BORELLI CONSULTING: Tactical Equipment Reviews

Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S
By: Frank Borelli, 11 April 2005

I don't usually have to do as much homework for a review as I did for this one - but that is definitely not a complaint. I recently received an Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S Testudo knife for test and evaluation. Markings on the blade show "58 HRC Stainless Cobalt Steel". Although I am familiar with the Rockwell Hardness scale, I had never heard of "stainless cobalt steel" and my curiosity was enflamed. Thank goodness for the Internet research tools that are available.

What I learned showed me that these are impressive knives. While it is not uncommon for a blade to have a hardness rating between 54 and 60, recognize that 58 is at the high end of that spread. Not that I want this to become a class in metallurgy (because I certainly wouldn't be qualified to teach it), suffice to say that the type of steel used to make Extrema Ratio knives makes them quite unique and very strong. The metal content of that "stainless cobalt steel" was specifically calculated to provide a steel that would hold an edge well without being so brittle that it might fracture easily - or easier than competitor knives. What makes the steel unique is the higher levels of chrome and cobalt than normally found in most other steel alloys.

Now, if you're anything like me, you saw "chrome" and immediately thought of shiny objects: bumpers, motorcycle trim, etc. I'm not talking about a blade that is shiny. I'm talking about steel that has chrome as one of the ingredients. You should know that out of the sixteen steels I researched, fifteen of them had chrome in them. The Extrema Ratio knives are made out of N690 steel that has a higher level of chrome than most other steels - making it more flexible / strong and the second highest level of carbon I found. Only three other steels I found had cobalt in them at all and only one of those came close to the same content level of the N690.

What's all this metal talk mean? It means that as I go through this review describing the knife; what I did with it; how well it held up - you need to remember that it is manufactured from an uncommon steel (at least in the knife market as far as I can find) and that alone makes it unique as a utility or fighting tool. Let's get into it...

Extrema Ratio is an Italian company that manufactures knives: fixed blade and folding blade knives. They refer to their knives as, "Solutions for special problems." Yeah, I can think of quite a few special problems this knife could help me solve. For quite some time the knives have been hard to get ahold of the in the United States because of import and stocking costs. Many dealers were taking orders and then placing the orders while quoting the knives as either "on back order" or to be delivered in eight to twelve weeks. Just recently, EXXCESS QUALITY PRODUCTS became the official United States distributor for Extrema Ratio. I spoke to the owner of EXXCESS and found out that they've placed a large order with Extrema Ratio specifically so they can keep the knives in stock. EXXCESS wants to avoid "back order" listings and long delivery times.

So, about these knives: My test and evaluation knife is the Fulcrum S Testudo. Bearing in mind that it was manufactured in Italy, all of the data, as far as measurements and weight, was in metric. I had to convert it and then round it off for the purposes of this review. The Fulcrum S has a blade length of just under six inches and an overall length just over eleven. The full-length tang is 1/4" thick from pommel to within 5/8" of the tip (by my measurement). The blade is of tanto configuration, double-bevel ground with 1.5" of serrations nearest the hilt. The knife has a published weight of 300 grams, which puts it at about 10.5 ounces. All in all a decent size knife for field work and of sturdy construction as far as the blade is concerned.

The grips are matched halves of ABS rubberized plastic. They are cut to fit the tang and notched / grooved in three places:
1) At the pommel. There is a lanyard hole and the grips are cut around that hole appropriately.
2) On the spine immediately behind the hilt. This allows a placement point for your thumb when pressing down on the blade.
3) Where your index and middle finger wrap around the grips in a standard saber grip.

Where the palm / meat of your hand engages the grip, there are recessed spaces - again, to allow the knife to more comfortably fit your hand. This assists in maintaining a secure grip even under wet, sweaty or bloody conditions. Removing them requires the correct size allan wrench. I'd prefer for that to be a phillips or slotted screw, but there is something to be said for keeping some people from taking apart a knife. If they can't find the right allan wrench then it's probably best that they aren't taking the grips off anyway.

Now, knowing all that about the knife, what is it capable of? Those of you who have read my reviews for any length of time know that I like to abuse knives in the testing process. This one was no different. Out to my backyard I went. From my shed I pulled a piece of 1/4" plywood, a piece of 1/2" plywood, a three-pound sledge hammer and a crowbar. Along with those items I pulled out various pieces of rope, cord, twine and plastic buckets. (Yeah, this is my idea of a good time).

I had some trouble initially thrusting the blade into the 1/4" plywood, but that was more due to my strength than anything having to do with the knife material or design. Setting the 1/4" plywood across a couple of chunks of 4x4, I had no trouble swinging the knife in an overhand arc and pushing more than two inches of the blade tip through the plywood. I wasn't strong enough to do that in any way with the 1/2" plywood, but that's what the sledge hammer was for. Three good hits with the sledge punched the blade right through, and two more hits had the blade buried to the hilt. Because I'm sadistic, I turned the wood over and hammered the knife back out by hitting the tip with the sledge hammer. I was expecting to break or bend the tip. Nope. Dinged up the face of my sledge hammer though. The knife tip stayed sharp and pointy - just as it started out. I don't know what kind of steel the sledge hammer is made out of, but obviously the stainless cobalt steel in the Fulcrum S blade is harder.

At that point I was wondering what else I could hammer this thing into without damaging it - or until I found a point where it did get damaged. My backyard happens to have a fair supply of hardwood trees and I couldn't resist hammering the knife into one. With the sledge hammer, I pounded the knife into an oak tree, burying about four inches of the blade. I had hammered the blade in an upright position so that the spine of the blade was facing up. With that four inches hammered in, I put one boot up on the back of the blade and grabbed the tree. Wondering if I'd get cut when the knife ripped out of the tree, or broke off at the hilt, I stepped up onto the back of the knife, holding onto the tree to steady myself. The knife never budged. Hmmm... I weigh about two hundred pounds. Not bad. I had to use the crowbar and a block of wood to lever the knife out of the tree. Then I hammered it back in so that the blade was oriented horizontally and buried to about that same four inches. Once again I stood up on the blade. It flexed but didn't break, and nearest I can tell, it's still straight.

I finally quit trying to break it and started cutting stuff up with it. 1/2" rope, no issues. Everything smaller than that was no problem (as expected). When I'd cut through every piece of cord / string / rope I had available, I started hacking into a plastic bucket. What I had was a couple of those 5 gallon heavy-duty plastic buckets you can get paint or spackling in. I've even seen them full of nails (though that weighed quite a bit). I hacked and chopped a couple chunks out of the bucket and then examined the blade. Except for marks where the plastic had been scratched off by the blade finish, there was no sign of wear or tear on the knife. I was, and am, suitably impressed.

The sheath that the knife comes with / in is essentially heavy-duty kydex. Riveted together, the sheath holds the knife snug. The design of the knife and sheath are such that a minor adjustment to the lips of the sheath would add more grip and security holding in the knife, but after I played with it more I realized this wasn't necessary. The sheath is just a little bit narrower than the knife's 1/4" thickness so that the whole length of the blade is being gripped when it's sheathed. Additionally, a 1.5" wide double-snapped nylon web strap holds the knife in the sheath.

The sheath is quite versatile in itself. It was designed so that it can be worn on belt like the large majority of knife sheaths, or you can wear it on your thigh thanks to the adjustable extension hanger. It also comes with two thigh straps that are elasticezed and secured by Velcro. The thigh straps are removable, as is the extension hanger, and there is a clip at the bottom of the sheath if (for whatever reason) you wanted to hang it upside down by the extension hanger. Because of the sheath design you could even wear it horizontally on a belt up to 1.5" wide. Attaching the sheath to MOLLE compatible vests would only require the use of some straps or zip-ties.

When I checked further into the knives and the company, I found out that the knives are warranted forever. If your knife breaks due to material or production fault, Extrema Ratio will repair / replace it and they even pay the shipping charges. The sheath is warranted for six years. As with every other product in the world today, if you do something beyond what the knife was designed for and manage to break it, you're going to eat the cost of replacing or repairing it. Then again, take a look at what I put mine through and think about what you'd have to do it break yours.

Like most other quality combat / field knives, the Extrema Ratio knives have a retail cost in the high $200 range. Taking a look at everything I put my test sample through and the fact that it came through it showing minimal signs of wear and virtually no degredation of the cutting edge, I'd consider it well worth it. The Extrema Ratio line is available through multiple retailers, but if you have a hard time finding one, check out the EXXCESS QUALITY PRODUCTS line of their knives.

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