- Joined
- Oct 7, 2009
- Messages
- 63
Fox Knives is a knife company hailing from Maniago, Italy. As far as I understand, Maniago is pretty much what Seki-City is to Japan, it is a knivestown. Fox Knives makes a lot of knives ranging from useful hunting/outdoorknives to very tacticool blades(like this I'm going to talk about now). They're quite expensive, but they are heavy users of the Böhler N690 cobalt steel, which is on par with VG-10, also, good stuff. Their tactical line is called FKMD(Fox Knives Military Division) and are remarkably similar to Extrema Ratio when it comes to materials and craftmanship, but they're generally cheaper and not "THAT" exclusive. I've owned an ER before and it was too much Ferrari for my taste.
This is the FKMD Tecnoreef ll and the big brother of their Tecnoreef-line(which consists of two knives, surprisingly). It is in my opinion an excellent boating, maritime and SCUBA-knife, but also a nice camping companion. I haven't fieldtested this yet, so I will probably write a complete review when it is hot enough to stay in the seawater
I have experience when it comes to fishing and boating in the sea, so I will keep it real and try to draw conclusions from my experience.
Specs:
Length: 23.6 cm
Blade: 440B, DLC coated, 4mm, plainedge, serrated edge and a ropecutter. 9.6 cm cutting edge on the plain edge. Full tang.
Handle: Coarse G-10 slabs.
Sheath: US-made Kydex with MOLLE locks from BladeTech. This is the older sheath as far as I know. The newest sheathsystem is a fold-over type which has the SafariClip. Generally more durable I think, but not as good looking!
The blade is made out of 440B as far as I know. On a lot of websites, it is listed with N690Co, but that is wrong I think. This blade has a plainedge at the bottom and a serrated part at the top. It has also a ropecutter. Tried it on some 550 cord and it works excellent, as expected, since it is grinded on both sides. It came razorsharp out of the box with a good relief-edge. This knife was designed for diving, but I can see and feel that it will perform quite well in all maritime-based tasks, fishing included. The long and protruding part at the hilt is marketed as a hammer, probably a tankbanging device, but will also excell at traumatizing large fish's head before cutting it. It is completely full tang and has an rounded butt for glassbreaking, hammering or LTL. The serrated part is meant for cutting tough fibrous materials, wet rope and other tough materials. I will say that the whole blade is a typical diving knife setup. It is not a survival knife for batoning, obviously. But you can probably carve and lightly bushcraft with the plainedge since it is very sharp and not overly thick.
The handle is in my opinion the knife's strongest point. I have medium sized hands and it is probably the most confortable handle I've held. The coarse G-10 will probably develop hotspots in your hand through long term use, but it ensures a secure grip when needed. The handle will also fit larger sized hands quite well. Divers and fishingmen often use gloves, so a big handle is a necessity. It also provides good control and it feels like an extension of your arm. The jimping is good too. All in all I think it is a very secure handle and the chance of forward-egressing to the blade during an intense thrust-attack is probably minimal to none. Only cons I will give is that the screws holding the slabs could have been bit larger, but they are Allen-fit, not just Torx, which is excellent.
The sheath is good. It is made of Kydex and comes with two large size, BladeTech MOLLE locks. As far as I know, it also accomodates large size Tek-Loks. The retention is very good and it can be adjusted by tightning or loosening the MOLLE lock screws. The screws are a Chicago-type with rubber washers. It is also has eyelets for paracord attachment. There is no rattling or moving when shaking the knife with sheath attached. As noted before, I think this knife comes with a different sheath now. This is the old style one. Visit FKMD Europe to see a picture of the new one. The cons I will give is lack of support when it comes to horizontal carry(scout-position) and no dedicated support for leg-attachment(as divers often do). You can improvise, so it is not a problem though. It does not have a drainhole either, that's important to have on a kydex sheath, or any plastic sheath for that matter. All in all, it is very high quality sheath, but I don't think this is a diving sheath, but more a tactical MOLLE-vest setup, which is kinda strange for a knife marketed as a diving knife. But I don't care, it is well made after all.
My impression of the knife is positive, so can I recommend it? Well, if price is an issue, maybe this is a knife you want to steer away from. It is not overly pricey I think, remember that you get excellent quality for the money. The only reason why I bought it was because it is a store in my country who sells these knives for a cheaper price than else in Europe. I also boat and fish a lot and just like collecting knives. Will it rust? Yes, if not cleaned after use in seawater, at least the edge will develop small spots after a while. The only reason in my opinion to buy a titanium knife is for EOD personell. This is a very corrosion resistant knife and rust shouldn't be a problem with some care now and then. Alternatively, you can look at Spyderco's H-1 line, they're generally cheaper and that steel is rust-proof. If you like beautiful, quality-made knives, you don't mind spending that extra and you want one of the best handles (at least in my opinion), I can surely recommend it, even without proper fieldtesting. Just remember to secure it with a lanyard when in water! Other knives can be the SOG SEAL Pup Elite line, but they're not in the same league as this.
Have a nice day!
This is the FKMD Tecnoreef ll and the big brother of their Tecnoreef-line(which consists of two knives, surprisingly). It is in my opinion an excellent boating, maritime and SCUBA-knife, but also a nice camping companion. I haven't fieldtested this yet, so I will probably write a complete review when it is hot enough to stay in the seawater
I have experience when it comes to fishing and boating in the sea, so I will keep it real and try to draw conclusions from my experience.
Specs:
Length: 23.6 cm
Blade: 440B, DLC coated, 4mm, plainedge, serrated edge and a ropecutter. 9.6 cm cutting edge on the plain edge. Full tang.
Handle: Coarse G-10 slabs.
Sheath: US-made Kydex with MOLLE locks from BladeTech. This is the older sheath as far as I know. The newest sheathsystem is a fold-over type which has the SafariClip. Generally more durable I think, but not as good looking!
The blade is made out of 440B as far as I know. On a lot of websites, it is listed with N690Co, but that is wrong I think. This blade has a plainedge at the bottom and a serrated part at the top. It has also a ropecutter. Tried it on some 550 cord and it works excellent, as expected, since it is grinded on both sides. It came razorsharp out of the box with a good relief-edge. This knife was designed for diving, but I can see and feel that it will perform quite well in all maritime-based tasks, fishing included. The long and protruding part at the hilt is marketed as a hammer, probably a tankbanging device, but will also excell at traumatizing large fish's head before cutting it. It is completely full tang and has an rounded butt for glassbreaking, hammering or LTL. The serrated part is meant for cutting tough fibrous materials, wet rope and other tough materials. I will say that the whole blade is a typical diving knife setup. It is not a survival knife for batoning, obviously. But you can probably carve and lightly bushcraft with the plainedge since it is very sharp and not overly thick.
The handle is in my opinion the knife's strongest point. I have medium sized hands and it is probably the most confortable handle I've held. The coarse G-10 will probably develop hotspots in your hand through long term use, but it ensures a secure grip when needed. The handle will also fit larger sized hands quite well. Divers and fishingmen often use gloves, so a big handle is a necessity. It also provides good control and it feels like an extension of your arm. The jimping is good too. All in all I think it is a very secure handle and the chance of forward-egressing to the blade during an intense thrust-attack is probably minimal to none. Only cons I will give is that the screws holding the slabs could have been bit larger, but they are Allen-fit, not just Torx, which is excellent.
The sheath is good. It is made of Kydex and comes with two large size, BladeTech MOLLE locks. As far as I know, it also accomodates large size Tek-Loks. The retention is very good and it can be adjusted by tightning or loosening the MOLLE lock screws. The screws are a Chicago-type with rubber washers. It is also has eyelets for paracord attachment. There is no rattling or moving when shaking the knife with sheath attached. As noted before, I think this knife comes with a different sheath now. This is the old style one. Visit FKMD Europe to see a picture of the new one. The cons I will give is lack of support when it comes to horizontal carry(scout-position) and no dedicated support for leg-attachment(as divers often do). You can improvise, so it is not a problem though. It does not have a drainhole either, that's important to have on a kydex sheath, or any plastic sheath for that matter. All in all, it is very high quality sheath, but I don't think this is a diving sheath, but more a tactical MOLLE-vest setup, which is kinda strange for a knife marketed as a diving knife. But I don't care, it is well made after all.
My impression of the knife is positive, so can I recommend it? Well, if price is an issue, maybe this is a knife you want to steer away from. It is not overly pricey I think, remember that you get excellent quality for the money. The only reason why I bought it was because it is a store in my country who sells these knives for a cheaper price than else in Europe. I also boat and fish a lot and just like collecting knives. Will it rust? Yes, if not cleaned after use in seawater, at least the edge will develop small spots after a while. The only reason in my opinion to buy a titanium knife is for EOD personell. This is a very corrosion resistant knife and rust shouldn't be a problem with some care now and then. Alternatively, you can look at Spyderco's H-1 line, they're generally cheaper and that steel is rust-proof. If you like beautiful, quality-made knives, you don't mind spending that extra and you want one of the best handles (at least in my opinion), I can surely recommend it, even without proper fieldtesting. Just remember to secure it with a lanyard when in water! Other knives can be the SOG SEAL Pup Elite line, but they're not in the same league as this.
Have a nice day!