Max Knives MKF2 Confusion — one-piece 440C knife by Perrin and Janich

Overview

The Confusion is a joint design by Fred Perrin and Michael Janich, produced by Max Knives. Its construction is one-piece: blade and handle are cut from the same block of 440C steel, continuous, with nothing assembled. The claw-shaped blade gives 63 mm of plain edge for 133 mm overall, and its spine reaches 6 mm — by far the heaviest stock in the whole Fred Perrin family, where the other models sit at 3 or 5 mm. The handle is drilled with holes for the paracord supplied with the knife, and the whole thing stores away in a rigid kydex sheath. The First Run runs to 600 numbered pieces.

Two signatures, a claw blade, 600 pieces

The Confusion carries two names and cannot be told without both: Fred Perrin, the French cutler and designer whose drawings have turned since the early 1990s on compactness and control in the hand, and Michael Janich, with whom this model was worked out. The claw blade shape and the ring opened into the handle tie the piece to the lineage of La Griffe, the small ring-handled fixed blade that made Fred Perrin's name. That ring and the paracord holes give the Confusion several possible ways to hold it, depending on how the tool is presented to the material being cut. This First Run is limited to 600 numbered pieces, each knife carrying its rank in the series.

Technical specifications

Blade and handle are one single piece of 440C steel. The edge is plain and measures 63 mm; the handle section is 70 mm, for an overall length of 133 mm. Stock thickness at the spine is 6 mm, the blade shape is a claw and the finish is Stone Wash. Stated weight is 55 g. The handle is drilled with pass-through holes for the paracord, which is included. The knife ships with a rigid kydex sheath. The First Run edition is limited to 600 numbered pieces.

Care

440C is a stainless steel, which does not rule out a few simple habits. After wet work or a spell outdoors, wipe the knife and dry it before it goes back into the sheath: kydex is waterproof by nature and will hold moisture against the steel. A soft cloth lifts fingerprints without touching the Stone Wash finish, and a thin film of light oil passed over the whole surface now and then protects the piece during storage. The paracord can be untied, rinsed under clear water and left to air-dry, and so can the sheath.

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.