Fallkniven F1 Pros & Cons

[Dan1982]

Ok, the vast majority of us are more than familiar with this knife and i am seriously considering buying one as my main user. i already have a Frosts Clipper which i have been using for a while however i am looking to purchase something a little further up the ladder. Whilst i enjoy using the clipper i just feel as though it wouldnt take everything i could put it through and find myself slightly holding back when using it. I had an expensive custom bushie and was unable to bring myself to use it after spending all that money on it and it remained in a drawer for a year until i recently traded it. So all things considered i found myself leaning towards the F1.

Now i know there are those of you that are both "for" and "against" this knife for various reasons, ie, its ugly, difficult to sharpen etc... But are these knives on the whole worth the money or is there something similar i should consider? I personally like the fact that it is relatively bomb proof and still costs under £100. What are the other pros and cons in your experiences?

P.S. Yes i have read the review on this site!

Thanks all.

Dan

 

[Chainsaw]

My two users are a clipper and an F1 and they're about to get replaced with a 3mm Bushy style blade. The clipper is IMHO too much of a lightweight for batoning but great for light work and the F1 is a big ugly monster but great for heavy work. The 3mm bushy style blade is, IMHO a good compromise.

My opinion and mine only.

Cheers,

Alan

 

[HillBill]

I have one.

They are good knives. Not the best for fine detail work, but as an all rounder with attitude there is not much better imo. You will be hard pressed to break it.

Pro's
Solid, good edge retention, easy to sharpen ( use the mouse mat, wet and dry method with a thin mouse mat) good quality sheath, Sparks up a firesteel better than nearly everything i have seen..it will last a lifetime with nothing to repair or no handle to break/crack. Weatherproof especially with kydex sheath.

Cons
Thin handle, can be uncomfortable after a while.
Heavier than most knives of comparable size.( not really heavy though)

Thats about it really, the price has gone up lately i paid £65(october) for mine they are nearly £100 now.

British Red will add a few to the con's list no doubt

 

[michiel]

Out of the box:

One of the worst knives I've handled. Not comfortable, thin handle, very thick convex edge, plastic sheath (works fine though)

I thinned the edge on mine, and the blade is great now.

Buy a blank, handle it yourself and thin the edge. Then you've got one of the best knives in the world.

Just my 2 cents

 

[MadRat]

One of the best buys....

Earlier models has a difficult to recreate edge.... Now edge easly sharpened with flat stone....


There will be a whole host of folk along soon saying why you shouldn't buy one.

So don't listen to me.... Instead go an get yerself £300 worth of shiny custom an put it in a display cabinet.......

 

[Toddy]

Dan have you seen this thread ?

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38978

well within your budget figure too.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[British Red]

Well, my opinion is known, but I'll try to answer since its been asked (and my name already dragged into it )

I detest the knife. Its got quite the worst handle I've come across. The grind is stupidly convex, the blade is absurdly thick for the length of knife, it has a nasty point I find unsuitable for boring. It too thick, too short and plain old clumsy.

There you go. So you want a nice knife under £100. Well, If you really want to go convex, why not a Bark River? The Aurora springs to mind.

There are plenty of nice puukkos out ther in the £40 to £60 mark. I'd look at Kellam or Iisakki myself - nice knives but theres lots more arround too

There are several makers on here that sell nice knives under the ton - Elma springs to mind.

Other options ?

Grohmann are great - my lage skinner is a stunning knife and you could buy a Gransfors axe with the change

Brusletto - great for "small and sharp"

EKA - not had one but here good things

Helle make great bush type knives

Any or all of these I would choose above an F1 - and they are all cheaper too!


So - I had an F1 and hated so much that I couldn't even bring myself to sell it (bad karma and all that)

Others swear by them.

So what would I suggest?

Buy a beer for someone who has one and use it for a few hours, then make your own mind up

Red

 

[MadRat]

So - I had an F1 and hated so much that I couldn't even bring myself to sell it (bad karma and all that)

Buy a beer for someone who has one and use it for a few hours, then make your own mind up

Red

Send it over....

Oh and Pussers Rum for me.......

 

[rapidboy]

I find them very uncomfortable after even a short cutting session and IMO the blade is too thick to be used as a bushcraft knifel.
The micarta version is more comfortable and a custom version would be better again as you can have the scales shaped to suit but the blade is still very thick.
I have most of the Fallkniven range including the NL series and the only one i really like to use is the little WM1.
If i needed a strong knife that might have to serve as a pry bar then that would be different and i'd certainly consider one but not for bushy stuff.

 

[MadRat]

Strewth.....

If i needed a strong knife that might have to serve as a pry bar then that would be different and i'd certainly consider one but not for bushy stuff.


I will say this only once...

Never use a knife as a prybar.

 

[Toddy]

Well, y'know........"one knife to rule them all" sort of thing does rather suggest that a *survival* tool ought to be able to be used as a pry bar.............
or in my case cheap rip off swiss army knife from the Happy Lucky Flying Chicken knife making factory.........great for paint cans

cheers,
M

 

[MadRat]

Mmmmm.... Survival paint cans......

I did use a rolling pin on the end of a Sunfish Diving Knife to open a can of nosh once tho....

 

[rapidboy]

Strewth.....

If i needed a strong knife that might have to serve as a pry bar then that would be different and i'd certainly consider one but not for bushy stuff.


I will say this only once...

Never use a knife as a prybar.

The F1 is designed as a survival knife, it has the official survival knife of the Swedish Air Force and has been since i think 1995.
It's designed to be a hard working tool and one that would certainly be used as a pry bar if it's the only tool available, it's built to be used and abused and as such it's "over engineed" for lighter duty tasks.

 

[British Red]

Send it over....

Oh and Pussers Rum for me.......

I auctioned it for charity

Happy to send you one for the same price it sold for - about $350 to charity and its a deal

 

[Dan1982]

Haha! didn't think you'd hold back on this one BR!

Seems the jury is more or less still out on this one then, gonna have to try and get my hands on one to play with. the aesthetics dont bother me so much nor the thickness of the blade, more the sharpening side of things!

Cheers for all the input tough guys!

Dan

 

[Spaniel man]

Have you looked at the H1? Thicker, more comfortable handle, and a slightly thinner edge..

 

[Dougster]

Didn't we have this conversation last year Dan?

 

[Dan1982]

yes we did Rich, i am in the fortunate position of having some disposable income again!

 

[Amon81]

I'm actually thinking of buying a blank and making my first lether sheath for it.

For me it seems ideal for the kind of think I'm After. I dont like the plastic handle, I've made a wood handle before and I've seen F1's with cusom handles that look alot better.