The Fenrir has grabbed me just about more than any other knife lately. I review a lot of knives, but there's some that make you truly appreciate the design. Kansept has many different flavors of the knife, but the one that stood out for me was the blend of shredded carbon fiber and damascus. The knife has an overall length of 7.89", a blade of 3.48", and has a weight of 4.37oz. The bold lines combined with high end materials make this knife stand out in a crowd.
A well designed handle will mould to your hand, effectively becoming one with the knife. There's no hard corners anywhere, making it feel like a river stone. Whether I hold the knife with my index in the finger guard or choke up on the choil, the grip feels absolutely perfect. The shredded carbon fiber is used as a front bolster, and accented with a gold anodized pivot. All the hardware is gold but the touch of color on the carbon just pops. The shredded carbon fiber dances in the light similar to precious stones, really eye catching. The lock on the Fenrir is called a bolster lock. Kansept calls it a liner lock but that's oversimplifying what it really is. A bolster lock is a frame lock, usually made of titanium with a bolster covering the lock bar making it act like a liner lock. This isn't my first bolster lock but they're growing on me, it's having the look of a liner but the strength of a frame lock.
I don't take enough about pocket clips, I often just say how good or bad one is. But there really is something that can be said about a well designed clip. Everything from angle, to tension, and shape make a major difference in how one performs. A lot of titanium clips I've encountered can be fairly stiff. The clip on the Fenrir, like many other Kansept clips is dialed in perfectly. Tension is on the money, goes in and out of the pocket smoothly, and doesn't bite into my palm when gripping the handle.
If everything else didn't say class the blade certainly does. The drop point shape with full flat grind makes it a heck of a slicer. With a blade this beautiful you almost don't want to cut anything. Kansept does a great job with their damascus, this particular flavor being a raindrop pattern. Raindrop is usually seen on custom knives and high end production models. I've never seen it before on something in the price range, breathtaking! I've mentioned before in the Shikari review about the composition of the damascus. The damascus is the compound of 9CR and 440C. It's not that cheap damascus, or one that's lazer etched. It's the same thing as a stainless damascus like Damasteel, but not that name brand. The great thing about stainless damascus is it doesn't have to be looked after like carbon steel damascus. The only downside to me is it won't have edge retention like something S30VN.
The Fenrir is beautiful, and is perfect all around. The whole thing runs like a finely tuned machine. The damascus feels like it belongs on something more expensive, and it's hard to believe the wizard at Kansept pull this off. When it comes to edge retention the company makes the same model in S35VN. But I'll choose this one every time.
