Fallkniven F1Z Survival Knife VG-10 w/ Zytel Sheath

Considering that we are discussing a 99 dollar knife, your options when it comes to picking a good steel are limited to the simplest alloys, or in the case of ''survival'' knives, 1095 is the one used by practically every brand (ESEE, Becker, TOPS, Schrade, even Mora uses a variation of this steel). Even when not looking at the price range, most of the steels you mentioned either require harder abrasives to maintain or a very good heat treat to be a viable option. AEB-L at 58 hrc is pretty much at the low-end of performance, practically on par with VG-10, same with CPM-154. Fun fact, the original Fallkniven knives used ATS-34 steel, which is the non-powdered version of RWL-34. Again, performance almost completely relies on geometry and heat treat, not steel. That basically means that the only chance for a person to obtain a good ''survival knife'' in stainless steel is to look at the custom market, spending 3 or 4 times the amount of the knife we are discussing right now. Now, I've used both VG-10 and CPM-3v, and in terms of impact and abrasion resistance against hard material, the results completely depend on the angle of the primary grind. The Fallkniven most likely will not fail you when you have a 45 degree inclusive edge on it, and will perform well with a more acute edge at the cost of losing toughness. If we are splitting hairs, then yes, obviously a supersteel will have the advantage over a simpler steel, if compared with the same Rockwell hardness and grind angle. But VG-10 is still a viable option just as 1095, 52100, AEB-L, O1, D2, etc, are not obsolete and are still popular picks: you have a very stain resistant knife with the ability to take a killer edge with minimal effort, moderate but acceptable toughness, wear resistance and strength, small carbides that allow a less toothy finish, with a cheap manufacturing and tooling process that allows for cheap budgets. All those factors considered, combined with a convex grind, sandwiched between two soft steels, and given a 4.5 mm thickness, you get a very low maintenance knife with an even lower maintenance rubber handle and plastic sheath, that can be sharpened back to shaving in 2 minutes with a pocket stone, that can handle all the basic tasks (game processing, food prep, wood processing and shaping, cutting through soft to medium hardness material, etc) with zero edge damage and more demanding tasks (chopping, prying, drilling, battoning, throwing, stabbing, etc) with limited edge damage, if any, and can be reground and sharpened in less than 5 minutes. Check out a destruction video of a Fallkniven A1 on YouTube, not many knives can survive that amount of damage. To conclude, for 99 dollars, emphasis on 99, as not many decent knives can achieve that low a price, you get a knife that has an excellent design, good geometry, convex grind, good sheath and handle, and a good BUDGET steel and heat treat. I would also love to see a 63 hrc CPM-3V knife out there for 99 bucks, but tis' but a pipe dream. If you are looking for a SURVIVAL knife, not a knife that can destroy car doors, split .50 BMG bullets in midair, and destroy 3 foot thick concrete slabs (in that case, grab a 52 hrc 5160 6/8 inch thick knife with a 60 degree inclusive and 0.1 inch behind the edge thickness, and I call that knife with some difficulty, because cutting anything will become quite a challenge to say the least) then look no further. I'm sure a Fallkniven F1 will suit any reasonable knife tasks given, and in a pinch can be abused without receiving too much damage. Given the option between 59 hrc VG-10 and 57 hrc 1095, I'll take VG-10 any day of the week, because it has more than enough toughness necessary, without all of the drawbacks of a soft carbon steel (not a good option for a knife, but very good as a machete or zombie-killing car hood slashing monster blade, which I admit can be fun to swing around in the backyard at times.) I hope I've reinforced the original point that I've made, which is that Fallkniven knives are a great option for an outdoor environment. If you want a tactical katana with a built-in grenade launcher, then yes, VG-10 is not tough enough for your needs. In the end, it's not a magic steel, just a nice cheap budget option that's been used in culinary knives for decades for a reason: it's good for cutting. With the added characteristics and lower hardness of a Fallkniven, it's good enough for beating on. If you think a real survival knife has to let you chop your way out of a prison cell or be used as an ice axe to climb Everest, that's probably because survival is an extremely overused word that will lead to nothing but never ending discussion among people with different concepts and assumptions of that term. In that case, everyone should form their own conclusions. I better stop typing because at this point this comment will go on forever... I seem to have a knack for wasting time on the web... peace out, my dudes

It seems as though you must not even own the Condor in mistaking its handle construction. Besides, you're getting a tad over passionate in attempting to defend your views it seems for me to worry about me wasting too much more of my time debating what are subjective opinions on the matter. It was never my intention to convey that the Terrasaur or the Terava Jaakaripuukko were better knives; just a better value for essentially the same tasks. That's why I never considered buying an F1 personally. I agree that Fallkniven as a brand are wonderful knives and as mentioned own both an A1 and an S1. I was just never interested in an F1 because I believed there to be many more choices that were a better value giving comparable performance in its size range. For that matter, an SRK at 1/3rd the price is even a worthy competitor, although I'm sure you'll disagree. I certainly never meant to compare Moras to more expensive makers' models either although in truth there are many who will laud their functionality and value over many more expensive choices. My only point was to illustrate that there are many budget friendly knives that punch way above there weight when it comes to light duty camping and bushcraft chores and the F1 is in the light duty chore class. If you love your F1 and feel that it will do things better than any other knife its size, I'm happy for you in making the right choice for yourself. We're all welcome to our views and choices. Good luck to you, stay safe, and take care.

My opologies, I am incorrect regarding the Terrasaur having wood scales but my opinion still stands that they are different enough knives to not really directly compete. I am aware the terava puuko is over moulded, I own it. I agree they are all geared towards outdoors and for similar scenarios what I am saying is that there are enough differences to justify paying more, and they are as stated, over all fit and finish and resistance to corrosion. The F1 will do things better than both the Condor and puuko due to material choices and convexed bevel. You may disagree with the significance of the differences but that is your personal subjective opinion, the objective facts remain and others may subjectively appreciate the value of those differences, that is all. I am not saying you are wrong, many may agree but you would be wrong to assume everyone would have that opinion. I am not going to argue spending $400 on a custom bushcraft knife with a custom heat treated 3V blade is stupid when it would perform the same as a Mora. There are differences that many will pay a premium for. I have a Spyderco Bushcraft UK. I then bought a Survive! GSO 3.5. You could argue that is silly, they are similar size and both could do the same tasks but there are differences in blade grind, one scandi, great for wood, the other saber, better for all around use. The steel is different, 3V is stain resistant and tougher. The difference between a scandi grind and a convex on the F1 is significant.