REVIEW – Because its blade can’t be folded down, a fixed blade knife with a full-tang is sturdier and more durable than a pocket knife. This makes it better for tougher tasks during outdoor activities like hunting and camping as well as tactical situations. In this review, I’m looking at a new fixed blade from Vosteed, the Sheepsfoot Mink XL.
What is it?
The Vosteed Mink XL is a budget-level, full tang, fixed blade knife that features a micarta handle and Nitro-V steel. The blade is nearly four inches long, has a modified sheepsfoot style, and is available in two different color schemes. Vosteed is a relatively new knife maker that was founded in 2021, and their motto is “stay sharp, stay wild.”
What’s included?
- One knife
- One sheath with an adjustable belt clip
- One sticker
- One cleaning cloth
- One support card
Tech Specs
The Mink has the following specifications:
- Total length: 7.01 inches
- Blade length: 3.99 inches
- Blade material: Nitro-V steel
- Blade grind: flat
- Blade style: modified sheepsfoot
- Blade finish: stonewash
- Handle material: micarta
- Weight: 3.62 oz
Design and features
The Mink is a straightforward and simple knife. The style of the blade is more modified than sheepsfoot and sports a gently curving belly that rises up to meet a pointy tip that gives it a reverse tanto vibe. The blade has a flat grind and two sets of jimping on the spine. The micarta handle is thin and flat, keeping the weight down. The handle has cross-hatched grooves to make it easier to grasp, and the edges are contoured to minimize hot spots. The Mink XL is surprisingly light for a 7-inch knife. I got the black handle with the grey blade, a color contrast that I like. Overall, I like the pragmatic, no frills design of this knife.
Assembly, installation, and setup
There’s nothing to setup. Like all of Vosteed’s knives, it comes nice and sharp right out of the box.
The micarta handle of the knife is very slim. Each side is only slightly wider than the blade itself. This results in a knife that is very light, only 3.62 oz — it’s lighter than the Nightshade and the Ankylo — and will hardly be noticed when clipped onto my belt. This is the primary strength of this knife in my opinion. The downside to this design is that it does not feel ergonomic in my hand, especially when compared to the more rounded design of a knife like the Civivi Elementum.
Vosteed added two features to this knife to make it easier to grip. One, it etched a cross-hatch pattern into the entire length of the handle. This makes a big difference, no matter how I hold the knife.
Two, they carved out two sets of jimping along the spine. The first is closer the handle and perfect for my thumb. The second is in the middle of the spine and is great for my index finger when I am choking up on the knife for precision slicing. I like the style of the Mink’s jimping, as I find it to be very grabby.
The Mink does not have a guard, but it does have a curved notch for the index finger. I consider this to be a required feature for any fixed blade, as I want something that ensures I won’t cut my finger on the blade should the knife slip backwards in my hand. This Spyderco knife is an example of a poor design, as it lacks this feature.
The butt of the knife has a lanyard hole, to which I added an orange and black lanyard.
The standard sheepsfoot blade style, an example of which can be seen in the QSP Penguin, has a straight edge and a curved tip without much of a point. Vosteed rightly describes the Mink as having a modified sheepsfoot style, as it eschews both of these features. The blade curves upward towards the tip, making it better for slicing tasks, and the tip curves down in a more forward fashion, forming a tip that has plenty of strength for puncturing. The standard sheepsfoot is a conservative blade style, good for cutting without accidentally stabbing someone — it’s a good style for a first responder who has to cut someone out of a seatbelt — but the Mink’s modified style is much more versatile.
The blade is made from Nitro-V steel, which is known for its hardness and edge retention. The base of the blade has a small sharpening choil.
Overall, the Mink feels similar to Olitan’s G043, a knife that I keep in my car for emergencies.
I put the Mink XL through a series of simple tests, cutting and slicing various objects around the house to see how it performs. First, I sliced sheets of paper. It had no problems cutting through the paper, and unsurprisingly it performed the best when I pulled the belly of the blade along the paper. Second, I chopped an apple into fourths for eating and then cut out the core. Third, I cut through a half-inch rope in a single slice. Fourth, I stabbed the knife into a box and pulled down and to the side to cut out a piece of it. It had no problems cutting through the cardboard. Fifth, I cut off the top of a plastic apple juice bottle. I punctured it near the top and then rotated the bottle around; it was not a challenge for the Mink. Finally, I took it outside and pruned some smaller branches from two of my cherry trees. While these are admittedly not the most torturous of tests, they represent the types of typical activities for which I might use the knife around the house and yard, and this knife passed them all with flying colors.
Vosteed included a Kydex sheath to hold the knife. When I inserted the blade and shook the sheath around, I did not detect any movement of the knife in it, which is good. There’s no drain hole in the tip of the sheath.
A Tek-Lok-style belt clip comes attached to the sheath in the vertical position; using the included screws, I could adjust it for a horizontal position instead.
The Mink XL Sheepsfoot is also available with a blue handle and a black blade. The original Mink (not the XL version) has a drop point blade and is available in two different color schemes.
What I like about the Vosteed Mink XL knife
- Simple design
- Light weight
- Sharp and versatile blade
- Double jimping
- Adjustable belt clip
What needs to be improved
- Nothing
Final thoughts
The Vosteed Mink XL Sheepsfoot is a budget-friendly fixed blade knife. It’s surprisingly slim, features a multipurpose blade style, and comes with a Kydex sheath. I like the simple, no frills design of this knife; it’s more than adequate for a variety of tasks around the house or out in nature. If you’re looking for a lightweight companion on your next hiking or camping excursion, I recommend picking up this knife.
Price: $79
Where to buy: Vosteed
Source: The sample for this review was provided free of charge by Vosteed. Vosteed did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
