Fallkniven H1z Fixed Blade 18

I have been a Fallkniven fan for about 20 years now. I always seem to gravitate towards the F1 for bushcraft and deer stalking but the H1 has always caught my eye, then seeing it available in Elmax steels had to try it. Ordered Friday night and arrived Monday usual Heinnie service. Out of the box sharpness is astounding and feels so much better in the hand than my F1, took it with me in search of a muntjac that have been plaguing a local dairy farm. I was a bit worried that the dimensions of the blade would make it a bit cumbersome for such a small species but it seems very well balanced and performed flawlessly on a mature buck. Splitting the aitch bone a ribcage with ease, a task that usually dulls most blade, but after getting home and washed up, I inspected the edge and it was as perfect as it was that morning when I received it! Can’t wait to get stuck into some fallow with it this season. Thanks again Heinnie and Fallkniven.

I bought this knife in February 2025 and we are now in August 2025. 6 months of regular use and I have just sharpened this for the first time! It has kept so sharp simply by stropping the edge that sharpening was not needed. It scored a 75g Bess test with a factory edge and was at 100g just before sharpening. Brilliant edge retention for this amount of time.The Rc is 61 to 62 and the heat treatment is a superb cryogenic process. I was so impressed I looked this up. The edge has had no chipping and performs better than knives I own costing £584 not £184! My Emberleaf custom Talos V2 has been working with this knife and has needed far more frequent sharpening. I sharpened the knife on a Tormek T4 using their fine diamond wheel and convex technique able to be done with their new knife clamp. It was done as a 17 degree each side convex and after removing the burr on the stropping wheel the knife scored 50g on the Bess tester! Results like this are usually in the domain of my Phil Wilson or Mr Itou or Kiku Matsuda knives which are much thinner behind the edge flat grinds. This knife continues to impress me. The knife is a bargain for its performance ability. On par with some serious custom makers.

The knife came superbly sharp! Scored 75 on a Bess test and has retained its sharpness over days of heavy use. It is brilliant at battoning. The thick spine and sabre grind convex blade pops wood apart. The handle is thick and comfortable for extended use. It feather sticks excellently and the tip is very sharp and strong. Not easy to achieve on a fully convex grind. My PXL folder is much less pin sharp than the H1. Makes deer gralloching very easy on the abdomen cut and the blade length can still be covered by your forefinger to avoid any puncture issues. The tip has a downward drop to assist in this and the design is very well thought through. The spine is flat and can throw good strikes from a ferry rod. The knife has really impressed me . An excellent hunting and bushcraft knife. The sheath works well on hygiene too and is easily washed through with a full drainage hole at the base. The knife is secure without using the press stud strap. This strap has no play and is very tight when fastened and covers the lanyard hole. This might impact on closure if a lanyard were fitted. Not an issue for me and I am very impressed with this knife. I would definitely recommend it.