The other day, I reviewed a folding knife with a cleaver-inspired blade. I then wrote that among more impractical blade types, it's not my favorite. If I'm going to step away from the more practical stuff it's because of pointier sources of inspiration like daggers and stilettos. One such knife is made by Czech ANV, or Acta non verba Knives, called Z400. A knife that offers inspiration from a classic dagger.
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| ANV Z400 |
Sometimes I hear those who claim that a dagger must be double-edged to be viewed as such. This is not true as there are many historically daggers with only one sharp side. A well-known example is Rondel daggers. Then there are those who have no edges at all. But that's another discussion.
Folding knives of this type are almost never double-edged. They can not be due to the simple reason that part of the blade is exposed in the folded position.* ANV's contribution to the category called Z400 is an excellent example of a folding dagger that, despite its symmetrical appearance, is only ground on one side. That also makes it legal in jurisdictions that don't allow double-edged blades.
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| Z400 offers Swedish steel in a blade made in the Czech Republic |
Twitter version: ANV Z400, A sheep hidden in wolf clothing or rather an EDC knife hidden in a dagger.
Blade
The symmetrical blade shape is what defines this knife. That and that the knife blade is slightly larger than you imagine by just looking at pictures. It measures 100 mm in length, is just over 25 mm wide and the thickness is 3.5 mm. A fairly large blade in other words, or at least long.
In addition to the shape, this blade is characterized by a cut-out in the blade. As is often the case with ANV's products, the blade finish is available in a couple of different variants. In this case, it is a nice semi-polished stonewash. The alternative is a blade blackened by DLC coating. The marking consists of ANV's stylized logo on one side and the name, country of manufacture, and steel type on the opposite. I think the logotype is very attractive but the rest of the information could be more discreet.
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| One decimeter long, symmetrically ground blade but with only one edge |
The steel used is from Uddeholm in the form of Sleipner. It is actually tool steel found in the same category as D2 but is said to be more rust-resistant than those steels. It also has a finer structure and is slightly tougher. But that discussion is more theoretical when found in a dagger that can also be used as an EDC knife. But that it is also somewhat more easily to sharpen may be of interest.
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| The factory edge was nicely made but could have been sharper |
Especially since the factory edge was capable but not the best. It was even and symmetrical which is a very good start. But it was not sharp enough. Something you can fix yourself, but ANV could have done a little better in this area I believe.
When used, the knife feels exactly as it looks. Blade geometry is one of the most important aspects of how a knife behaves. It often trumps steel quality. Here, the geometry undeniably suffers from the format. Since this is a flat-ground blade, the Z400 is quite thick behind the edge, about 0.8 mm. It is almost inevitable with a primary grind as low as 12 mm if you don't make the blade hollow ground. But in return, the blade becomes significantly thinner and thus more fragile then.
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| No, no, no, wood carving is not what this knife is best at |
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| Much better! No throws but I have practiced some pierce cutting and stabbing |
Of course, those numbers affect how the knife behaves in daily use. Honestly, it is not the best at cutting into certain materials such as cardboard and the like. Z400 is a little better when it comes to handling hard plastic, softer floor mat and straps, cable ties, and the like. Then a sharp edge is enough and the geometry does not affect the performance as much. It is equally clear that the knife penetrates well. So "killing" plastic boxes or punching holes in plastic bottles and plastic cans etc goes smoothly.
Z400 is not even allowed to enter my kitchen. A knife that boasts a very low flat grind, in practice a saber grind with a steep edge angle and includes a large hole in the middle of the blade and in addition has a pair of protruding finger guards do not belong there. That is besides opening packages and remove the plastic around cheese. For package opening, it is a good knife.
Just for fun, I sat down in the garden with some pieces of wood and tried to carve. We leave it at that. This knife spoke to me after it nibbled a little on the wood, then both I and the knife came to the conclusion that it was unnecessary work for both of us.
Handle
ANV allows the buyer to build his own knife on the website. This means that you can choose between different variants of handle materials. What can be seen in the pictures is "Dural" which is what they call the aluminum alloy they use. If you want more traction, you can instead choose G10 which is available in several different colors.
The shape of the handle follows the blade and is thus drop-shaped and symmetrical. Something that is enhanced by the clip's placement in the middle and the recess that runs along the middle of the handle sides. The sides are softly arched and the edges are rounded in a good way. No sharp edges on this knife.
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| The handle is both nice and comfortable and slightly slippery |
The construction is, if not unique, special as ANV also on this model only uses a single liner found on the lock side. Otherwise, it is the handle sides that create stability. Then the knife is assembled with just two screws, the pivot screw itself for the blade and one at the end of the handle. The latter fulfills several functions as it simultaneously acts both as a standoff, bracket for the lock bar, and attachment point for the clip. It gives a very clean look. It's also a knife which is a textbook example of what is meant by "open back". Since the inside is smooth, it is therefore extremely easy to clean the knife if you need to do so.
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| A folding knife will not be more open back than this |
The aluminum handle is hard anodized, which gives a durable surface that is also quite slippery. What gives grip is instead the handle shape itself. The depression for the index finger provides support and then the handle swells in the middle to fill the hand, whereupon it then tapers towards the back end. The notch that is found in the middle of the sides is decorative, but it is also where the fingertips end up when you close your hand around the handle and they thus contribute to better grip.
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| The spacious handle allows most grips |
The handle on the Z400 is large and spacious. It measures a full 128 mm when the knife is folded and as much as 120 mm of that is grip area or maybe even a little more since the finger guards are angled forward. Thus, it is no problem with space not even for larger hands. It also means that all common grips are working. Especially hammer grip, which is excellent due to the handle swelling in the middle and the absence of sharp edges and corners. A saber grip with the thumb behind the upper finger guard also works well due to the long handle and the finely rounded corners of the finger guards.
Then a thumb or forefinger can be placed on the blade back if you stretch the finger a bit, but since that side is thin due to the false edge, it does not provide much support. Of course, it is also excellent to turn the handle and use the knife with the edge directed towards the body as it is symmetrical. Even in an ice pick grip, the handle works. Since the handle is flat, a thumb can also be placed on top of the pivot screw and the knife can thus be held in a pinch for lateral cuts.
I might add that for those who are looking for a grip with optimal friction, I recommend the G10 version instead.
Opening and Lock
The Z400 is a knife that opens in two ways. Mainly it is a flipper knife and it's the upper finger guard that acts as a flipper tab. It is angled backward in an excellent way and although the tab is not excessively large, it works well. This applies both if you press down (push button) or pull the tab back (light switch). It is a bit slippery as it lacks grooves but the function is still satisfactory. It is possible to slip off with the index finger, but this rarely happens.
The combination of the grease supplied by ANV and the Teflon bearings makes this knife very smooth to open. So far, I have not discovered any disadvantage of not having stronger bronze bushings. On the contrary, the knife has become noticeably better to handle over time. What it shows is that not all knives need to be built the same way to function properly. Read "equipped with ball bearings".
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| One finger guard acts as a flipper tab and the other as a "wave opener" |
This knife can also be opened via another method. This is where the two luminescent inserts come into play. They are found on model Z100 in the flipper tab, on Z200 in the recess in the blade, and here on Z400 that detail reappears on both finger guards. On ANV models they mark where the knife should be opened. This explains the green luminous dot on the flipper tab, but not the one found on the other finger guard if you follow the logic. But the explanation is simple, it acts as a "wave function". If the knife is carried far back in the pocket and pulled obliquely backward, the blade will unfold automatically on the way out. Personally, it's not something I'm particularly fond of, but it can be easily avoided by not pulling the knife at an angle backward or moving it forward slightly.
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This is a liner lock but not the most common type. As with other folding knives from ANV, it is built with a one-sided liner that also acts as a lock bar. An unusual but not unique solution. It is then attached to the rear of the two screws that hold the handle together.
The function is consistently very good with a small exception. The lock bar is strong enough and the tension is well-tuned, which means that it falls into place with a strong and trustworthy sound. A sound that is amplified by the aluminum handle. Once the lock bar is in position, it holds the blade in a firm grip without play in any direction. But here comes the exception. To make the lock easy to disengage, and it is, the lock bar rises above the rest of the handle. This means that if the knife is held in a firm grip with the left hand, the lock bar moves ever so little and a bit of play up and down occurs when you grip the blade with your right hand and wiggle it. In the right-hand, it is the opposite. There, the fingers reinforce the lock and there is no tendency of lock slip at all.
To Carry
This knife is one of the few relatively large knives that are easy to carry. The only drawback is the length of almost 130 mm folded. But otherwise, the handle is slim with 12 mm thickness and not excessively wide despite double finger guards. They measure 42mm in width but the handle itself is only 29 mm at its widest.
Then this knife is light with a weight of 115g. The G10 version is even a few grams lighter than that. It is not much for a blade of one decimeter.
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| The removable wire clip is attached at the rear at the only body screw |
However, the material and the clip are what makes the knife easy to carry. The hard-anodized aluminum surface does not provide much friction when the knife is to be put away or removed from a pocket. The finger guards can't be neglected and sometimes they want to hook onto other things in your pocket. Especially on the way up and since they are made to act as a "wave feature". You have to be aware of that function. That's one thing I have against that kind of feature in general. The other is accidental opening. One day you do not think about it and that's an accident waiting to happen.
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| The Z400 is not visible in the pocket at all |
The clip is of the same type found on the Z100. This means a "deep ride loop over clip". A long name to describe a wire clip attached to the back of the handle and which lets the knife sit deep in the pocket. So deep that none of the handle is actually visible. Because the material in the clip is also thin, it is as discreet as a knife can be in that case.
Speaking of thin, the clip could have been made sturdier. As it is now, it moves a bit sideways and that scratches the aluminum surface. In addition, it can bend if it gets a harder hit. So far I have slammed it a couple of times but was lucky that the hit was loose enough for the clip to spring back into position again.
The clip is movable from right to the left side but as I wrote earlier, the lock is not perfect for lefties so I don't really recommend this knife for left-handers despite the ambidextrous opening methods.
To Conclude
This type of knife is not the most common on the market. It happens that dagger-inspired folding knives appear from time to time, but not all brands have them and they probably do not belong to the best sellers. There is, of course, an explanation for this. A blade with this shape is not the ultimate in all contexts. That is if not all your daily needs require you to poke something. But with that said, there are other qualities that can attract buyers. Not least for those who either collect knives or at least have more than one. When what is "most practical" has already been acquired, you can let other desires guide your purchases. One such is aesthetics. In that area, I have a weak spot for a nice dagger shape. That's exactly what the ANV Z400 is.
In addition to the look, Acta non verba Knives with Z400 once again offers a well-built knife with a range of brand-specific details. It contains several of the elements I presented in my review of the more everyday model Z200. This includes, for example, how they have chosen to mark where or rather how the knives are opened by providing them with luminescent inserts. They also have a construction that is recognizable with only two screws that hold the knife together, a one-sided liner that also acts as a lock, and the wire clip with its unique attachment. Then Teflon bushings also appear instead of ditto in bronze or ball bearings. I mention this detail since I know it is a red flag for some. But with a little wear and a dot of the accompanying grease, the knife becomes smoother and faster over time. I, therefore, do not feel that this knife needs ball bearings to be really quick.
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| Acta non verba Z400 is a knife that does not do well in the forest but can be used for EDC |
As steel, ANV has chosen Sleipner. It turned out that the idea that it should be more rust-resistant than D2 is more of a theoretical than a practical one. It was a few hot weeks this summer when the knife was tested, which resulted in some minor rust stains on the blade near the ricasso and on the flipper tab. Tool steels such as D2 and Sleipner are sometimes referred to as "semi-stainless" but my experience is that that statement should be taken with a grain of salt. Or by the way, don't! They get worse stains from salt. Instead, use a little oil to maintain them from time to time and there will be no worries. For this knife, I would probably have preferred more stainless steel like the N690 ANV often uses.
Then the factory edge could have been sharper. It feels a little like they thought "it's a dagger anyway, no one will actually use it" and quit halfway. It is quick to fix yourself but I prefer if the manufacturer does it for me on a new knife.
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| Z400 you buy because of the look. Otherwise, there is also the Z200 |
The edge angle and the rest of the geometry that comes with the blade shape and how it is carried out lead those who are looking for the most practical EDC knife in another direction. If that is what you are looking for, choose another knife from ANV's range. Preferably models such as Z100 or Z200.
You choose this knife for other reasons, mainly its appearance. You choose Z400 because you like a classic dagger blade and like to use one as an EDC knife, even if it means some concessions on the performance side. Because even if it is not a knife for outdoor use or even at the grill, it of course works for all small tasks that need a sharp edge and a good tip. It is only when you work with a knife when you really have to cut something for a longer period of time that the limitations show. And it's not discreet at all, on the contrary, the look is very "loud" and demands attention. So it's not a knife you pull out among colleagues on the company excursion's team-building day the first day at the new job.
Then it should be added that as usual, this is a very well-built knife. All edges and corners are rounded where they should be, screws are of good quality, the blade is centered, and so on. Quality from Bohemia in the Czech Republic. Very nicely packaged quality as well!
Specification:
Length Overall: 230 mm
Length Folded: 128 mm
Weight: 115 g (aluminum version, weighed by me)
Blade Length: 100 mm
Blade Thickness: 3,5 mm
Blade Steel: Sleipner
Handle: Aluminum
Lock: Liner lock
Produced by: ANV, made in the Czech Republic
/ J
* There are a few exceptions such as Gerbers CF and other knives where the entire blade is hidden in the handle in the closed position.
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