Tuesday 16 December 2008

Testing His Metal


Finally made it the post office while it was open. So Alistair and the injured Pablo now have jam on the way to them. Sorry about the wait chaps; life, separation and work all got in the way.

On a not-so-happy note I also had cause to post a package to Sweden. Todd's recent post about chipping one of his creations reminded me, I've chipped my Fallkniven F1 !! [and that's got to be worth two exclamation marks] They aren't supposed to break. Ever.

The F1 (Fell-elk-knee-ven (Raven without Ra) "FellKneeven") has been my 'big knife' for over eighteen months now and for many jobs I'm a fan.

Here in the UK the F1 design has long held it's place as 'the Bushcraft knife'. An enthusiasm I'm not really sure I understand as the design brief was for a survival knife. While it's fantastic for the rough jobs, battening and splitting, at 4.5 mm (0.18") the blade lacks a little in the finesse department. For example you can butcher with it but its not ideal.

The cause for concern maybe that I chipped the tip while splitting leylandii (which i think of as pretty crappy wood) for a fire in Mrs SBW's backyard. Now its time to test Fallkniven's metal - in the customer service arena.

Next year I'll be trying the H1, Fallkniven's take on the traditional Nordic hunting knife. Will that become 'one knife to rule them all'? Or will the nagging concern that I may be, in some small way, 'under knifed' once again consume me?

Your pal
SBW

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

...to which I have just had said jam delivered... and what's this? A DVD? Wow. Many thanks. Looks like fun.
Cheers and all the best esp to mum of SBW.
Pablo.

Home on the Range said...

That's a great photo.

Spent the day with some "newbies" covering knives, wounds and other assorted flat edged "meet and greets".

Hope you and your family are enjoying the Christmas season.

cheers,
B.

deerslayer said...

HI Surburban Bushwacker; sounds like your not as pleased with your knife as you were hoping to be. I hope the H1 turns out to be a better knife for you and your needs. I'm sure the company will replace the blade on your F1 once you get it to them. I like to add a story of how it got broken for their testing department just in cause they want to run some further test it their knifes. Have a Merry Xmas and a New Year and a safe one.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Deer Slayer
Thanks for getting in touch

Really if I'm honest with myself, your right, I'm not quite as happy with the F1 as i might be. In fairness I think my unhappiness is a function of my buying the wrong tool for the job, rather than a failing of the design itself.

The knife has been ace for some jobs, but its not the 'all things' tool I'm still looking for.

On the repair or replace front; my initial email contact with them wasn't that positive, so we'll have to wait and see.
SBW