After several months of use in the field, I want to review today one of the best survival knives you may find out there: the Fallkniven S1 PRO
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Fallkniven S1 PRO comes at my home in a typical day of early autumn. Hills and mountains here around are under a heavy rain and the fog is all around...awesome day to receive and start to review a true survival knife
Fallkniven seems to have made his homeworks, even about shipping package. A thick cardboard box, full of padding stuff, sent from Sweden, contains the S1 PRO
Opening the Fallkniven S1 PRO white cardboard box, we find a fine quality hard shockproof plastic case, also bearing the Fallkniven logo
In the briefcase, we discover the content, well packed in molded foam:
- Fallkniven S1 PRO knife
- Fallkniven DC4 diamond/ceramic whetstone
- Fallkniven S1 PRO zytel sheath
Before the knife, I would like to spend a few words about the plastic case and the DC4 sharpener.
The plastic case is waterproof and lockable, so you may store safely various stuffs and small devices in it, a useful feature during a trip
The DC4 whetstones sharpener consist of a fine diamond stone (25 micron) and a ceramic stone made of synthetic sapphire. According to Fallknivens's informations, you don't need any lubrication for these stone (anyway you should clean them with warm water and liquid soap now and then). The dimensions of the DC4 sharpener are 7 x 32 x 100 mm, the weight is 65 grams, making it an ideal camp sharpener. Usually, to use the sharpener you need to start with the diamond stone (the gold color side) to restoring the edge, than you may de-burr the edge lighty with the ceramic stone (the grey color side) in order to get a razor-sharp edge.
Let's now speak about the main character of this review: the Fallkniven S1 PRO knife.
It is a powerful, robust, rational survival tool.
A short talon connects the blade to the small 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. 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 a lanyard hole, though located in a fairly advanced position. The total lenght of the Fallkniven S1 PRO is 247 mm, the weight is 257 grams (without sheath).
Let's speak now about the S1 PRO sheath, which is made by zytel (a DuPont polyamide nylon resin, see here for specs), and is redrawn with respect to the sheath of the "standard" Fallkniven S1, while maintaining the essential characteristics, namely compactness, robustness, the closure secured by a through snap button. The belt loop is 60mm wide.
FIELD TEST
Fallkniven S1 PRO was used on a few trips on the Italian Alps in the period October 2016 - March 2017, for a variety of survival activities.
Carrying the knife is fairly comfortable and always 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 S1 PRO sheath allows also the use of the M.O.L.L.E. system. Interestingly enough, you can use the two lateral loops of the sheath to accomodate 110-120 cm lenght of Paracord 550. As you probably know, a few cordage is a great help in any survival situation. The same paracord may be used to lash the sheath to a bag/backpack that allows for the M.O.L.L.E. system
Survival is all about reliability and versatility. The Fallkniven S1 PRO was excellent in all the various tasks carried out. Whether it was to prepare food for my dog...
...or to made improvised artifacts, such as this rope from a plastic bottle
...or this hobo stove from an empty can
I have found the Fallkniven S1 PRO excellent, also, both in precise tasks and heavy jobs. Batoning is never an issue, due to the robust and affordable blade...
...so carving woods it's easy, due to the super-sharp laminated steel blade
These features make the S1 PRO a great tool also to arrange and prepare material for a camp fire, making featherwoods and igniting them using the firesteel
To see the S1 PRO making feathers stick and the use of the firesteel, see the video here below
Handling the S1 PRO is safe and comfortable: you have always a good grip, even with wet hands. I have extra-large hands, and I feel the S1 PRO handle just a bit too thin, 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.
As a survival knife, I used the S1 PRO also to arrange some traps for small mammals (note: I made this and others traps just to test the knife, in fact here in Italy is forbidden to use traps)
To see how the trap works, just see the video here below:
The false edge on the tip spine make the tip really pointed, anyway I have found the tip of S1 PRO robust and reliable. It was useful, for example, to make an hole in the bark of a tree to extract some drinking water (note: after that, always make sure to close the hole in the bark with some mud, to avoid deseases to the tree)
CONCLUSIONS
The Fallkniven S1 PRO is an excellent survival knife.
Fairly compact yet robust and higly reliable, it has an excellent blade, excellent handle, excellent sheath. The waterproof case and the DC4 sharpener - thogheter with the knife and the sheath - makes it a real "luxury survival kit".
For sure, the Fallkniven S1 PRO is not a cheap knife. But in my opinion the cost of this tool is justified by the overall quality and the materials used for.
In short, the Fallkniven S1 PRO knife is an advisable tool for true survivalist.
(C) Alfredo Doricchi
Fallkniven AB
Granatvagen, 8
S-961 43 BODEN
SWEDEN
Distributore per l'Italia:
Laika Coltellerie S.n.c.
Via Figino, 46/R
20016 Pero (MI)
Tel. +39 02 35394 24
info@laikacoltellerie.com
Photogallery:
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