Spend way too much on a Fällkniven A1 Pro, or an A1xb?

WC is the chemical abbreviation for Tungsten Carbide. When used as a coating for steel blades, it is usually referred to as TDLC or DLC (Tungsten Diamond Like Carbon or Diamond Like Carbon). The hardness of the coating 72HRC (Hardness Rockwell C scale). There are no Diamonds in the coating. The DLC does not coat the working edge, so you can use normal abrasives to sharpen the knife (SiC/Al2O3). The coating on the blade will make it more scratch resistant than an uncoated blade.
If you want to convex sharpen your blade, skip the coating because whatever abrasive you use will make the coating look like s#*t.
 
Welcome! First.off, change title of thread to ? About Fallkniven and your responses will increase. I've had a.few.Fallkniven 's.over the years and they are.one of my favorites! My most expensive too! I got one of the.first one hundred.numbered Volcanos! Love it along with the Lam CoS steel. Get whatever moves you! What anyone says doesn't really matter!
Opinions equal that anatomical body orifice and there's crap behind everyone's!! Again, welcome and use the hell.out of whatever knife you pick!!
James
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
Just to clarify, the HRC of the coating itself is in the 80s, but the steel underneath isn't any different than the A1x. Tungsten carbide coating is used on high-speed drill bits, and is extremely abrasion resistant because it's extremely hard. Because it bonds very well to steel and is itself extremely abrasion resistant, it's less prone to wear than something like paint, PVD, or Cerakote.

As I understand it, it's not as hard of a surface as DLC (which is approximately as hard as diamonds), but that may actually improve wear resistance, since flex in the underlying material may have the effect of "popping" the microscopic plates that make up DLC away from the steel.
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Tungsten Carbide is around 72 HRC. They often make tool bits out of it, but as far as I know, it is not used to increase tool life the way that TiN, ZrN, TiCN, and TiAlN are. PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) is a process rather a coating. It is used to apply the aforementioned stuff.
There are no Diamonds and there is no Diamond like hardness in WC, TDLC, or DLC. That concept was developed by someone in the advertising department, the same guys that brought you Titanium Ski Jackets.
So the HRC’s of TiN, ZrN, and TiCN are in the 80’s. TiAlN is 92 HRC.
 
This might be put in left field, but that "HRC in the 80's" would be a concern to me.
Yes, I understand it will hold an edge longer. Yes, I understand that it is the Titanium Carbide surface coating that has the in the 80's HRC, and not the underlying metal. (Probably a good thing. I suspect the blade would be a might chippy if it was that hard all the way through.)
My concern would be sharpening in the field. Until you got past the coating on the edge, it will be a major regal royal pain in the sitter to sharpen with a stone. I suspect it would be as you sharpen over time, as well, since you will have to remove some of that coating as you work your way to the spine.
Yes, allegedly a high HRC will bold an edge longer. However, Every knife will eventually need to be sharpened - provided it is used and not left on a shelf on display, at any rate.
Something that hard is going to require a Diamond or SiC stone. Will you always have such with you when afield? I know I wouldn't wish to make a bet that I would. Having the option of using a flat river, stream, or creek stone/rock is a nice option of you forget your sharpening stone at home.
It is also my understanding that a blade that hard takes considerably longer to sharpen without a powered sharpener than a softer blade does, even if/when you are not trying to sharpen out a chip. Personally, I am not fond of sharpening by the light of a campfire, candle, or kerosene lantern.

All things considered, I think I'd go with the uncoated model, if I was in the market for one of these.

Full Disclosure:
I do not own a Fallkniven. There is a 99.999999 plus percent chance that I never will own one.
I probably have a better chance of walking or pedaling my (adult) trike to Mars than I do of obtaining a Fallkniven of any model. They are so far outside my budget, they may as well be in another Galaxy.
 
Fallkniven knives are well respected in these pages. Regardless of which model you’re considering one comment stood out for me among the rest.

It’s that the handles are thin and will produce hot spots when used hard for long periods of time. So some have had custom scales made. Bark River has done a few completed knives.
 
Oh man. Thank you all so much. I didn’t realize so many people were trying to help me until I got off work and checked my email. It’s kind of funny, I’ll read through a couple comments and decide on the A1x, and then the next comment suddenly the A1 Pro seems like it should’ve always been my choice. Until the next comment. It’s like trying to figure out which twin you want to date, except I don’t have to feel like a terrible person for being so shallow. This definitely helped, and also made me helpless. I am so completely stuck here. I watched that gentleman’s video one of you recommended, and it was very informative. I definitely like the look of that thick full tang all the way through the handle. I have an S30v 119 special (because the classics are classics for a reason), a Bark River Mountain Man Dagger, and a Bark River Mini Aurora, which by the way, is not as small as it looks on the internet. So I’m pretty well covered on the knives I need for the more delicate tasks. The video of the A1 I saw just made it seem like a tank/chopper. When you take the scales off the only holes are the screw holes. There is absolutely no metal cut out of that tang. BUT that being said, the A1 Pro just seems like such a masterpiece of a knife. One of the things people seem to like or not like is the handle. It’s designed for all weather but especially cold, which is why the tang isn’t exposed in that version of the A1. Me personally, I hate the cold. And I am unlikely to run out into the snow naked with my knife to prove my manhood (any time soon anyway). However, the entire reason that I starting learning about knives was survival. And without sounding too muffled under all this tinfoil, I don’t trust the system and I believe that I should spend a lot of my time learning how to take care of myself and the people I love. It may be unlikely, but a knife designed for extremes in temperatures is attractive to me. And if there’s one thing I l’ve learned, it’s that I never have a clue where I’ll end up next. Again thank you all so much for your input, I’m even more paralyzed now than I was this morning haha. I know this has been answered (I believe), but I couldn’t tell exactly what the definitive answer actually was. The A1x, that tungsten coating WILL come off for sure eventually? And the A1 Pro does NOT have any coating that will come off? Someone said for the A1x I will always need a diamond sharpener, is that also true for the A1 Pro? I do plan to actually use this knife. My 119 is for hunting mostly (some bushcraft), the dagger is for stabbing people I haven’t quite met yet, and the Mini Aurora is for all the other Bushcraftian things I need. This knife will pick up a lot of those tasks as my main knife. Anyway, thank you all so much. I really truly appreciate it. I don’t just spend over $400 on anything, and I really want whichever one I get to be the perfect option.
 
Make sure to check the fixed blades here for sale. Last time I looked there was.an old A1 for a buck a quarter! That's a steel/steal!!!!!!!!!!




Jesse Red said:
Oh man. Thank you all so much. I didn’t realize so many people were trying to help me until I got off work and checked my email. It’s kind of funny, I’ll read through a couple comments and decide on the A1x, and then the next comment suddenly the A1 Pro seems like it should’ve always been my choice. Until the next comment. It’s like trying to figure out which twin you want to date, except I don’t have to feel like a terrible person for being so shallow. This definitely helped, and also made me helpless. I am so completely stuck here. I watched that gentleman’s video one of you recommended, and it was very informative. I definitely like the look of that thick full tang all the way through the handle. I have an S30v 119 special (because the classics are classics for a reason), a Bark River Mountain Man Dagger, and a Bark River Mini Aurora, which by the way, is not as small as it looks on the internet. So I’m pretty well covered on the knives I need for the more delicate tasks. The video of the A1 I saw just made it seem like a tank/chopper. When you take the scales off the only holes are the screw holes. There is absolutely no metal cut out of that tang. BUT that being said, the A1 Pro just seems like such a masterpiece of a knife. One of the things people seem to like or not like is the handle. It’s designed for all weather but especially cold, which is why the tang isn’t exposed in that version of the A1. Me personally, I hate the cold. And I am unlikely to run out into the snow naked with my knife to prove my manhood (any time soon anyway). However, the entire reason that I starting learning about knives was survival. And without sounding too muffled under all this tinfoil, I don’t trust the system and I believe that I should spend a lot of my time learning how to take care of myself and the people I love. It may be unlikely, but a knife designed for extremes in temperatures is attractive to me. And if there’s one thing I l’ve learned, it’s that I never have a clue where I’ll end up next. Again thank you all so much for your input, I’m even more paralyzed now than I was this morning haha. I know this has been answered (I believe), but I couldn’t tell exactly what the definitive answer actually was. The A1x, that tungsten coating WILL come off for sure eventually? And the A1 Pro does NOT have any coating that will come off? Someone said for the A1x I will always need a diamond sharpener, is that also true for the A1 Pro? I do plan to actually use this knife. My 119 is for hunting mostly (some bushcraft), the dagger is for stabbing people I haven’t quite met yet, and the Mini Aurora is for all the other Bushcraftian things I need. This knife will pick up a lot of those tasks as my main knife. Anyway, thank you all so much. I really truly appreciate it. I don’t just spend over $400 on anything, and I really want whichever one I get to be the perfect option.
Click to expand...
 
Jesse Red said:
Oh man. Thank you all so much. I didn’t realize so many people were trying to help me until I got off work and checked my email. It’s kind of funny, I’ll read through a couple comments and decide on the A1x, and then the next comment suddenly the A1 Pro seems like it should’ve always been my choice. Until the next comment. It’s like trying to figure out which twin you want to date, except I don’t have to feel like a terrible person for being so shallow. This definitely helped, and also made me helpless. I am so completely stuck here. I watched that gentleman’s video one of you recommended, and it was very informative. I definitely like the look of that thick full tang all the way through the handle. I have an S30v 119 special (because the classics are classics for a reason), a Bark River Mountain Man Dagger, and a Bark River Mini Aurora, which by the way, is not as small as it looks on the internet. So I’m pretty well covered on the knives I need for the more delicate tasks. The video of the A1 I saw just made it seem like a tank/chopper. When you take the scales off the only holes are the screw holes. There is absolutely no metal cut out of that tang. BUT that being said, the A1 Pro just seems like such a masterpiece of a knife. One of the things people seem to like or not like is the handle. It’s designed for all weather but especially cold, which is why the tang isn’t exposed in that version of the A1. Me personally, I hate the cold. And I am unlikely to run out into the snow naked with my knife to prove my manhood (any time soon anyway). However, the entire reason that I starting learning about knives was survival. And without sounding too muffled under all this tinfoil, I don’t trust the system and I believe that I should spend a lot of my time learning how to take care of myself and the people I love. It may be unlikely, but a knife designed for extremes in temperatures is attractive to me. And if there’s one thing I l’ve learned, it’s that I never have a clue where I’ll end up next. Again thank you all so much for your input, I’m even more paralyzed now than I was this morning haha. I know this has been answered (I believe), but I couldn’t tell exactly what the definitive answer actually was. The A1x, that tungsten coating WILL come off for sure eventually? And the A1 Pro does NOT have any coating that will come off? Someone said for the A1x I will always need a diamond sharpener, is that also true for the A1 Pro? I do plan to actually use this knife. My 119 is for hunting mostly (some bushcraft), the dagger is for stabbing people I haven’t quite met yet, and the Mini Aurora is for all the other Bushcraftian things I need. This knife will pick up a lot of those tasks as my main knife. Anyway, thank you all so much. I really truly appreciate it. I don’t just spend over $400 on anything, and I really want whichever one I get to be the perfect option.
Click to expand...
Wow! Can you say "analysis paralysis"?! I hope you would not be this indecisive in a real survival situation! :eek:
 
afishhunter said:
This might be put in left field, but that "HRC in the 80's" would be a concern to me.
Yes, I understand it will hold an edge longer. Yes, I understand that it is the Titanium Carbide surface coating that has the in the 80's HRC, and not the underlying metal. (Probably a good thing. I suspect the blade would be a might chippy if it was that hard all the way through.)
My concern would be sharpening in the field. Until you got past the coating on the edge, it will be a major regal royal pain in the sitter to sharpen with a stone. I suspect it would be as you sharpen over time, as well, since you will have to remove some of that coating as you work your way to the spine.
Yes, allegedly a high HRC will bold an edge longer. However, Every knife will eventually need to be sharpened - provided it is used and not left on a shelf on display, at any rate.
Something that hard is going to require a Diamond or SiC stone. Will you always have such with you when afield? I know I wouldn't wish to make a bet that I would. Having the option of using a flat river, stream, or creek stone/rock is a nice option of you forget your sharpening stone at home.
It is also my understanding that a blade that hard takes considerably longer to sharpen without a powered sharpener than a softer blade does, even if/when you are not trying to sharpen out a chip. Personally, I am not fond of sharpening by the light of a campfire, candle, or kerosene lantern.

All things considered, I think I'd go with the uncoated model, if I was in the market for one of these.

Full Disclosure:
I do not own a Fallkniven. There is a 99.999999 plus percent chance that I never will own one.
I probably have a better chance of walking or pedaling my (adult) trike to Mars than I do of obtaining a Fallkniven of any model. They are so far outside my budget, they may as well be in another Galaxy.
Click to expand...

Which did you end up getting?
 
Fallkniven is a great company with really good quality control, but only Fallkniven product I have is the sharpener.
They are overpriced in my opinion.
That's just me though.
 
Same steel in both the A1Pro and A1x. I'm pretty sure the hardening etc is same, so steel is out of the comparison. The coating will only matter on the sides of the blade, the one used on the A1xb seems to be very tough, but I would argue that it is mainly a aesthetic function even though it might be slightly more scratch resistant and also protect the blade against rust, but I don't think the laminated CoS is very rust prone or really rust prone at all.
I haven't handled the A1x at all, so I can't say for sure, but I suspect the Pro will have an advantage in comfort of handle, and if used in cold temps it will definitely have an advantage with no exposed steel (except for the guard), but if it's that cold I will probably be wearing gloves anyway, so.
Sheath, advantage A1x maybe, the new locking function seems quite cool, and I'm pretty sure it's better then the sheath that comes with the Pro. (Fun sidenote, I met one of the designers of the x sheath yesterday. :) )
Pro is slightly lighter, but both is kind of heavy, but maybe a 10% difference matters in some instances.
The Pro premium pack of course comes with a nice watertight box with a diamond/ceramic sharpener.

For me personally, if I was offered either one for free, I would choose the Pro, and if the sheath annoyed me too much (not sure it would, except possibly some use) I would make a kydex sheath for it.
 
I have the a1xb and it's awesome. So nice, so sharp. Really hefty and cuts branches easily.
 
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