My Swiss Army Knife Is Far More than a Multitool
I was following my teenage sons down the cobblestone streets of Lucerne, Switzerland’s Old Town last month when a store window full of bright red folding knives caught my eye. Suddenly, I was transported back to my 21-year-old self and felt a distinct pull to enter the Victorinox shop.
Twenty minutes later, I walked out carrying a “Mountaineer” model Swiss Army Knife engraved with my initials, “L.J.”, and wearing a grin on my face. My mind flashed between visions of future scenarios where my new knife would come in handy—or save me, McGyver-style—and memories of past adventures.
Decades prior, I’d been roaming around Europe with a backpack and a Eurorail Pass, like many international 20-somethings, and was staying a few nights in a bunk room at Balmers Hostel in Interlaken, Switzerland. I’d met some Australians on holiday, a couple Canadians, and two brothers from D.C. The pack of us whitewater rafted (a first for me) and spent days hiking among snowcapped giants. We stayed a couple nights at Gimmelwald’s Mountain Hostel—a hamlet of simplicity and beauty reached only by gondola—before returning to Balmers. I felt a mountain awakening in my beachy Southern California soul.
Before leaving Balmers, en route to Italy by train, I bought myself a token of self-sufficiency from the hostel’s general store: a red Swiss Army Knife.
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