Now my Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S (modified) satisfies

my criteria for a "Survival-type Knife"*

Notice the lack of the upper guard?

*ie easily field maintained; rugged construction; comfortable; few parts; corrosion resistant; sturdy non-rotting safe and multi-mounting carry system; straight blade and strong tip and no hot spots during vigorous usage.

You know with all those knife models out there from commercial knife manufacturers, I've still not been able to find the "ultimate knife" for my uses. AND that's because there isn't an "Ultimate Knife" for every (realistic) task you can think of!

However, sometimes some knives have a lot nice features but lack in other areas of which one can not help but think, "what was the manufacturer thinking when they came up with this design"?

To that end I took my Extrema Ratio  Fulcrum S and modified it. In fact, Extrema Ratio did indeed have this (very similar) model and they called it the K9. I never owned a K9 but now I do, well sort of! BTW the K9 has long since been discontinued and I wonder if it had had some worthy field testing done and proper publicity then it still might be manufactured today.

I have to say I could only find one very very basic written review (in English) about the Extrema Ratio K9 and it is here.
You will see that the the main blade geometry is exactly the same as the Fulcrum  without the upper guard. If you have now read this short article then you will also see the Author's opinion on double guards functionality in real situations. I'd have to agree with them on this point. Double guards unless ginormous are really a relic of the past for supposed tactical military knives.

NOW what did I do? I removed my handle of my Fulcrum S, put the blade into the vice, took a "Dremel style" hobby drill with a carborundum wheel and using water to cool the job, I removed the upper guard, to no less than the existing upper gimping. Now I can really get all over this knife without the upper guard getting in the way. 

I re-ground the blade edges to a slightly less steep angle to get a better "biting edge". Plus this makes it "cut" much better and isn't that what a knife is supposed to do, cut? I tested this out by deboning lots of slimy chicken meat. Unless a knife is very good at cutting you are going to go nowhere fast trying to debone chicken, as unlike red meat on the bone, chicken tends

 to move around a lot, so there is little resistance against a knife edge and therefore you must have a very good cutting edge. No problems with this slight modification. In fact the grind is now more like the grind that came already on my Extrema Ratio ONTOS (which is BTW marketed as a "survival Knife"- and one statement i can't argue with based on loads of solid field testing across both hemispheres).

So what about two guards???

YES I did indeed advocate uses for this upper guard other than some sort of crazily small protection issues but after long thought ( I don't take back what I had previously said, as many still love the twin guards thing- I myself own and love my Spec Plus- but the guards are not aggressive) I think now the knife is very very nice and I'll list the reasons here:

1) Extremely robust knife construction with only one part (two if you count the nut and bolt as separate items)

2) Handle anchoring bolt can be removed with a flat bladed instrument or an "Allen key"

3) If allen bolt was to be lost then the handle can still be anchored with simple cordage through the lanyard hole.

4) Other than the small section of serrations** the cutting edges are all straight. This means the knife could not be easier to sharpen in the field, no funky curves and that makes it simple to sharpen.

5) The weight distribution of this knife makes it easy to chop into coconuts (a pretty tough order for any knife other than a Parang and or a machete style knife. Why do I mention this? Well, I've been extensively trekking in regions where the only drinking water readily available and uncontaminated is sitting above your head, in coconuts. We used them for drinking and cooking and if you can't access this stuff then you are going to be digging up your water or something else. To that end you need a damn strong knife to do this. So I reckon this knife passed that test.

6) Western style Tanto tip. Easy to sharpen and easy to penetrate. Can be used as a chisel to make things. It's very strong.

7) Blade not hardened above HRC58. This also makes it resist the effects of corrosion better and of course not so difficult to sharpen with natural stones found in the field.

8) The blade contains some shallow serrations which, to tell you a little know secrete of those in the know, outside of slicing through ropes like no tomorrow (if well designed (ie shallow and deep concave cuts), serrations can be used to very very effectively produce "feathers" for fire tinder making, much better than any straight section of blade.

9) Did I say lever??? There are no holes situated close to the knife's fulcrum (no pun intended).

10) The handle is good even in very cold weather as there is little exposed metal surfaces that a bare hand would encounter.


To this end, I will taking this modified knife as my only knife into the wilds once again and try and showcase what I think the so-called "Survival knife" must encompass.







* for my uses