AD Blog - bushcraft per passione: gennaio 2017

Hello everybody,

I just would like to show you VIATOR, the last project that the stunning knifemaker Stuart Mitchell has made for me

VIATOR is a compact hunting/utility knife, the blade is 95mm long and 3,5mm thick, the steel is the SF100 hardened 58-60hrc (here the details and specs of the VIATOR project).

As usual, Stu has done a fantastic job, the blade is lovely satin and perfect in every way

so the handle, which is greatly contoured, safe and very comfortable

Here VIATOR with the leather sheath I made for him

I would like to thanks again Mr. Stuart Mitchell for his awesome job. VIATOR will remain in my collection forever.

Cheers,
Alfredo

(C) Alfredo Doricchi

Past weeks I had the chance to use intensively what I believe is one of the best "survival/bushcraft" knife on the market: the Fallkniven F1 PRO

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Fallkniven F1 PRO it comes in a cardboard box rather large, on which are few and essential informations in a clear and elegant way. The words "PRO" and "Professional" stand out, to show that the contained equipment was designed by the Swedish company for professional use

Inside the cardboard box we find a good quality shockproof/waterproof hard plastic case, also bearing the Fallkniven logo

Opening the briefcase, we discover the content, well packed in molded foam:

- Fallkniven F1 PRO knife
- Fallkniven DC4 diamond/ceramic whetstone
- knife sheath

The Fallkniven F1 PRO packaging is beautiful, robust, cured; the feeling is to get your hands on an high quality equipment. The briefcase can be used also to store safely your smartphone and other delicate instruments, something useful for travel and subsitence.

Let us now examine in detail the hero of this review, the Fallkniven F1 PRO knife: it is a compact and robust tool, characterized by a clean and rational design, tipically Scandinavian. The main elements, blade, guard, handle, are harmoniously connected to form a cutting tool that leaves no room for frills but mind instead to the point.

The drop-point blade is made by laminated steel CoS (see steel sheet CoS), hardened to 60HRC, satin, it is 100 mm long and 5.0 mm thick. Is characterized by convex bevels until the mid-height. On the blade we find just one written, the oval Fallkniven logo. The blade spine is flat, with the edges left at 90° to facilitate the firesteel use.

A brief talon connects the blade to the short but robust steel guard, which is joined to the Thermorun handle, a thermoplastic elastomer with excellent strenght and durability qualities (see Thermorun tab). The handle is characterized by the "coca-cola bottle" shape and the texture of lozenges (similar to the reptile skin) appear on the edges, which improves the grip. At the end of the handle there is the pommel, which protrudes approximately 3.0 mm to form a skullcrasher. There is also the lanyard hole, though located in a fairly advanced position.
The total lenght of the Fallkniven F1 PRO is 217 mm, for a weight of 182 grams (without sheath).

Let's speak about the sheath, which is made by zytel, and is redrawn with respect to the sheath of the "normal" F1, while maintaining the essential characteristics, namely compactness, robustness, the closure secured by a through snap button.

Compared to the F1 knife, the F1 PRO main innovations consist to the steel guard, the greather thickness and the new blade geometry, the steel used (F1 - VG10 / F1 PRO - Lam. CoS), the thicker pommel.

FIELD TESTING
Fallkniven F1 PRO was used during several trips on the Italian Alps, for a variety of bushcraft/survival activities.

Carrying the knife is always comfortable and safe, whether you are wearing it on the belt or bring it in a backpack pocket, due to the compacteness of the sheath and the good workmanship of the same. The F1 PRO sheath allows also the use of the M.O.L.L.E. system (which, however, I have not used during the test).

On the bottom of the sheath there are two large holes, to allow the drainage of moisture, so the knife dries quickly.

Excellent performances for the F1 PRO: whether is it to prepare food...

...or to made improvised artifacts, such as this cup from a plastic bottle

...or this primitive fishing hook

...or, again, an emergency spear

F1 PRO is always excellent, both in precise tasks or heavy jobs. Batoning is not an issue, due to the robust and affordable blade...

...and carving woods is even easy.

These features make the F1 PRO great even in a classic bushcraft/survival task, as arrange and prepare material for a camp fire, making featherwoods and igniting them using the firesteel

Firesteel use is easy, as said previously, due to the blade spine geometry (90° edges), so you have always a good amount of sparks

The pommel is useful for hammering/scraping/crashing. To be honest, I should like more a bigger and flat pommel, anyway the F1 PRO pommel is useful in several occasion

Handling the F1 PRO is safe and comfortable: you have always a good grip, even with wet hands. I have big hands, and I should like more a knife handle larger (just a few millimeters), but that's just me. The ventral steel guard is there to protect your index finger, and do it's job to the best, even if is not cumbersome.

Now, I would like to say something about the DC4 sharpener...but the reality is that, even after some weeks of use, the F1 PRO is fairly still as new, including the edge, which cut like a laser, as the day the knife landed here.
After a bried cleaning with some water, the F1 PRO seems like new.

In conclusion: Fallkniven F1 PRO is an excellent bushcraft/survival knife.

Compact, robust, affordable, it has excellent blade, excellent handle, excellent sheath.

The waterproof case and the DC4 sharpener make - thogheter with the knife and the sheath - a real "luxury survival kit".

To be honest, the only downside for the customer should be the cost - F1 PRO is for sure not a cheap knife. Anyway, the cost of this knife is justified by the quality of the knife and the materials used for, in my opinion.

In short, the Fallkniven F1 PRO has a lot of PROS, and honestly is hard to find some real CONS.