HOKC Finnish-S | 342- 709406 | Pocket Knife, EDC Knife by Official Dealer - Designed by Russian Master Aleksander Biryukov - Liner Lock, Lawks Safety System, G10 Handle, Thumb Stud, Finger Flipper, Long and Durable D2 Stainless Tool Steel, Black Titanium Coated - Ideal for Camping & Hunting

Noks or Nox (Hokc in Cyrillic) is a knife company in Russia which has this talented guy named A. Biryukhov designing all kinds of big, interesting, crazy fighting (“urban tactical”) knives, which are then manufactured by an OEM in China and sold on the Russian and international markets. I have a small collection of their designs purchased here on Amazon, sold for cheap under the HUAAO and other brands and while they are decent enough, they appear to be either clones, factory overruns/seconds or simplified versions for the Chinese market. The knives from this seller (Knife tech store) are pricier but are the “real deal” – same as get sold for about the same amount of dough in Russia. They are better packaged and more refined when it comes to the build quality and aesthetics. After being thoroughly impressed with the first official Noks knife that I ordered, which was the massive Kuguar (Cougar) folder, I decided to also get this Finka-S (“Finnish-S” as the seller lists it) here. You are not mistaken if you think that you’ve seen design on Amazon before, as it’s been either licensed or cloned by at least a couple different companies, including Lothar. This knife is based on and named after the traditional Russian “Finka” knife, which was most famously used by the Soviet NKVD and KGB covert ops teams. The things that this knife has in common with the classic Finka are the long, narrow profile blade and the distinct bolster/guard shapes. Otherwise, it’s a rather large extra beefy liner lock folding knife, with a rear flipper, thumb studs and “wave” blade deployment. The packaging consists of a nice black “pull up” cover box with attractive silver Noks branding. On the bottom of the box, there’s a big sticker with a bunch of Cyrillic product information. This knife comes packaged with the blade deployed/unfolded, which seems to be a thing with these official Noks knives. There’s a much-appreciated plastic protector on the tip, as well as a sleeve covering the blade. The whole thing would make for an impressive gift to any person who appreciates knives. Taking the knife out of its packaging, I thought that it looked very nice, especially with the red accenting on the handle contrasting quite nicely with the solid black PVD metal and G10 scales. The fit, finish and the milling were all good. There’s no detent lash though the blade did come a bit off centered, at about the 60/100 position. The pivot was a bit loose, and I thought that perhaps tightening it would fix the centering, but it did not. That’s always a bit disappointing but doesn’t bother me too much. There are other ways to center the blade if that really bothers you. I’m not too worried about it myself. Push buttoning the oversized rear flipper deployed the large (very long), cool and aggressive looking blade very smoothly and confidently. The pivot rides on some nice, caged bearings and they definitely do their job. I wasn’t sure how the blade would deploy using the thumb studs (which double as shouldering pins) due to their unconventional positioning but as long as your index finger clears the rear flipper, flicking the blade open with your thumb works extremely well, sending the blade flying and locking into place with a satisfying click. The studs are definitely not designed for reverse flicking (using your middle finger) though. The fuller allows you to deploy the blade using two hands if you so desire or simply want to keep things quiet. In addition, the upper bolster guard works as a “wave”. Pull the knife out of your pocket with one smooth rearward motion and the wave catches on the seam and deploys the blade. I’ve tried it a number of times and found that it works very well here. So yeah, this knife offers a number of one-handed blade deployment options, which is always good. The liner lock is extremely beefy and is actually more like an “internal frame lock”… not sure how else to describe it. It locks the blade in place very securely, with good contact surface and no play. Access to the lock is good and it’s easy to disengage. The blade then folds into the place in a controlled manner after a bit of encouragement. I can’t feel any double clutch or pivot lash. The detent is more “thumpy” than “clicky” but is tuned well. Overall, I think that the action is very nice for the asking price. It's very much a smooth operating one-handed knife. But… What sets this model apart from most Noks knives, including the older versions of the Finka-S, is a built-in manual lock safety lever/feature. Basically, there’s a little lever switch that’s located in front of the pivot. With your blade deployed, if you move this tiny lever to the “On” position (all the way to the left), it blocks the liner lock bar from disengaging and releasing the blade. It’s kind of like the safety on the CRKT M16 but does not engage automatically every time you deploy the blade. While this lever does ultimately prevent the lock bar from releasing the blade, it does not stop it from still moving a bit. You can still move the bar enough to reduce the lock bar to blade contact surface area by quite a bit and introduce blade lock rock. Granted, my M16 (knife) safety is the same way but neither of these safeties give me much extra confidence because they don’t FULLY block the lock bars. The one on this knife also does not engage automatically and the manual engagement involves manipulating a very tiny lever. You are probably not going to be able to operate it when you most need it – in a hurry, under stress, in low light conditions and potentially wearing gloves. The lever also moves too freely, and there are no distinct on/off clicks for positions. It’s kind of like the mushy safeties on the classic Italian switchblades, as opposed to the crisp “on/off” click ones on modern auto knives. In addition, while training with this knife, there were three separate instances where I ended up activating the safety without intending to, by simply messing with and manipulating the knife. At least when it’s in the on position, I never had it switch off by itself. Overall, while I do like the concept behind this feature, the execution leaves a lot to be desired, which is a major bummer. I am actually considering disassembling the knife and removing the lever altogether. Doesn’t seem like it would be difficult. The older versions of this knife never had safeties and the liner lock is designed, implemented and tuned well enough that you don’t really have to worry about accidentally releasing the blade while engaging in strenuous activity. Back to the blade: it’s nicely ground from the ubiquitous D2 tool steel, is uniformly finished in matte black PVD and came with a good, sharp and slicey edge. The tip is appropriately thin and “pokey”. No idea how well (or poorly) hardened the D2 steel here is. Since I don’t have the equipment to measure Rockwell hardness, only time and using the knife will tell. It’s worth remembering that while properly hardened D2 steel is excellent at holding a sharp edge, is not a true stainless steel and thus requires extra care when exposed to moisture or a particularly humid climate, to protect it from corrosion. I’ve personally never seen a D2 blade corrode, but the air is very dry where I live, and I take care of all my blades. This blade’s PVD coating offers some protection from corrosion, which is nice. The handle ergonomics on this knife are good, with one caveat. The G10 scales are thick, milled and chamfered very well, have a grippy pattern milled into them and are semi-contoured. The handle is long enough to accommodate even the largest of hands. The classic Finka bolster guards are as handy as ever, with the top one inclined towards the tip, designed so that you can put leverage on it with your thumb. The hammer grip is good but as with most “tactical” knives, where the ergonomics truly excel is with the reverse (“tactical”) grip, where this knife fits my hand like a glove. There’s a thick spacer filling most of the top of the handle, as well as a paracord size lanyard hole integrated into it. Everything feels substantial and solid. Also, the knife is a lot lighter than you’d think, making it pocket carry rather well. So, what the caveat? The darned pocket clip! It’s a small, almost-shallow carry clip that wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t have one of the most obnoxious and uncomfortable “ski ramp” tips! It practically ruins the hammer grip on this knife by introducing a nasty “hot spot”. Luckily, with the reverse grip, you can mostly avoid it. Anyway, this clip alone precludes this from being a “heavy use” knife, due to the propensity to dig into your palm. Heavy use is not really what this knife design is for but it’s still annoying. Also disappointing is that the clip is not reversible for lefty carry. I suppose that we are lucky to get a pocket clip at all, as the earlier versions of most Noks knives didn’t come with clips. I believe that you were expected to carry them in some kind of a belt sheath. Any other complaints? Well, there’s that lack of perfect blade centering and the Torx screws are all T6 size, which are pretty easy to strip. I always prefer to see T8 or larger fasteners, especially on big knives. In addition, I would’ve preferred it if the blade was made from good budget stainless steel like 14C28N, Nitro-V, VG-10, N690 or even AUS10, even if it did bring the price up by $20 or so. Speaking of blade steel, I’d love to see a premium version of this knife, using a stainless “super steel” like S35VN. Overall, while I obviously do have some complaints with this knife, the positives still greatly outweigh them. Because it’s mostly so cool, unique, and reasonably priced, I’m giving it 4.5/5 stars (rounded to five)!

Very nice knife, large, sharp. Very solid feel with a very smooth action and the locking mechanism is very solid. Only complaint is the rounded hooked guard catches on my pocket interior lining often. Bit other than that I like it a lot and carry it most days.

A beautiful knife, large enough for a good grip. Sharp, quality blade with a very clever lock and easy opening. I will be buying from this seller regularly...

Very well-made very sharp as advertised

Exactly what I was wanting. Perfect length, sturdy. I ground down the pocket hook a bit. It was a bit much but it’s an easy fix.

First thing, this is a large knife. For as large as it is it is quite easy and comfortable to carry. I have been carrying for a few weeks now and I am really happy with this knife. I highly recommend this knife.

Beautiful

Good