Max Knives FP3F Tri Folder — All-steel folder with two pivoting plates

Overview

Closed, the FP3F looks like a bar of bright polished steel, a smooth rectangular body giving nothing of its purpose away. Open, it spans 175 mm around a tapered, fine-pointed 440C steel blade, 77 mm long and 3 mm thick. Between those two states sits a mechanism that belongs to it alone. This Tri Folder, drawn by Fred Perrin and published by Max Knives, is steel throughout, handle included, weighs 84 grams and arrives with a synthetic leather sheath and its carrying cord.

Two plates that clamp the blade

The handle of the Tri Folder is not a hollow shell: it is two stacked steel plates, hinged, and they alone make up the entire system. When the blade reaches the open position, the two plates pivot against one another and close onto it, gripping it like a vice and holding it in place. There is no spring to compress, no liner lock leaf to push aside, no stop pin: the lock comes purely from the parts travelling against each other. Three steel elements, one geometry, and nothing else, which is where both the name and that solid-bar look once folded come from.

Technical specifications

440C steel blade, 77 mm long, 3 mm thick at the spine, tapered profile with a fine point. Steel handle, 98 mm, built from two stacked plates that hold the blade in the open position. Overall open length: 175 mm. Weight: 84 grams. All-steel construction, with no applied scales. Supplied with a synthetic leather sheath and a carrying cord, the only sheath of its kind in the Fred Perrin series published by the brand.

Care

A knife made entirely of steel should be dried entirely: after damp work, wipe the blade but also the outside and the inside of the handle plates, where a drop of water could sit trapped. One drop of fine oil at the pivot points, spread by a few opening and closing cycles, keeps the mechanism smooth and quiet. Before long storage, a lightly oiled cloth passed over every steel surface is all it takes. The synthetic leather sheath cleans with a damp cloth, then dries in open air away from any heat source.

Legal notice for international buyers. Carrying it in public without a legitimate reason is an offence in France and in most European countries. It is the buyer's responsibility to check the law that applies where the order is delivered before purchasing.