Fällkniven S1 - The most overrated knife out there? 

To all the fallkniven fanboys -> If you still think that the S1 is a great knife then go ahead and buy one. I myself thought this knife was great too when I bought it, but after only a couple of weeks of use it has disappointed me. The tip broke after only 2 days of use while searching grubs in wood, the steel (a kitchen knife steel!!) chipped on wood, the handle is too small and gave me a lot of blister, the sheath broke without reason...That is why I posted this video, to simply share my experience with it. Fallkniven is a great company producing great knives (for a high price!) in general but the VG10 steel is not suitable for the outdoors imho. You can agree or disagree with me that's ok.

If Fallkniven is overrated, what about your shitty knife Lily? 🤣

I am on about 8 years of hard use. Hunting, fishing and camping and haven't had a single issue that couldn't be rectified with some sharpening. Using the knife poorly doesn't make a poor knife.

7:58 a part of my soul died at that moment

First rule of REAL survival: Protect your knife,and only use it for its true purpose. This is not the knifes problem,it is a user problem. You should get yourself a crowbar.

You really have no idea do you? Is this all about trying to sell your own product? Zero credibility imho

So you're saying heavy abuse will damage a knife? Good to know.

News flash! Abusing a knife ruins it. In other news, water is wet.

no wonder you have so many chips with the fire steel against the blade

Lilly love your channel. I have had my S1 for years. Have carried it with me in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world. Never had a problem.

You dont like vg10 but your knife is aus8? So confused

Laminated VG10 straight from the factory will chip no doubt. I own a Fallkniven WM1, F1, S1, A1, and A2. The secret to edge stability with VG10 is to sharpen it a few times. The edge will become just fabulous after that. I do understand that Fallkniven factory edges can be brittle, this too has been my experience. After my first Falky chipped out I just sharpened my new ones before using them and avoided the issue. In a perfect world you would not need to sharpen a brand new blade 3 times before using it. That being said I LOVE my Fallkniven knives above all others and give them a HUGE 2 thumbs up!

Go figure...you abused the knife and used it poorly...and it broke. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad knife. In a survival situation, you should know that your knife must be protected. Survival doesn’t equal abusive use.

I bought my S1 VG10 about 4 years ago. I litteraly chopped down trees and still in best shape. Those knives are tanks. Of course CoS may be better steel and edge retention, but I truly believe that it would not survive more than standard S1 in the hands of this cruel woman.

When you can’t even survive using an S1… It’s time to take survival out of your name.

I wonder if she purposely sabotaged this review in order to sell her knife?

3:03 what on Earth have you done to that blade?😱 Have you tried to open an Armoured Vehicles with it or what?

The coincidence...you made your own Lily's APO-1 Survival Knife...that looks like the S1...right🤔🤔🤔...this is as legit as the S1 review you left.

“I was only cutting wood I have never slashed a stone with it” then she scrapes the fire steel with the edge without even blinking

Dear Lilly, I would like to see the same test with your advertised Lilly APO knife. I am pretty sure, if you do the same test to yourAPO knife the result will be 10 times worse. I guess there will be no knife at all to be presented at the end. I am not sure what the intention of such destruction videos is. You can destroy every knife, if you want. I am not payed by Fällkniven and I am not making any RU-vid videos. I just wanted to understand what this nonsense is all about. Regards Vassilios

Thats not the correct way to colect limpets, you have to pry them with the tip of the knife, when they are distracted, or else they grab harder to the rock.

my a1 is a really good knive it has never failed me

I dunno, the most overrated thing here is you, probably. The knife is fine.

A knife is made for cutting Also survival knifes... cutting wood won't chip vg10. And even if you beat the shit out of it and...wich is what i do with my a1 on a regular basis...you can still featherstick and carve very well, also with a few chips. Its very expensive thats true. Most fällkniven haters are just people who bought the knife and chipped it because they dont now how to properly use a cutting tool. Then they a scared and blame the manufacturer instead of using it over and over. You can't use this knife like a esee/ tops knife, but trust me once you get to know this blade, it performs amazing. I prefer it to all my esee/tops/bark river knifes. But that does NOT mean that vg10 is a great steel. I just want to say that its not the steel that gets the work done, its the person using it. And looking at that saw edge...if you do the exact same things with your Apo-1, the edge will also be fucked up...not chipped as bad but rolled and also dull as hell. Also... batoning with a stone will dull any spine.

Dear Lilly...... I like your Videos. But why Do you take a Stone for Batoning... ???? 😨 An What Do you think, What Happened wenn you Hit on a Rock with rubber/plastic...... I have The A1 and in my opinion its indistructibel.... I use IT vor batoning ( woodstick an not with stone....) Larger Handel and more robust Tip. Easy to scharpen..... Take a flat stone an make "Kreisende" (??? circual???? ) moves over the edge. In survival Situation IT is Not impotant if IT has a konvex grind or a secondary Phase... Your opinion is that this knive is not for you. My opinion is, this knive is for every one, how use his knive for normally woodworks. Still nice Videos from you. I like Them very much. Liebe Grüße, und alles Gute. Kai✌️👍

Wow... that edge looked like you used that knife for processing stones... I’d say you pushed the limits of VG10, and then some. To say that it’s the fault of the steel is just ridiculous, to be fair.

Thanks Lilly! You hit on all the points that I had questions about. I am a former soldier who has destroyed a lot of knives. I suspected a lot of the flaws that you identified in looking at these 'high end' knives. For what they cost, they should not have these issues. A survival knife is a tool. Those that don't have issues only use it as a knife, for which I'm sure it is fine. Thanks for taking all the time in actually using these knives like anyone might in survival situations.

Watched your review of yor own knifes, did not look like you trated them as harsh as you did this. You even batoning with wood vs vood, more carfull with your own survival knifes than the "freebees" 😂

I've used the original A1, which is solid vg10 not laminate, with zero problems for many years now. I love your vids but I think you missed the mark on this one.

I have got F1 and A1 (both Lam VG 10). They are very good knifes. I have used these for 6 years ago. I don't understand...

Two things about your review: 1-Wich handle material would hold up to be smashed against a rock? (when you picked the seafood of the rocks with the back of the handle) I don't think Wood, Micarta, bone, G10 or anything else would hold up to that. Even the handle of your SRK would give up... 2- Convex grind: Hatchets, axes, tomahwks, all these usually have a convex grind, if you take one of these with you "into the wild" and you want to sharpen them you also have to know how to. So not that different to a knife with a convex grind.

How do you guys chip your blades. I've had my F1 for 7 years doing plenty of stuff with it. It's still in great condition :)

S1 is so much better than your APO 1, it has to be said

you can grab a really thick piece of steel, put a cheap edge on it, and beat the crap out of it, but you will never be able to see what a real, sharp knife can do. if you take care of your Fallkniven, it will last you a lifetime and stay sharp as well.

"I gave it my best to destroy this knife. After a month of hard work I have managed to chip the edge, so it must be a poor knife..."

So far, I saw 30 seconds of this video and I already think this will be a terrible review by someone who does not know how to use a knife (0:27).

Had my F1 for 20 years and it is still going strong 👍🏻

Hello. Trees in tropical islands are very different from the softwood pine forests in Europe. Most tropical trees are called "hardwood" for a reason. Some have higher silica content, particularly the beach species, while some exude sap that would render chainsaws useless after a short time. Anyway I think these, in addition to the sand and seawater, may have factored in to your negative review.

I have had the S1 for about one and a half years now and just last week I lost the tip for the third. That's when I decided to sell it. I do like the sheath - mine has not broken. I actually thought it to be the knife's strong point. However - I have had all the other issues: It does chip easily. Because of the grind and the hard steel it is really difficult to sharpen. The blade is way too thick for how narrow it is and as consequence it never feels sharp. Not even out of the box or after I had it resharpened by Fallkniven (for 30€!). The handle does feel small. So overall this knife makes a very poor value for money. If anyone thinks otherwise, mine is on offer - resharpened and polished for as little as 90€.

LOL you bashed a rubber Handle against stone? Like 50 times? And your disappointed it damaged the handle ?

I have been using the A1 for over ten years and it has held up against all kinds of abuse. Honestly I would recommend all 3 to anyone looking for a good quality bushcraft knife. Just remember hard use and actively trying to destroy it are two different things. Pro tip: it has a convex grind so if you are not familiar you can easily destroy it when sharpening.

The tip of the knife is broken because the edge is also broken. It looks like you have cut metal, if you want to break a knife you will break any. Don't lie and tell the whole truth the edge looks like a saw

dont say ur APO 1 is good if ur going to trash this knife ... try using ur knife doing all these rediculous tasks ... im pretty sure ud see major edge problems!

Mein S1 war mit mir in Afghanistan und Mali im Einsatz, ich habe es für alle möglichen Sachen benutzt und habe keine Probleme..

I just want to roll my eyes the entire time she was talking. She won’t be using one of my knives in a survival situation.

Alternative title: "This knife is overrated because I dont know how to use a knife properly"

I cringe looking at this, its a knife.. Ffs, im sad for you.. And learn to use a firesteel right.. 😑

I bought my S1 some 20 years ago. It's still going strong. My sheath is very different. It is much better than the standard one nowadays.

Much respect to lilly and her work but feel compelled to add some points that are not addressed. First off, the S1 is designed for wet and cold weather use. The sheath is designed to allow a knife to be wet and frozen and still be able to come out of the sheath. Try that with an SRK. Second, handle is small as knife is expected to be used with winter gloves. Third, any handle material that is rubbed against rock will deteriorate. I have both SRK and S1 and S1 handle has out lasted the softer rubber of the SRK (lilly's previous knife) Fourth, I think smashing the back of the spine of the knife with a rock has comprised the ferro rod sparking ability, as my F1 and S1 spark as well as any knife I own. Fith, The blade is designed for northern european forest and frozen wood, not golden sand. VG10 does chip out, but I can't say I have ever seen a blade as badly chipped as Lills. Maybe she has lemon. I think it's fair to say, if you find yourself on a beautiful desert island in a survival situation make sure you have a bikini. ...

While I’m not a fan of VG10, it’s still better than the AUS8 steel in the APO 1.

"..and I mistreated the knife.."

You hit a coconut with it using a rock, and you smashed the rubber against a rock repetitively.... that's not even close to what a knife is meant for.

To be honest I think it is not very fair to complain about the bottom of the handle being damaged, the knife has already got a steel end coming out which is what you should hit other things with, I think maybe you missed it when hitting hard things and broke the kraton handle, but if you do the same with just about any other knife, it will most likely do the same though, unless the knife handle is made of steel too... But thanks for the review any ways, I think this knife is a bit too small for the tasks you wanted to do maybe? Try the fallkniven a1.

You used this knife like a hatchet... Remember that it's drill a knife.it's made for heavy duty,but not extreme use ! It's a knife ffs.

Also, I’m Not Aware Of Falkniven Using VG-10 In Their Fixed Blades. They Use Laminated Cobalt Steel.

Even with vg10, that knife appears to have a crappy heat treat, wood shouldn't chip out a blade in that manner.

Owned a Fallkniven S1 for many years now and I have never had any issues with it--I suck at sharpening the damn thing, but other than that it's held up great. Let me preface all this by saying that I did get a great deal on mine and would never pay retail for it, but then again, it has been a good knife as I stated above. Now, I'm not taking a rock and striking the spine or abusing it in anyway. I have several other knife brands that I currently own, and I will go with most of them before I pull out the S1, and I would never do some of the tests Lilly preformed on my other knives either--for their intended purposes I love them all. I had a special kydex sheath made for me by Gorilla Tavern and he did a fantastic job--put a survival kit on it and it's been in my car kit for years--great knife when I need it. For every person out there that bags on this knife, there is another who actually thinks it's a good (not great) knife. Just don't pay retail for it because there are much better brands/options out there. I love Lilly but respectfully disagree. Oh, everyone knows the sheath sucks. Mine has never failed, but then again I will never us it because it's damn cheap and poorly made.

I own a Fallniven A1 for 4 years, i baton it every 2 weeks the whole weekend processing wood,delimbing branches, ofc i dont bash on the tip,its a 5mm thick blade, why would i smack on the fine tip... because you can break every tip...the handle is holding up perfect, ofc i dont smack it on stone, i would use another stone. Convex is the EASIEST to grind if you have a clue what you are doing, its like sharpening an axe. my knife never chipped on me also, i agree only on one thing that the sheet is not the greatest, but again it works and i have no malfucntions with it

Never had these problems. Better buy cheaper knifes when you want to treat them like this.

By all accounts, VG10 steel is no longer used in the production of this knife (Fallkniven S1). Additionally, it would seem that the use of VG10 is very likely being gradually phased out by Fallkniven. Going forwards, the findings in this video are rendered redundant and relegated to the dustbin of history. I wonder how chippy Otzi the iceman would have found his flint knife in comparison to a knife of VG10 steel. Consider that his survival skills were probably several magnitudes greater than any of those playing the survival game in this modern world. I dont think there were many shops and supermarkets around 5000 years ago that folk could get their survival gear from. To be honest, it is quite easy to destroy anything without giving due consideration to materials science and the properties of the materials used.

"almost lost my knife on the beach". I wish you would have. Maybe somebody who knows how to use a knife may have found it and put it to good use.

Hello! I watched the video and was a little freaked out! I have s1 and I am completely satisfied with it! It's a knife, not a sledgehammer! It's a knife, not an axe! It's a knife, not a crowbar! Great quality knife! Very comfortable. You need to be able to sharpen, since there is a lens on the knife! The blade is laminate, everything is at the highest level! Thank you engineers and developers!

The tip is not broken. It's been, clearly, hit multiple times on something hard. Stone or Iron.

It is designed for use in scandinavian or european environment. So places without sand, and enough wood you could use instead od rocks..

Thank you for the vid Lilly! I have, and have had several Fällkniven models (WM1, F1 ATS34, F1 3G, a couple A1 solid VG10) and used several others, and no one has had the problem with not working properly with fire rod - this is a first. Grüß Gott /Ulf

And that’s why they came out with the X s1

I used to be a subscriber a couple of years ago. This video reminded me why I'm not anymore. Abusing any knife will destroy it. Have some respect towards the blade. I've only had good experience with my S1, but also I don't use a striker on the EDGE.

and gentlemen this is why men were carrying the swords while women were in charge of the home works.

Complains about vg10 but makes her own knife in aus8. Not that I disagree with your review but to make these complaints about the S1 and then to go and make an s1 equivalent out of lesser quality materials is just hypocritical.

Even as a swede i agree, its a overpriced knife with super qualities on paper, something you buy more to impress then to use. I rather buy 18 Mora knifes for the same price. =) My personal knife is Finnish however, a Terävä Jääkäripuukko 110 backed up with a skrama chopper from the same maker. Best knifes i have ever used, and not very expensive.

Thanks Miss Lilly. Great review. The old standby SCHF3N Schrade is looking better everyday. The handle is important to me, I am 6' 3" and have large farmers hands. Thanks! And hello from Oklahoma. God Bless!

The Fallkniven military knives are designed for arctic conditions. Hence the plastic sheath and rubber handle (the ESEE 6 sheath of a rubber like material is that way for the same reason, but at least has better handle material and a carbon steel blade that is tough.) The Swedes also have a tradition with laminated steels, such as in the Mora knives. But yes, VG-10 is a poor choice of steel for a survival knife as it is too brittle and prone to chipping. You can chip your very expensive Japenese kitchen knives simply cutting meat off of a bone. Incidentally, the fibers in the husks of the coconuts you were opening with the knife are probably the source of the small chips, that and the nut itself has a rough sough shell. For rustproof, get something in 154-CM and you can also sharpen it readily and if not over hardened will be quite tough (a lot of knife makers want extreme edge retention and over harden their knives, meaning they are chippy and can even snap.) I burned a bit of money over the years coming up to this conclusion....

i have a fallkniven f1 ( my fav ) and an s1. personally, the s1 is a little large, i prefer a knife the size of the f1 for most uses. in my experience the factory edge of fallkniven vg-10 blades can be a little brittle, i had some very slight chipping when i first got my s1, only because i let a friend really beat on a hardwood branch, chopping as hard as he could, at the wrong angles / blunt angles. I have literally beat my s1 as hard as i possibly could, through logs to split them, with a very heavy baton, with all of my strength, and it held up great. I don't think i'll ever break a fallkniven under normal or even rather extreme use, unless it was simply outright abuse. once i sharpened away the more brittle edge steel, from the heat treatment process, the underlying steel is far less brittle, and more prone to rolling than chipping under normal use. i think the primary reason you got so much extreme chipping is from batoning the knife into the ground or coconut where the edge made contact with hard bits of sand ( silica ) .. that will chip any edge, it's like batoning through sandpaper. the thermorun handle, i would tend to agree with, i would much prefer a g10 or micarta handle, but they are more expensive. the sheath, as far as retention, i'd agree, altho overall i think the sheaths that come with fallknivens are sufficient / serviceable. i would still say that my fallkniven f1 is probably my favorite bushcraft and camp blade, it has a nice 90 degree spine, does most tasks well, and is just the right size blade for bushcraft / camp chores. i did not care for the handle geometry, i ended up taping the handle, and removing the guard from my f1. but the steel and grind on my f1 is pretty great, it keeps a nice edge and is easy to sharpen in my experience. for the price i paid for my f1 ( around $100 ) several years ago, it was a good value. fallknivens will definitely be overprices if they keep raising the prices on them any further. i've done a little bit of testing the tip on my f1 and it seems sturdy enough under normal use. same with my s1. my edc blade is actually a bark river mini fox river in cpm s35vn .. that steel is superior in pretty much every way to vg10, except it takes a bit more time to sharpen. cpm s35vn will roll if abused but i have never had it chip out like vg10. i much prefer the g10 / micarta hand ground handles on bar river knives. bark river is a better value if you want a knife with handmade style epoxy scales & superior steels. but my f1 remains in my pack as my go to bushcraft and camp chore knife, so that i keep my belt knife in good shape if i need it.

I find this test rather silly. The test must be "If I want to destroy my knife, I can" If you take an old medival sword and beat it up like this it will survive. If you take a samurai sword and use it the same way it will break instantly. That doesn't mean the samurai sword is poor quality. It just means they valued different properties in their sword, like edgeretention, sharpness and hardness, than they did in medival Europe where durability was king (and they used metal armors, så they needed swords that could handle that) If I take my 1000$ custom made knife and beat it up like that I would ruin it. It would serve me fine in a survival situation. If I take my 50$ Gerber Bear Gryll knife, that is in every way a cheap, poorly heattreated soft knife... It would hold up just fine. You sacrifice edgeretention and cutting ability for durability. It depends what you want. So from a knifemakers perspective it's pretty clear she just doesn't understand how metals behave and how heattreating works.

I think you have been a little unfair to Fallkniven although some of your points are absolutely valid. 1) Complaining about the lanyard ferrule not working as a bow drill spindle bearing is ridiculous. If you want to use your knife for this then perhaps you should go to the trouble of fitting a miniature double sealed bearing further along the handle and recessed into the scale, possibly even the tang, a 604 2RS epoxied into place is an excellent choice. 2) Kraton is softer than granite and will definitely suffer when you smash the pommel against a rock. Having said that, the "hammer" function is severely limited by its lack of depth. It needs another 2mm. 3) I have quite big hands but have no real problem with the handle. I think Fallkniven have designed it so that it can be used with or without gloves. 4) I had exactly the same problem as you with the zytel sheath not retaining the knife. I got round it by using inner tube wrapped around the clip. 3 layers gave a good tension but you are right, for a knife of this price it should not happen. 5) My S1 blade also skids off a firesteel but I use the back of a Silky saw as a striker anyway. It's the finest striker I've ever had. 6) Steel quality. A very good point. My blade was chipped in no time. I didn't break the point but that is probably because I was overcautious after experiencing the chipping blade. Once I'd sharpened it I had no further problem as though the chippiness was only surface deep. Maybe the Japanese knife grinder overheated the edge when he was knocking out his daily quota. For a high end knife this is unacceptable. I think Fallkniven is seriously overpriced for the products they sell, rather like GB axes.

Survival experts are always entertaining... I abuse my tool, it’s not a good tool. Just a crazy idea... a knife if used for cutting. An axe is used for chopping. Prepare correctly and your tools will support you better.

Thank you Lilly,great to see that the so called bushcraft community is getting more critical about overpriced and hyped knives and tools. I bought about 100+ knives until now and i'm not complietly satisfied with all of them,the search continues... One of my favorites is still the Benchmade Bushcrafter, the only knife i didn't sharpend for about a year and i used it a lot!! The sheath is crap and the handle needs getting used to but now i love it!

Good review, I still like my Fallkniven. The new X-series, has a new steel, is heftier, and has scales instead of a fully molded on handle. Also sheath has a lock now. That is odd that it chipped out on you though. I think Fallkniven may have had a quality control issue around the time you made this. As an example I got a DC-3 stone, and the fine side looked like they glued it on backwards. it had what looked like circular saw grooves. Heard some similar things about the leather washer handled knives. Then around 2018-2019, stopped hearing those things.

Female arnold Schwarzenegger stop saying bad things for other knives just to sell yours . We dont believe you !

Seriously? Knives aren’t hammers. Use rocks or thick limbs.

She abused the knife then complains about it not functioning properly figures...

4:47 --- whoaaa -- what did you do to get the front part of that edge that messed up? Baton straight into rock?

you should try out the esee laser strike

Yeah, because a Aus8 steel would be so much better for a knive... What a joke... The chips came from the usage of the fire steel, that would happen with every steel.

i have an F1 and it has not let me down at all. It's my number one i love it, used it for years i think i got it in 2010 or 11 and it has not let me down.

Being in the swedish military has lead me past a fair share of these knifes. I have been sharpening a great deal of them for co workers and every last one of them has had broken tips. I usually just sharpen the tip in to a phillips screwdrive head. makes the tip more stabile. great video as allways lilly. any plans of going back to sweden?

Please follow up with an S1 Pro. I would also love to see a Bark River in 3V compared

If you have coconuts and trees, why would you baton with a rock?

For outdoors tough knife..just get 5160 blade. Easy to sharpen and tough

I enjoy your videos, and I agree that their sheaths of this type are just about the worst on the market. But you were VERY rough on this knife!

A real world review born from a ton of hard use... Honest and well done!

This is absolutely the wrong knife for you lady...but not for everyone....😑

Appreciate your honest feedback.

sand will destroy knife edge.

Excalibur. The only solution.

This video was made, as to how to make Lili and China richer and he Swedes poorer...

Sounds like a personal problem to me.

There is no way that knife had that many edge problems after cutting wood

You didn't need a knife, you needed a prybar for the activities you were performing. Don't blame the knife when you bring the wrong tool for the job. Literally every knife would look like it was drug behind a truck after what you did to it. I do agree with you though on that sheath. What a piece of junk.

I used my hammer to cut some cardboards but it doesn’t cut. It’s a bad tool