Control stamps after repairs in the arsenals

When a soldier’s knife was repaired in an arsenal it received a control stamp on one side of the handle guaranteeing that it was again fit for service.

We have little information on this particular subject, the two stamps below are known and referenced in the book "Le couteau du soldat suisse" by Thierry Deladoey.

We have recently discovered a triangular stamp, hitherto unknown, on a "Modèle 1951" knife.

We assume that this is a different kind of control stamp following repair, but we cannot affirm this with any certainty.

This information is currently being verified.

“Private” stamp

There are two types of “P” stamp :

- Stamped during the manufacture of the knife, reserved for civilian replicas of some soldier’s knives. This stamp is characterised by its regularity and precision. For more information, see "The Victorinox civilian production "200 R" (stainless steel) and "200 S" (steel), replicas of the Swiss 1908 Model". It seems that this practice ended in 1950.

- It was stamped if a soldier wanted to keep his knife as a souvenir after his military service. The knife was manually stamped and thus was less regular and precise than the factory stamp. This practice seems to have finally ended at the same time as the disappearance of the "Waffenkontrolle" stamp.