Victorinox Vintage Awl

Prior to 1961, Victorinox Swiss Army knives had a larger awl with no sharp edges. It was originally designed for cleaning the end of a rifle, and had no drilling capacity like the modern Victorinox awl. This tool is sometimes called a reamer.

In 1961, Victorinox replaced the vintage awl with two different tools-- a small awl on the red-handled officer models, and a reamer on the new aluminum alox Soldier model.

Other Awls

Modern versions of the Victorinox awl includes a hole about midway along its length, so you can use it to push thread through leather or cloth when making emergency repairs. Victorinox added this feature to the awl in 1991, so you can use its absence to date the older Swiss Army knives (if there is a small awl with no sewing hole, it was manufactured between 1961 and 1991).

A few Victorinox Swiss Army knives include a reamer that has similar functions, but a slightly different shape. There is also a plain awl on the SwissTool, with a more abrupt taper and a sharper edge.

The Wenger awl/reamer is a similar tool that does not have the groove and sharp edge. It's a gentler tool that you can use to push a hole into soft materials, or to remove burrs from a drilled hole in metal or wood.

The Leatherman awl/reamer has a similar groove, with a more abrupt taper.

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