Jeep Engine Repaired in the Desert
The Norwegian Tore Lund Bache has carried his Victorinox knife on travels around the world for more than 25 years. It was given to him as a gift in 1968 by his company, OSO. In July 1992 he wrote to Victorinox in Ibach and told them the story of a trip which, thanks to the knife, passed without serious consequences.:
«The knife has been my companion for 25 years and has travelled with me all round the world. I have always kept it in my left trouser pocket, even in my smoking jacket, ready for use at all times. The OSO company logo has almost completely disappeared. There are numerous stories involving this knife. It has become a legend among my friends, who are always asking me the same question: “have you got your OSO knife with you?” So I’d like to tell you one of these stories.
In 1969 I bought an old Willys Jeep, a Second World War model. It was a beautiful old vehicle and you could repair any of the parts (unlike today’s vehicles, on which broken parts have to be replaced). I took it for a spin into the desert at once, to try out the four-wheel drive. This test drive took me several kilometres into a marshy wooded area where no vehicle had obviously ever been before. And then my engine died.
The problem was that the fuel supply was no longer getting to the engine. Something was wrong with the fuel pump. There were no tools in my newly-acquired vehicle, and all I had in my pocket was a little loose change, a ballpoint pen and my Victorinox knife. With the help of the knife, however, I was able to scrape out and open the fuel pump. There were no screws on the pump, but I was able to use the knife’s bottle opener, which fitted the lid exactly.» «The suction valve in the fuel pump had broken into several pieces.
I used the knife to fashion a replacement part with the spring from the ballpoint pen. On reassembling the pump I was able to drive home. Although the knife hadn’t actually saved my life on that occasion it nevertheless enabled me to repair my vehicle. This saved me having to walk several kilometres and probably the trouble of finding a towtruck capable of towing the jeep back home.
Now, after 25 years of use, my knife is finally being retired. The spring locks on the blades are suffering from fatigue and the tool is worn out. That’s why last year I felt the time had come to buy a new pocket-knife. It simply had to be a Victorinox. Although it has the same shape, today’s models seem slightly longer and thicker and perhaps a bit stronger? I am happy with the quality of the new model. My only question: is the old model still available? It’s slightly thinner and shorter and so fits more easily into my pocket. In any case I will be sending you my old knife. As you can see, apart from the faults mentioned above and the signs of 25 years of use, it is still in very good condition. I would like to thank you for the excellent quality of your knives. They make ideal gifts and are a pleasure to use – whenever and wherever. Though, my wife doesn’t seem to appreciate it when I feel like doing my nails at the opera.»
A Pocket Knife Used as a Scalpel
On a domestic flight to Bangalore, India, a child was in danger of choking to death on a sweet that was stuck in his throat. Thanks, however, to a quickwitted doctor and the Victorinox pocket-knife, the child was saved. A similar incident happened on a Dublin street. In both cases lives were saved thanks to the knife from Ibach.
Passengers on a domestic flight in January 1976 witnessed the terrifying moments in which a young mother cried out for help in desperation because her child had swallowed a hard sweet and was in danger of choking. At first an attempt was made to rescue the child with an oxygen cylinder, but without success. Fortunately there was a doctor on the flight. The child was already in a critical condition, so he decided to carry out an emergency operation. However, the first-aid box on board did not have a scalpel. The hostess appealed urgently for a pocket knife over the loudspeakers. A passenger handed the doctor a clean, new and sharpened Swiss Officer’s Knife. The doctor quickly performed a tracheotomy. This courageous action saved the child. Shortly afterwards they landed in Bangalore and the child was rushed to hospital. There was not even an infection as a result of the emergency operation.
A Roadside Operation
The life of a nine-year old boy was hanging by a thread in June 1990.
Philip Byrne was spending his holidays with an aunt in Dublin, Ireland. While riding his bicycle to a carnival he was hit by a car. He was left lying in the road, badly injured – with internal injuries that could have cost him his life. By extraordinary coincidence a group of surgeons were travelling in the car behind. They operated on the boy on the spot using a Swiss pocket-knife and attached a drainage tube for the blood.
Philip has these doctors and the Victorinox knife to thank for saving his life.
Repairs in Space
In May 1991 the Discovery space shuttle set off on one of its flights into near space. As always, each of the astronauts carried a Victorinox pocket-knife as part of their personal equipment. On this particular mission an expensive experiment would have failed if the little red tool hadn’t got the astronauts out a jam. The remarkable story was even reported in detail in Le Figaro, the world-renowned French newspaper.
During the mission it was discovered that a piece of recording equipment was no longer functioning properly. The task of this piece of equipment was to record data from two telescopes for use in experiments. On the sixth day of the nine-day mission, Ground Control in Houston, Texas worked out a solution to the problem. A new cable connection was required to a sophisticated computer. In order to carefully strip the insulation from the wires, the astronaut used a Victorinox Army Officer’s Knife. The computer was successfully re-connected and the vital data rescue.
Very Standard Knives
As the spokesman for the mission, James Hartsfield, explained, the Victorinox Army Officer’s Knife is standard equipment for all astronauts. “We give each astronaut a Swiss Army Officer’s Knife and they carry it with them on board. It’s been with every mission right from the outset.” The knives made for the astronauts at Victorinox are no different to the standard pocket-knives anyone can buy. In Hartsfield’s words: The knife accomplished its task well.»
Equipment Repaired in the Space Lab
In 1983 the German Ulf Merbold became the first non-American to go into space on a space shuttle. A piece of luck as it turned out for NASA, since Merbold rescued experiments costing countless millions on board the space shuttle with the help of his penknife. He was celebrated as a hero in the German press, as can be seen from the following report in the illustrated «New Review»:
«Let’s not get carried away. However, we are right to be just a little bit proud of our fellow countryman in space. Ulf Merbold, 42, a father of two, performed a small miracle. On the ten day flight on the US Space Shuttle «Columbia» he came to the rescue of a series of important experiments totalling several hundred million marks. All he needed for this was a Swiss knife and natural German thoroughness.
How did Merbold come to be up in space? The physicist from Stuttgart received a free place on the flight as a service in return, so to speak, for the financing by Europe of Space Lab to the tune of 2 billion German marks and for its being constructed in Bremen. Together with a second payload specialist his task was to carry out 72 experiments in the laboratory – at a height of 250 kilometres and a speed of eight kilometres a second.
The Wrong Kind of Wrench
It became evident during the very first days that things in the expensive laboratory need fixing, just like they do in an apartment. Things went wrong. And then came Ulf Merbold’s finest hour. As he started to open his first piece of equipment it became obvious that he had been sent into space armed with the wrong kind of wrench. Merbold solved the problem using his Swiss pocket-knife. Shortly afterwards there was a failure in the reflector furnace, part of an experiment to manufacture alloys of metal in space under weightless conditions at 1600 degrees. Merbold’s knife had a screwdriver to suit the purpose. Finally he used the knife to repair the electrical plug which had been incorrectly connected to the base. The United States, watching every move via satellite TV, was delighted: a genuine handyman in space.
Compliment from the Commander
Even the commander of the Columbia, moon landing veteran John Young, who was initially rather distant, was impressed with his passenger. “That guy over there” he said to the Ground Control Station, “has really been slogging his guts out and he doesn’t even have a good window seat.” Through Merbold (and thanks to Victorinox) Europe had indeed played its part in space travel»
American Admiral’s Life Saved
The Victorinox knife repeatedly turns up in stories about aircraft. In one case, following a tragic crash, it enabled a passenger to free himself from the burning wreckage. On another occasion the little red knife saved an American admiral’s life by being used to repair an oxygen mask. Without this he would have crashed into the Atlantic. Reports on these events were received at Ibach.
Seat Belts Cut Through
The following happened to Helmut Knosp from Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany::
«On 31 March I crashed into the French Voges on a flight from Reims, France to Freiburg in a four-seater sporting aircraft. My three companions were killed on the spot. I escaped with a few broken bones in my arms and legs and other minor injuries. My life was saved thanks to a Swiss Army Officer’s pocket-knife made by your company. With the help of the knife I was able to free myself from the crumpled, burning machine by cutting through the seat belt and then cutting my way through the plastic trim and forcing my way out of the window. Since then I have named the knife, my constant companion for many years, ’my lifesaver’ because without it I would no longer be alive.»
Oxygen Mask Repaired
The Army Officer’s Knife from Victorinox also saved the life of an American admiral, on this occasion over the Atlantic. The high-ranking officer wrote to Ibach saying:
«I have carried my Victorinox friend with me since I started flying 23 years ago. One dark night, in 1988, halfway across the Atlantic I needed it to repair the broken oxygen mask. If I hadn’t had the knife with me I would have been left with no choice but to fly much lower to enable me to breathe. However, this would have meant that the fuel would then not have been sufficient to reach the airport on the Azores (because of increased air resistance). I could have remained at high altitude, but this would have been very dangerous as I could have passed out through lack of oxygen. Neither alternative was a tenable option. Thanks to your super knife I was able to complete my flight safely and as planned.»
In 1966 a female American customer sent a Victorinox knife to Ibach for repair and wrote:
«Our son bought this knife eight years ago in Switzerland. He was ten years old and it was his first trip to Europe. He had earned the money for it himself and the knife was all that he wanted to bring home from Europe. The following summer he took it on a camping trip to a site on the Canadian border where he lost it. He was obviously very upset by this. The next summer he returned to the camp and found the knife purely by accident when diving in quite deep water. He could hardly believe it because it was still in the same condition as it had been when he lost it the year before. So you can understand why we would very much like to have it repaired.»
Cockpit Window Repaired
The second story involves a knife which travelled thousands of kilometres on journeys all round the world and continued to give good service.
«Although it has taken me a long time to get round to sending this letter, I would like to thank you for repairing my knife. It was returned in 1975 in almost the same condition as when I purchased it in 1959», writes Milton B. Mann in his letter to the world-famous company in Ibach.
«This is tremendous service and I cannot tell you how pleased I am with it. This knife represents a unique piece of my life history. It has accompanied me on numerous journeys through 71 countries, has travelled millions of kilometres with me and has been used for almost every task you could possibly imagine. Recently for example, during a refresher test I had to pass as a pilot, the examiner pointed out to me that one of the screws on the cockpit window was loose and he couldn’t close it. The wind was blowing into the cockpit. I told him that there was a screwdriver on my pocket-knife. But he replied that he needed a Philips screwdriver, a special tool for this kind of screw. The examiner was amazed when I showed him my pocket-knife which also had this particular kind of screwdriver attachment and the problem was solved.»
