Alfa Knives AK2 Review

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Feb 22, 2011
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Before I get into the full review of this knife let me give you a little bit of a background of how this came to be...

So I have been a fan of Andy Roy and Dylan Fletcher's work for some time now, frequent both sub forums and have some of their knives. I'd first saw Damon's work on Dylan's forum and really liked the looks of what I saw. Then one day I look and see he has his own hosted forum. I immediately loved what I saw...

I have the honor of being a Beckerhead and get to help organize/coordinate/clean up and such for the BeckerWest Gathering. So I thought these are some blades that these Beckerheads would love to try. I PM'd Damon to see if he would send us a knife to play with at the Gathering. Here is what came in the mail...

It came nicely wrapped in butcher paper with some toxic green tape, I thought toxic green tape?


Ok now I get it...



I have to admit that I have never been a fan of toxic green but this design and color combination changed my mind. It gives just the right amount of accent without being overdone.

Now on to the important stuff...

Specs
Blade Length: 4"
Overall Length: 9"
Blade Thickness: 5/32"
Composition: O1 Steel
Grind: Sabre
Edge: High Convex
Handles: Contoured black micarta, over toxic green G10 liners with a black G10 pinstripe.

Some first impressions
This to me is the perfect size knife. Small enough to comfortably carry in your front pocket and still big enough to get most wood chores done. I do a ton of hiking, 5 days a week on average, having a knife that you can carry comfortably is important and this knife really fits the bill for me.
It has a do it all design with the saber grind, convex edge, a big belly for skinning game, super comfortable handles for extended use and the 5/32" thickness is robust enough to handle any hard use task and combined with the saber grind tapers down enough to still be slicy. I have several blades in the so called "Super Steels" but O1 just has that sweet spot of edge retention and ease of sharpening that make it one of the most popular knife steel choices in the market today.

Here it is in between a couple of common bushcraft blades for size comparison, Blindhorse Bushcrafter and Becker Knife and Tool BK16.


Right away the superior craftsmanship of this blade was more than evident. The contours of the handles, the grinds, the high convex polished edge all scream quality and customization. Not the kind of fit and finish you will find in any production knives on the market.




To me two things really stood out one is hard to tell from the pics but Damon has really perfected the sweet spot in his micarta handle texture. You always here that micarta is grippy even when wet etc. I have to tell you that it is hardly ever the case, I always have to either sand them down because they are too rough or rough them up because they are polished too much. These handles are in my opinion perfect in terms of finish.


The other thing as many knife nuts know is every knife I have ever bought has immediately had to either be sharpened or touched up on the strop. Damon in my opinion puts the finest edge on a blade as I have ever experienced. His razor sharp, mirror polished, high convex edge is the best in the business and this blade was not specially done for this passaround. I have since had the pleasure of owning two more Alfa's and handled another and they all have this consistent flawless edge. Sharpest knife out of the box I've ever held...


On to how the blade actually works. The first task after cutting paper...Dinner!!!
I was curious on how it would handle in the kitchen seeing 5/32" isn't the ideal kitchen knife thickness. I have to say it was right at home. The wife loved it and it performed well past her expectations.





Ok now to some outdoor tasks...First up let's see how a small blade like this chops, having several knives in this size range I wasn't expecting much. Boy was I wrong...this little guy chopped like a much bigger knife.




Batoning through some limbs...one nice wack.



Batoning notches...no problem.



Let's just go all the way through...


I beat, chopped, batoned, cut and you name it to this knife for a good hour. It's been a long time since I had that much fun with a small knife. Edge retention after this beating...like it never happened.


So a got to use the crap out of this blade for a couple of months before the gathering, took it out on dozens of hikes, started several fires and even got to process a few pieces of small game with it. It has not disappointed me during any task I've asked of it...

All the Beckerheads really loved this blade. Everyone raved about the fit and finish, how comfortable it was and that nasty convex edge.
Got a few action shots of us building a fire with it...
Thanks for letting us use this knife over the weekend.
The AK2 is an amazing knife!
Excellent fit and finish, well balanced, and screaming sharp!
You do great work Damon and your knife impressed all of us Beckerheads at the gathering.

Here's a few pics of me and Abrasion making some wet wood fire with the AK2:






















 
Great review Abrasion. I had a few minutes to finger this blade as well, and everything Abrasion said about it is dead on accurate. I will be ordering one of these in the future. Loved this knife!
 
Thanks for the great review and support. Its guys like you i make knives for! Ive been super busy making knives for blade show. i have about 40 done so assuming i don't sell out i should have a few for sale soon.
 
Thanks for the opportunity to do this review and enjoy a very well crafted knife. This was my first review, I hope I did the knife justice.
 
Love the handle on this knife. I hope to get something similar at Blade!! Looks really comfortable.

Great Pics, abrasion!!!

Martin
 
Lookin good Damon. You seem to have absorbed a little from both our styles at the shop. Nice looking knife my friend.
 
Very nice review man, I like the paces you put the knife through. The knife looks awesome by the way. I need to pick up one of Damon's knives to check out.
 
Nice review, thank you! After reading this, I got an AK2 Major. Same knife, just a bit bigger, a 5 and 5/8 inch blade. It's superb, with a perfect fitting sheath. Excellent retention but knife slips in and out almost effortlessly. One of the best knives I've ever bought. I'll be looking at more Alfa knives in future.
 
Nice review, thank you! After reading this, I got an AK2 Major. Same knife, just a bit bigger, a 5 and 5/8 inch blade. It's superb, with a perfect fitting sheath. Excellent retention but knife slips in and out almost effortlessly. One of the best knives I've ever bought. I'll be looking at more Alfa knives in future.

I picked up an AK2 Major myself and damn is it an awesome camp knife. Just the perfect size for all your needs and that edge makes cutting pretty effortless. I just had a kydex sheath made for it and am looking forward to getting it back.
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