First Swiss army knifes were produced in the late 19th century, and the idea of combined blades and tools existed long before. Folding pocket knives were in wide use everywhere, so surely Russians manufactured and used them even before USSR.
Re:Marshal Zhukov's Pocket Knife
by huhtenberg on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @05:31AM
(#20755718)
I strongly suspect this is a one-off hand-made knife. This is certainly not a mass-produced item.
> certainly not a mass-produced item
With a stock set of tools that is almost the same today on every multitool knife, including a toothpick which a marshal of course needs direly on a knife. And with handle finish that was ubiquitously used on kitchen utensils.
(A fork is a rarity today, though.)
This part really struck me hard because my tools are all mint, despite being bought years ago:
> For me, the knife’s most compelling quality is that it clearly saw hard use, most probably by Zhukov himself: some of the blades are stained; a slot that once contained a toothpick is empty; and a couple of tools appear to be broken off, including what was once a small pair of scissors.