Acta non verba M500
I bought this because of it's Fairburn/Sykes connection, anyone looking at it for any other reason should reappraise their motivation. It is not as good as the Spartan V14 version, which can be bought on this site, it is expensive but the level of engineering that one is paying for is high and that costs. This knife is still very good though, it is very difficult to produce a blade that is 100% equal sided - too lengthy to go into here. It has the same problem that the V14 version had in WW2 in that the handle is too small a diameter and this causes the knife to turn in the hand when it becomes wet usually as a result of it being covered in water ******. With the M500 the designers have tried to get around this issue by covering it in a gritty non slip surface, probably with some success. However if I were a SF ops which of course I am not, it would not be my choice of blade to carry for use as a last resort. There are plenty of better knives available that SF people will be well aware of, interesting that one often sees guys going up the rear ramp with another knife fixed to their belt or back pack or molle system. The M500 has a nice long blade but it is a bit thin, the trade off of course the reduced weight that would be detrimental to the superb balance. They have now brought out an almost identical knife, but with a shorter blade, it would be interesting to compare the two. As an item of beauty to admire this knife is first class, but as a knife to use in practical heavy situations, it is almost useless, IMO and there are far better knives on this site especially for the money that would be far superior. So as an item of beauty and of great engineering to admire, it is first class but as a knife to be used for tasks other than letter opening etc it would be a waste of hard earned cash. Nothing lost though, as I say there are numerous other knives on the excellent Hennie site to choose instead. Just give them a ring and they have excellent staff who will advise you.
