Dietmar Pohls Alpha One Folder

German designer Dieter Pohl is regarded as one of the top-ten world experts on tactical and military knives and an industry leader on engineering and knife design. He has certainly turned out some brilliant knives in the past, indeed some have even become collectables. However, the most important aspect of his work is creating tools that are made to be used, and that certainly seems to be the intention with the two knives that we have here. Both are designated Pohl Force H3 Alpha One, but one is the sporting Outdoor model (#1010) while the other is the Tactical Version (#1021) which is more suited to service use.

Pohl worked with Military and Police Special Forces instructors of H3 High Security Solutions’ Training Division (www.grouph3.com) to create a knife that was easily operated under high stress and in critical incidents.

Ambidextrous

Both versions of the knife are suitable for left or right hand use and have large Zytel glass reinforced plastic handle scales with a highly tactile surface designed for easy handling even while wearing gloves. This knife falls easily into the hand and feels very secure. Even with a choked up grip for fine work, the choils (top and bottom) make it feel like second nature – something that can’t be said for many knives. A simple steel wire belt clip can be attached in four different positions depending on the users needs; tip up, tip down, left or right attachment. 

Slotted screws are used to allow easy maintenance, although there is little to go wrong, and all but the most fastidious cleaning doesn’t require disassembly. A short length of Flexcord is included, passing through an Extreme Pivot screw ferrule at the base of the handle, a similar Extreme Pivot ferrule is used as the axis pin. This gives you further options, especially if you ditch the cord supplied and replace it with something longer.

The knives lock-up with a back lock system which is so efficient that the knife actually feels like a fixed blade model. This is also attributable to the overall weight, size and sturdiness of the knife.

Two handed opening is simply by pulling the substantial blade out from the frame with one hand while holding the handle with the other, but a ‘thumb stud’ is included with the knife and takes a minute or so to attach to the spine (with one screw) to allow single handed opening if preferred.

Which One?

The main differences between the knives are the cutting profiles and finish of the blade. The Outdoor model has a plain edge and bead blasted silver finish while the Tactical version has a combination plain and serrated edge with a black matt finish.
The other difference is in the Extreme Pivot ferrules – the Outdoor has satin finish silver while the Tactical has black.

What the 4.5” long 440 C stainless steel blades have in common are a clip/spearpoint profile, safety choil at the bottom, forward ‘fine cutting’ choil on the spine plus a heavily jimped rear choil where the blade tang joins the spine of the back lock. The steel stock used is 5mm giving a very solid feel to the knife, and each one has a unique serial number on the lock to aid quality control.

Both these knives are very impressive pieces of kit, and each includes a collectors pouch, optional thumb stud and a certificate signed by Dietmar Pohl. Since this article was written the Alpha 2 has been released; this is identical to the knives featured here, but includes a glass breaker stud in the base of the grip.

PRICE: £131.95