The World’s most famous pocket knife is the legendary Victorinox Swiss Army knife. But the history of the pocket knife goes a long way back. A pocket knife counts as any foldable knife with one or more blades that fits into the handle and should then fit into the pocket.

The earliest discovery of the pocket knife was in the early Iron Age between 600 to 500BC. In Spain, a pre-Roman era Iberian folding blade pocket knife was found.

It all started with the peasant knife, also known as the penny knife or the farmer knife. This knife folded in and out of the handle without any locking mechanism for the blade.

The next development came with the slip joint knife. These pocket knives were used for light duty work. The blade doesn’t lock when opened, but it is held in place by tension from a back spring. These knives became popular during the Industrial Revolution because of the development of machinery capable of mass production.

Next came the multi0tool knife, made famous by the Swiss Army Knife from Victorinox. This came about through the Swiss government commissioning Victorinox to create a knife for their military.

A knife was created that had a pivot point mechanism, which allowed the addition of extra tools. These extra tools can include a knife blade, can opener, screwdriver, nail file and many others.