Wenger Giant Swiss Army Knife

The Wenger Giant is the largest Swiss Army Knife ever made. It is the only SAK that has the most tools, as it has each and every tool that Wenger has ever produced for their Swiss Army Knives. The Giant comprises of 87 tools that can perform 141 different functions. In the process, the Wenger Giant also became the most expensive Swiss Army Knife that money can buy.

Talking of superlatives, the Wenger Giant did feature in the Guinness World Records for being the largest multi-tool. Specifically, the Guinness Book Of World Records awarded it the distinction of the ‘most multifunctional penknife ‘. The Giant was also a finalist for the Outstanding Technology of the Year Award for 2006, from the International Academy of Sciences.

Following are the dimensions and weight of the Wenger Giant:

Length: 85mm

Width: 26mm

Weight: over 3 lbs

Thickness: 244mm

Yes, this knife is more than 9 inches thick. Funny how Guinness Book calls it a penknife! This monster certainly is not something you can call a pocket knife or a holstered knife.

Officially, the model is referred to as the Wenger 16999, but popularly (especially among collectors), the model is known as the Wenger Giant. It comes only in standard red-coloured scales.

As Wenger has included each and every tool they have designed over a century-long history of making Swiss Army Knives, the Giant ended up having 14 blades, three types of pliers, countless screwdrivers, saws, wrenches and a lot of other tools.

There have been tool variations in the Wenger Giant over the years since its first inception.

The Wenger Giant along with the certificate from Guinness Book!

This is because Wenger used to produce a newer model of the Giant each year to include all the newer implements that they have designed for their SAKs for that specific year. Ultimately, the Wenger ended up having 87 tools in all, which can perform 141 distinct functions.

If you are interested in how and who thought of creating this unusual and extraordinary SAK, keep reading.

Why was the Wenger Giant made?

But what if we can have all the tools in one single model? This is exactly the idea that Michel Champion at Wenger came up with.

Michel Champion is known as the father of the Wenger Giant. He used to work in the assembly department of Wenger’s Delemont factory in Switzerland. After he saw some big knives in the Guinness Book, he thought of creating one by assembling all the tools that Wenger makes in a single model. He presented the idea of creating this big SAK to Wenger management.

The idea was accepted by Wenger management. The aim was not to win a world record certificate but to ensure that Wenger was capable of achieving such a feat.

“We wanted to show what a Swiss Army knife could look like with all the tools in one product… to show this handy toolbox in its most extreme form

Peter Hug (Wenger’s chief executive)

It took ten weeks of development for Wenger to come up with the first prototype of the Giant. Mr. Champion engineered the manufacturing process and created the first Wenger Giant, in the year 2000.

How was the Wenger Giant made?

The Wenger Giant is assembled by hand. The assembling and riveting process are manual, as Michel Champion did mention that it is impossible for a machine to assemble a knife like the Giant. Initially, he alone was responsible for putting the knife together as he knew exactly where each tool should go.

In the beginning he could assemble two units a day. As he gained experience, he was capable of assembling eight such units in a day.. Champion said that only the assembling process took about one hour.

Mr. Champion later trained his colleague Mr. Leuenberger to assemble the Giant. The two of them were the only technicians in Wenger trained to assemble this monster SAK.

Wenger assembled about 25 units of the Giant in 2000. These were used for exhibitions in various trade shows.

The Wenger Giant

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