Trekker

The Trekker is a very common Victorinox 111mm knife with a locking main blade, and an extra strong locking screwdriver / cap-lifter. It has three layers with a popular mix of tools. Some recent versions feature a one-handed (OH) opening blade (pictured). This OH Trekker is a civilian version of the original One Handed German Army Knife (OH GAK).

Table of Contents

Blades
Non-Blade Tools
Scales
Physical Specifications
Variations
History
Identifiers
Related Knives

Blades

Knife Blade that is Liner Locking
Cap Lifter (extra strong, Liner Locking)
Can opener
Wood Saw
Reamer/Awl (no sewing-eye)
Phillips Screwdriver

Non-Blade Tools

Scales

The Trekker comes with Nylon scales. It is currently only available in black, liner-locking version. An earlier version, probably marketed as the Trailmaster, had red nylon scales with a slide lock.

Physical Specifications

Length: 111mm (including saw-tip protrusion)
Height: 34.7mm (top of round opening OH blade)
Width: 17.8mm (OHT Version)
Weight: 127g / 4.5oz (OHT Version)

Variations

The Trekker has a cousin: The One Handed Trekker (OHT). This version has a main blade that can be opened with one hand. The blade is serrated rather than plain-edged as with the Trekker. The picture above is the OHT version. The One-Handed version of the Trekker (OHT) has several different versions available.

OH GAK
The OHT is a civilian version of the original One Handed German Army Knife (OH GAK) which replaced the 108mm German Army Knife (the GAK) in 2003 (see below). The OH GAK is near identical to the first version of the OHT, except that it has olive drab green scales with a molded in German Army Eagle, and it doesn't have the toothpick or tweezers. The OH GAK has a low-profile lock release, recent versions of the Trekker have a more prominent release which can be more uncomfortable when the knife is tightly gripped.

OHT Plain Edge
The OHT was released in a limited run with a black coated blade. A limited run of Plain Edged One Handed Trekkers (PE OHT) was done in late 2007 (date needs verification). In 2008 a plain-edged One Hand Opening blade was offered as a standard option.

History

Originally called the Trailmaster, it was renamed the Trekker due to the name already being in use with Cold Steel of California. Cold Steel's TrailMaster Bowie knife is one of their signature knives, and so Victorinox changed the name of their knife. The Trailmaster name can be found on some older packaging, and outside of the United States.

The OHT was released in 2003 as a civilian version of the new German Army Knife. Victorinox was awarded the exclusive contract which called for a one handed opening knife with all the features of the current 108mm version GAK. The 108mm contract was shared amongst many other manufacturers GAK Variants. After choosing the Trekker model and adapting it to a one handed design, Victorinox offered it in the civilian market, where it has proven to be very popular.

In 2008 a Plain-Edged One Hand Opening blade was offered as a standard option on the Trekker (Model: 54875).