Felix Immler and Victorinox Venture Bushcraft fixed blade collection

Curious....is Felix a brand ambassador now?
It would make sense after all the videos he's done on Victorinox knives.
It certainly looks like him blowing on the fire in one of the stock photos.
How long until the UFK? ("the ultimate Felix knife") that would be so much fun to play with designing, fixed or not.
 

Kadushu

If Carlsberg made grumpy people...
Jul 29, 2014
944
1,024
Kent
Curious....is Felix a brand ambassador now?
It would make sense after all the videos he's done on Victorinox knives.
It certainly looks like him blowing on the fire in one of the stock photos.
How long until the UFK? ("the ultimate Felix knife") that would be so much fun to play with designing, fixed or not.
AFAIK Felix co-designed the Venture
 

Foogs

Full Member
May 12, 2023
102
89
43
UK
how's the performance so far?! didn't watch it, yet but there's a new YouTube video from Felix Immler about fixing issues with the sheath...
I wish I could tell you, but Victorinox are having issues with DHL and the knife has been sat in the Midlands for a week!

I spoke with them yesterday and they think everything should get delivered by the end of this week.
 

Allans865

Full Member
Nov 17, 2016
470
196
East Kilbride
I wish I could tell you, but Victorinox are having issues with DHL and the knife has been sat in the Midlands for a week!

I spoke with them yesterday and they think everything should get delivered by the end of this week.
When I ordered my Ben Orford parang a couple of months ago the exact same thing happened with me with DHL.

It sat in their Midlands depot for about a week then got sent back to Ben, and he had to re send it.

Second time it arrived 24 hours later.

It may end up being sent back to the sender as mine was to Ben.

DHL couldn't give either myself or Ben a reason for the delay.

Hope you receive it soon, I feel your pain.

Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk
 

Springchicken

Full Member
Aug 29, 2005
127
90
60
Northants.
It came as no great surprise that the company that created the SAK should make a fixed-bladed knife have a few 'additional functions'! That said, I like the shape of the blade and the flexibility of the system, though how often I'll need a 20 mm hole bored into something, I'm not too sure.

As I've just recently retired, I might treat myself to a little present...
 

Foogs

Full Member
May 12, 2023
102
89
43
UK
how's the performance so far?! didn't watch it, yet but there's a new YouTube video from Felix Immler about fixing issues with the sheath...
Well, it's going back.

I'd kind of already made that decision after watching a few review videos, but now I've got it in my hands it's not for me.

Positives:
The blade is ludicrously sharp, serious razor edge.

The back edge of the blade and the edge of the pommel are really sharp so I can see them being great for scraping wood and ferro rods.


Negatives:

While sharp, I don't get the sense that the blade is up to the rigours of bushcraft. I'm clueless when it comes to metallurgy, but I don't like how visible and coarse the grain is.

The sheath is so plasticky. Obviously, it's plastic. But it makes it feel cheap and fragile.

The handle feels a bit nasty too. Decent ergonomics, but just not a particularly nice material.

The sheath is rattly, as is well documented online.

I get why they made the ferro rod match the style of their SAK accessories, but in reality it's quite impractical. The rod itself is quite small, and having to grip it by the square knob of plastic wouldn't be pleasant or particularly easy in adverse conditions.

The included dangler attachment for the sheath is just very basic webbing.


Neutrals:

The knife weighs 120g compared to my Trampero which is 180g. (I prefer a bit of heft.)

The handle is a fair bit narrower than the Trampero's. (I have large-ish hands, again prefer the Trampero)


Overall: I think if you fancy this knife, just go for the vanilla version rather than the pro. You're paying an extra ~£45 for imo the worst bits and at £124 and as a package it just doesn't match the value of something like a Joker. But the knife on its own might not be a bad investment.
 

Minotaur

Native
Apr 27, 2005
1,624
246
Birmingham
It came as no great surprise that the company that created the SAK should make a fixed-bladed knife have a few 'additional functions'! That said, I like the shape of the blade and the flexibility of the system, though how often I'll need a 20 mm hole bored into something, I'm not too sure.

As I've just recently retired, I might treat myself to a little present...
The drill bit is a standard sbs (something like that) so you can have any size you want.
 

Springchicken

Full Member
Aug 29, 2005
127
90
60
Northants.
That's really useful to hear of your experience with it and to see pictures of it next to your Joker - many thanks for posting.

The firesteel does not look great; I think I'll stick with my usual, chunkier one.

Would you say that the knife was well-made and well-finished? I'm iterested in how it's put together, rather than the materials used.

I was going to click on the Pro version but, from what you say, it's not worth the extra. Maybe - and that's quite a heavily stressed 'maybe'...- I'll try the ordinary (Amateur?) version and see how I get on.
 

Foogs

Full Member
May 12, 2023
102
89
43
UK
That's really useful to hear of your experience with it and to see pictures of it next to your Joker - many thanks for posting.

The firesteel does not look great; I think I'll stick with my usual, chunkier one.

Would you say that the knife was well-made and well-finished? I'm iterested in how it's put together, rather than the materials used.

I was going to click on the Pro version but, from what you say, it's not worth the extra. Maybe - and that's quite a heavily stressed 'maybe'...- I'll try the ordinary (Amateur?) version and see how I get on.
I'd say that the finish was 'fine'.

As I mentioned, the edge was frighteningly sharp, but you can see the moulding marks on the handle and given that it's plastic/rubber and steel, it doesn't feel particularly premium.

Next to the Joker, there's no comparison in fit and finish really. It feels closer to their cookware (which might be much more to some people's preference) than how I think of a bushcraft knife.
 
I work at a local outfitters, we sell Victorinox, and we got some of these on stock over the weekend while I was off, so I grabbed this one Monday morning when I saw them in the display.

I haven't done a lot with it yet, but with the bright red handle and the full flat grind, I can see how it could be a good foraging companion this season. I'm going to give it a go at it some at any rate.

Someone mentioned it was good seeing a carrot sliced instead of broken, I thought it was nice to be able to slice dandelion roots without sending the pieces skittering across the room like they did with the Castrom No. 10 Forest knife with the scandi grind on the 4 pr 5 mm steel.

I've been under the weather the last couple of days. the Venture and Explorer worked well together for prepping the roots and leaves for making one of my herbal concoctions.

I think the sheath could be a little better, with a little deeper/stouter handle retention, but I don't dislike it as some other sheaths out there. I'll get it out in the field soon and see how it goes in longer term uses like feather stick making etc.

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When I ordered my Ben Orford parang a couple of months ago the exact same thing happened with me with DHL.

It sat in their Midlands depot for about a week then got sent back to Ben, and he had to re send it.

Second time it arrived 24 hours later.

It may end up being sent back to the sender as mine was to Ben.

DHL couldn't give either myself or Ben a reason for the delay.

Hope you receive it soon, I feel your pain.

Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk
seems there's quite a few other disappointed customers out there (in my case a supposed 3day express delivery of documents took 3weeks (with several lame excuses from them) which cost me over 1000us$ extra...)if i'd become president dhl would be asked to pack their bags in a hurry and leave the country...

to go back to the subject: guess i'll give the knife a "miss" and look for something else. that "joker" for sure looks nice :)
 
to go back to the subject: guess i'll give the knife a "miss" and look for something else. that "joker" for sure looks nice :)
LOL I never know what I'm going to learn in what thread here.

I'm hoping to try one of the Joker knives later, I've heard good things about some of them from friends but haven't had time to research them with all the work on my plate lately. Interestingly this thread has been helpful to that research in an unexpected way.

I'd never seen the Trampero, but seeing how blunted the tip is in relation to the Venture, and the venture barely being pointy enough for me to take enough interest in it to buy it, and seeing how thick the Trampero is with a scandi grind, I now know to look at other Joker knives instead as 3mm is max for me on scandi grinds, and I prefer them a bit thinner.

In the above images, the profile of it looks as blunt and unappealing to me as almost every version of the Kephart knife I've ever seen on a knife forum, and I've never been able to fathom the logic of thick blades with scandi grinds.
 

R_Fonseca

Tenderfoot
Jul 6, 2021
84
65
38
Dublin
www.fonseca.ie
I like that joker. To be fair it comes in a flat and a scandi. I think it's a flat in the pics isn't it?

The more I look at the Victorinox, the more I like it... but the cheapskate in me also wonders if the odenwolf/ wolfgangs w1 is a better deal for 35 euro. The Vic is probably better... thinking out loud I guess. I don't need another knife anyway
 

Foogs

Full Member
May 12, 2023
102
89
43
UK
I like that joker. To be fair it comes in a flat and a scandi. I think it's a flat in the pics isn't it?

The more I look at the Victorinox, the more I like it... but the cheapskate in me also wonders if the odenwolf/ wolfgangs w1 is a better deal for 35 euro. The Vic is probably better... thinking out loud I guess. I don't need another knife anyway
That's right, mine's a flat grind.
 
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DocG

Full Member
Dec 20, 2013
873
127
Moray
Thanks for sharing and for individual contributions.
Does anyone with one have any more comments or reviews to offer, please?
 
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