Lee Valley had a free shipping sale and I was browsing through the pages when this caught my attention, according to LV it’s the standard issue in French infantry, although one French guy on forum claimed it’s not.

LV's description:

"Standard issue in the French Armee de Terre (infantry), this knife is compact and lightweight yet sturdy. The tough ABS body contains a foldout knife, can opener and corkscrew, as well as a spoon and fork that store in the handle. Honed ready for use, the 3-1/2" knife blade is hardened to Rc50-54, holds an edge well, and secures positively with a lock-back mechanism.

"All attachments are stainless steel. Weighing only 138g (5 oz), it is 5-1/2" long by 1-1/4" wide by 1-1/4" thick when assembled. Comes in a nylon sheath with a belt loop and a belt clip. An excellent camping knife.

"Made in France."

The quality is not as well as I had expected, especially consider for the same price ($30) I can get a Victorinox that's much better built, but I suppose those don't come with spoon and fork.

The knife came in a fancy retail packaging.



It has a spoon and a fork, they slide into a holder on either side of the knife, and a nub engages the tip of spoon/fork and hold them in place.

The main blade is quite big, a tad over 3.5" long. Shape is quite similar to Opinel (#6 shown for comparison) in a way, also full flat ground to a very thin edge like Opinel. The actually edge is dull thou, I can drag my finger along the edge and not get cut (again, quite like the factory edge on Opine). I don't know if I'll bother put an edge on it, since the steel is very soft.



The blade is a lock back design, and you can see the raised tab on the lock bar used to unlock the knife. When I first opened it I can feel the "click click click", sort of like what you'd see on an African Okapi knife (or its knock off, the Cold Steel Kudu) where the blade ratchets open, but upon closer inspection it turned out both the tang and lock bar are simply stamped and unfinished.



It also comes with a can/bottle opener and corkscrew. The spoon and fork are quite well sized compare with those come on hobo knives, with proper bend and enough dish to eat soup with. The spoon also has a small slot driver and hex driver build in.



The can opener is interesting, it has a thumbstud, yet it's blocked by the spoon so it can't be opened one handed. It also doesn't grip the rim of a can at all.

But then it dawned upon me, that's not a thumbstud! The shape of the opener would lead to you to think it's used like those found on Victorinox knives, but it not. The opener is used by stab the tip through the can lid, then use the "stud" to lever against rim of the can to cut open the lid from inside. If I hadn't seen a similar one on Wenger before I'd really be stumped. Sneaky French...







It also has a corkscrew, but I don't know how strong it is, since it's attached to the plastic frame by one screw on one side only.





The sheath is made of pretty thin nylon, has a belt loop in the back and a metal clip, thou I don't know what it's used for. I suspect the sheath is some generic type that happens to work, since the fold over flap is barely long enough to engage half of the velcro.



[img]http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/3551/85781951.jpg[/img]

All in all, it's a supersized French hobo knife, the near full sized spoon/fork/knife is nice, but you pay for it with size and weight. I think I'll throw it in my lunch kit and use it instead of a regular spoon to see how it works.

interesting knife, if you get a chance, could you post a photo of how the can opener works? I'm not sure if I grasp the "cut from inside" mental picture.

thanks.

I've added one to 1st post.

Thanks, jzmtl,

A most interesting knife. I don't like the hobo knives because so much crud gets down into the body of the knife. The detachable fork and spoon (easily cleaned) is a good idea. Too bad it's not well built and that the steel won't hold and edge well; it's an otherwise good idea. Guess I'll just keep carrying a folder and a separate knife and fork. I liked the fact that it was all in one package.

HJ

The fit and finish isn't good, but it's perfectly functional. The steel can't compete with a dedicated knife, but for its intended purpose i.e. food I'd say it's fine, probably hold edge better than most of the stamped steak/paring knives on the market today (I don't think those are even heat treated).

A little hard to eat with a "Dual Pro X".

HJ

Looks pretty good to me. It seems like those portions that require fine fit and finish are finished sufficiently. The steel in the places it counts, knife blade and can opener sound like they are good quality and will hold an edge. The spoon and fork can get along with softer, probably more stainless and malleable, stainless steel. The area which get gripped are well finished, smooth, and rounded.

I could see paying $30 for that. With care it seems like it might last a lifetime.

Yeah so far it works well, but I guess I'm used to the quality of SAK so this is a little underwhelming. You can find knock offs from China for under $10. I usually say go for the real deal but this time around the real deal isn't exactly high quality so...

I did end up putting an edge on it, pretty quick since it's relatively soft. Found one problem thou, since the blade lacks a kicker the middle part of edge contacts the spring, and will get dull from hitting it.

The metal hook on the seath looks like the hooks on the army kanteens.
It's used to hook in an army belt full of holes.

You can see a belt on (the only picture I could quickly find on the net):
http://www.psu-shop.nl/epages/61767985.sf/nl_NL/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61767985/Products/0289
Click on the image to enlarge => you can see the holes.
(sorry for the link, can't post images online)

Thanks for the photo! Now I get it.

I don't know about French issue, but I have one that looks identical except made in china. identical to yours the sheath and all. it is very well made, and distributed by fury knives. I bought it for $5 at an A&N store.

Yes there are a lot of knock offs around.

i might be interested if it were good quality, but i'll stick with my SAK and spork.

If by quality you mean fit and finish like SAK no it's not, but if you want something that simply works it fit pretty well.

French military gear? Is this really a sound idea? A friend purchased an egyptian mil surplus handgun, which launched the slide and barrel assembly down range in his first visit to the range. It did this without benefit of a cartridge. Wasn't sure if it was a bug or a feature, sort of 'what to do with your handgun if we forget to give you ammunition'. Rangemaster suggested that one should avoid surplus equipment from nations that lost their most recent war. Just sayin'...

I knew it had a corkscrew before clicking on the thread.

I'm beginning to suspect that there are things you can do with a corkscrew besides opening wine bottles, and only Europeans know what they are.

[/quote]
I'm beginning to suspect that there are things you can do with a corkscrew besides opening wine bottles, and only Europeans know what they are. [/quote]

True. So true.

True. So true. [/quote]


Alas, my colonial friend's, there are things that you are not yet ready for..... :whistle

Growing up we used a corkscrew all the time to remove Styrofoam from strange places....

I seem to recall reading that you can undo stubborn knots with a corkscrew...

I have used corkscrew on knots a lot, works great.

A knot! Good call. I usually use a marlin spike on knots, or pliers, but I bet a corkscrew would be handy. Also - I hear they can be okay for opening wine

Corkscrews work real well,when your hands lack Dexterity,or lack callouses.Aside from Marlin spike duties,they work real well at Cinching a knot.Carrying a heavy twine wrapped bundle or Package,or whatever for that matter,using the leverage principle,will save your 2 Best friends alot of Grief!

Don't forget:

Mini Screwdriver

I undo stubborn knots with my rope wrench, the Gordian way.

Interesting device. I'd like to try one out myself.