FKMD PANABAS
FOX KNIVES
REVIEW
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| You could hack down a palm if you had to! |
I'm really stoked about the FKMD PANABAS or FX-509. Why? Well so far during all of my tests, this has proven to be a good design for not only cutting but chopping and preparing food. It is very ergonomic with length and balance of weight. The FX-509 sports a good sized finger choil.
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| A good sized choil along with two useful tie in points, see this video |
and a very nice full flat grind to a thick spine.
But none of this came as a surprise as the basis of the design of the FKMD FX-509, PANABAS rests in the lengthy cultural history of similar blades associated with the Philippine Island's inhabitants. A Panabas as it's name suggests can easily handle both offensive and domestic duties with ease. No wonder FKMD is also marketing this knife (seen here with a "black coating" and another which has had a PVD coating) with a "survival kit". Certainly, the FKMD Panabas can handle the pace.
Some YouTubers have shown videos of them modifying the spine of this knife. WHY on earth do this? The milled ridges
form a very useful area for tinder production, finishing objects made from bamboo, ie removing splinters and rough surfaces, striking Ferro rods etc.
Because of the depth of the blade, the blade angle is nice and steep for good cutting without the drag.
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| This pineapple was soon to be dispatched. A video will follow soon showing all the action, so stay tuned to BushCampingTools. |
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| Using the spine to bash the meat, no problems. In fact this knife was very handy for food preparation. |
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| Cutting meat off the bone no problems |
How does the FX-509 do at chopping? Well I have so far processed several green coconuts with ease. It certainly has the weight but isn't too thick. Too thick a blade is a real PITA for cutting coconuts.
Do I like this knife???? YES I do, very useful blade
Stay tuned more to follow on BushCampingTools!
I really enjoy your reviews and have learned a lot of product info from them and even have based my purchases off of them so first of all, thanks! Secondly, I have just started my own survival blog (I won't plug it here), but I wanted to focus on an aspect of field testing survival equipment that I don't see too much of; sub-zero environment testing. Where I live near the Canadian Rockies, it regularly gets below -40C (and colder) each winter, so I plan to start conducting tests for equipment reviews in those climes. I was wondering if you have ever similarly conducted any temperature-extreme evaluations and if so what did you learn from them in general? My goal is to not repeat tests that have already been conducted by popular reviewers such as yourself. I want to offer a different and fresh perspective on equipment in hard-use cold weather environments since materials can perform drastically different at opposite ends of the thermometer. Thanks for taking the time to read this and keep up the good work!
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