FKMD FX-9CM01 B FOX TRACKER SNIPER KNIFE Review

 FKMD FX-9CM01 B FOX TRACKER SNIPER KNIFE

Some of the specifications at a glance. 

Thickness: 6mm or 0.24" (I measured 6.19mm at the guard)

Blade Length: 150mm or  5.91"

Weight: 310gr or 10.93 Oz.

Steel: Böhler  N690

Blade coating: PVD DLC

Designer: Giorgio Danese (military background)- I found him impossible to locate and as such I will not be able to offer any input from the designer.

Handle: Forprene elasto polymer (TPV- thermoplastic vulcanizate). Long since field proven toughness.

Tang: Full width to tapering with lanyard hole.

Scabbard: Ballistic nylon and plastic. There is a hard plastic inner scabbard liner, an elasticized leg loop and a quick release dangler strap which also features a safety lock to prevent accidental release.

 This knife can also be worn simply attached to a belt . OR carried directly on a pack or any article of clothing that features PALS webbing.

So I've had my eye on this knife from FKMD (the military division of FOX Knives in Maniago) for many years, (about 15 to be exact) infact ever since they started producing it however for some strange reason, I  never got it but now all that has changed and I decided I MUST have this knife 

because I must share my thoughts on  it with other outdoors persons and just knife enthusiasts the world over! (You can tell I'm excited about it!).

Already a very satisfied user of other similar yet different FKMD products as shown here, this is like the bare bones "military grade" version of the Trapper knife also by FKMD, which was one of my earliest acquisitions from FOX and has served me well all around the globe. I saw no reason why the FX-9CM01B would not also serve me well.

The FX-9CM01 B TRACKER SNIPER KNIFE is a small knife by outdoor standards coming in at only just under 6".

 The Tracker seen here for size comparison to the FKMD Taranis a typical 7" field knife.

Make no mistake, this is a very very capable outdoors knife as well.

I just made mince meat of this well seasoned cotton wood.

However, as a military knife which needs to be carried with a plethora of other equipment, especially a sniper, then the size is totally appropriate. It is of very robust design without being overly heavy.

As mentioned above the blade has been coated with a Diamond like Carbon via a PVD process. This is the same PVD process which has been used on my super abused and heavily used FKMD Hitam Golok. (Shown below)

The FKMD FX9CM01B has 3 separate blade grinds. A small recurved portion closest to the hilt, A belly region and the tip is in the shape of a Western styled tanto.

I'm not going to say this knife is "bullet-proof" but I'm certain it could take several rounds and come out basically unscathed!

The scabbard is very well made and features what appears to be Hypalon material ( see above) for the retention strap (same stuff Zodiac inflatables are made from). The stitching is top notch as could be expected for a military end point knife. 

There is a rigid plastic insert within the ballistic nylon scabbard. The knife carry is noiseless and the plastic insert also protects the user from accidental injury. (see below)

There is a traditional belt carry system with Velcro quick release (shown open here).

There is also a dangler which features a quick release but with an adde safety, that three things need to be actuated at once in order to remove the clip.

The scabbard also has generous room for a pistol mag or for a folding knife or a multitool (or cordage as seen above).

Plastic hardware is by Duraflex

One thing you will find in ALL of my blogs about knives is that there will definitely be images showing the spine. Why do I do this? Well, that's because when I read a blog or watch a video about a knife and there is no image of the knife's spine, this annoys me because the spine shape will tell you a lot about the knife even before one sees the blade. In the above image, one can clearly see that the spine is at full thickness but at approximately 40mm away from the guard it starts to taper with a chamfer to the tip. 

Solid very seasoned Oak

The tip is not overly thick so this knife is still capable of piercing tasks without too much effort.

There is a generous thumb ramp to upper guard the guard has two holes which could be used for a multitude of purposes, for example but far from limited to: lashing to a pole, wire bending, extraction of certain objects made from lead (5.8, 5.56, 5.45 mm) use your imagination here, these guard holes are NOT some random diameter. After all this knife is intended for military personnel and I'm a big advocate of certain military knives as excellent bushcrafting knives, notwithstanding their usual robustness as a key feature. 

Why the recurved blade region?

The initial recurve section acts just like a sickle.

 So in summary, this FKMD knife, called the TRACKER was in production over 16 years ago, designed by Giorgio Danese, manufactured by FOX knives. At least 3 years before the release of the movie, The Hunted and definitely BEFORE the release of the Tom Brown Tracker knife manufactured by TOPS knives. You see, maybe Russon had a great idea back in the eighties but he didn't know how to bring it into production (and he put his trust in the wrong people aka Tom Brown- see previous blog to learn the facts surrounding this subject). 

.....And before anyone says Danese copied Russon's designs, I doubt that Danese ever saw any of Russon's earlier correspondence between Russon and Tom Brown (he would have been a kid or not even born then LOL) , that would have been impossible at the time. What I'm getting at is that if one thinks they have a good idea then usually there is a high probability that someone somewhere else will have the same idea. The dual blade edges thing are NOT new. This form of knife has been around for 100's of years, (see early Spanish designs). Truly new knife designs, at least functional ones, have already been invented! Just go visit any good history museum which houses edged weapons and you'll be going: "Ah, he was right!"

(Yes, those wild strawberries were super sweet and the only reason there are not more present is because the rest were in my gut and the mossies prevented me from picking anymore LOL).

Anyway, stick around for some outdoor stuff. I haven't done any full reviews for some time as the audience retention level is non existent so I really appreciate those of you who bother to read my articles and watch my videos.

@BushCampingTools

* I say gimmicky because there are definitely good spine saws but the one on the Russon tracker and Tops Tracker are not good saws as they are just of the wrong design IMHO.