Fox Bellum - Something New for Dagger Fans

[Rick]

This is the recently introduced "Bellum" (Latin for 'war') dagger from Fox Knives in Maniago Italy. It's similar to the Extrema Ratio "Suppressor," which is also made in Italy from the same steel, but it has deeply contoured black G-10 handle slabs in place of the rather homely looking elastomer grips on the Suppressor. The Bellum is made from 6mm (.236") thick N690Co Cobalt Vanadium stainless (HRC 58–60) with a black "Idroglider" coating. Its proportions are also similar to the classic Case V-42 stiletto with a 12-3/4" OAL and a 7" blade. Both sides of the handle have a "thumb print" contour and a nicely machined steel glass-breaker/skull-basher with a lanyard hole brings up the rear.

The blade grind is flawless; straight as an arrow, perfectly symmetrical and smooth as glass. The grind maintains its full thickness along most of its length and then tapers to a just-short-of-needle-sharp point with all the bevels meeting up cleanly. There are almost no machining marks in evidence and the rich semi-glossy black coating is smooth and uniform across all the steel surfaces.

Obviously, there are very few individuals who have any real use for something like this. It's not particularly sharp due to the thick blade stock and narrow profile, so it wouldn't even make a good letter opener, but it's a thing of beauty and it feels great in the hand.

The Bellum is priced about $100 less than the Suppressor at $275 with a nice Kydex and Cordura sheath with an assortment of removable tie-down straps. (( rules violation ))

The obligatory 'gear' shot:

Here's a web pic of the Suppressor for comparison's sake:

 

[Dag-nabit]

Nice looking knife. I like daggers.

Kevin

 

[Larry Turko]

I love the look of that dagger. Similiar looking to, but considerably cheaper, than the two new Extrema Ratio daggers featured in the latest Tactical Knives magazine. I suppose if there's only one place to get it in the US, there's no Canadian seller.

 

[iacchus]

That is the sexiest thing (without a pulse) I have seen in a while.

 

[Nternal]

My new knife..it just doesn't know it yet.

 

[Appletz]

I just got mine today from lamnia.fi (nothing but good things to say about them). It has basically everything I like about daggers: clean, straight, sharp lines, vicious point (and I do mean vicious), purpose built for one thing only. The design and build are gorgeous. As the OP said, the weight, balance (about 2cm below the hilt), and everything just feels right. The blade is thicker and seems more durable than I expected (aside from the very tip of the needle point-- I'm very careful with it whether whether I need to be or not; let's be real, it was 300 bucks). As the OP mentioned, the edges of the blade are not very sharp because of the thick, narrow blade. But in a knife like this I'll gladly trade edge sharpness for tip reinforcement and blade strength-- it was built for stabbing after all.

As I'd expect from a knife this expensive, the fit of the kydex/cordura sheath is perfect with zero rattle or movement (the retention strap probably isn't necessary) yet it still deploys readily with a push of the thumb. The kydex part of the sheath (the part that houses the actual blade) is removable and has holes and slots for lashing to equipment without the nylon straps or belt loop. I'm sure you could put a tek-lok on it but I don't have one to test.

The sheath it comes with is quite good, but at some point I might commission a custom sheath just because I like the knife that much. I'm tempted to get an Extrema Ratio Suppressor in the future just because I love this style of knife-- there's really not much out there (of a quality this high) that looks like this. If I do get the Suppressor I will post a new thread with comparison pics (I'll spare you mine this time because my camera sucks).

 

[Dorito Monk]

Man that is one fine looking knife. I don't own any daggers any more but I do love the look of them, especially stilettos and such. :thumbup: