- Joined
- Mar 4, 2025
- Messages
- 3
Hey all! I've been a longtime lurker on this site, and always valued the advice and opinions you all have! As someone who values independant reviews, and having noticed that no one seems to have reviewed this knife, I figured I should fill the hole and produce one myself!
I was looking for a longer survival knife (around the 130mm blade length mark), that would still be light enough for backpacking but still thick enough for some abuse. My budget was/is somewhat limited, so price was a big factor. I'm more than willing to spend good money on a good blade, but within reason. I value toughness and durability, but some edge holding is important too. I'm a big proponent of the theory that your knife should take care of you, not the other way around. I wanted something a little different from the status quo (because I'm special that way), so didn't want an Esee or a Becker.
I had splurged on a Fallkniven F1X Elmax a few years ago, and as much as I loved that knife as a knife, it did not fit my needs. It felt too heavy for the size of the knife for me, and the convex grind bothered me. A fantastic piece of engineering, but not for me. I sold that knife, and decided to get 2 knives with the proceeds, a smaller blade for on person carry, and a larger one for chopping and backpack carry that I could switch between depending on the trip. For my smaller knife I ended up grabbing a Boker AK4 in CPM-3V, which I love.
As I live in New Zealand, buying knives locally is both limiting in terms of available stock and prices being astronomical. Because of this I often end up buying from Europe, as even with shipping thrown in it often ends up significantly cheaper, as well as giving way more options. Buying from the US is hard due to export regulations, much to my annoyance. Looking on a website, I stumbled across a knife from a company I've never heard of: the ANV Knives P300.
ANV Knives, or Acta Non Verba Knives, is a more recent company from the Czech Republic that deals in military/outdoors folding and fixed blade knives. Acta Non Verba is Latin for Actions Not Words, which implies the knives speak for themselves. They have a dedicated range of knife models that they have developed in partnership with various Czech military units, as well as a standard line of military/outdoor knives, called the P series. There are 5 models in the P series, the P100, P200, P250, P300 and P500, in order of size/blade length. The P100 can best be described as a neck/boot knife, while the P500 is more like a large kukri style machete. The P300 is the largest knife in this series that has a straight blade edge, which was important for me.
This knife is really nicely proportioned. The knife is 265mm long in total, with a 130mm blade length. In my opinion this is the perfect length for chopping and harder use camp tasks, without being excessively heavy. Speaking of weight, the knife weighs in at 260g, which feels reasonable for the robustness and length of this knife. The full protuding tang blade is 5mm thick at the spine, with a high flat grind tapering to a V edge. It feels sturdy and abusable. The knife is nicely balanced, with the balance point being right on the guard, meaning it's easy to swing this knife for long periods.
The handle is made from a synthetic material I have never heard of, GRNPU. It is definitely feels harder than G10, and more like Zytel. The scales feel hard wearing, and should last a long time with little need for replacement. ANV Knives have put a nice texture on the scales too, not too agressive but grippy enough. The scales are a nice coke bottle shape, swelling into the palm, and the handle as a whole really encourages a nice comfortable grip. The P300 has a large guard, which does an excellent job of keeping your fingers in place on the handle, and feels very comfortable! The scales are removable for cleaning and maintenance, using a hex key. At the base of the handle is a skull crusher/lanyard hole, and the knife comes with a paracord lanyard as standard, which is a nice touch!
The P300 comes sharp. It shaves hair out of the box, and I've cut myself at least 3 times playing with it. ANV Knives predominantly use Sleipner steel, an improved European version of D2, with a few of their military and folding knife models using Elmax. I think Sleipner is a good choice for this knife, keeping the cost overall down, but still giving decent edge retention and toughness. The knife nerd in me wanted a knife with something more high brow, like Elmax or CPM-3V, but the realist in me recongnizes the compromise! They have done a good job with the steel though. They've hardened it to 58 HRC, which is softer than I'm used to but should bring out the best of Sleipner's toughness, great for chopping and harder use. This Sleipner has also been cryogenically treated, for what it's worth. I fell down a rabbit hole researching the topic, and still don't fully understand the concept, but the consensus seems to be that Sleipner benefits from it, so there's that! The blade, from the tip to the tang, is coated in Cerakote, compensating for Sleipner's somewhat lacking stain resistance. Cerakote, being a ceramic based coating, is widely considered to be the best you can get for coating knives, and it's nice to see that ANV Knives haven't skimped! There is some jimping above the brand logo for grip, and a nice sharpening choil that apparently can also scrape a firesteel.
The sheath is worth mentioning too. It's a lightweight kydex job, with plenty of mounting holes for whatever carry system you use. The knife snaps confidently into the sheath, with no rattling or movement once inside. It comes with 2 Molle clips, showing ANV Knives's military background, which work as intended. You can thread these onto a belt if you want to, but it's best used attached to a backpack or other Molle mount. This is perhaps the only issue I have found thus far, and I am looking for a nice leather sheath that will work better for belt carry, on the rare occassion I plan on carrying it that way. The key takeaway here is that the sheath is low maintenance, very lightweight, and does the job. It also has a drainage hole, and comes replete with ANV Knives's low key branding.
I come away from this knife very impressed. It sits in the middle of the price range for me and my exchange rate, and that can be a good and a bad thing. Oftentimes compromises are made at this price point in terms of either providing good steel and basic everything else, or vice versa. It's nice to see materials like Kydex and Cerakote being thrown around, rather than just a synthetic sheath or a black oxide coating. This is not the first iteration of this knife, and it's clear to see that some serious thought, time and energy has gone into this blade. Could it be better? Sure, slap a better steel in there. But that would raise the price. When using/holding this knife you don't feel ripped off. You can see where your money went, into good design and quality materials. If you are looking for a good quality, European made longer fixed blade that will last a long time (but won't bankrupt you), for military and/or survival use, the ANV Knives P300 should be a very strong contender!
PS: I have no idea how to add images, so if someone could tell me how, I can gladly add some!
I was looking for a longer survival knife (around the 130mm blade length mark), that would still be light enough for backpacking but still thick enough for some abuse. My budget was/is somewhat limited, so price was a big factor. I'm more than willing to spend good money on a good blade, but within reason. I value toughness and durability, but some edge holding is important too. I'm a big proponent of the theory that your knife should take care of you, not the other way around. I wanted something a little different from the status quo (because I'm special that way), so didn't want an Esee or a Becker.
I had splurged on a Fallkniven F1X Elmax a few years ago, and as much as I loved that knife as a knife, it did not fit my needs. It felt too heavy for the size of the knife for me, and the convex grind bothered me. A fantastic piece of engineering, but not for me. I sold that knife, and decided to get 2 knives with the proceeds, a smaller blade for on person carry, and a larger one for chopping and backpack carry that I could switch between depending on the trip. For my smaller knife I ended up grabbing a Boker AK4 in CPM-3V, which I love.
As I live in New Zealand, buying knives locally is both limiting in terms of available stock and prices being astronomical. Because of this I often end up buying from Europe, as even with shipping thrown in it often ends up significantly cheaper, as well as giving way more options. Buying from the US is hard due to export regulations, much to my annoyance. Looking on a website, I stumbled across a knife from a company I've never heard of: the ANV Knives P300.
ANV Knives, or Acta Non Verba Knives, is a more recent company from the Czech Republic that deals in military/outdoors folding and fixed blade knives. Acta Non Verba is Latin for Actions Not Words, which implies the knives speak for themselves. They have a dedicated range of knife models that they have developed in partnership with various Czech military units, as well as a standard line of military/outdoor knives, called the P series. There are 5 models in the P series, the P100, P200, P250, P300 and P500, in order of size/blade length. The P100 can best be described as a neck/boot knife, while the P500 is more like a large kukri style machete. The P300 is the largest knife in this series that has a straight blade edge, which was important for me.
This knife is really nicely proportioned. The knife is 265mm long in total, with a 130mm blade length. In my opinion this is the perfect length for chopping and harder use camp tasks, without being excessively heavy. Speaking of weight, the knife weighs in at 260g, which feels reasonable for the robustness and length of this knife. The full protuding tang blade is 5mm thick at the spine, with a high flat grind tapering to a V edge. It feels sturdy and abusable. The knife is nicely balanced, with the balance point being right on the guard, meaning it's easy to swing this knife for long periods.
The handle is made from a synthetic material I have never heard of, GRNPU. It is definitely feels harder than G10, and more like Zytel. The scales feel hard wearing, and should last a long time with little need for replacement. ANV Knives have put a nice texture on the scales too, not too agressive but grippy enough. The scales are a nice coke bottle shape, swelling into the palm, and the handle as a whole really encourages a nice comfortable grip. The P300 has a large guard, which does an excellent job of keeping your fingers in place on the handle, and feels very comfortable! The scales are removable for cleaning and maintenance, using a hex key. At the base of the handle is a skull crusher/lanyard hole, and the knife comes with a paracord lanyard as standard, which is a nice touch!
The P300 comes sharp. It shaves hair out of the box, and I've cut myself at least 3 times playing with it. ANV Knives predominantly use Sleipner steel, an improved European version of D2, with a few of their military and folding knife models using Elmax. I think Sleipner is a good choice for this knife, keeping the cost overall down, but still giving decent edge retention and toughness. The knife nerd in me wanted a knife with something more high brow, like Elmax or CPM-3V, but the realist in me recongnizes the compromise! They have done a good job with the steel though. They've hardened it to 58 HRC, which is softer than I'm used to but should bring out the best of Sleipner's toughness, great for chopping and harder use. This Sleipner has also been cryogenically treated, for what it's worth. I fell down a rabbit hole researching the topic, and still don't fully understand the concept, but the consensus seems to be that Sleipner benefits from it, so there's that! The blade, from the tip to the tang, is coated in Cerakote, compensating for Sleipner's somewhat lacking stain resistance. Cerakote, being a ceramic based coating, is widely considered to be the best you can get for coating knives, and it's nice to see that ANV Knives haven't skimped! There is some jimping above the brand logo for grip, and a nice sharpening choil that apparently can also scrape a firesteel.
The sheath is worth mentioning too. It's a lightweight kydex job, with plenty of mounting holes for whatever carry system you use. The knife snaps confidently into the sheath, with no rattling or movement once inside. It comes with 2 Molle clips, showing ANV Knives's military background, which work as intended. You can thread these onto a belt if you want to, but it's best used attached to a backpack or other Molle mount. This is perhaps the only issue I have found thus far, and I am looking for a nice leather sheath that will work better for belt carry, on the rare occassion I plan on carrying it that way. The key takeaway here is that the sheath is low maintenance, very lightweight, and does the job. It also has a drainage hole, and comes replete with ANV Knives's low key branding.
I come away from this knife very impressed. It sits in the middle of the price range for me and my exchange rate, and that can be a good and a bad thing. Oftentimes compromises are made at this price point in terms of either providing good steel and basic everything else, or vice versa. It's nice to see materials like Kydex and Cerakote being thrown around, rather than just a synthetic sheath or a black oxide coating. This is not the first iteration of this knife, and it's clear to see that some serious thought, time and energy has gone into this blade. Could it be better? Sure, slap a better steel in there. But that would raise the price. When using/holding this knife you don't feel ripped off. You can see where your money went, into good design and quality materials. If you are looking for a good quality, European made longer fixed blade that will last a long time (but won't bankrupt you), for military and/or survival use, the ANV Knives P300 should be a very strong contender!
PS: I have no idea how to add images, so if someone could tell me how, I can gladly add some!
