A2 Wilderness Knife

[The General]

A2 Wilderness Knife.

This product by Fallkniven is a modified A1 knife with two substantial differences. Firstly it (the A2) has an 8 inch blade Vs the A1's 6 inch blade. Secondly this knife as a laminated blade. This is essentially a very good quality high carbon stainless steel (VG-10) as the cutting edge and a low carbon stainless steel providing the sides of the knife. In essence its a sandwich, the VG-10 is the meat and the 420 J2 low carbon is the bread in the sandwich. This has some real benefits in a large knife like this. The basic idea of a laminated blade is the same as used in composite longbows and composite recurved bows. You have materials that provide different qualities in one package. In the case of this knife, a hard 'core' of quality knife grade steel for high tensile strength and edge holding, whilst the sides of the knife are a low tensile strength, but very tough low carbon steel. The low carbon steel is nothing like as hard as it does not need to be. This enables a thick blade to have greater spring like properties and yet retain a hard steel for cutting. Thus a thick and large blade is both (relatively) flexible and strong at the same time.

Another benefit of this is that as 420 J2 contains little carbon and lots of Chromium, the majority of the knife is practically rust proof in even the worst situations! When you look at the knife there is a very noticeable lamination line where the two steel meet. Cold Steel makes a product called San Mai III which uses 8a steel and 420 J2 steel. This VG-10 laminate is much improved over the Cold Steel 8a laminate as VG-10 is a much superior knife steel, offering good toughness and much better wear resistance.

The A2 comes with a factory convex edge which I have remarked upon before. This gives the Fallkniven range of blades a very strong combination of toughness and sharpness. It is arguably the best combination of all round performance in an edge type. This particular knife I bought second hand from Colin. However I have extensive user experience with both standard VG-10 and laminated blades from Falk. I can confirm they are incredibly tough workhorses that simply will not let you down. The range hold an edge very well for stainless steel blades and resist chipping and rust admirably. I must confess I think laminated blades in a small knife are a real waste of money. However this can not be called a small knife and it is nice to know you are using a knife that has been overbuilt in every respect! When you consider that such a large knife as the A2 is blade heavy and eminently suited to chopping and splitting, the lamination really does become a factor that makes it worth spending more! Remember that laminated blades are also tougher when in cold climates, this is a factor often overlooked.

The A2 is a choppers dream, very comfortable and blade heavy in the hand. It cuts deeply into wood, yet never shocks the hand holding it. The near full tang also inspires immense confidence. Of note is how the tang is exposed allowing one to use it as a hammer, which while not really a suitable task for a knife, is a welcome feature. The sheath is of quality leather (Kydex also available) but strangely does not have any option for a small hone or compass. This is slightly disappointing as a small hone in the field can be most useful!

In summery, I really like this knife, I have given it a shaving sharp edge and it feels good in the hand. There are absolutely no major flaws in the make up or design of this knife. Pleasingly it has a slight guard, which reflects its utility rather than attempting to pretend its some kind of silly 'com-bat' knife! I can really respect that as large guards really get in the way of utility tasks around the kitchen and camp site!

[beach bum]

Very well written review, sounds like an excellent bit of kit. I went to the Fallkniven website, they are now doing a full range of their knives without handles for those of you with stocks of exotic woods, just waiting for a blade.all full tang too!

[Leon]

Hi General,
Enjoyed reading your review. I have an F1 in VG10 which I rate very highly, in fact its my favourite stainless knife so far.
One of the things I love about it however, is the hard, sharp edge to the spine which I use a plenty for scraping bark, firesteels, carvings etc and which I fear will not be so effective in the new laminate version.
I just wondered how you have found this feature of the knives affected by the new softer outer steel?
Dave

[The General]

The Rc hardness of the 420 J2 is still quite hard! For example a gun barel is at or around Rc 40-45 I would estimate the 420J2 is easily this hard, more likely nearer 52-55!

So it ought to hold up just fine, but not quite as well, it has been said that the 420 J2 scratches far more easily in the laminate series blades.

Interesting question though, thanks! Just the kind of user feedback I want!

[Noddy]

Floating this one back to the surface, General.

I like the look and sound of the A2 in the large camp knife niche - with advanced chopping facility

I wondered, if you haven't parted with it, by now you'll have had this four years. How has it performed over time?

I am all ears

[The General]

Still have the knife and still like it a lot.

However...

The Kraton handle is a ripper with extended use, even with gloves its just too much. I would opt for a smooth micarta handle if I were to use this long term.

So its still a great knife but I feel Kraton is a poor handle choice for many reasons long term use.

[Gumbob]

Very good review indeed. I have often thought about one of these as a 'chopper' but felt it might be a wee bit on the small/light side. Now I might keep my options open

Thanks again for the review.

Gumbob

[john wings]

I remember a review,that stated micarta handles,did not give sufficent support for chopping blades,using in rain.(slipping)

[Noddy]

The pics below are of the A2 and the Roselli Leuku. They both have blades 8" long, in 6mm steel. The Fallkie is, as The General points out, laminated stainless, and the Roselli carbon steel. The Fallkie is convexed, as usual, and the Roselli has the standard scandi grind.

And I though that they might be quite similar, until I started outlining their specs.

The Roselli has the 'traditional' leuku profile, and the Fallkniven is swedged and has a dropped point - So more like a Bowie, I suppose.

Still can't really figure out if they are more alike than different. More, they both have apparent advantages over the other, so making a choice between them is quite difficult. Worse, neither seems to have any particular drawback.

The handles are designed with different intentions for the manner of their use

They are both thicker than the traditional notion of the large leuku, I gather, which is meant to be about 3mm, or something. Perhaps I am comparing apples and pears

[The General]

I remember a review,that stated micarta handles,did not give sufficent support for chopping blades,using in rain.(slipping)

Don't believe everything you read.