Barir's World
Humanity To Others;Knowledge Is Not Ours To Keep Alone;Your Mind Is Your Most Precious Resource
Snow and Cold
Rescued from the night, the snow and the cold
In a letter dated 11 September 1975 José Louis Botti, an anthropology student from Buenos Aires, Argentina, describes how he survived a perilous situation. His Swiss knife, made by Victorinox, saved the day – and probably saved his life. This example also shows how much the owner of a Victorinox po cketknife places trust in this useful and practical tool and is keen to keep it in good repair at any price.
«I’m an anthropology student, specialising in archaeology. At that
time I had another two projects to do before I could complete my
studies. I was engaged as a project assistant while also working for an
oil company. As you can imagine, my life is often spent in very remote
areas with poor access. Most of the time I work by myself in the
outdoors. Problems frequently arise which would be easy to solve in
most cases if you had the right tool to hand. Unfortunately, however,
you never do.
On a lonely road
For some years now, however, this has no longer been a problem, as I’ve had a Victorinox pocket18 knife as my constant companion. I always keep it at hand just in case I need it, which I frequently do; it does the job where other pocket-knives would have failed long ago. It goes without saying that it has always served me superbly.
But everything has its limitations. One particular day I was on a lonely road, without any food and night was drawing in. My car had become stuck in snow and there was the risk that I would freeze to death. With the help of my pocket-knife, however, I was able to saw through a branch some 15 cm thick to use as a lever for the car. Just as I had almost sawn through the thick branch the strain snapped the blade. However, because the saw had cut deep enough into the wood, I was able to lever the vehicle out of the snowdrift with the thick branch and continue my journey.»