Northstar and Fallkniven F1GM.

Q

Quy4n8

Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
659
Does anyone own a Fallkniven F1 with the micarta scales (F1GM) and a Bark River Northstar? If so, could you let me know what you think of them? I plan on using it for general outdoor use, camping, hunting, fishing, etc. Is one of them seem better or fit in the hand better for you? I am trying to decide between these two knives; if you have the ability to post pictures, could you show me a couple of them, especially from the top. Thanks.
 
Let me start by saying that I have never handled a Fallkniven F1, but I bought a Northstar with maple handles after reading 2 reviews on this forum. I haven't fully tested this knife yet but I love it so far! I have large troll-like hands and most small knives have handles that are way too small for me. This handle is perfect, just the right length and I love the way it tapers from small "diameter" to a nice wide "diameter" at the end of it. I let my wife hold it and she remarked that it felt perfect in her hand too (and she has some super small "pixie" hands ;) ). Overall, It's the perfect hunter/camper for me...
heres a couple of pics...

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top of handle

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top of whole knife

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over all a very nice knife in my opinion...

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Thanks, cOLD,

From the pictures that I have seen, I could not see if the handle tapered or not, but after seeing the photo's, it gives a much better mental image of the knife.

Cliff, is the grind on the F1 that much different than on the North Star?

Richard
 
I would have had a F1GM by now, if I hadn't stopped by the local shop before ordering it from the US. The micarta scales were really carelessly attached to the tang, making the knife come off real cheap-looking, and having some edges that could dig into your hand.
I ended up getting a Northern Light series instead; great knife (although the sheath is pretty substandard).
 
Many people use convex grinds to leave the profiles really thick, hence the frequent comments about convex grinds being for strength, however just because you run a convex grind does not mean you need to create a profile similar to a splitting maul. An Opinel is a convex grind but is very close to flat and thus it cuts very well. I have not handled any of the Bark River knives but assume they are similar to the Blackjack knives and I scoped the grind on one and you can see the details in the review (still in progress after several years and which one day I will get back to, nice knife anyway). I asked about the details on the new convex F1 as the above description to the W&S forum describes it much different than the flat ground one. Hopefully someone from Fallkniven will reply :

http://knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/752325/

-Cliff
 
I recently bought a Northstar (buckeye burl handles). Beats any fixed blade I ever had. Thick profile, but cuts like crazy. Size and shape are perfect, as far as I'm concerned, and the new sheath style works great.

Guy
 
Cliff, the blackjack you are reviewing, is that the Small listed on your pages or a different one?
 
Yes, I did the review about half way, loaned it to a friend, forgot about it for a long time and just recently got it back.

-Cliff
 
Bark Rivers are definitely users

they will cut and beg for more

awesome knives and Mike Stewart is a real stand up guy, too.

:thumbup:
 
I found the first generation NS to be a bit small. I believe that the second gen (the one in the picture) remedies this to an extent because the tang is not tapered and it seems the handle slabs are a bit thicker( I don't own it, so maybe someone else can speak to this). The knife is very light and cuts like crazy. I prefer the Fox River to the 1st gen NS because it felt bigger and heftier in the hand. In addition, I liked the blade shape better. It too, cuts like crazy. Easily my favorite fixed blade. May I suggest that if you buy one, spend some extra money on the handle slabs and pins you REALLY like. I bought Maroon Micarta with Mosaic pins...very classy, but still a great user.
 
Cliff Stamp said:
The biggest difference is likely the edge profile, Bark River grinds the edge very thin for a high level of cutting ability, Fallkniven is more geared towards durability. There were some recent note of this in a thread in the survival forum :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3296784&postcount=51

-Cliff
Click to expand...


Clif, I ned to explain few things, because you quoted my post. Generaly my opinion is that Fallkniven knives are too durable, and that is achived by sacrifice of cutting ability. On the other side BRKT knives are durable enough beside beeing cutting machines, so in my point of wiew BRKT is much more optimized for most uzes, except wire and nail cutting, and chopping cinder blocks, which arent relevant uses at all in any situation..

B.
 
Bogdan Ristivojevic said:
Generaly my opinion is that Fallkniven knives are too durable, and that is achived by sacrifice of cutting ability.
Click to expand...

There is always a trade off of those two items in general, though at times they can both be enhanced.

On the other side BRKT knives are durable enough beside beeing cutting machines, so in my point of wiew BRKT is much more optimized for most uzes, except wire and nail cutting, and chopping cinder blocks, which arent relevant uses at all in any situation.
Click to expand...

This is pushing the arguement to the point where it is just silly, I have lots of knives which are ground finer than the Fallkniven H1, however it has other uses besides that which you mentioned.

Not all bushcraft is done on soft woods in moderate weather, try cutting black spruce at -30 degrees and seeing how the edge on the BRKT knife holds up to batoning if you hit a knot.

Bone can be a very nice material for tools with a suitable knife, make needles, scrapers, arrow/spear tips, or fasteners. It also needs an edge more durable than one optomized just for wood.

Speaking of nails, I loaned a niced wood chopping blade to a friend last week who went camping, wanted a knife to cut some wood for a fire mainly. When it came back the edge had a ding, he hit a nail in a tree.

Fairly common around here, either u-nails from long past fences, regular nails from cabins kids started and left long ago, or idiots who think it is funny to spike a tree when they know people are cutting wood there.

Note as well than not all Fallkniven have the same grinds, the small U2 for example is thinner in cross section than any puukko for example, and as noted it isn't a big deal to adjust the edge profile.

This interaction has lead me to be curious enough about the F1 vs a similar BRKT knife that I may pick a couple up shortly and see how they compare both NIB and after 5 minutes on a stone on both soft and hard woods vs other camp chores.

Peter from Fallkniven is also a fairly straightforward guy to talk to, he commented on the nature of the grind in the above link.

-Cliff
 
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