Outdoor Equipment
Fallkniven F1 Survival Knife Review
Part 1 - Initial Review
It is often said that you are only as sharp as your knife. The problem comes when you have to choose what tool you are going to carry with you. The ideal solution would be one knife that does everything that you could ask of a blade, from chopping down trees to fine carving, whittling and food preparation. These combination of tasks generally mean that two or more blades are required. But there are a class of knives that are designed to be a one size fits all - and these are "survival knives".
Survival knives come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and very few are actually deserve the title. I was interested in whether the Fallkniven F1 deserved the title of "survival knife".
The Fallkniven Mod F1 Swedish survival knife is the official survival knife of the Swedish Air Force and has been since 1995 so the "survival" tag is not a vanity thing. A good start!
When I first laid hands on the knife I was surprised by how small and compact the package was. In the sheath (I received the flap-over leather sheath) the knife seems small and on taking it out of the sheath it feels even smaller, much smaller than my Wilkinson Sword Woodlore and even small compared to my Al Mar SERE 2000 folding lock knife. It might be a small knife, but it's a small, robust knife. The 4.5 mm thick laminated VG10 stainless steel blade certainly seems very thick, durable and robust. The blade tapers to the point which reduces the weight while keeping the weight down. I also noticed that the spine was finished square and flat and looked ideal for casting sparks from a ferro rod - I'd be sure to check that out later.
But size isn't everything. I was eager to see how it performed. Despite the diamond checkered pattern on the rubberized "Thermorun" handle, I found the handle pleasant and comfortable to grip. In the hand the knife feels well balanced and practical and the handle seems to allow for a variety of grips. The protruding tang at the rear of the handle looks like it might be uncomfortable when the palm of the hand is used against the butt of the handle but in reality it's hardly noticeable and not uncomfortable in the least. This makes the butt on the handle an ideal improvised hammer, a feature which could be useful in the outdoors.
Moving away from the handle and on to the business end, the blade. The VG10 blade, while being thick, is taken to a razor sharp convex edge and is shaving-sharp right out of the box. The convex edge is not considered to be the best edge for working with wood but it still makes short work of carving through both green and seasoned hard and softwoods without Difficulty. The sharp, yet relatively thin tip (thanks to the tapered blade) is ideal for precision work such as whittling trap triggers.
The VG10 blade, being suitably thick and made of strong VG10, copes well with batoning. The thick spine is a huge advantage when it comes to batoning because it is able to take the force of the hit and transfer much of the energy to the blade, whereas a thinner spine expends a lot of energy digging into the baton and taking hunks out of baton wood instead. So, while the knife to too light to chop effectively with, it is an ideal knife to choose for batoning with.
The usual complaint about thick blades is that they are unwieldy or unsuitable for camp chores, such as cutting up fruit, vegetables and meat. In initial tests of the F1 I have found no problems with using it to cut up ingredients. It can easily produce paper-thin slices of apple and potatoes and it even does a great job of cutting tomatoes. The F1 is surprisingly versatile at delicate tasks normally though of as favoring thinner knives.
Does it cast sparks from a ferro rod? This is the question on the lips of many bushcrafters and outdoors people. Well, does it? ... Yes! yes it does. Some people seem to thing that VG10 won't cast sparks or that laminated steel won't cast sparks. The tested truth is that it casts sparks well, just as well, if not better than O1 tool steel. A possible explanation for it casting greater and fiercer sparks could be that the edges on the spine are harder and sharper than on any of my carbon steel blades.
I'll comment on the sheath in a later review, as I will longer term performance. I've not used it enough to comment properly on it yet. Pictures to follow too. So watch this space!
Technical Details
Total length: 210 mm (8.3")
Blade length: 97 mm (3.8")
Blade thickness: 4.5 mm (0.18")
Weight: 150 g (6oz)
Tang: Broad, full length tang, protruding from end of handle
Steel: Laminated VG10
Hardness: 59 Rockwell C
Handle material: Thermorun
Sheath: Various.
Maker's website: http://www.fallkniven.com
UK supplier: http://www.heinnie.com
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Last updated: October 28th 2004
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