Do Any Swiss Army Knives Come With A USB Drive?

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From the battleground to the boardroom, Swiss Army Knives have evolved to fulfill modern needs. And one unexpected way that it manages to do it? Adding a USB drive into its arsenal. While USB flash drives are typically used for storage, they can do a ton of other nifty things as well, like act as a password manager, boot operating systems, and even act like digital keys. For this reason, it's no wonder that a good flash drive is essential to many people's lives, especially those who work in the office environment.

For over a decade now, the Swiss brand has released a couple of versions of the Swiss Army Knife that have included USB drives. However, as our needs as a society changed, so has its line up of offers. These days, Victorinox lists three Swiss Army Knives in its portfolio that have USB flash drives on its official website: Victorinox@Work, Midnite Manager@Work, and Jetsetter@Work Alox, which also won the 2018 reddot design award. All three of these options have 32 GB capacity, a read speed of 90 MB/s, and a write speed of 50 MB/s. In addition, they both have two types of interfaces: 3.0 Type-A and 3.1 Type C.

Currently, Victorinox's website doesn't have an updated list of retailers wherein they are sold. However, you can still find them at online stores like Amazon. So, if you're eager to invest in one, here are some ways that you can get them today.

On the official Amazon Victorinox store in the United States, the Victorinox@Work has an average rating of 4.6 stars from 50+ people. Retailing for $122.62, Amazon also offers payment plans for qualified buyers. On the other hand, the Midnite Manager@Work is listed on Amazon Spain's official Victorinox store for €52.07 or around $57. So far, it has an impressive 4.7 star average rating from more than 160 satisfied users. In some cases, the brand even lists secondhand options here as well.

But if you want something cheaper, the Spanish Victorinox Amazon store also offers the Jetsetter@Work Alox for €42.15 or an estimated $46. While it has the least Amazon reviews at only 43, most users have given it a thumbs up, as it clocks in 4.8 stars on average. However, you will also need to consider the hefty delivery costs that come with importing your knives from abroad. As of this writing, you can expect to spend an estimated €12 or a little over $13 if you want to get your hands on it in the United States. On the other hand, there's also no shortage of new Swiss Army Knives with USBs on eBay that usually hover around the $80 price range and up, but they do come from unofficial retailers. But take note, if you're going to get a specific SAK just for the USB option, it's important to know that there are some issues that may come with it.

To start with, it's important to know that while Victorinox is known to be a consistently great manufacturer, consumer technology is not its forte. For this reason, the USB included in the set may be good, but not exactly the best you can get on the market. While it did release a $3,000 version with a 1TB SSD capacity over a decade ago that rivals the capacity of large USB flash drives available today, the currently listed SAK with USBs fall under the 32GB range. Not to mention, there are models by other manufacturers that may have better transfer rates. 

Second, USBs in general are not meant to be exposed to the elements. Victorinox says its USB SAKs shouldn't even get wet. So, if you're one of those people who like bringing their knife on all kinds of adventures and love trying all the ways it can be used, this can lead to damage. That said, all the currently listed SAK USBs can be fully removed, so you do have the option to take it out every time that it could be at risk. However, not only is this a hassle, but it can lead to you misplacing it. And unlike other Swiss Army Knife parts, like the scales, toothpick, or tweezer, you can't buy official Victorinox replacement USBs. This means, once you break or lose it, you're going to need to buy second-hand and this opens a whole new set of problems.

While there's no shortage of vintage and used Swiss Army Knives that can perform up to the same standard as the ones that are fresh out of the box, the ones with USBs introduce unique problems that the others don't deal with. Unlike many of the Swiss Army Knife's other parts, modern USBs are not necessarily built to stand the test of time, and they're prone to the same digital decay and rusting that way many other electronic components are. 

In addition, although Victorinox may have designed their SAKs to have the best USBs possible during their release, the reality is that technology is continuously improving and the rate of improvements can make things feel old very quickly. For example, it might not have enough storage capacity or be fast enough or what you need it to do.

And lastly, you should consider that the previous owner of the Swiss Army Knife may not have taken care of it properly. Apart from the typical washing it with soap and oiling it (with the right type of oils), SAKs with electronics like USBs need to be fully removed every time. Plus, there is always the possibility that they didn't follow standard USB usage safety tips, which can lead to it acquiring malware that can infect your personal or work devices. In fact, malware is the reason we've cautioned against buying used USB flash drives in general.