The Drop Ferrum Forge Falcon: A Great Knife That’s Hard to Use with One Hand

The Ferrum Forge Falcon comes with a handy two-knife case and a polishing cloth. Andrew Heinzman

The Ferrum Forge Falcon is a staple of Drop’s custom knife catalog. In terms of build quality, it blows similarly priced flipper knives out of the water. In spite of its quality and versatility, the Falcon isn’t a perfect one-handed knife.

Like Drop’s other pocket knives, the Falcon is built with attractive, durable materials. Its 3.9″ titanium handle has a soft satin finish, its mechanisms (bearings and such) feel controlled and tight, and its 2.9″ stainless blade is incredibly sharp, symmetrical, and shiny.

But expensive materials are useless if they aren’t used properly, and that’s where Ferrum Forge’s design comes into play. This knife is handsome, usable, and versatile. Its drop-point blade (which is good for slicing, not piercing) is crafted with a nice finger choil (the indent), and the thumb ramp features some jimping (bumps) for extra control. Its flipper tab feels substantial and strong, and it even features a reversible pocket clip for left-handed use.

As an EDC tool, the Falcon works quite well. Its drop-point blade is great for cutting boxes, cable ties, food, and wood. It feels weighty and easy to control, especially when held at the base of the blade with your finger in the choil. I could even see someone using the Falcon as a carving knife because it feels so balanced and strong in the hand.

A close-up of the Falcon's lockbar and pocket clip. The lockbar is located where you naturally rest your middle finger. — A close-up of the Falcon’s lockbar and pocket clip. The lockbar is located where you naturally rest your middle finger. Andrew Heinzman

But I do have a few problems with this knife’s design. While I don’t mind flipper mechanisms, the opening mechanism on the Falcon is a bit tight, mostly due to the lockbar’s position on the knife.

The Falcon’s lockbar is located where you naturally rest your middle finger (or thumb, if you’re a lefty). Unless you consciously move your middle finger away from the lockbar, it adds lateral pressure to the knife and makes deployment feel way too tight.

To add insult to injury, the lockbar makes it difficult to close the Falcon with one hand. It takes a lot of pressure to push the thick titanium lockbar out from under the blade with your thumb, especially when your middle finger’s natural resting place is on the opposite side of the lockbar.

Thankfully, you can adjust the Falcon’s tension with a TR8 screwdriver (a tool which should be included with this $125 knife). But adjusting the tension only helps loosen the knife’s deployment—closing the knife is difficult regardless of the knife’s tension. (You can’t fine-tune the lockbar, and the screw on the lockbar just holds together a piece of metal, it doesn’t create any pressure or tension.)

I think Drop and Ferrum Forge tried to fix these issues by placing the pocket clip toward the center of the knife (overlapping the lockbar). But the pocket clip isn’t long enough to rest my fingers on while opening or closing the knife, and its position in the middle of the Falcon’s body means the knife doesn’t really go as deep in my pocket as I’d like.