LionSTEEL M4 Fixed Blade FatCarbon Glow in the Dark Carbon Fiber Handle Scales, Full Extended Tang Construction, M390 Steel Blade, Triple Stitched Leather Sheath, KAVISO Exclusive

I'm a long time knife collector having collected hundreds over the past 55 years. I'm also, because of my background and training, an alloy expert. Why am I boring you with this info? To help you understand how much I love this knife! This knife is made in Italy, land of Ducati, Ferrari, da Vinci, (and pizza). This is a near work of art! Fit and finish are impeccable. The quality of materials is top notch. All measurements meet factory specs (checked with US made Starrett instruments). The handle is the perfect size for my hands (I wear XL or XXL gloves depending on the brand). The beautiful carbon fiber scales have a fine texture that adds a surprising amount of sureness to the grip. There is no jimping but you can get a good grip on the edge of the scale with your thumb. The blade has a size, grind, and shape that makes it perfect as an EDC for my purposes. The alloy used is Bohler M390. Bohler makes some outstanding steels, including a few of my personal favorites like AEB-L. M390 is their current flagship. M390 is a third generation powdered steel that is certainly one of the best blade steels available. It's well balanced with great performance especially in edge retention and wear resistance because of its high levels of chromium and vanadium. The blade was one of the sharpest right out of the box that I've seen. During testing I use a purpose built machine that forces the knife to saw on aluminum, copper, and bronze bar stock under pressure. I've chipped and broken knives with this monster. This blade dulled slightly only. Among other things I stab metal cans as well. This blade suffered no damage. Hardness tested at 62 HRC. M390 is surprisingly easy to sharpen for such a hard steel and it only took me a few minutes to sharpen away the dullness caused by testing. The sheath is probably the nicest OEM leather sheath I own. It fits the knife so well that the retaining strap is nearly redundant. That strap is of course the perfect length. The leather used is just the right thickness to give you the strength needed without too much bulk. The stitching is tight, straight, and uniform. I wish I could buy more of these sheaths for some of my other knives. When someone sees my knife collection for the first time this is usually the first knife I show them. It's nowhere near the most expensive knife I own but it and its sheath are the nicest total package. It's also proven itself as an EDC since I bought it over a year ago. Grumpy old guy seal of approval!!

This is my third Lionsteel fixed blade and they're all excellent. The M4 is a beautiful Goldilocks size knife, just right for most common cutting tasks and large enough to luxuriously fit the average hand. It feels like a nice large folding knife except the handle is much wider and the full-tang blade stock is much sturdier and confidence-inspiring. There are no hot spots on the handle, and I you have all the material choices - wood, Micarta and G10. The wood is not smooth like you might expect, and has a slight texture that has been meticulously carved into the wood surface. It has exactly the same texture as my G10 scales. I love M390 steel for its ability to hold an edge, and chose this knife over the M5 and B41 specifically for the higher quality blade stock. From the factory the edge comes very sharp. Lionsteel does a beautiful job with the blade contours; and the wonderfully crowned spine is a Lionsteel signature and one of the main reasons I am such a fan of their knives. They remind me of my favorite Alfa Romero. There is a very nice striker on the back of the handle for use with a ferro rod. Lionsteel recommends using it while the knife is in the sheath for safety - nice! The nice leather sheath is also Italian and awesome. With the knife, the total weight is not heavy and should carry very easily using the belt loop. I know the first time you try to snap the retainer around the knife it's very tight, so just pull it a bit to stretch it and keep trying. It will make it. Once it's buckled even once with the knife in the sheath and left there for a few minutes, the leather stays stretched to the perfect size. If you think you'll like this knife, you will, so get it now! I can't believe the price has barely moved for the last couple of years. It's one of the best fixed-blade values in its category for the exceptional quality and construction - and the exquisite design. Highly recommended!

I use this beautiful piece everyday now for about 10 years. This is my 10 year review. Still sharp never sharpened. The weight is absolutely beautiful neutral. The craftsmanship and attention to detail are meticulously thoughtful. To put simply it feels right. It moves under its own weight and your hand will fit natural on the handle as grip is not slick with this unique texturing. I got mine in Santos. This is a piece of art. Very proud to have such craftsmanship in my collection

This is an excellent knife. Good geometry, grind and the M390 steel is an excellent high Vanadium choice. Mine has a nice Olive Wood handle and leather sheath.

So, after a thorough internet search for the perfect fixed blade camping knife in the 3.5-4.5" size range this is one of the two that I settled on (the other was the Bradford Guardian 4). Overall I think it's a terrific knife. The blade is Bohler M390 which is arguably the best knife steel currently on the market (as of 2019). The blade profile is great for a general purpose knife, with enough of a rounded belly that it will be good for skinning. It comes with a high-quality leather sheath. My only complaint about the knife is an aesthetic one: the wood handle has a texture applied to it that IMO significantly decreases the beauty of the wood. Of course you can argue that the texture is functional, increasing the grip of the handle. However, if grip is your priority then there are much better handle materials like micarta and G10. Wood is less grippy, less durable, and higher maintenance that these alternatives. The reason to put wood scales on a knife today is for the aesthetics. So it makes no sense to offer a wood handle then damage the beauty with a bumpy texturing. It's not necessary as the vast majority of wood handle knives don't have this. I'll note that the knife does actually come with the option of G10 scales, and I handled the G10 version as well before settling on the santos wood version. It was interesting to me to feel that the G10 scales made the knife noticeably heavier than the wood ones. I'm sure the difference was less than an ounce, but it was easily noticeable. I wound up choosing the wood handle over the G10 because even with the texturing I still preferred the look over the G10, and the slight weight difference was also in favor of the wood. Clearly I've put way too much thought into this ;-) Anyway, great knife overall.

Bought this on Amazon a couple of months ago based on Dutch Bushcraft Knives' review. Out of the box, it is the sharpest knife I have seen. Easily shaves hair like crazy. Used it on a couple of camping trips so far, paired with my Becker BK9. This knife is relatively small and compact, but I am finding smaller knives to be more and more useful, especially for cutting and slicing most things at a camp site. Have not done any batoning with it, but making feather sticks and food prep are easy for this knife to handle. The spine, while rounded, still retains a sharp edge for throwing sparks off of a firesteel. The leather sheath is fantastic...really great quality. I actually had a scout carry sheath made for it, and like the original better, mostly due to size. Edge retention is nuts. My Becker needs to be at least stropped after almost every use, but this one I have yet to see degradation in its sharpness. Used it on a bunch of feather sticks, and some wood carving with very hard wood, and the edge is still able to shave without stropping. Give it a few strops, and its just nuts how sharp it is. Its a good thing the edge retention is so great because this steel is SUPER hard, and takes forever to sharpen (or put a convex edge on haha). The steel and size, along with how comfortable and natural feeling the handle is, of this knife are really what make it what it is. I have since given it a secondary convex edge, which only very minimally improved performance...its already an EXCELLENT knife right out of the box. Going to be buying the M5 sometime this week, too.

This is a great quality knife. Ergos are fantastic. Knife came sharp but got sharper with a few strops. Looks beautiful with the satin finish M390 steel and olive handles (I'm a sucker for olive wood). I LOVE the rounded spine - it feels amazing and I've read that it still strikes sparks easily. On that same note, I thought I would hate the "proud" tang (where it extends above and below the handles), but honestly, I love it. It also has tang extended on the base for bashing things if needed. The sheath is beautiful as well. A minor nitpick: the stitching inside the sheath is a little exposed to the blade, so I'm careful when I insert it. This could possibly be a non-issue - will update with use. All in all, I'm super satisfied with this beautiful knife purchase. This is a big chunk of M390 that feels wonderful in the hand.

Not too shabby. Santos wood style. I unboxed it, only to find out that this particular one,the sheath does not button up with the knife inserted. That was the only issue. I would say it's 2-3mm from being in the correct spot. Tried as I might, I couldn't get it to snap in place. I returned it, and during the long wait for my refund to buy a new one I decided to get Benchmade's AИOИIMUS in CPM-CruWear from a knife-focused website. Oh, man. Almost $300 with tax, which makes the LionSteel M390 a great deal. It's up to you. I think the ergo is nice. Some people say when really using a knife with jimping can cause some discomfort. I wouldn't know. Never done any bushcrafting. I can tell you as a professional technician and construction worker, prolong use of a knife with jimping can wear on the hand and fingers depending on your grip; but, short use of it may add some precision to your work. The M4 blade does not have jimping. I think all these super steels are great. Really it's starting to be "splitting hairs."

Top quality companion knife. Uses one of the best all round knife steels for a blade of this size. Unlike many small knives the handle is thick and comfortable for all day use. Excellent leather sheath with good retention. It will feel too tight until it breaks in, which is how a quality leather sheath should be made. My only complaint is the handle sits a little higher then the belt, but I will add a dangler attachment so I don’t get jabbed in the stomach when dressing game or doing camp prep. Highly recommend this knife

Worth every dollar and more. Makes you wonder why anyone buys a Benchmade. I would take all my benchmades back an trade them for Lionsteel if I could. This knife is literally the definition of perfection. When I hold this knife in the hand It feels like nothing else I’ve held before

Nothing bad can be said about this Knife. (Well, the price, being lower means you can just buy more than one) You can use it in your hands anyway it doesn’t feel slippery or dangerous in anyway and boy oh boy is sharp hold an edge like a lightsaber. The knife sheath seems to be at the highest handmade quality along with a knife from Italy, Not sure about sharpening it but I would recommend a diamond stone. I’ll update it once I have to sharpen it.

Super handy, light and comfortable edc blade.

I love this knife. It really is a thing of beauty. It feels so good in the hand, and it looks awesome. It’s small to medium size makes it a fantastic hunting and skinning tool, a little small for survival but certainly doable. The blade steel is premium quality M390, holds an edge for a very long time, and it’s a good thing because this stuff has a reputation for being hard to sharpen. If you keep it maintained with a strop and or ceramics, and don’t let it get to dull or damage the edge, it’s easy to keep it hair popping sharp. If you let it go to far, diamond stones are a must have to bring it back. If you’re still on the fence, jump down and buy this knife, you won’t be disappointed. Very high quality.