Swiss army knife maker to produce range without a blade

A Victorinox Swiss army knife. The company has responded to an increasing number of countries imposing bans or restrictions on carrying knives. Photograph: V & A

For more than a century, the Swiss army knife has been an essential piece of kit for everyone from picnickers and equestrians, to golfers and astronauts.

But now the maker of the pocket-knife, with its red or blue shell and multiple tools, has bowed to what an English judge last week called the “plague of knife crime” by designing a new range without blades.