Reef Knife F3: Buy it for bushcraft, use it for utility

I try my best to spend the whole summer outside. I’m either tending the garden, picking berries, or laying around and fixing things. I also go hiking, off-roading, and relaxing in my hammock enjoying a good book or beer. And I always have at least two knives: a folder for my back pocket and a fixed blade on my hip.

Since the beginning of May, my fixed-blade belt knife has been F3 by Reef Knives. With an overall length of 6.7 inches, full-tang Magnacut construction, and Micarta handle scales, it has become a dependable tool for a variety of tasks.

The F3 is the only knife in Reef’s F-series that the brand does not specifically call a “bushcraft” knife. However, from its size and shape to the high saber grind, one would assume it is a bushcraft knife. So, even though it’ll do all the clever things you want, the Reef gives way to the F3 for broad, general utility.

This is a good thing. I am not a man to beat around the bush. but i’m not either No A wild man. So F3 and I have something in common – we live somewhere in the middle.

In short: Bigger isn’t always better, and when it comes to belt knives, sometimes you need something discreet that still gets the job done. The Reef Knife F3 is a medium-sized belt knife designed for the man who spends long hours working and playing in the great outdoors. At $265, it’s priced like a well-built, tough-duty knife with premium materials, but it pays for itself with all the uses you put it to.

reef knife f3 review

design features

Reef knives are robust in design, and the F3 is no different. Even at 6.7 inches long, it’s a handful in all the right ways. The knife is cut from a single piece of ⅛-inch Magnacut steel and features a drop-point blade shape with a saber grind. When you combine this with the thick but shapely Micarta handle scale, you get a knife for tough use that fits well into many hand sizes while providing precise control.

Although it is most commonly associated with bushcraft knives, the saber grind on the F3 is universally desired because it retains more of the steel’s original strength than a full flat grind or hollow grind. On the F3, the grind starts about one-third down the blade height and half an inch back from the front. The end result is a compact blade that can slice, chop, chop, pull, and split like a full-sized knife.

The knife comes with a molded Kydex sheath that can be worn in multiple configurations. It comes with a pretty nice belt clip, but I prefer to slide my belt knife down to clean the hip belt of my pack. I lift a four-pack regularly this clip From Amazon to get the job done. Not only do I like the fact that these let me drop the knife down to my hip, but they also make it easy to attach and remove the sheath from my belt.

first impressions

The folks at Reef initially reached out to me about the latest generation of F4 and included the F3 with it. This version of the F3 is considered two-tone, as the flats are stone washed and ground and polished. The advantage of this process is that juice, blood and other sticky substances are less likely to stick to polished surfaces, allowing the knife to remain functional even when thick.

That said, I was attracted to the F3 over the F4 simply because of its size. The knife is certainly compact, but it still allows a good four-finger grip for precision and control. Even though the F3 is indeed a useful knife, its functions are not limited.

Based on its size and shape, I think it could become the one belt knife to rule them all for hikers, backpackers, farmers, doodlers, noodles, and people like me who spend a lot of time pruning fruit trees and bushes.

in the area

Over the years, knives have become seasonal for me. In the colder months, I like larger knives, and in the summer and fall, I like somewhat more compact knives. That said, depending on which way you go, a smaller knife may be less effective overall. In the case of F3, nothing could be further from the truth.

This knife has been with me throughout New England and is always at my hip. In fact, apart from the Black Crowes concert I went to in early June, not a day has gone by that I haven’t had it with me.

1. Hiking, camping, pruning, and at two brewfests I happily volunteered for some of my brewing friends. If you’ve ever seen a hose break in a perfectly functioning jockey box while the beer was flowing, you know how quickly and specifically you need to work to fix the problem without getting wet.

2. I added back a broken branch on one of my apple trees, which required precise marking. That process requires a gentle touch – otherwise, you’ll ruin the branch, the graft won’t take place, and the tree won’t heal.

3. I used F3 to mark where my joist hangers needed to go on my new deck. It was 100 degrees outside, and I wasn’t messing around with pencils.

4. F3 also made two appearances at Whole Foods to harvest a small produce section. (Seriously, who’s buying a giant stalk of Brussels sprouts?)

Overall, this knife is my “old reliable” – fitting, given that the reef maintains the same conditions even in the circadian winter. This is a tribute to my daily carry; The knife whose handle is stained with blood and sweat from endless use.

conclusion: what’s that for?

Even though he was a case knife/jack knife kind of guy, my grandfather would have loved the F3. An ordinary man who had cut up his credit cards to keep them in his wallet was constantly fixing something or working in our garden. He needed an easy-to-access knife that required little maintenance.

This knife is for someone like him. Someone who doesn’t have a lot of free time to sharpen blades, a multitasker who works with the sun, a fringe bushcrafter, even! This is partly due to MagnaCut steel’s high level of corrosion resistance and edge retention. With what I’ve done with the F3, and the speed I’m going at, I probably won’t have to sharpen the edge until Halloween!

With summer having the most daylight, you’re smack dab in the middle of “need a new knife” season. It’s that time of year again when we get a chance to work out and explore as much as our bodies allow us to. Consider the Reef Knives F3 your next easy-access, hard-working workhorse.