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Victorinox Makes 1TB Swiss Army Knife

Posted by samzenpus on from the MacGyver-approved dept.

judgecorp writes "The Swiss Army knife has been available with storage for some time — now there is a 1 terabyte version. It comes with two bodies, so the storage can be swapped out into a flight-safe version with no knife or scissors. The company left the price off its release, but sources suggest it is $3000."

20 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by slimjim8094 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I like cool toys as much as the next nerd, but I can't come up with anyone who needs this kind of storage but can't carry around a small external HDD. Do they exist, or is this a "because we can" thing?

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    I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Easier to conceal, especially for international travel where an external disc drive is more likely to be searched/cloned/confiscated.

    2. Re:Why? by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I was just thinking, most of my music fits on 1tb (mp3 and a lot of my .flac).

      I currently serve music over nfs from a noisy back-room always-on server.

      if this is cheaper (soon it will be) then I'll fit all mu music on a noiseless flash drive. I can then play that on some local noiseless (fanless, etc) playback system.

      THAT is the draw for me, of large flash drives. thumbdrives are readable by even $30 dvd players (philips) and so your whole music collection can be on a stick that mounts on a consumer level appliance.

      that's neat, isn't it?

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    3. Re:Why? by c0d3g33k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Everyone need this kind of storage. A small external HDD is readily identifiable as such, so will be subject to arbitrary search and confiscation at the whim of the border guards. Better to store your data within ordinary items such as a hairbrush, keyfob or the flight-safe Swiss Army Knife. Preferably encrypted and redundantly distributed among as many innocuous items as you can stand to carry. When you have reached your destination, use your most secure device to update and change your security codes so the folks who confiscated your external HDD can't easily get to your personal information.

    4. Re:Why? by Sebastopol · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, because they certainly do NOT confiscate knives on planes. ;-)

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    5. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The problem with easy-to-conceal storage devices is if someone happens to find them anyway. Then, based on the fact that you were trying to conceal it, you get detained (or worse), your data confiscated, and your very own permanent Homeland Security file. The more effort you make to conceal it, the more suspicion you receive if it fails. You'd almost be better off carrying an unencrypted external USB hard drive labeled in Sharpie "porn and other private stuff".

    6. Re:Why? by Firehed · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I've travelled with multiple terabytes of "these are obviously hard drives" storage and never had a problem with search or confiscation. They did swab things down and run it through their bomb detector (unsurprising). If I have data that needs protection, it's encrypted - often twice (I run full-disk encryption on my system, and then encrypt any extra-sensitive data on top of that in case my system fails to lock for some reason).

      If I had the need of disguising the fact that I was bringing data at all, I'd probably put a microSD card behind/in an earring or something else that would have no trouble going through a metal detector (any concealed compartments would likely show up on xray, if they were really looking). Or just wrap the thing in plastic and swallow it.

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      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
    7. Re:Why? by magarity · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, because they certainly do NOT confiscate knives on planes. ;-)

      I'm thinking that even with the 'flight friendly' version since it has the Swiss Army logo on it, the TSA goons will simply suspect it has a blade and take it away anyway.

    8. Re:Why? by MichaelSmith · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There should be a container for micro sd cards which you can swallow. Its not 1TB but it could carry an OS which you use to download the rest of the data.

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      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    9. Re:Why? by Radtastic · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you want to make sure the TSA leaves your digital goodies alone, label it 'Viruses for AV Testing". Bonus: Carry a disclaimer form releasing you of damages if they do plug it in.

      --
      You stereotypers are all the same...
    10. Re:Why? by bemymonkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you're just looking for silent replacements for hard drives, just get a few SSDs. 1TB should barely come to $1500 (thinking two Intel 320 series 600GB drives), and it'll be MUCH MUCH MUCH faster than a dinky oversized thumb drive.

  2. If They Confiscate Your Cupcake? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The TSA will surely snag your "flight safe" Victorinox!

    They took a 3-inch plastic toy doll's rifle from a child - because it was a "replica firearm".

    Someday, they will face the gates of Hell. Today? They are your middle-school hall-monitors, with an authorization from the American STASI.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:If They Confiscate Your Cupcake? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 3

      It's pretty hard to justify confiscating a drive. If this is anything like the little 128MB version I've got, the "flight safe" version is where you physically detach the drive from the knife housing, and then you're only carrying the actual drive.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    2. Re:If They Confiscate Your Cupcake? by dgatwood · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You haven't been paying attention. The TSA has no need to justify anything, citizen. They repeatedly commit dubiously legal searches and seizures, illegal detentions, random groping, and unlicensed irradiation of the flying public under the threat of invalidating your expensive plane ticket purchase (extortion) if you do not comply. They can't justify most of what they do. That never stopped them from doing anything before. Why start caring now?

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    3. Re:If They Confiscate Your Cupcake? by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I was just trying to make the point that you're not flying with some sort of "flight-safe" knife, you're probably able to detach the actual drive.

      You're still flying with some part of a "weapon"/knife. That's grounds enough for the TSA, I'm sure.[/sarcasm]

      I fly often and used to try to be understanding of the TSA. But in the last year, or so, they've become increasingly obnoxious. I've seen other passengers harassed because they choose a pat-down over being irradiated. Passengers treated like criminals because they had a tube of tooth paste in their luggage. I had a VGA card ruined because a idiot agent pulled it out of the antistatic bag and swiped it all over with a cloth while arguing with me the entire time. Then afterward told me I could have just checked it, which was exactly what I asked to do while she argued with me.

  3. Re:3k??? by Imagix · · Score: 5, Informative

    Uh... read the specs again... that's 1 *TB*, not 1 *GB*.

  4. Just what the world needs by Bohnanza · · Score: 4, Funny

    A Swiss Army knife with no knife.

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    Sorry, I'm only a 1336 h4x0r.

  5. Itb in a knife by Master+Moose · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's cutting edge!

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    . . .gone when the morning comes
  6. Re:3k??? by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Funny

    Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'...

    Oh, wait, I thought you said 1024 Bee Gees. My bad.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  7. Re:3k??? by dissy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Then again, I remember when the only storage computers had was 4KB of RAM... and I'm sure some on here can remember when you had to fit it all on a punch card. Those were a bit bulky to carry on a flight, I'm sure.

    Warning: Pure nostalgia only below!

    I still have a working 10 meg MFM hard drive, that requires two 5.25" bays to mount in. My 8086 only has 8 bit ISA slots, and the only IDE controllers I've come across have required 16 bit ISA or PCI.

    Before I gave up the display shelf space, I had 4 drives sitting next to each other to show off how physical size is shrinking while storage size is growing.
    http://i39.tinypic.com/20a9jsl.jpg

    Left to right is:
    10 MB - 2x 5.25" bays and 8" deep (And about 10 pounds)
    300 MB - 3.5" IDE drive
    750 MB - 2.5" IDE drive
    1 GB - 1" wide Compact Flash card

    Now I just need to add in a 32 GB micro SD card...

    Not to mention a few boxes of 8" floppy disks, and a crate of 5.25" floppies (Back when floppy disks actually flopped!)
    http://i41.tinypic.com/3588aza.jpg