Victorinox's Ranger of the Lost Art National Park Swiss Army Knives
July is National Park month, and to celebrate, Victorinox's Ranger of the Lost Art collection of Swiss Army Knives has 4 new additions.
This unique collection, originally launched by Victorinox in 2019 with 12 knife designs, features the art of Doug Leen, aka the "Ranger of the Lost Art." Doug, a former Grand Teton National Park Ranger, is known for his impact on environmental stewardship and the preservation of national parks.
In an effort to promote and preserve these national treasures, Ranger Doug created a series of posters that are unique silk-screen reproductions of New Deal Era posters.
This July, Olympic, General Grant, Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks join the lineup of Ranger Doug National Park Swiss Army Knives by Victorinox.
These new additions join the very popular lineup of Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, Mount Rainier, Rock Mountain, Shenandoah, Yellowstone, Statue of Liberty, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and Bryce National Parks.
How did Ranger Doug become the "Ranger of the Lost Art"?
A discovery that led to a lifelong quest
Intrigued and inspired by his find, Doug embarked on a quest. After doing a lot more hunting and researching, he learned that there were 14 of these remarkable National Parks posters created, mostly for parks in the west. Fewer than 2,000 prints of these 14 were ever made, and the whereabouts of the other 13 originals was a mystery at first.
Doug made it his mission to find these posters, restore them, and donate them to the National Park Service Archive to put them back in the public domain and rebuild the set.
To date, he has located 12 of the 14 originals. He himself acquired 4 and donated them all to the National Park Service Archive. Five were at the Library of Congress, two at the National Park Service, and one known poster of Yosemite is in the hands of a private collector.
(Image Credit: Seattle Times)
A Western-style bounty
There are still 2 original posters that are missing. Only negatives and black and white photos of these two remain.
As of 2024, Ranger Doug hasn't given up on his quest to complete the collection of all 14 posters. The two missing posters, each one of which he has a $10,000 old Western-style bounty out for, depict Wind Cave National Park and Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
If he finds these two, he will donate those as well.
Creating art inspired by the past
In addition to collecting the posters, Ranger Doug's goal is to restore them, and at his home in rural Alaska, he is preserving them and creating reproduction silk screens to sell and support the parks.
These bold and colorful silkscreens by Ranger Doug are the inspiration for this collection of Classic SD Swiss Army Knives by Victorinox. The front of each of these knives showcases a highlight from the park, and the back has the name of the park taken from the text of the posters.
Carry a memento and a bit of history with you
Keep a little history and a memento of your favorite park in your pocket when you add a Ranger of the Lost Art National Park Classic SD to your everyday carry.
Shop the Complete Ranger Doug Collection of Swiss Army Knives >
