fallkniven frej

[shooterpunk]

Hey guys, I've been looking at the Fallkniven Frej recently. I love the looks of the stacked leather grip and from reading on here, the laminated VG10 is pretty good stuff. Does anyone have experience with this knife? With the convex grind, can I sharpen it like normal on my sharpmaker? I realize it would lose its convex edge but is it a problem to use the sharpmaker? Also I have also been considering the CRK Mountaineer II, I have seen the tests of the GB and Project I, but Im not too concerned at the knife will be used for hunting and camping, a little batoning but with another piece of wood, not a hammer. Thanks guys!

[kiah]

Hey guys, I've been looking at the Fallkniven Frej recently. I love the looks of the stacked leather grip and from reading on here, the laminated VG10 is pretty good stuff. Does anyone have experience with this knife? With the convex grind, can I sharpen it like normal on my sharpmaker? I realize it would lose its convex edge but is it a problem to use the sharpmaker? Also I have also been considering the CRK Mountaineer II, I have seen the tests of the GB and Project I, but Im not too concerned at the knife will be used for hunting and camping, a little batoning but with another piece of wood, not a hammer. Thanks guys!

The Frej is a gorgeous knife, and you can't go wrong with Fallkniven. It can be sharpened on a sharpmaker if you don't mind losing the convex, but it's best to use a mousepad with sandpaper attached or something like the hoodoo hone (http://bill-hay.com/Convex/Convex.htm).

As far as the CRK knives, a lot of people love them. I don't like the looks or ergonomics of them myself. From Noss's tests, edge retention seems low and they are horrible choppers.

[Thecarotidpulse]

Aye, it is a gorgeous knife.

However it is also an expensive one... So are the CRK.

My 2 cents: I wouldn't get a CRK because from what It seems you're paying for the brand name. I'm not interested in that.

Fallkniven makes superb quality knives, and I would use them anytime as a survival blade or a woodcraft blade. However when it comes to bigger knives, I would rather go with a "sharpened prybar" category of Busse family, or a Himalayan Imports Khukri, or a cheap Machete. (the latter most likely)

Personnally I'm a mid sized fixed blade + folder + axe kind of guy (not quite Nessmuk but almost).

Why am I telling you all this? Because the FK NL4 is in the 300$ price range. 100-200 $ will get you a fantastic fixed blade, either from FK or another company.

300 $ is well on your way to getting a sharpened prybar.
So here's my advice to you: Keep your money, buy the Fallkniven S1 or A1 (since you want a camp knife) and you'll find that the only advantage the the NL series has is a thinner blade geometry and therefore slightly better cutting.

Shouldnt be noticeable though. So get one of their tactical knives, and with the rest of the money you've saved buy one of the Fallkniven F1 or S1 blade blanks. Also buy yourself a knife handle making kit, and make your own handle. It'll look just as good, and you'll have 2 knives for the price of the one you were going to get.

This site : http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/821515/
Shows you some of the custom effects you can do.

As for convex edge? my advice sides with Kiahs (an expert in his own right) Learn to use the sandpaper and mousepad technique. Cheap, portable (weight of sandpaper vs sharpmaker or other) and very effective. Convex edges are unfortunately too rare and hard to get started to flatten it into a V grind.

Oh and about Fallkniven: you don't need to "sharpen" them often. Only after a couple of months of moderate to hard use, or nicks IF you "hone" them using a leather strop and some honing compound.

Lee Valley tools makes an excellent strop on wood, and also sells honing compound (green)

I hope this helps! And remember, most importantly, strop often!

[Thecarotidpulse]

(btw welcome to the forum)

[shooterpunk]

Thanks for the info carotidpulse, and the welcome. On NewGraham they the NL4 for $209, although I love the look of the leather the s1 or h1 may be a better choice for hard use.

[kiah]

my advice sides with Kiahs (an expert in his own right)

http://knifetest.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=289&stc=1&d=1220047587

[kiah]

By the way. On the subject of stacked leather handles. Bark River makes some excellent knives that can be had with it.

[Thecarotidpulse]

yeah BRKT (Bark River Knife and Tool) makes some awesome knives (or so I hear).

However not stainless I believe?


Mike Stewart has much of the same design philosophy as Peter Hjortberger (Prolly messed up his last name - again).

Anyway somehow everyone mentions the H1...

It's a great knife, but IMO you're better off with one of the more modern (less traditionnal) designs to start with for a Fallkniven. For goodness sake, look at the F1! it's sexy too!

(I wrote a couple of hugely long posts on F1vs H1, don't really feel like copying so here's the link (http://www.knifetest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=266))

Any chance that you would go for the S1 blank and make a custom? There are some really nice possibilities... Did you look at the site I sent you to in the first post? In those forums there is also a great tutorial for knife sharpening...

P.s... Strop often! Buy the strop and compound at the same time as you order your FK! That's when it truly shines...

[kiah]

yeah BRKT (Bark River Knife and Tool) makes some awesome knives (or so I hear).

However not stainless I believe?


A2 is pretty much synonymous with Bark River. Most BRs are made from it. It is definitely not stainless, but it's not as rust prone as a simple carbon steel like 1095.

They also use 12c27 in a lot of their knives. This is a very good stainless. It's the same steel as stainless Moras.

The other steels used are 1095, 52-100, 5160, 154cm, N685, N690, and probably a few others. Those are mostly used on prototypes and customs I believe.

[Thecarotidpulse]

Sweet.

btw I love 12C27... it is so damn handy!

Thx for the info bro.

Btw... i like 1095 too... it's .... je ne sais quoi.