Fehrman First Strike

I've had this knife now for about a week and it's definitely seen some use. I wish I'd had it with me at the lake for some testing but, since I forgot it, I've had to make due with running some tests here at the house.

The knife is the Fehrman Knives First Strike made by Fehrman Knives as part of the Survival Series and the second largest knife in the "regular" line. (The Extreme Judgment is the largest but not a part of the official Survival Series.)

Specs:
1/4" thick 3V Steel
7.5" Blade
13" Overall
57-59 RC
Linen Micarta Handle with rubberized liners

The knife shares the same comfortable handle with the Last Chance, Final Judgment, and Extreme Judgment and the rubber liners really do seem to minimize the shock transmitted into the hands while chopping.

The edge is ridiculously tough and, despite my repeated beatings, has required no maintenance other than occasional mud removal and a quick stropping.

I still don't have a sheath for this one and get plenty of funny looks when I'm outside walking around with an unsheathed knife in my hand. Being close to home means I'll more likely run into people who know that I'm harmless so those funny looks won't likely turn into calls to the police. :)

I asked Eric and Andy at Fehrman to send me the roughest finish they could and what I got was a pre-coated blade which still looks darned good. The surface has been bead blasted (or some other media blasted) and coated with a thin coat of oil. As I wanted to test the steel for corrosion, I immediately soaked it in soapy water until the oil was removed. Then I went to work with the knife and left it after without giving cleanup much thought.

I've managed to get a few tiny specs of surface rust that'll come right out when I clean up the blade but it took an overnight coating of mud to get it. Once I clean the blade up I'll put it to use in the kitchen to see if I can't get some color on the steel that way.

My Last Chance (5.5" blade) has resisted most attempts to force a patina on the satin finish.

I suppose if you live in a corrosive environment (near salt water, high humidity, etc.) you might opt for the satin finish blades or the coated blades if you really want to protect the steel but here I've done little maintenance on these knives and the one I tried to get dirty is only showing minimal signs of discoloration.

I look forward to writing more about this fantastic blade in the future.

Thanks for reading,


B