each tool is easily accessible to the thumbnail and comes out smoothly BY ITSELF. Each tool locks with an individual springlock (the spring lock back looks like the musical part of wind-up music box). Lock release is via an intuitive pull latch. Everything is a chromed glossy mirror finish except the pliers head - which is nice unit. Here's the lowdown on the matchup:

Pliers: Winner - Gerber Legend 800. Gerber has spring-loaded pliers that open themselves up. They also have replaceable interchangeable wire cutter blades. These two features are unique and are great. The downside for Gerber is that the pliers don't open quite as far as the other two - limiting their utility for plumbing. Victorinox and Leatherman have similar pliers - but on the Victorinox the jaws are a little stubbier, and the jaws only touch at the tip when closed (they become totally parallel when the jaw are open 2mm) as opposed to most others where the pliers jaws are totally parallel at the point of closure. In practice none of this made a bit of difference. The most controverial part of the Spirit is the curved handle which gives the pliers grip a short finger throw. This is a nice refinement - they make an elegant pair of pliers - but at the cost of the ruler markings on the grip. In the end I prefer the older swisstool style on this score. Put Victorinox #2. The final issue the the grip. The Gerber has all the tools inside, so the pliers grip is wide smooth metal all the way but theres a seam. The Leatherman charge - like the Wave, has the small tools recessed out on the grip side - so your hand grips the smooth back of the 4 long tools (knives, saws, and files). This makes the grip wider than the old-style leathermen, where you gripped only the metal edge, but narrower than the other two offerings. The Victorinox has all the tools inside the grip - and your hand mostly bears down on the smooth spring lock mechanism.

Knives: Winner: Leatherman Charge Ti. The Charge Ti has two knives, a superb smooth bladed clip point in a special hard alloy, and a nice serrated. Both can be opened with one hand without opening the tool. The Spirit has a single blade - a razor shaped aggressively serrated blade that must be opened with two hands. It's wickedly sharp, but serrated blades are harder to resharpen and the razor shape lacks a point. I find I use the awl when I want a knive point. I guess Victorinox figures the serrated blade will stay sharp. We'll see. The Gerber has a single clip point blade with a smooth front half and serrated back half. This sounds like a bad thing - but it actually worked well. It's openable by one hand.

Saw: Winner: Tie Victorinox & Leatherman. Both are wickedly sharp dual action teeth and are the same thickness. The Victorinox has a lower profile, but the Leatherman has teeth all the way to the tip - call it a tie. The Gerber has a cool mechanism that accepts jigsaw blades, allowing you to choose your own and replace as needed. Great concept - but trouble is that there aren't any great jigsaw blades made - nothing comes close the quality of the saws on these other two.

File: Winner Tie for Victorinox and Leatherman. Very close all around. They all give good files. The Victoriox is the sharpest, but the Leatherman is almost as sharp and gives you a bit more surface area.

Philips Screwdriver: Victorinox - for having the longest (gets in the most crannies). Leatherman Charge and Gerber both have interchangeable bits associated witht he philips screwdriver. The Leatherman Charge has the much better interchangeable bit scenario with cool low profile bits that store in the belt case and have a great selection. Gerber takes regular size bits - which is a plus, but the bit holding adapter doesn't mate totally securely with the screwdriver head and must be carried in a separate case. Victorinox also has a bit arrangement - with a cool little rotary ratchet - but its a completely freestanding separtate arrangment. This is bound to get lost.

Scissors: Winner: Victorinox hands down. Like a swiss army knife scissors, but with an upgraded beefy spring that's gonna last and which also holds the scissors closed enough that the blades are just crossed - so you can breeze through paper. The old Leatherman wave had a great scissors, but they upgraded for the new wave and Charge series. The new leatherman scissor is smaller and wimpier and opens too far to cut when the hand is relaxed. Gerber's is too skinny with too tough a spring (hurts to use it) - but compensates by being the only one openable with one hand.

Flat head screwdrivers: Winner Victorinox (but special honor for Charge Ti for glasses screwdriver/tiny philips). Like a swiss army knife, the Spirit has the excellent can opener combo with small screwdriver head, a beefy big screwdriver with wirebending notch, and now a cool sharp small-mid sized flat screwdriver head with a long narrow shaft - great for computers with serial ports. The Charge Ti has the interchangeable bits - which are great but have a very short shaft, a glasses screwdriver as a full tool which you can pull out and reverse to get a tiny precision philips head screwdriver (unique and totally awesome - great for watches and model trains and glasses), and a medium sized stand along screwdriver that is OK, but not particularly well shaped or long or distinguished in any way. The Gerber has the interchangeable bits and three decent built-in flat head screwdrivers.

Can Opener/Bottle Opener: Winner Victorinox - has good toold for both functions - just like the Swiss Army Knife. The Charge has a combo can/bottle opener that just barely tolerable. The Gerber lacks these tools.

Awl: Victorinox is the only one - and a great awl it is. Good for belts and for cutting nylon cable ties. Makes a great and safer box opener too.

Ruler: The Charge Ti is the only one of these three to include this important feature.

Chisel/Wire scraper - Victorinox - unique and great tool. You can always use the wire cutter to strip and scrape wire. The Victorinox has about a half dozen ways - but thise chisel/scraper tool is a really great wire stripper as well a solid chisel for detail work. For model building this is a big plus.

Handle grip: Winner: Charge Ti - the titanium textured grips are totally awesome. The Gerber has big aluminum grips with inset rubber panels. The rubber comes out after a year. The alumninum is light but bulky. The curve is kinda cool - but also kinda dorky. The Victorinox has a super shiny polished grip that looks like it's going to be slippery. In practice the grip is fine (I haven't used it in muddy or oily situations - but that would be bad for any multitool).

Case: Winner Charge Ti - available leather case with snap closure. Snap is more durable than velco. The bad thing about the Charge's case is the stretchy side panels. I wonder about their durability. The Victorinox has solid leather case - very nice - but velcro closure. After the velcro stops working I'll take it to a leather shop to have a snap closure put in. The Gerber only has a nylon case with velcro closure.

Cost - the Victorinox is half the cost of the Charge - but lacks the bits. The Gerber slots between the two. The Victorinox at $50 isn't dirt cheap - but is pretty good value for the money.

Size - the Victorinox is the smallest and lightest by a wide margin.

Fit and finish: The Victorinox is the slickest with the tightest tolerances and smoothest most polished motions. As someone else points out - however, it has dead pins, preventing you from replacing tools down the road. The Charge is a close second and has torx pin closure. The Gerber must be singled out for scorn on the design front. A number of tools cannot be taken out without removing the adjacent tool and the scissors opens and closes in such a manner that you risk a cut each time.

Overall winner depends on your list of priorities. I'd say the Charge Ti is the best overall - most useful in the widest range of situations. Ultimately, any of these tools will serve you well. The Victorinox Spirit with its high utility, great refinement, light weight and low price is real nice pick - expecially well suited to the well dressed, ladies, and anyone who appreciates a nice unit.

A cool addition to the swisstool family.
What's good:
1) The needlenose pliers in spirit is more useful if you need need to grip smaller items.
2) Smaller size, easier to carry.
3) Inner tools can be opened when the pliers is closed.
4) Even better fit and finish in general. Eg locking buttoms, individual springs and that unique blade...etc.

What's bad:
1) Why use the dead pins to connect the whole tool? You can't fix it, you can't change the inner tools.... They should use screws instead.
2) May not 100% stainless steel, note that the file or some parts maybe casehardened steel.
3) No ruler.
4) Unlike some people, i don't like the curved handles of the spirit, sure they make the pliers action perform better, but if you want to use the outside tools, it performs poorer...
5) The new scissors design is bad, the spring is still under tension when closed and it's mouth is so short!
6) That stupid and poorly-designed hook. I only need a simple reamer...

Very Good Tool
I used the SwissTool Plus almost every day for three years until I lost it, and I bought the SwissTool Spirit Plus to replace it.

The first impression is that it fits better in the hand, but it feels less solid. I mean, the other tool produced a strong sound while closing and required force to open. It still felt new after three years of heavy use.

However, with the SwissTool one could break his nails trying to open the sheets appling force with a wrong angle. The new tool is much more confortable in that respect.

Also a big improvement are the scissors instead the plain knife. The more useful serrated knife is still there. There are 3-4 new functions and the bit case holds the bits much tighter. The leather pouch has a better construction, but I prefered the black color.

Another benefit is that the new tool is much lighter. To bad there is no ruler on the Spirit, since after some time with the other tool I used to measure small objects or distances on a map quite frequently.

In short, the Spirit is an improvement over the outstanding original tool. I only wonder if the new model will be as solid as the old one.