Hello, und welcome to zhe Slingshot Channel.
Today, we are going to talk about the “NedFoss Pocket Knife, 8’’ Tanto Hunting Folding Knife with Glass Breaker, Slingshot, Pocket Clip, Survival Knife for Emergency Rescue Situations, Home Improvements, Cool Knives for Men.” Or the model JL-17A, if you’d like something a bit shorter.
Let me show you its features.
Yes, here is some made-in-China tat sold by our good friends at NedFOSS. Just like the last product from them we looked at, you’ll know this one when you see it.
This is an all steel, rather large (8-1/8" long open on its lonesome, 4-1/2" closed), rather dense (140.1 grams, 4.94 ounces) tanto pointed liner locking flip opener. The blade is 3-1/2" long with a 3-1/4" usable edge and a curiously square choil at the base, and is alleged to be made of 7Cr17Mov steel. The profile is very square and straight, and about 3/8" thick not including the clip. It’s got a rear flipper heel, a righties-only thumb stud, and a non-reversible tip down clip on it.
Oh yeah. And it’s also a fucking slingshot.
The thing comes with a steel slingshot fork pre tied with 3/16" rubber tubing and a leatherette pouch on it. It’s got a draw weight of about 16 pounds when fully pulled back. I know this because I measured it. That’s precisely the kind of committed, hard-hitting reporting you get around here, I tell you what.
The pouch is about large enough to fire a 1/2" ball, nothing much bigger. I don’t know what kind of velocity it achieves but it’ll send a piece of 3/8" round steel slingshot ammo rocketing downrange way harder than I can throw it myself. So I consider that mission accomplished.
The product blurb bills this as a “survival” tool, and I find that notion highly suspect. If you were very skilled I think this might have enough power to brain a squirrel. I wouldn’t count on it taking out anything much larger than that.
But the blurb also calls this a “lightweight frame,” And spells “confiden” with no T. So, take it however you like.
The JL-17A slinger is actually modular. The slingshot fork is, thankfully, removable. And if you like you can put the included glass breaker in its place instead:
You can also just leave everything off. Adding the glass breaker adds to the already not inconsiderable length of the knife.
The button on the heel there has nothing to do with the knife itself, but rather unlocks whichever accessory you’ve got plugged in. It’s a simple plunger lock mechanism, identical to that of a button lock knife. Press it and you can yank out whatever’s attached. (I suspect any suitably motivated individual could also fashion their own accessories to put here; The shape of the prong on the end of each attachment is not complicated. I am just rapt with anticipation at the possibilities, the most obvious which leaps to mind is a double-ended prong which would allow you to attach two of these knives together.)
You can eschew the preattached pocket clip while simultaneously signaling to all the ladies of the world that you are a handsome and virile outdoorsman by way of this leatherette (it’s textured polyurethane fabric) belt pouch. It not only neatly stores the knife itself, but also has a spot to put the slingshot fork with a button snap over it, and a little tiny pocket in which to store the glass breaker tip as well. You can actually fit the knife in it with the fork attached if you want to, and the flap will fold over it even so. Either way you’ll probably want to wrap the slingshot rubber around it lest you become unexpectedly bungied to something.
Near the pivot is this inscription, which is the logo of Jin Jun Lang, and with that the jig is up. Jun Lang appears elsewhere on the Internet selling other knives, some of which are clones of existing designs by other knifemakers. I did a brief search for the original designer of this knife and came up empty; Other Chinese “brands” and sellers appear to carry an identical knife, though, so this may just be a design bespoke to the mainland. That’s almost unimaginable. Maybe I’m wrong.
As a knife, the NedFOSS/Jin Lang is actually not bad. I was kind of blown away by this, to be honest. With having a big headline novelty feature on it I expected the actual knife part of it to be crap.
Okay, so the blade geometry and steel is not like great or anything. But for what you pay (about $20) the mechanism is outstanding. There’s next to zero play in the blade when it’s deployed. And the action is deceptively smooth. Just the merest push against the flipper to get over the detent, and maybe a little flick of your wrist, and the blade just flies open.
That’s because – are you sitting down? This little bastard has ball bearing pivots. No, for real. It does.
In fact, if you’re paying attention you might spot this thrust bearing logo etched on the blade. And the product description says nothing about this. What a detail to leave off!
On the reverse of the blade is this curious inscription. The format more or less matches that of a Chinese patent number, but plugging either of those into Google comes up with bupkis other than this knife’s product page on Amazon. (And no, the notion of a Chinese patent is not an oxymoron. Apparently.)
It comes in a box.
This would not generally be worth mention. Lots of things come in boxes.
But most things don’t come in boxes that boldly declare, “THOUGHTFUL DESIGN” and, “EXCELLENT QUALITY.” These are possibly dangerously ironic statements to make about an object manufactured by “Shenzen Love Sports Technology Co., LTD.”
It’s kind of hard to photograph because the writing on the box is all embossed gold foil stuff. Even the fine print bumf on the back. Again: This thing is $20. What the hell?
The Inevitable Conclusion
I have to admit, I kind of like the NedFoss/Jun Lang JL-17A. I bought it with low expectations, as usual, just on a complete whim because on the surface it’s just such a ridiculous idea. But what I got was actually a pretty competent if a bit large and heavy, and a surprisingly nice flipper folder. Which just so happens to also have an accessory port that accepts a goddamn slingshot. Go figure.
Unlike the other dinkum bullshit I usually showcase on this feature, the JL-17A is a knife I sometimes actually carry around. Just… without the slingshot attached to it.
As someone who loves slingshots and uses them a few times a week for fun please listen to me when I say don’t ever use this thing as a slingshot. That little bit of metal is going to break and the slingshot arms are gonna hit you in the fucking face.
If it does, I’ll let you know.
The bands on this are pretty wimpy. I’m not worried about the fork breaking. Insofar as I can tell it’s made out of the same steel as the body of the knife and it’s a good 3/16" thick. No, the only thing that concerns me there is the little plunger lock that holds it in place. That might be the part that lets go.