4 Alternative Uses For Your Swiss Army Knife’s Toothpick Slot

By News Update On Jan 22, 2025

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Since they were invented in 1891, Swiss Army Knives have been essential tools for people from different walks of life. Whether you’re a soldier on the battlefield or an ordinary person confronted with the tasks of maintaining your home, these tools make great companions for people who expect the unexpected. These days, you’re not going to run out of options when it comes to choosing the best one for you, since it’s available in different sizes, colors, and specifications. In fact, there are even models that have digital storage options for people who have emergency needs in the office.

However, one of the best things about the Swiss Army knife is that you can use the same tool in so many ways. For example, we talked about how something as simple as its hook could be used for other things, like carrying items, removing knots, and pulling on tabs. It’s no wonder they regularly feature on our lists of must-haves, whether it’s for camping essentials or fishing trips. But, did you know you can customize it even further and replace some tools altogether, like the toothpick?

Sure, there are plenty of practical uses to having a toothpick within reach at all times, such as being used to clean lint from odd, hard to reach corners, helping undo clothing seams, pry open electronics, or even just to eat snacks. But if none of those jobs really matter to you, here are some interesting things you can try doing instead.

Mini screwdriver

For people who work with electronics, there are tons of uses for precision or mini screwdrivers. For example, it’s typically used to secure laptop bodies and mobile phones together. They can also be necessary if your analog watch battery dies, and you want to replace it by yourself, or even just when you need to tighten your glasses on-the-go.

Thankfully, Victorinox does offer a 4-piece Mini Tool Set that includes a 1.5mm flathead screwdriver, 000 Philips screwdriver, and T4 Torx Screwdriver, and SIM Card Ejector pin, which can be integrated with the built-in corkscrew feature. Priced at $14.98, the set has an average rating of 4.6 stars from over 850 SAK fans on Amazon. Although, since you can only add one per knife, it does mean you’ll need to find storage for the other three when not in use. Unfortunately, this does mean that you might not have the kind of screw you need at all times.

Alternatively, there is a way to have more than one type of mini screwdriver in your Swiss Army Knife without taking up too much space using your existing toothpick slot. In his YouTube videocontent creator Todd Parker shared his method for storing a Leatherman double-sided micro driver in a 3D-printed mini screwdriver holder designed to fit in the typical Swiss Army Knife toothpick slot. That said, you might need to buy the whole US Replacement Bits set to do this, which will set you back $11.

Drill bit

With small hand drills, you can make precise holes that you can use to loop in wires, thin threads, or even for crafting things, like leather items. To get the experience of the mini hand drill without making massive changes, the most straightforward method is to create a 3D-printed storage option that fits the Swiss Army knife’s toothpick holder compartment. Of course, the limitation here is that when you need to use it, you’ll have to hope that there’s an item within reach wherein you can attach it for better rotation.

If you want to be able to use the drill bit right away, it is possible to make some minor modifications on your drill bit to fit the same specifications as the Swiss army knife toothpick, which lets you store it in the toothpick compartment. If you don’t know how to do this, creator Felix Immler shared a useful step-by-step guide on how to modify Swiss Army knives for this purpose on YouTube. But take note, it will require some knowledge on metalworking and soldering, since you’ll need to essentially match the shape of the toothpick almost perfectly for this to work. If you’re determined to learn how to use a soldering iron, we can help you find the right Ryobi soldering tools with our buying guide. After all, soldering is a great skill to have and opens more possibilities for customizing your Swiss Army knives to your exact specifications in the future.

Sewing needles

From ordinary city folk to serious backpackers, you’re bound to encounter some fabric that will need to be repaired. Whether it’s a torn sleeve from a particularly intense hike or a ripped tent, you’ll want to fix any holes before they get too big. Thankfully, there is a simple way to keep needles in your Swiss Army knife toothpick slot using just a tweezer. On Amazon, you can get a set of the small Victorinox tweezers for $10.07 and the multi-tool large ones that go for $6. On average both tweezers have a rating of 4.7 stars (and above) from thousands of Swiss Army knife owners, so even if you’re not using it to store needles there’s a chance that it’s a better replacement for the toothpick as a tool in general.

On the other hand, you can also turn your Swiss Army knife’s toothpick into a needle on its own as well, so you get similar benefits without losing the toothpick. To do this, you’ll need to punch a hole in the upper part of your toothpick. Afterward, you can store it in the same way and continue to use it like a normal toothpick or with threads to work as a needle. That said, if you do find yourself constantly using your needles for one reason or another, it might actually be worth it to just get a small sewing kit instead, like the Singer mini travel sewing kit that sells for only $6.49.

Firefly fire starter

Sold by Tortoise Gear, the Firefly fire starter was specifically designed as a third-party accessory for Swiss Army knives made by Victorinox. In fact, it even comes in two sizes, the Regular size Firefly and the 55mm Firefly Mini, which will fit different Swiss Army knife toothpick compartments. To know what will fit yours, the Mini will typically fit the keychain-type versions, while the regular size is meant for knives that are around 84mm or more. Made of ferrocerium misch-metal, it’s designed to be able to generate big sparks with less impact to the Swiss Army knife components.

For $41.49, the Firefly fire starter has an average rating of 4.4 stars from over 200 reviews. Out of the box, it comes with 8 pcs, but you can opt to get in two different colors: ivory glow or neon green-yellow. There’s also an option to get both sets that use both colors (4 pieces ivory and 4 pieces neon green-yellow) but all can glow in the dark for up for 12 hours, as long as you expose it to sunlight beforehand. Several buyers have mentioned that they have been able to easily start fire pits with good quality tinder, but there have also been reports of the rods breaking when used to strike or getting stuck inside their Swiss Army knife. But, it does have a month-long warranty, so you can get it replaced if you suspect it has manufacturing defects or are not happy with the quality.