Fox Knives FX-143MB in Niolox, Design by Markus Reichart

 

The Fox knives FX-143MB (Made in Italy) is a beautiful but functional fixed blade made with Niolox, which is Niobium enhanced steel and also features micarta resin scales of which the fibres are of natural jute (this plant belongs to the cotton family and is made from the fibres of the main stem).

The FX-143MB was release last year, so is still rather recent in Fox's line up.

Not surprisingly, the knife comes in cotton or jute? bag (inside of the usual thick cardboard boxes Fox ship their knives in).

The FX-143MB comes with a deep carry leather scabbard single stitched, and glued, no rivets, welt design, will easily fit a tactical belt eg 1.5" wide.

The spine is 4mm thick

It is a full flat grind, weight 115 grams or about 4Oz.

The FX-143MB features a slightly upswept tip. The scales are permanently secured with rivets and there is a separate lanyard hole too.This knife would be well suited to processing everything from small game such as birds and hares to skinning medium sized game such as goats, to gutting fish. Butchering medium game, it is not for filleting large fish; of course the blade is just on about 4" from the ricasso to the tip.

It just looks beautiful in my mind with the satin finish and also speaks practicality for the tasks I mentioned above. Don't talk to me about "choppers' because sometimes one wants a smaller tool for the job, one less cumbersome. This will suit both the occasional hunter and or  fisher person (did I just type that OMG, I meant fisherman!) and the regular hunter alike. it will suit someone out for a day hike or the overnight camper out for some fishing.

The handle of the FX-143MB is slim but comfortable and despite the fact it is very smooth, because it is slim, a good grip can be maintained upon it. 

This will be my first knife made from Niolox steel otherwise known as 1.4153.03./SB1 (Made in Germany). For those unfamiliar with it; here is the composition of this highly corrosion resistant stainless steel:

Carbon 0.8%

Cr 12.7%

Mo 1.1%

V 0.9%

Nb 0.7%

The addition of the element Niobium produces carbides (no kid eh), because Nb sits just below V on the periodic table group 5 elements if you remember this stuff from school!

Niolox has good toughness and good edge holding capabilities. It is primarily used to make industrial cutting blades in the food processing industry.

 It can be hardened anywhere from HRC57 right up to HRC 63!

In the case of the FX-143MB, FOX state that the HRC is: 59-61.

Some stills from field testing

Anyway stay tuned for the usual quality field review on the Fox knives FX-143MB 

Coming soon to BushCampingTools

In the meantime you can also view it here:

BCT