I love my Finn Wolf. I removed my thumb stud and it works great. I've resharpened it so many times on stones that it has become Scandi/Convex blade now. I think I like it even better now.
The Tri-Ad lock/spring on these can be a bit tight and might need a break-in, so if you find it hard to unlock with your hand/fingers, leave it half open ( at about 90degrees) over the night and it should loosen some. If not enough, repeat. Will also loosen after some use of course.
The thumb stud is really no problem with sharpening because, in the field, I use an Accusharp Diamond stick. A few swipes at the right angle, and it becomes nightmare-sharp again. Accusharp....never leave home without one, along with a CS, or Mora knife.
Great review:-) i have had one for several months now. It is a backup blade for my main belt knife. What i have found this knife works best at is push cuts and notching. Something the other blades you compared would not be so good at. But your main knife can have any grind you prefer and with its size and weight, you can still have a nice scandi for finer tasks.
Statewide and local laws for fixed blades in Missouri make EDC carry difficult. All of my scandi grinds are fixed blades and I’ve been looking at an affordable folder option. The Finn Wolf seems to be the best option, especially with the triad lock.
I find it so bizarre that so many states with permit less constitutional carry laws still restrict knife carry.. States like "Sure, conceal carry a Glock 17, but don't you dare carry a 6in Fixed blade.. I mean what are you, Some kind of MANIAC?". South Carolina is the same way.. I can open carry a S&W M29 44mag but I will be cited and possibly arrested for carrying my Cold Steel XL Voyager. I have zero idea what logic is used to justify these seemingly insane inconsistencies on the right to bear arms laws..
I keep this on me while I'm sleeping or just waking up/going to bed at camp. Having a fixed blade on the belt is a lot less comfortable imo. The AUS8A will usually last me a weekend but I wish they made this in CTSXHP for a little bit more.
Hey Peter check out the Finn Hawk its a really comfortable knife and makes a great neck knife. Honestly I think its probably one of the better Mora style knives I've used, only thing is they used 4116 cryo quenched German steel which is pretty soft. I put a scandivex on mine and once I did it was fine, its an excellent wood carving and whittling knife. Also it comes with a really good sheath like Mora's but way tighter, the handle has an awesome grip texture way better than the Moras . Another thing it has is an inverted palm handle shape like the Gerber lmf2 and Prodigy that actually works great. I do wish Cold Steel made it with the Aus8 like the Wolf but if microvexd it does just fine.....Anyways if ya can find it for a good price its pretty cool, $19 U.S on Amazon not sure how much for you Aussie knife geeks.
Great review I just did my review comparing it with my Enzo Birk 75 I've been enjoying using it as my wood carving knife when I'm not using one of my fixed blades for me I find it to be a good knife for the $32 I paid for it I don't know if that would still be true if i had to pay whatever it cost in Australia and if I had some of your awesome fixed blades it probably wouldn't get used as much as it does lol. Well hope your having a great day talk to you later
Thanks for this! I've wanted will one of these for a while, mostly just to have a scandi folder, but now that you mention it... it doesn't make much sense as an EDC. Any thoughts on the Enzo Birk?
Come on in Australia, like many places, hiking with a fixed blade is ever less accepted (BAH). With the folding and the colour less hassles for EVERYONE tryin to relax in the bush.
I love my Finn Wolf I have the green handle one. I would like to get the red handle one. I like to see Cold Steel would get rid of the thumb stud. An would do a hole in the blade. I think I would love the Finn Wolf even more.
Just got this as my first non-SAK, brand name folding knife. First thing that struck me was I thought they were dishonest about the grind being true scandi because, to my surprise, the millimeter before the edge seems to have a different finish than the rest of the bevel. Upon closer inspection, I dont think there is a 2ndary bevel, yet there is a touch of extra polish given where one would be. Struck me as very odd!
I've had one of these for a few years, and I do EDC it from time to time. My big issue with it is that it's VERY easy to roll the edge. It sure if the scandi grind or the AUS-8 is more to blame. I suppose both.
Have you sharpened it? What happens is sometimes the coarse belt grinder edge they put on them burns the steel if you sharpen away all of that coarse factory bs with a proper stone you end up with harder steel underneath this phenomenon has been proven to be real and there is a noticeable difference in edge retention afterwards
I love this knife but the aus 8 suxs. I have notches all in my blade but I think some of it is because of the pukko grind makes the edge not have a lot of meat to it. Plus some things don’t cut good with a scandi grind like cardboard, plastic, and any fruits or food. Other then that it cuts like a beast
Actually I believe the reason for the Finn Wolf (or any other bushcraft knife that has a Scandi grind on a thick blade) does not work well on food or cardboard is the blade thickness, and not necessarily associated with the Scandi grind. I noticed that when I compared the cutting efficiency for food prep. using the Mora Clipper/Companion and the Mora Companion HD. Both blades have the same Scandi grind but the HD has a thicker blade, and the difference is obvious.
Sorry man, I have to call you out on some conflicts in this review. First you say you don’t see the point of a folding bushcraft knife, then you say a knife this small with this strong of a lock wouldn’t benefit from being a fixed blade. So which is it?
Probably not, but cold steel does consistently perform well with heat treatment. It’s possible their aus 8 is above average, but don’t expect anything amazing
I like the Finn wolf except of the Aus8. If they came out with this blade in cts xhp I'd be very happy. Scandis are meant to be carving knives and I've found the edge just doesn't last long enough for me. Makes a decent enough edc blade but because of the grind falls short when it comes to food prep. It is good for fire prep and helps save the edge on your main blade. Lots of people complain about the sharpening but since the thumbstud is flathead compatible instead of hex I don't find it to be an issue. I do prefer the pocket clip on this knife compared to the one on my recon 1.
Alot of people, me included, carry a large knife with a carbon steel blade as a belt knife / main knife. Like an ESEE, Becker, Mora Pathfinder, Condor etc. such knives are often inferior to smaller scandi blades for finer tasks. And they will of course rust pretty easily if used for certain tasks. This knife is a pretty good compliment for us. However, I dont like cold steel, I think the company is lame and ridiculous, kind of like present day Steven Segall. And I also think AUS-8 is a pretty boring steel. Real Steel makes another folding bushcraft knife like this, but that lock is to weak for my taste.
Ditto on the Real Steel bushcraft folder. It would have been perfect if it weren't for the liner lock. Cold Steel has some good designs in their budget line, IMHO, this Finn Wolf is one of them. The Tri-Ad is probably the strongest lock for any folding knife, great for batoning, etc. tasks that other lock mechanisms would fail miserably. I wish they used something else for the blade steel other than AUS8, but it seems to holding up fairly well on my copy of the Finn Wolf.
It seems like you do get the point of the knife but just haven't put the pieces together. True scandi's are excellent at woodworking but delicate and mediocre on other cutting tasks. So carry this folder for for wood working and your fixed blade can be one with a more conventional edge, rather than carrying two fixed blades or going scandiless. Remember only on tv shows or in the cult of bushcraft are you limited to one knife, it's ok to carry two or more when your out in the bush I promise.
Mt. Baldwin Exactly, and it makes sense to me that it has a shorter blade than a mora. If you are carrying it as a medium duty wood carving knife to complement a large hard use fixed blade it could be even smaller. I've been thinking recently that the place for a scandi blade in my system would probably be in my Leatherman multitool, in terms of size and being in the right place at the right time it would be perfect, only issue would be prolonged use comfort and perhaps lock strength if I didn't have my big fixed blade nearby for splitting, but I carry a large fixed blade in my half day bag. It's great to have options like the Finn Wolf if you are trying to build a matryoshka doll tiered system for redundancy and specialisation. I have a different cutting tool assigned to each layer so that by the time I'm carrying my big day bag or multi day bag I might have six, seven or more wildly different size and style cutting/chopping tools. It's a real trick trying to get the capabilities you want at each level while fitting in with the size weight limitations of that form of carriage. So the more options the better.
Also agree with Pete, not much good as a lone edc for most people, and if I think about it, I suppose I'm not so keen on the folding "bushcraft knife" concept, but I am stoked for more folding carving knives.
KillerDeegan I did used to think that way. It is a worthy quest to find "the one", but I've been enjoying the challenge of putting together a comprehensive system also, I'm surrounded in a cloud of cutting tools, containers, combustion and candling devises at all times!
KillerDeegan ha, I did have a couple other videos but took them down if that helps the equation. I'm always thinking about it, got a whole bunch of ideas to share, and ideas about presentation, I'm just worn out, it takes about a thousand times less energy to lie in bed typing than it does to make a video. I totally admire those that can consistently put out quality content, and even your occasional goat porn is commendable. I'd much rather be creating, but at least just interacting with people with similar interests is something, keeps me sane.
Knifeguy that knife is around 120 dollars. This knife i bought for 30. If i had 120 dollars to spend i would buy something besides a folder. I think that is why it is a secret lol
