Fox 599 karambit review. Don't buy it. Here's why.

For serious defensive knife uses, I've never been a huge fan of liner locks in general. In addition to failing spine whacks (some not all), liner locks don't like any twisting motion (e.g. if you were cutting and twisting) - for this reason a lockback is pretty bulletproof, and the Spyderco Compression Lock is pretty good too. I haven't tested enough frame locks tho.

Or just go fixed blade lol

I saw the 599XT - and if I was going to get a folding karambit, that would be on my list (wave and backlock, and trainers available.)
 
Daniel L said:
For serious defensive knife uses, I've never been a huge fan of liner locks in general. In addition to failing spine whacks (some not all), liner locks don't like any twisting motion (e.g. if you were cutting and twisting) - for this reason a lockback is pretty bulletproof, and the Spyderco Compression Lock is pretty good too. I haven't tested enough frame locks tho.

Or just go fixed blade lol

I saw the 599XT - and if I was going to get a folding karambit, that would be on my list (wave and backlock, and trainers available.)
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Yes I believe the XT models will be safe in terms of the lock reliability because they have actually two locks on them, but go to the Ultimate Knife dot-com and read the return policy if you can stomach it it is one of the most ludicrous things you will ever read

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 
I know this is an old post, but just checked the "ludicrous things" on that warranty page on The Ultimate Knife and it seems to be like other sites. Actually it seems to be very specific on what is allowed and not allowed. So my question is, what is "ludicrous" about it? On a side note, I personally own the CDHK knife and it works just as good and deploys the same way as any other catch featured knife. It's also a back lock folding knife and it's $50.00 less than the 599-XT. Solid product too.
 
I don’t know if you got a defective one or if it was an earlier batch, but I have had a 599 with the liner lock (not XT) for about almost a year now and I can confidently say that mine did not exhibit any of the issues and problems that arose with yours whatsoever; at no point in time, whether when brand new or used.

When I came across this review it was not more than a few weeks past since I got mine, and so being still fairly new, I decided to test it with spine wacks which caused your lock to fail as you mentioned.

I tried spine wacks lightly, hard, and multiple consecutively, and also tried impacts on other areas and the underside of the handle, and never did the lock fail nor was the integrity of the knife ever compromised.

Now today after a almost a year I tried he same test after coming across this post again, and still no matter what, the lock held rock solid.

Ever since it was new til now, the lock sinks deep and sits dead center of blades’ lock face, it doesn’t sit near the point of disengaging at all.

So yea as I said, mine works flawlessly, never encountered any problems or lock failures at all, which suggests that yours perhaps either may have just happened to be a defective one, or it could have been an earlier batch, which if that were the case, those issues have since been fixed.

Here is a picture of my 599 with the liner lock engaged. You can clearly see that the lock sits dead center against the lock face of the blade. Naturally pops out to that position every time, no matter what degree of force or method used to for deployment :)

B93F974E-981C-403B-BCEF-F3D386AA7945.jpeg
 
Just to further resurrect this bad boy, I have a 599 trainer and live.
Can confirm, the trainer does unlock if I back strike/flail something solid and unyielding, which I was not delighted to discover.
I then checked with the live one, and beat the living hell out of a lot of heavy wooden things with the back of it, not a single fail.
I started to think it was a feature, not a bug. Protect the training partner from heavy impacts....
Anyway, out of curiosity from reading this thread, I just tightened up the screw until the (trainer) blade was not smoothly deploying, and it still failed on a gentle strike to a wooden cabinet.
It's definitely weird. And quite annoying. But I have tested the live one enough to trust it's not going to chop my fingers off.

And I am also not surprised the OP did not get much love from the company 😂
 
As a total know nothing about this form of martial arts I can quickly figure out there is no way I would use that thing in combat.

In fact despite the availability of much better locks like the triad lock this looks like something I would want in a fixed blade version for serious stuff if I practiced this form of martial arts.

I have zero respect for deceptive marketing of dangerous products that injure the user and are usually totally unsuitable for the tasks they claim they are designed for.

I also do not trust liner or frame locks for general utility use let alone this, and I do have enough personal experience with both high end and cheap stuff to form that opinion.

Oh and PS you can always use it for gentle careful slicing of food products and the like to avoid "abuse" of the lock causing failure.
 
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JohnWukong said:
Just to further resurrect this bad boy, I have a 599 trainer and live.
Can confirm, the trainer does unlock if I back strike/flail something solid and unyielding, which I was not delighted to discover.
I then checked with the live one, and beat the living hell out of a lot of heavy wooden things with the back of it, not a single fail.
I started to think it was a feature, not a bug. Protect the training partner from heavy impacts....
Anyway, out of curiosity from reading this thread, I just tightened up the screw until the (trainer) blade was not smoothly deploying, and it still failed on a gentle strike to a wooden cabinet.
It's definitely weird. And quite annoying. But I have tested the live one enough to trust it's not going to chop my fingers off.

And I am also not surprised the OP did not get much love from the company 😂
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I doubt the trainer was intended to fold from anything striking the spine... the liner lock geometry is just off enough to force the liner to slip off. I've had it happen on Buck, Gerber and even Emerson liner locks with moderate force spine whacks.
All being said, a fixed blade for defensive knives goes without saying.
But any folder is better than fingernails.
 
To further resurrect this thread - how on earth did this conversation get so far without anyone mentioning the Spyderco Karahawk? I literally collect any folder with a pocket catch/wave and ring. I first started carrying a waved kbit in the late 90s with the original Emerson... I then graduated to a Karahawk and after all these years, while I own many kbits that I love, the Karahawk is still in a league of its own.

Now - to address the 599... I do own a number of Foxes but only have one in my rotation (bastinelli black bird). I spine whack every knife before I'll consider carrying it. I've never had a Fox fail on me. OP obviously got a lemon or has an abundance of pocket lint. After watching your video, I grabbed my eight Foxes (admittedly, I no longer own a 599 to test, but I did carry one for awhile and it was fine) in my collection and gave them each a few HARD spine whacks on a hardwood workbench and .. nothing... They're all rock solid. While I also prefer just about any other lock to a liner lock on a defensive knife, I do believe that a properly executed one is more than adequate to get the job done. I absolutely do not trust their budget Fox Edge offerings however... There's a reason why you can pick those up for $25 or so... If you want a good budget karambit in 2025, go Kubey Wrath/mini-wrath, or the Boker Hel, which I see can now be had for a little over $50 (and is an absolute steal at that price).. those both have also survived my testing (and are liner locks). And even though I generally despise Cold Steel, I will admit that the tiger claw is a great solid piece , especially for the price.
 
GreenTeaKiller said:
To further resurrect this thread - how on earth did this conversation get so far without anyone mentioning the Spyderco Karahawk? I literally collect any folder with a pocket catch/wave and ring. I first started carrying a waved kbit in the late 90s with the original Emerson... I then graduated to a Karahawk and after all these years, while I own many kbits that I love, the Karahawk is still in a league of its own.
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The Karahawk is way too thin for me and I'm not really fond of the ergonomics. It's a really well made karambit though.
 
toker said:
The Karahawk is way too thin for me and I'm not really fond of the ergonomics. It's a really well made karambit though
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Macross! Anyway, yeah I hear you - but for me that thinness is a huge plus. You carry a defensive blade far more than you'll ever use it, so ease of carry ranks high for me. I often forget I'm wearing mine. Too many folding kbits these days make me feel like I'm carry a bratwurst in my pocket.
 
Right here are the only two Karambit style folders, I would ever trust for SD / fighters :


Because of the Tri-ad lock . Proven to be very strong and stable , in every direction . No other lock can compare , IMO . :cool: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
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