@soapboxpreacher
Wait... So you are saying that A1 is a lot better than the B-1? How about when the A-1 is compared to the B-1.5 that might be coming out soon? Is the steel that much different? And I'm more interested in the leather sheaths, which one is better? From what I've seen, they're both top of their class.
And how hard is it to sharpen the A1 though? ESEE is now out of the question for me, its down to the bravo 1.5 and the A1. Its so hard to choose its getting quite funny.
So let me do a comparison of between the B-1 and the A-1
Steel - A1 wins
Handle - B-1
aesthetics - B-1
Sheath - kydex - A1
- leather - ?????
warranty - B-1
Service - B-1
Handle....I like the rubberized Falk Handle far and away better than Micarta. Micarta has durability but that is it in my opinion. I have a multitude of ESEE blades and I do like them and I think the handle is good but the Falk handles eat up shock better, doesnt slip when your hands are wet...especially like the the B1 polished micarta. Yes the micarta looks quite nice and take a better beating but I really enjoy the feel of the Thermorun handle, they are softer, gripper, eat up tons of shock and better with wet hands. This isnt my opinion these are my findings when using all of thems first hand.
Service...Bark is top, the only one I thing might be better is ESEE. More on service later
Sheath, this is preference, but My initial impression of the A1 sheath was not good, but that was out of the box. It is a zytel sheath, looks cheap but is much more durable than you think. It is small, blade locks in well. My B1 sheath is kydex and it is small too, but the damn things is sooooo tight I nearly need to rip my belt off to get it in or out. The B1 is Kydex...it is made well I just do not like the design and find the function to be substantially inferior to my A1 zytel sheath. As I have said, initially I thought the zytel was cheap and would break...so on and so on. But it has fended well and I prefer it over every other sheath I have. I like how light it is and how slim it it. My ESEE 6 is like wearing a paddle!! It is big bulky and heavy!! The A1 sheath simply works better. Oh and I dont need Molle options. My knives are not for tactical they are for camping, bushcraft, and hiking...and survival as a last resort.
Aesthetics...I could care less, this isnt a beauty contest and I actually do like the A1 better in looks. I would not get any Falk in a black finish. My A1 has nearly no black left. My F1 and S1 were bought in in plain finish...uncoated...the coating is garbage and will not last on this blade. The Only coated blades in black that I have that last are the ESEE. They hold up well. It is hard to coat stainless. But honestly unless you are into tactical this is not necessary in my opinion.
Performance: Chopping it was very good, better then my ESEE 6 as well as my ESEE 5. The only better chopper I have tested was the Junglas. But I need to regrip the Junglas repeatedly for my hand would slip down it as I chopped hard. Convex edge made batoning logs awesome!!! It was better then my ESEE6 substantially!! Convex splits better because of the wedge shape grind is more like a splitting axe. Edge wise compared to the A1 held a better edge, has not seen one spot of rust...my Bravo has, some gibbs takes care of that in a hurry and now the bravo looks beautiful. No chipping on the A1 (I have heard people having experienced this on there A1....I havent after a ton of trips and uses). My bravo edge rolled in a few spots. They were easy to sharpen out so this isnt horrible but it is disappointing. It has never been grounded or mis-hit on a rock or what not. I has been used pretty hard but not nearly as hard as my A1!! The A1 weight is in the front so chopping is better. I like a knife that has the mass feel in front of my hand not at my hand. It is also longer so it has that as an advantage but the knife is lighter. I like the exposed tang for banging in tent posts or any minor hammer...it isnt a hammer but it works for some minor stuff. The grind is awesome...on both. They have convex and perform better then any of my ESEE. And they are soooo easy to touch up. I am yet to sharpen my falkniven but I have with bravo, it is razor sharp with a mouse pad and some very fine papper...had to go to a body shop to find the high grit.
Warranty and Service are irrelevant if the knife is built well enough to never need to be used. I am amazed at what I have done to and with my A1. It has far surpassed my expectations! I am looking to dump my Bravo at the moment for either a very nice folder or another A1 (non-black coated version).
The A1 is a winner in my book and I have used a lot of knives! This one is my go to. Some might have different opinions but this is based on my first hand experience.
Oh and some additional thoughts on the A1. It is billed as a tactical blade...I do not use it for that, I use it for bushcraft, shelter building (although I suck at building shelters), camping. It is stainless so it holds up well in the lakeside camping I do with it. It is easily the most well rounded blade I own! I posted a ton of pictures a long while back. It chops well for its size, it slices well considering its blade thickness, easy to touch up in the field because of its grind, it batons extremely well, I can make a feather stick as good as I can with a much thinner blade. Prep food to a point. It is a CHAMP among all my blades when I camp, Hike, Pack etc!! I dont hate my other blades this one is just better first hand opinion.
