Can You Buy A Left-Handed Swiss Army Knife?

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At least 10% of the world's population is left-handed, so you might think that a left-handed Swiss Army Knife would be a straightforward thing to purchase. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. While lefties can, of course, use standard Swiss Army Knives – and many of them do – using tools designed with right-handed users in mind can be annoying. Blade orientation and tool placement on a Swiss Army Knife are optimized for right-handed use. As the Redditor in this thread says, "the cutting edge of the blade is on the wrong side when held in the left hand". They also point out that the scissors are right-handed.

Nobody makes left-handed Swiss Army Knives. There used to be a Wenger left-handed Swiss Army Knife that was introduced in the 1980s. It had mirrored tool layouts, reversed blade grinds, and left-twisted corkscrews, but the knife was discontinued twenty years ago when Wenger was acquired by Victorinox.

Victorinox doesn't stock left-handed multi-tool knives, and neither do other manufacturers like Fox Vulpis, Swiza, Böker, Ruike, or Leatherman. There's one left-handed pocket knife in Victorinox's product lineup, but it's a single-blade floral knife designed for cutting flower stems. If you're looking for a Swiss Army Knife, it's hardly a satisfactory alternative.

If you want a left-handed Swiss Army Knife, your only option is to purchase a Wenger model secondhand. These are fairly sought-after but do turn up on auction sites and eBay from time to time. At the time of writing, there were no Wenger left-handed knives available on eBay, but from the completed listings, you could see that several had been sold in the past few months. Alternatively, you could modify your Swiss Army Knife for easier left-handed use by adding thumb studs to the blades. This overcomes the right-hand bias of the grooves, which can make it hard to open the blade. It isn't a straightforward mod, as it requires drilling a hole through the knife while ensuring you don't obstruct other tools.

Understandably, most people don't want to make major changes like this to their Swiss Army Knives, so mostly, it seems, left-handed Swiss Army Knife users simply learn to adapt to using a right-handed tool. For example, this forum user on Multitool.org says, "The only thing I have a slight problem with is the can opener. I still use it left-handed, but I use it from the bottom of the can." Other left-handed Swiss Army Knife owners don't see the problem. This Redditor says, "I'm a lefty and don't even think about my Victorinox not being 'left-handed'".

Tailor-made left-handed Swiss Army knives are now a thing of the past. But history has a way of repeating itself. Perhaps in the future, given enough demand, their time will come again.