The South African Defence Forces Knife: the Victorinox Pioneer with a NATO Stock Number.

The Victorinox Pioneer and Model 1961 Soldier’s SAK.

Welcome to Part 6 of my series on collecting the Victorinox Pioneer and its military-issued twin, the Model 1961. Regular readers will know that I love these SAKs and have already written about them in a two-part series of articles that eventually blossomed into five parts (now six). If you want to get caught up for the purposes of today’s article, I suggest starting with Part 2 of the series, and, if your interest is piqued, Part 5 is only a click away. The hardest core among you may want to go back and read Parts 1 through 5 in order, then come back here and learn about today’s oddity, the South African Defence Forces Knife.

The South African Defence Forces Knife. This pristine specimen belongs to jnoxyd at multitool.org, and the picture is used with permission.

If, like me, you tend to pronounce the abbreviation SAK as the word “sack,” I can’t recommend trying the same thing with this South African issued multitool. Regardless of how you say it or what you call it, these have become scarce and difficult to find, especially outside of South Africa, and are worthy of your time and attention. Let’s start with the history of the knife and what we know about it, and then I’ll spend a few words grappling with the elephant in the room, the morality of collecting the artifacts of a government that imposed harsh, immoral policies.

But first, the normal disclaimer regarding my expertise. I’ve pieced together what I know of these knives from talking to other collectors, posting in the SAK forum on multitool.org, and comparing the knife to other contemporaneous specimens in my own collection. If you know something about these South African knives, please do get in touch as I always welcome factual corrections and new information from other collectors and enthusiasts.

The SADFK, the SAK with an NSN.

The most immediately noticeable feature of this Victorinox Pioneer, which tells us we’re dealing with something a bit different here, is the presence of a 13-digit numerical code on the engraving plate of the top scale. Collectors of militaria will immediately recognize this as a NATO stock number, or NSN. It is a code that identifies the class of item generally (the first four digits), the country that first codified the item (the next two digits), and the specific item itself (the last seven digits).

A modern CWC chronograph’s caseback, with its 13-digit NSN, pheon indicating Crown property, and serial number/year of issue. I wish I had never sold this watch (and sorry for the finger prints).

I have a little experience with decoding NSN’s from watch collecting but the last time I checked, South Africa was not a NATO country. It turns out that the NSN system isn’t just used by the 29 NATO countries, and that another 34 NATO-sponsored countries use the system as well. I learned from a South African pen pal that Victorinox produced thousands of these knives from the early 1970’s to the early 1990’s. They were subsequently supplied to the SADF through the Victorinox distributor in South Africa, a family-owned company called Sharp Edge, who told my pen pal that the knives came from the Victorinox factory stamped with the NSN.

The NATO Stock Number of the SADFK.

NSN 7340-18-400-2426.

And sure enough, with only a very little digging we see that 18 is the NSN country code for South Africa. Presumably, the remaining seven digits stand for something like “tool, folding, pocket;” but my Google Fu isn’t strong enough to decode this so specifically. If you’re an NSN expert and know what “400-2426” refers to exactly, please let me know.

Dating the SADFK Pioneer.

The clues this knife offers as to its identity and age are its “old cross” Victorinox mark on the top scale, the thickness and angularity of the tool stock, the small-v tang stamp, and the brass liner and keyring spacer. Let’s take these in turn, starting with the old cross scales.

The “old cross” device on the top scale of a Pioneer (top) and the SADFK (bottom).

From its introduction in 1957 and through about 1999, Victorinox used its now-so-called old cross mark on the top scale of the Pioneer. This mark is distinct from the company’s trademarked cross and shield device, which, although it dates to 1909, didn’t appear on the Alox-scaled SAKs until after 1999. The old cross was also different than the Swiss cross Victorinox used on the Model 1961’s top scale through 1977, which itself was subsequently over-struck with the Waffenkontrolle’s acceptance stamp. So judging from the old cross device itself, we know the SADFK must’ve been produced before 1999. But this much was obvious already, so it’s not much help.

The SADFK. Note the nickel-silver pins on the ends and steel pin in the center.

Regarding the tool stock, a distinct difference in the thickness as well as the sharp, angular edges can be seen in the implements of the Model 1961 moving from the 1995 to 1996 issue years and in contemporaneous Pioneers. My SADFK has the thicker, squarer-edged tool stock with the less-polished finish. The machining marks on these implements are clearly visible, whereas on Model 1961’s and Pioneers from after this time the implements are made from slightly thinner stock and have a shiny, polished appearance with softer, rounder edges. So the tool stock gets us another couple years, to 1995 or earlier.

Tool stock on the SADFK is thicker and squarer-edged than modern Pioneers.

On to the SADFK’s small-v VSSR tang stamp. Of course you’ll recall that the “VSSR” abbreviation refers to Victorinox, Switzerland, Stainless, Rostfrei. Within this, Victorinox collectors refer to “small-v” and “Big-V” tang stamps, which describes the size of the V in the all-caps “VICTORINOX” relative to the rest of the letters in the word. If the V is the same size as the rest of the letters, we call this the small-v, and if it’s a little taller than the rest of the letters, we call this the Big-V. Victorinox made the switch from small-v to Big-V tang stamps in about 1987, so now we know this particular SADFK wasn’t produced after 1986.

The small-v of the SADFK’s tang stamp (L) and a Big-V VSSR tang stamp from a later Pioneer (R).

Our last visible clue is the liner and keyring spacer of this SADFK, which are made of brass, and not nickel-silver. The Model 1961 was never supplied with brass liners, but the Pioneer was, from its introduction in 1957 through about 1984-85. This knife’s warm brass liner and keyring spacer jump out at you and tell us that its production year can’t be later than 1984-85.

Mmm, brass liners. Pioneer top, SADFK bottom. Note also cap lifter tool stock is square-edged and thicker .

Most SAK nerds love brass liners. Earlier this year when I had an old cross Pioneer X custom-built for me by someone much more skilled at modding than I am, I had the maker fabricate and use brass liners. The warmth and charm from brass must be seen to be appreciated, as it immediately adds to the personality and charisma of any knife, and long have I mourned the disappearance of brass liners from the Pioneer.

My custom old cross Pioneer X. Note the Elinox tang stamp and hand-peened brass pins.

But back to the SADFK at hand — one final, very compelling clue of context is the contemporaneous Dutch Army Knife. This Model-1961-alike, produced from 1983 to 1992 for the Dutch army and navy, featured brass liners only in 1983, after which year Victorinox switched to nickel-silver. So this peels another year off our elusive likely production date and gets us down to 1983 or earlier.

The KL 83, a Victorinox Model 1961 issued to Royal Dutch Army in 1983. Note the brass liner visible in bottom image. Compliments of Glenfiddich1983 at multitool.org.

Finally, I know an avid collector who seems to be able to date SAKs down to the year, and sometimes to parts of a year, working from the subtlest of tooling and machine marks. His methods are empirical (not to mention unpublished), but his record is remarkable when compared to SAK’s of known vintage. When he saw pictures of my SADFK he estimated its year of production at 1979-1980.

What about Apartheid?

Working from all these sources and reference points leads me to conclude that my SADFK originates from the “early 1980’s,” which is good enough for me. I confess that I was secretly hoping my SADFK was post-Apartheid, but there you have it. This brings us to the awkward collector’s conundrum. Sometimes immoral governments specify and procure really cool tools, like watches, cars, and SAKs.

One thing I really enjoy about SAK collecting is that they aren’t weapons; they’re tools. I would feel entirely differently about owning a combat knife from the service of an immoral government. I know there are people who collect them, and I have nothing against this. I am glad there are historians, curators, and enthusiasts who study these items, but it’s not for me personally.

I was a kid in high school in the early 1980’s, and I remember reading about Apartheid, the protests, and the struggle for equality that the Black population endured. It was confusing for me; I now know it was terrifying for Black kids who happened to live there. I remember there were products and companies doing business in South Africa that North American consumers boycotted in order to bring commercial pressure to bear upon the South African government (to my knowledge Victorinox was not among them).

I also own an old Land Rover, and certainly their products were also used by the South African government and many other governments around the world whose policies and laws were driven by beliefs many of us find repugnant. I still love my old Rover, which started out life as a humble British farm truck until it was imported to the US as an antique on the gray market.

Let me be clear. I am not impugning the South African people or country. For heaven’s sake, my own nation has its own morally stained past, and even today some US communities are passing laws against even holding the discussion. The line is tricky to draw, and we must each draw it for ourselves. Perhaps the best thing to come out of owning a vintage tool like the SADFK is that it causes people like me to pause, recollect, and consider, and to make some effort to learn about the world these tools populated.

This concludes my post on the SADFK Pioneer. I always welcome comments and factual corrections from my fellow collectors and enthusiasts. If you have thoughtful, considered opinions to share, please do so. I will ask that your most ardent political beliefs are withheld.