Fox Vulpis Pocket Knife Review: An Italian Challenger to the Swiss Army Knife

Introduction

For decades, Victorinox has ruled the Swiss Army knife category with little serious competition. Now a couple of Italian companies are trying to change that, and the Fox Vulpis pocket knife is one of the more interesting challengers. It targets a premium statline with aluminum or titanium handles and a genuinely upgraded blade steel, so the question is simple: does it have what it takes to compete?

Who This Product Is For

The Vulpis is aimed at people who want a genuine step up from a standard Swiss Army knife in both materials and carry format. It is a fifth-pocket-size multi-tool: bigger and more capable than a 58mm model, but far more pocketable than a 91mm one. If you care about blade steel, a modern half-stop detent, and easy tool access, and you are willing to pay a premium for them, this is built for you. If your priority is maximum value per tool, Victorinox still owns that argument.

Size, Weight, and Build

The version reviewed here is the four-layer aluminum-handled model, which includes the saw, the scissors, the opener layer, and the blade. Total length is just under 3 inches, or 74mm, and thickness sits at around 11mm, roughly half an inch plus a bit. Weight comes in at about 62 to 63 grams. Fox also offers thinner variants and titanium handles, so this is very much a platform rather than a single fixed configuration.

That size is arguably its best feature. It sits neatly underneath a 91mm Victorinox and genuinely fits the fifth pocket, while offering real tools: a full saw, larger can and bottle openers, and flatheads that feel more substantial than what you get on a 58mm model.

The Blade: N690 Steel and a Half Stop

The main blade is where Fox puts its money. It uses N690 blade steel, which is a clear step up from what Victorinox uses across its range, and the blade shape and design are genuinely appealing. Even better, the blade has a half stop, a small detent that holds the blade partially open. It is frankly hard to understand why Victorinox, after more than a century in business, still has not adopted half stops on its blades. Fox has implemented it correctly here, and it makes one-handed opening feel controlled and safe.

Tool access is another strong point. The opener layer uses full cutouts, making the bottle opener with its large flathead and the can opener with its smaller flathead much easier to reach than traditional nail nicks. The smaller flathead also doubles nicely as a package opener.

The Big Weakness: Base 420 Stainless Everywhere Else

Here is the catch. Only the blade gets premium steel. Every other implement uses base 420 stainless, not to be confused with the 420HC found in brands like Leatherman. Base 420 is an old steel that does not reach a hardness level allowing it to hold an edge for any real length of time. It may well take less abuse than even the soft steel Victorinox uses. Improving the blade steel alone misses the point, because on a multi-tool the blade is sometimes the least-used component.

The frustrating part is that 440C across all implements would have been a meaningful jump over Victorinox steel, justified the premium price completely, and made this an easy recommendation. As it stands, the material choice undercuts the rest of the package.

Scissors: Where the Flexibility Problem Shows

The scissors are the only real fit-and-finish complaint on the entire tool. The blades become thin at the tip and are more flexible than they need to be, so cutting at the very end requires a bit of lateral pressure, otherwise the blades simply pass over the material. This matters because tip cutting is exactly what makes Victorinox scissors so good: their rigidity enables precision cuts, from single threads on fabric to clean hygiene trims. On a brand-new Vulpis cutting paracord, the difference in rigidity against a 58mm Victorinox scissor was obvious.

That said, the spring tension works well and the cutting geometry is good, so this looks fixable with slightly thicker blades rather than a redesign.

How It Compares to Victorinox and the Rake Knife

Against a Victorinox Farmer X 93mm, the Vulpis is shorter, thinner, and about 35 to 36 grams lighter, but the Farmer X uses the same steel throughout, which performs better than base 420, and costs significantly less. Against a 58mm Mini Champ, the Mini Champ gives you more tools, including an inline Phillips driver and a diamond nail file, in a lighter package. The Vulpis counters mainly with its longer blade and its longer, more genuinely useful saw.

The closest competitor is probably the Rake knife tool, which uses 12C27 steel in all three of its implements and has a scissor that performs very well, plus a flathead with a pull cutter and bottle opener. The Vulpis sits between these size classes, which is an interesting niche. Unlike some other challengers with fundamental technical flaws, the Vulpis does not appear to have any, which is genuinely encouraging.

Buying Advice

If you remove the scissors and the saw, Fox offers a two-layer variant that becomes a very compact knife, and in the premium configuration you can get M390 blade steel with titanium handles, which is a genuinely interesting combination. For the four-layer model reviewed here, the advice is straightforward: wait, or buy knowing the trade-off. The half stop, the cutouts, the size, and the N690 blade are all excellent, but base 420 stainless in the remaining tools is not an acceptable material at this price. If every implement were 440C, this would be worth the money without hesitation. As it is, you are paying a premium for design and one very good blade.

Conclusion

Fox Vulpis is a damn good-looking tool with real potential, and Italy taking on this category is good news for everyone. Millions of Swiss Army knives are sold every year and there has been almost nothing to compete with them. The Vulpis gets the fundamentals right: size, detent, access, and blade steel. It just needs one materials tweak, better steel in the non-blade implements, before it can be taken as seriously as its price suggests.