Blades in our A grade knives vary a bit, but they are all in excellent condition.
Most A grade knives still have their original shiny finish, with little or no signs of wear, similar to the example above.
Some may have a few scratches or rub marks from use, similar to the example above. Small flaws are more visible when the blade is viewed in reflected light.
The condition of front and back tools in our A grade knives vary a bit, but they are all in excellent condition. You may see slight signs of use if you look close, but nothing that affects use of the tool. Nothing will be bent, broken or twisted. There may be faint scratching on the tool sides, but they often are still smooth and shiny.
A grade knives still have very good blade "snap". That means the blades will spring to the fully open and fully closed positions with an audible click. It's a sign that the blade moves freely on the springs, and pivots with almost no friction.
NOTE: Because of the way the springs are designed, some tools and blades have more snap than others. For example, the openers and small blade will usually not snap as well as the large blade. A few tools have a stop midway along their path, which also reduces snap at the ends. Several tools also share each spring, so blade snap will be reduced when other tools are already open.
A grade knives with standard Cellidor scales or smooth aluminum alox will nearly always have "pocket wear" on the scales, usually in the form of many small scratches in the material. However they will not have any serious gouges, holes, cracks or gaps. Knives with ribbed alox or matte nylon scales typically show little or no wear on the scales.
A grade knives have little or no corrosion or damage on the liners (the spacers between blades). Note that all Swiss Army knives have some roughness on the liner edges, even when new. They are stamped from sheet metal and not ground or polished afterwards.
Grade A knives will always have toothpick, tweezers and key ring (if they are included on the model). We replace any broken scissors springs. Models with pens will write properly. Models with flashlights or electronics will be in working order.