Vosteed Mink Fixed-Blade Knife Review

The Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife has a thick full tang Nitro-V blade. Very grippy Micarta handles accompany a multi-position, quick-release sheath. Read on!

Official Specs

Here’s a link to the Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife.

Versions

There are two versions of the Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife. One is this black Micarta handle option. The other offers green Micarta and a black coated blade.

Price

Both versions of the Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife currently sell for $69.

Package and Manual

What’s Included

Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife
Cleaning cloth
Hard holster
Sticker
Manual

Look

The Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife is a nice-looking knife, no doubt. First, I’ll mention the size. My experience with fixed-blade knives is that they’re often big. The Mink is small-ish, with a 3.33″ blade. That’s great! And lends to a “friendly” look. The frag-pattern Micarta handles look great too.

On my review copy, the blade has a good bit of variation in color of finish on one side (the side seen above). The other side seems to be the “normal” color/finish. I don’t mind this, but one way to avoid it is probably to get the black DLC version.

Being a fixed blade, a big part of the look is the sheath. This sheath is a hard and formed version, perfectly suited to this knife (and only this knife). I would say the look of this setup is less “operator” or “tactical” and more “outdoorsman” or “bushcraft.”

The blade rises toward the tip just a little bit. That’s a “clip point” blade.

Open / Close / Lock

Well, it’s a fixed-blade knife! It’s always “open.” Except it’s not – you get to store it in this (included) sheath, which is great, and there is an “opening” action here. If you grip the scales and thumb the sheath, you can pop off the sheath.

Or if the sheath is mounted to your belt or whatever, you can pop the knife out for a real “opening” sensation.

But there’s no lock, of course, and “closing” the knife is just putting it away into the sheath.

Build and Feel

Build quality of the Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife is fantastic. There’s nothing questionable here. The handles are firmly attached to the thick tang of the blade.

Again, that blade is very thick! Vosteed says it’s 11.6mm. That’s beefy.

The grooves cut into the Micarta seem quality, too.

There’s a very comfortable finger choil along the otherwise straight handle.

Size

Here’s the knife in hand:

Below you can see the Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife with the venerable Convoy S2+. The version below is a custom laser-engraved Convoy S2+ host by GadgetConnections.com. I did a full post on an engraved orange host right here! Or go straight to GadgetConnections.com to buy your Convoy S2+ now!

[pics in progress]

Also above is the Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife beside a TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light. I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats. I also reviewed that specific edition, the “Oveready BOSS FT Collector Vintage Brass” 35. I love it!

[pics in progress]

Steel / Cut / Oats

Vosteed has used Nitro-V in the Mink. The blade is a clip-point shape.

There’s not much branding at all on the Mink, but the steel is indicated.

Here’s more info on Nitro-V from KnifeSteelNerds. That site really gets into testing and not so much into summaries, but here’s a blurb of summary:

Nitro-V has a very fine microstructure and very good toughness when compared with other steels. Overall the properties of Nitro-V are expected to be similar to AEB-L with perhaps an improvement in corrosion resistance.

Retention

Only the hard sheath is included for carrying the Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife. It’s a very functional sheath though, and can be carried many ways.

The sheath comes with two screws and in the setup below. Many of those holes are more ideal for lanyard attachment… By that I mean not every set of holes corresponds to a different attachment position for the quick release.

The quick release seems secure and unlikely to be pressed accidentally.

This quick release makes it great for slipping off and on a belt.

There are certainly other places you can attach the sheath to the quick release, though! You can go horizontal or vertical and probably some combination in between. You could go right or left, too. You could even drop the quick release entirely, and just use the sheath on a lanyard or whatever! There are plenty of options!

For example, here’s a horizontal carry. This would ride horribly, but you can see below how the screw holes offer many position options!

Summary and Conclusion

I love the Vosteed Mink fixed-blade knife! Other fixed-blade knives have come through the zeroair desk but this is the smallest one and of course, I love that about it. The grip is fantastic and Nitro-V is certainly good enough for my use. I would love to see a drop-point version of the Mink while retaining this small (maybe even 3″) size. The price is good, too!

Notes

This knife was provided by Vosteed for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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