Best All-Around Blade? Fallkniven F1z Review

Swedish design and Japanese manufacture come together in a knife that is simple, precise, and adaptable to almost any situation. This could be the one knife you need.

Let us imagine you need to choose one blade to take with you into the backcountry and you don’t know what you will be doing. Make a shelter? Hike to a hidden gorge and make a fire? Hoof it through the bush? You just don’t know.

And here is one more requirement: It needs to cost less than $150. What’s your knife?

If you have an answer, you have a knife that can do just about anything. The problem is that many “jack of all trades” knives are good at a bunch of things but not great at anything.

For me, there is one knife that stands out above the rest for versatility and performance: the Fallkniven F1z.

Fallkniven: Swedish Design, Japanese Manufacture

For those that are unfamiliar with Fallkniven, it is a Swedish company that designs knives in Europe and has them made in Japan. The result is classic Scandinavian utility with impeccable Japanese bladecraft.

The brand uses good-to-excellent steels, VG10 and 3G. These knives also have exceptional handle designs that are simple and functional with plenty of grip.

Most importantly, they have convex grinds (a grind that tapers to the edge, but curves out instead of in, like a hollow grind) that result in amazing edge stability and sharpness.

The F1z is a cheaper version of the F1, dropping the leather sheath in favor of a molded (but not form-fitting) Zytel sheath.

This cuts the weight of the whole package, but because it is not a form-fitted sheath it adds a bit of rattle and requires a snap to keep the knife in place.

The sheath is a weak point, but honestly, the blade is outstanding enough that you shelling out a few bucks for an aftermarket sheath isn’t a bad idea (I recommend Bayou Custom Sheathes – great work, good prices).

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Review: Fallkniven F1z

The knife itself is pure cutting magic. With a blade just under 4 inches, you have plenty of room to do real, backwoods chores – hacking, prying, and chopping.

But with a generous handle and convex grind, you also have the capacity to slice and cut with precision. I wouldn’t call it a paring knife, but you can do a lot of different work with the F1z.

If you are looking for a good, mid-priced, do-everything knife that can hang on your belt for outdoor chores or backcountry work, you’d be hard-pressed to find something better than the Fallkniven F1z.