Last Update 01-09-2024
This review is about the famous Casström Lars Fält knife in curly birch and Sleipner Steel, luckily I found a FACTORY SECOND in stock with 30% discount with no real reasons for it to be a Second, other than the small scratch shown below.
The knife was designed by the renowned Swedish Legend Lars Fält, founder of the Swedish Armed Forces Survival School in the 1980’s.
He learned much from indigenous groups across the Globe, and was an instructor for 35 years at at the Swedish Army’s Ranger School in Kiruna, Lapland and the Parachute Training School, Karlsborg, Additionally, he has worked alongside indigenous peoples in Canada, Siberia and Australia.
He is also trained survival instructor at English SAS and the US Special Forces.
I came across it many times on online forums and videos that made me curious to try it, as I am notoriously not a fan of Skandi Grinds but prefer Flat/Sabre/Convex grinds for Camp Knives.
But, I am a huge, really huge fan of Sleipner Steel for many years and got somehow nostalgic as it’s unfortunately not a common knife Steel.
It was actually used first by an italian knifemaker, that I can call a friend, Denis Mura in 2008 after some chatting with Michele “molletta” Pensato and other members of the MCKF Forum.
He did the first known test on the heat treat and the performance of this steel and 2 of the first knives in Sleipner.
After the MCKF forum tests, Tommy from the (sadly gone) KR – Knife Research Brand did the first commercial Knife in Sleipner, the KR LEGION built by LionSTEEL Knives in Maniago Italy.
Back to the Lars Fält knife, seeing the most recent ones are in Sleipner Steel, made me want one for mostly nostagic reasons, backed by curiosity, therefore I eyed the Casström website after discovering the Seconds page until I was able to get one right before the holidays.
The Lars Falt knife is equipped with a 4,5″ or 115mm long blade with Scandinavian grind, which is 1,14″ or 29m wide and 4mm thick, or 0,16″.
The Scandinavian Grind is a flat stock with horizontal grind lines and a V shaped grind at about 1/4 height. It is very common in Scandinavian Knives.
The grind arrives up to 3mm approx before the handle, allwing to host a small flat ricasso with a little choil, that makes sharpening easier and reduces mechanical stresses.
The handle which is made of oiled Curly Birch is very warm and comfortable while being super grippy even with sweaty hands. It hosts a fulltang constriction with 2x brass pins and a brass lanyard pin, backed by black vulcanized fiber liners to protect the tang from moisture.
On index finger height there is a small guard protruding, making it safe to choke it near the blade’s choil.
The provided sheath is made according to Casström with ethically sourced Vegetally Tanned Leather, in a Cognac brown color, with a belt loop and logo on the back. The sheath’s origin is unknown, it’s said to be European made, no idea where, I tried to search it but nothing came out. I’ll reach them and update the review.
I’m currently still testing it outdoors, so the review will surely be updated more often, as I’m enjoying the knife, the balance is absolutely neutral but the tip leans forward giving plenty of cutting power by keeping high control over it.
I’ve cut various ropes, non acid food, done whittling and trysticks, along with some small brances batoning ans feathersticks.
The Edge is holding good as Sleipner is very chipping resistant ans has good edge holding properties around 60hrc.
Mine is a Factory second so it came with NO box, papers or else, only the 25years warranty on the website.
Enough talking, here are the specs ans the pictures:
Casström Lars Fält knife Specs:
- Knife type: Survival & Bushcraft
- Blade shape: spear point
- Steel: Sleipner Carbon Steel at 59-61hrc, keep in mind it’s NON stainless so it will stain, like mine in the pics.
- 4,5″ 115mm long blade, 39mm 1,14″ wide, 4mm 0,16″ thick
- Skandi or Scandi Grind at 1/4 approx of height, NO microbevel.
- 190gr approx weight, Sheath is 72gr, altogether it’s 263gr.
- oiled Birchwood handle
- veg tanned leather sheath, with loop, dangler available as extra
Casström Lars Fält knife
traditional scandi design with a modern touch and modern materials
Made of Cryo Quenched Sleipner Steel, as stated on their website, the process increases the final knife’s performance to a visible level in hard use, all knives that I have in cryogenically treated steel perform better than the non cryo counterparts, the steel must obviously be cryo compatible.
All Casström knives are cryo-quenched. Cryogenic hardening is a treatment process where the steel is cooled to very cold temperatures with the use of liquid nitrogen. This enhances the performance of the steel at a molecular level and in practical terms, gives the blade more wear resistance and is less prone to chipping compared to a blade with the same hardness that was not cryogenically quenched.
More information about steel and handle materials on the Material Guide on their website
The handly is made of Hand-finished oiled Curly Birch, it’s really grippy, incredibly grippy and has a warm feeling to it, it really does not fatigue or make blisters, from my testing, hammering on the butt-end, it’s also pretty strong.
I wanted to try this traditional wood for a long time, it won’t be my lst for sure, it looks and feels great.
The knife has a very beautiful brass lanyard hole, lanyard holes are essential on a bushcraft or outdoor knife, the ability to wrap a finger or loop the wrist in case of loss of control is crucial, both for safety and in case you drop the knife, which might get damages on rocks or worse, get lost, living you without it
Beatiful presentation side Birch handle
although it’s a factory second, the handle’s chosen slabs are really appealing with nice colors and veneers
the 3 pins, 2 full and a lanyard hole pin, are made of beautiful brass, which really goes well with the birch, the weight and robustness difference from steel or carbon fiber are surely negligible for a 4.5″ knife.
There is no protruding buttcap for hammering, but i tried to hammer the knive’s tip into a piece of wood to split it, using a wooden baton and the knife had no damage, the birch is apparently very hard.
From my research birchwood has a similar hardness to teak wood so it should be pretty robust even when not stabilised.
To keep moisture away from the tang, shown below (photo credit from the manufaturer), that has lightening holes, the handle scales are backed by a vulcanized black liner, it almost looks like G-10, which it might even be, no specification was to be found on the website, it says “black liners”.
I like to see on the black sold in their website that the pin holes have a small space to get resin in it to make the whole construction stronger
The so called presentation side is sterile, the marking are on the opposite side, uncommon in the knife industry.
The blade flats are horizontally satined, while the scandinavian grind is obviously vertically ground at a coarser grade.
I tried to photograph what i believe is the reason this sample is a FACTORY SECOND, there is a small scratch on the backside of the blade, angled to the horizontal grind and on the backside there are some very light surface scratches.
Otherwise the knife is perfect with no grind defects, no cracks in the wood and no repairs, so, the 30% discount on the website was very welcome for this used, which is now 10x more scratched than when I got it
The povided leather sheath is made of ethically sourced european vegatally tanned leather, with a nice cognac color, the same of their belt and danglers.
the belt loop is backed by brass rivets and is large enough for larger belts, the 39m belt from Casström and the 40mm Spec-Ops belts I use pass well trhough it and allow some movement to the side.
The sheath’s retention is good, taken you keep it tip down, after a couple weeks of use it is performing well without getting loose.
Internally there is a double edge protector and it’s stitched with a thick yellowish tint thread.
Lastly the sheath is not waterproof, my tip is slightly tarnished by the humidity as it catched some rain, but if you prefer, they sell a leather wax to make it more waterproof and more scratch resistant.
In the picture, the sheath is hanging from my Osprey Sportlite 30’s hip belt.
In hand Shots!
Action Shots & Testing
Having read Dave Canterbury’s Bushcraft 101, the first test I did was a very simple and quick trystick with a Stake notch, a V notch, a Stake Point, a round reduction notch and a sharp notch, they came well, the scandi grind really eats into wood
Next was of course some feathesticks, I tried some rather fresh fallen wood and some really well seasoned stranded wood, which is notoriously hardened from the seasalt and the sun, the LS knife performed really well, it eats into the wood like it was nothing
now onto some more serious testing, batoning wood for a fire
I’ve cut some stranded wood with my opinel n.12 saw and then split it open, really hard to open!
wood is almost ready for a fire
Even being a 4.5″ it’s working really well, keeping in mind that it has a zero scandi edge with no microbevel
after all the wood in these days, no damage is visible on the edge, not single small nick or reflection
Last Words and Conclusions:
I got the knife myself, from the seconds and sale page of the manufacturer, I was not paid for the review, what you read is my honest and personal review
What I like:
- GREAT quality for the price
- Sleipner steel is a top choice for the kind of tool
- nice ergonomics
- nice sheath
What I DON’T like:
- no factory second markings, could be sold as new on the secondary market for profit
- nothing else in particular
Other considerations:
- the dangler would be a good addition
Notes:
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