Blade-Tech Profili

I was talking blades with my buddy Vic from 5 Rings Tactical a few weeks back and he was telling me how awesome Blade-Tech knives are. Having never owned a Blade-Tech knife before, I decided it was time to give one a try, so I asked Vic what his favorite model was. He said his favorite was the Profili, and after going back and forth trying to decide between fixed blade or folding, I ordered the fixed blade to see if he was right.

The Profili, which means “Profile” in Italian, is  manufactured by Fox Cutlery in Italy, and was designed by Mike Vellekamp. The stated design intention for the Profili is Tactical Scalpel – a tactical fixed blade that is designed first and foremost to be a fighting tool.

Specifications

Features

The Profili is an interesting knife. When Vic suggested it, I had never heard of it before, so I of course did what everyone else does when faced with not knowing something – I googled it with Bing. Immediately I was struck with the look of the Profili. This thing has more curves than the Nürburgring.

Blade

The blade steel is N690CO, which is a high quality Austrian stainless steel. I don’t have any prior experience with this flavor of stainless steel, but I expect it to hold up well. It has a very cool and functional curve that is flat ground, forming at a pointed drop point. The tip appears to be delicate, and while I wouldn’t pry with it, it isn’t as delicate as it looks.

The blade finish is a different story. It comes with a Tungsten DLC coating that is not holding up very well. I haven’t exactly abused this knife, just done some basic cutting tests like running through a few boxes, and the finish is already showing some wear. Honestly, I don’t mind this at all. I think a little wear on the finish gives the blade some character, but it’s worth noting.

The blade came fairly sharp out of the box, not crazy sharp, but a thoroughly decent working edge that has held up well.

Handle

The handle is G-10 and comes in several colors, mine being the green version. The full tang blade forms a sharp impact edge with lanyard hole at the bottom of the knife. This I don’t care for. I’m sure it makes a wicked impact edge, and I’m not signing up to get whacked with it, but I think it’s more hassle than it’s worth. I don’t really like it with a reverse grip, and I found that it pokes when worn vertically. I’m thinking about grinding it down.

Sheath

The sheath that comes with the Profili is pretty decent. It’s a plastic sheath that has good fit and is very functional. My Profili came with a Blade-Tech Tek-Lok, which screws to the sheath and allows you to attach the sheath to your belt or gear. If instead you want to mount the Profili on your MOLLE gear, check out the MOLLE-LOK.

Ergonomics

Ergonomics are on the Profili are awesome, even with the minor complaint I have about the pointed impact edge. This knife feels good in hand with the excellent and functional finger grooves and gimping.

Quality and Value

The Blade-Tech Profili is a very well made knife. Aside from the wear on the finish which is to be expected, my Profili has held up very well, and I don’t expect that to change. Value isn’t great, but considering the quality level, isn’t bad either. The Profili retails for $170, but if you email Vic at 5 Rings Tactical and mention this review, you can get it for much less.

Wrapping Up

I’m pretty happy with the Profili. It’s a high quality, purpose built knife that has very little downside and a lot of upside. So it turns out that Vic was indeed right about Blade-Tech knives. Not that I doubted him. Along with being a really good dude, Vic is also a certified ninja, police officer, firearms instructor here in the Houston area, and a dance choreographer for Psy. He kinda knows what he’s talking about.

High resolution Blade-Tech Profili photo.

If you want to purchase a Profili or other Blade-Tech gear, shoot him an email and see if he can hook you up.

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