Fallkniven F1 VG10 Survival Knife

Fallkniven F1 knife is used by the Swedish Airforce as a survival tool. This is a Swedish knife but not made in Sweden. The metal used is a VG10 steel which stands for V Gold 10 or sometimes known as V-Kin-10(V金10号) that are used in Japanese cutlery mostly the Chefs' Knives. In another words the Fallkniven knife is made in Japan. 

Found a knock off sales below USD20 in China market and decided to get one and see for myself. The knife felt very good in my hand and the weight was just right to use for chopping. Did a search on the internet for the specification and surprising came across the Original and Copy specification.     

Some differences between original F1 and China copy
                                                  F1 original                                           China copy
Blade length                                    98 mm                                                   96 mm
Blade thickness                               4,4 mm                                                   3,5 mm
Blade width                                   27,2 mm                                                26,6 mm
Blade finish                                      Glossy                                                      Poor
Steel                                          Lam. VG10                                         Solid 420J2 or alike
Hardness                                        HRC 59                                                    HRC 50
Lanyard hole                              Y-shaped tube                                           Straight tube
Lamination line                      3-4 mm from the edge                                          No line
Convex edge                                     Yes                                                           No
Handle                                 Exact pattern, 12 lines                             Rough pattern, ten lines
Leather thickness                             3,2 mm                                                  2,3 mm
Sheath thickness at side                    13 mm                                                     9 mm
Double leather liner                             Yes                                                   Single liner
Notch for crossguard inside sheath        Yes                                                          No
Rivets/button                                    Black                                                       Light
Logo on sheath                             Thick lines                                                Thin lines
Box                                            Inside brown                                            Inside white

Thoughts

The knife definitely felt good to use, it chop and feather the wood with ease, comparing with my Buck Selector it needed some effort maybe due to the weight of the knife.  The knife at the thickest is 4.5mm not 3.5mm, not many knives of these size are made this thick which is good to use for hammering and strength, normally 3mm ~ 3.5mm thickness. The weight of the knife is 155gm. 

The blade edge is definitely not convex, the original convex edge width is around 4mm, the copy is a 1mm V cut edge. The advantage of a convex edge is that it is really sharp but very difficult the maintain. You need to have some skill in sharpening a convex edge knife. The blade came sharp and slicing up paper was not a problem but there are still feel minor rough edge that still needs to straighten out. Normally using 600 and 2000 girt paper should be able to sharpen it.

The rubber handle with diamond notches felt good in gripping the knife, this will prevent the knife from slipping during wet condition. The end part the handle has the blade shank which is ideal for hammering such as tent pegs. Overall this is a cheap knock off but still decent enough to carry out field work. Will be reworking on the blade edge to convex shape. 

As much as I know the knife can start a fire and chop down stuff, the material is not VG10 but for survival this knife can do the job. The weight simply felt good it is only the cutting edge from the original. If it still can cut...who really cares.

 Packaging

 size comparison between the 25 years old original Buck Selector

Shank is thick enough for a whack to chop woods

V-cut blade

yes the top blade can set a spark on a fire steel 

The knife sheath was leather made, the construction looks pretty good just that the button flap felt it was in a way if need to draw the knife out.  They do come in Zytel Sheath which I did not opt for, the leather sheath looks better in terms of concealment. 

Zytel Sheath