- another excellent collaboration between Fox and Bastinelli
Do you belong to those who like a proper Wharncliffe and maybe think that knives like Spyderco Yojimbo and Bastinelli Dragotac are appealing? Then you should definitely take a look at this knife from Fox called Shadow.
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| Fox FX533CF "Shadow" |
Shadow is a collaboration between Fox Knives and Bastien Coves from Bastinelli Knives. In many ways, it can be said to be a recast and slightly smaller version of his Dragotac. The bold design language is recognizable as well as the use of Wharncliffe blades and also how the handle is shaped can be traced to other creations from him.
But unlike its precursor, Shadow is a flipper-opened knife and the handle does not have a quite as chiseled look. This knife is also available in two different versions, one with full titanium handles and then this one with a carbon fiber presentation side.
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| Shadow is a knife for those who like a bold look and a proper Wharncliffe blade |
Twitter version: Shadow, a Fox Bastinelli collaboration for the lover of big bold Wharncliffe blades.
Blade
The blade on Shadow is extremely striking and does not apologize in any way. It is a very wide and somewhat modified Wharncliffe. What gives the epithet modified is the slightly curved edge that deviates from the completely straight line of the basic shape. The blade measures exactly one decimeter in length is 36 mm high and 4 mm thick. The appearance is enhanced by a false edge that follows the back where it dives down towards the tip and the blade has a fuller/blood groove. The base of the spine is rounded and there are also a number of soft grooves for indexing and a slightly better grip for the thumb. Typical for this blade is also that the spine of the blade rises before it slopes downwards.
The marking on the knife blade is discreet and stylish with Fox Bastinelli's collaboration logo on one side and "Maniago Italy Elmax" written on the other side.
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| The wide Wharncliffe blade not only looks good it is quite useful as well |
The finish on the blade is a nice semi-polished stone wash. The material exposed to that treatment is Elmax. A steel that is not the most common among knives but which from time to time is found among Fox knives.* My experience of the steel tells me that it keeps the sharpness very well but that it can be difficult to sharpen if it has become really dull. So the basic tip is to maintain the edge regularly. I myself use a combination of a leather strop and diamond rod for it depending on the condition of the edge.
Speaking of edges, the one that came from the factory was sympathetic. No need to resharpen the knife for that reason. The grind is both high and flat and the wide blade gives a thickness of about 0.6 mm measured behind the edge. When it's time for sharpening, Fox has facilitated it by having a correctly executed sharpening choil, which is always nice to see.
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| Elmax is used as the blade steel |
Although the knife is clearly designed for use far beyond what Swedish law will allow for self-defense it's also quite practical. This is not uncommon with Wharncliffes, not even the fierce-looking ones. It is despite all a sort of "Stanley knife on steroids" we are talking about.
The sharp tip provides excellent penetration, which not least makes it easier to kill all these plastic packages of varying thickness that the world seems to consist of. The same applies when you are going to cut into something in hard plastic or just want to cut a hole in a cardboard box. And speaking of cardboard, this knife is a dream to handle in such materials. The high flat grind means that the blade cuts straight and without much effort and the good ergonomics that you can go on for quite some time if you need it. Then, in fact, this knife is not entirely out of place when it's time for minor kitchen duties either. Sure, it's not a chef's knife, but to chop an onion, split a sausage, or slice a little tomato with on camping trips, it's really good.
What surprised me, however, was that it cuts perfectly ok even in wood! Carving with such a wide blade may not be what I recommend, but for some minor cutting tasks, it performs rather well. There is something about the edge angle that makes it easy to control. What I cut most at the moment are sticks I use to drive into the ground as distance markings when knife throwing. Therefore, branches of all kinds of wood are sharpened at the moment, both dry and fresh.
Overall, I like Shadow as a larger EDC knife when it comes to how it penetrates and cuts.
Handle
This knife has been fitted with a fairly solid handle. It measures 12 centimeters in length, of which a full eleven centimeters can be used as a grip if needed. All hand sizes fit in other words. After letting someone with smaller hands than me try the handle, it can be stated that it works quite well even then. Otherwise, this is a handle that belongs to the variety that is quite tall but also thin. A good trick to use as a designer if you want to achieve a knife that fills the hand without being too thick in the pocket.
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| The carbon fiber is both well-shaped and attractive to look at |
Shadow is available as said earlier in two versions where one is a full titanium knife. The only difference between it and the present model is that in this case the presentation side has been replaced with a piece of solid carbon fiber. It is high-quality carbon fiber completely free of visible blisters or gaps and it does not flex no matter how hard you press against the handle. Then the carbon fiber has a solid beveled edge at the bottom and a decorative ridge that runs over the handle side. This means that the side is three-dimensional, which the titanium side is not. The only thing that gives rounding there is a beveled edge that follows the shape of the handle.
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| Like many frame locks, Shadow has a distinct front and backside |
The two sides are screwed together in three points with T6 screws through a backspacer in G10. And, then there is a pivot screw of course. An interesting detail to note is that there are different screw heads depending on which side you are viewing. The lock side has screws with domed heads and this also applies to the screws for the clip and the lock bar reinforcement. The carbon fiber side, on the other hand, has got a little more luxurious flat heads.
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| Once in hand, Shadow is very sympathetic in most grips, even if saber grip is the best |
This handle belongs to those that can be a bit polarizing depending on preferences. It fit my hands perfectly. This is especially true in the grips that have been premiered, which is a saber grip with the thumb at the blade base, a "Filippino" grip with the thumb further out on the blade, or a reverse grip.
Here it is noticeable what the knife is designed for, after all, "self-defense"**. In a traditional hammer grip, the knife does not make a fool of itself, but the possibility to put some power behind the cuts is not there due to the long distance to the blade. In the same way, you can not turn the knife for "draw cuts as you sometimes want to do when you carve. It is really not comfortable.
Opening and Lock
Shadow belongs to those knives that can be opened in a number of different ways. Since many knives designed by Bastinelli have a clear character of self-defense/fighting knives, the explanation can be found there. You can choose which method you prefer. Bastien himself usually uses a very fast version of a two-handed opening and it works great with this knife as well. There is an enormous amount of blade to grip around and the notch in the blade provides extra traction.
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| The flipper tab is well rounded and works well, but would have been better with a few grooves |
Another way to open the knife is to place the thumb against said notch and let the blade slowly slide out. But the main opening method is, after all, via the flipper tab found on the knife. It is a rather pointed tab and it would not have hurt if it had got some grooves for better grip. Once put to work, it turns out that it can be used with both a "push button" method, ie to press straight down, as well as to pull back. The blade comes out fairly safely, much because of nice ball bearings. They are needed can be said. There is a lot of steel to be accelerated. After all, the blade is a decimeter long but above all very wide. This means that this is not the quickest flipper knife on the market.
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| The frame lock is excellently made |
Shadow comes with an excellently executed frame lock. This means that the blade feels almost like a fixed blade without any hint of play in any direction. Neither is there any tendencies to slip when a bit of negative pressure is applied to the blade spine. The lock also has the now mandatory lock bar reinforcement in steel, which guarantees a very long service life. Disengaging the lock is also easy as the lock bar rises slightly above the rest of the handle.
To Carry
Not all knives can be good at everything. Shadow is one such knife. In some areas it is brilliant, but that doesn't matter when it comes to how it behaves in a pocket. The length is not extreme even if twelve centimeters is quite much. But the width is a whopping five centimeters! More modest is the thickness of 13 mm. The same applies to the weight, Shadow weighs in at 137 grams, which is not much in relation to how big blade you get and how comfortable the handle is.
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| It's not much space under the clip, which causes the tip to be angled outwards when the knife is in the pocket |
It is the relatively low weight but above all that the knife is thin that saves the "pockability". Otherwise, it is not possible to get away from the fact that it requires a lot of space where it sits.
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| Part of the knife is visible when it is carried |
But apart from the measurements, it is another detail that makes this knife a bit troublesome in a pocket. That's the clip. It is a steel clip of a semi-standard type but suffers in my opinion from a couple of design flaws. The ramp itself is capable enough as it can slide over most fabric edges, but space underneath is too small. That fact exacerbates problem number two, which is the shape itself.
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| What unfortunately risks happening with pointed clips |
I do not like it at all. One good thing is that the tip is not angled outwards but it is way too pointy. It is worsened if the knife is carried in slightly thicker pants because then the fabric forces the tip out in the air. Something that was not least noticeable the other day when I got stuck with the clip when I walked past something and bent it to a more than 45-degree angle. It was just to disassemble, attach it to a vise and bend it back in shape again. Not a total failure but I do not like it. Especially not as I also have a tendency to hit my hand against the tip when walking.
To Conclude
Shadow is a knife that most likely does not appeal to everyone. A strong design language is what characterizes Bastinelli's works. Especially as he often addresses the military, police, practitioners of various Southeast Asian martial arts, and similar groups. Of course, it gives a specific type of appearance. In this case, I think the knife is really nice. Although not in an elegant way such as the previous collaboration between Fox and Bastien called Slim Dragotac Piemontes but in a more brutal way. But there are different types of beauty.
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| Fox Shadow, a sympathetic albeit rather large EDC knife. Here supplemented with a smaller knife, a Fox Radius |
In addition to the look, we are offered good materials such as titanium, carbon fiber of the highest quality, and Elmax as the blade steel. The knife is also very well built. It is noticeable both on how the knife is constructed, how the material is used, and on the details. Among them are good ball bearings, lock bar reinforcement, and screws of good quality. But also shaped carbon fiber, rounded blade spine, and not least sanded insides of the frame. Something that even well-established knife manufacturers miss from time to time.
But above all, Fox Shadow offers a special knife blade. The bold shape is matched in this case by corresponding performance levels. How good it is at hacking into people, neither can I nor do I want to answer, but as an EDC knife, it actually does better than you might think. A broad well-sharpened blade that is thin behind the edge is seldom wrong. Especially not as it is made of good steel. In addition, the handle shape is one of the knife's best assets. The curved shape fills the hand in an excellent way and provides good comfort and good ergonomics for most, if not all tasks.
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| Then Shadow looks great in the picture for the simple reason that it is equally brute and beautiful, "brutiful" |
Shadow is an option for those who really liked Bastinelli Dragotac but thought that knife is a bit too big for daily use. Or just for those who want an EDC knife with a slightly tougher appearance and who may not be found in everyone's pocket. As a bonus, you get materials of the best sort and a knife built with all the craftsmanship available in Maniago, Italy.
At the time of writing, the knife costs around 230 €, depending on where it is purchased.
Specification:
Length Overall: 220 mm
Length Folded: 120 mm
Weight:137 g
Blade Length: 100 mm
Blade Thickness: 4 mm
Blade Steel: Elmax
Handle: Titanium, Carbon Fiber
Lock: Frame lock
Produced by: Fox Knives, made in Italy.
/ J - likes Italian foxes
* An example is the previously reviewed Fox Tur.
** A term I genuinely dislike in relation to knives. I emphatically claim that it is not possible to "self-defend" oneself with a knife. It is an escalation of violence no matter how you look at it and destroys a lot for us knife-interested people in the eyes of the public.
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