Feldjaeger – a special project developed for the Russian Government Primary Center for Special Communications – a feldjaeger service whose job is to deliver top secret messages and valuable correspondence; nuclear, narcotic and prohibited substances; weapons, dangerous goods and cash.

The safety of the items being delivered is ensured by armed guards and special packaging that eliminates risks of unauthorized access and contents replacement.

A little bit of history: The first feldjaegers appeared in 1742 in Prussia. The name of the profession is derived from German words “Feld” meaning field and “Jäger” meaning shooter.

17 December 1796 emperor Paul I of the Russian Empire issued a decree about the creation of the Feldjaeger Corps. The feldjaegers performed deliveries of orders, top secret government messages, valuable items as well as escorting top-ranking officials.

Feldjaegers and their foreign colleagues in other countries have always played an important role for their governments, especially before the telephone and internet became available, as it was their responsibility to ensure guaranteed delivery and secrecy of communication so that the wheels of the governments kept moving without interruptions and the most important messages in history reached their destinations.

In the beginning of the WWII there were around 16 thousand people working for the Central Communication Corps (SpetsSvyaz), a new name for the service. Feldjaegers served the communication needs of the Supreme Commander Headquarters and Regional Army headquarters. The correspondence was delivered by cars, trains, airplanes and on foot through difficult terrains.

Feldjaegers had a right to request assistance of any transportation means on their way. During the Leningrad siege the spetssvyaz officers ensured the operation of 25 routes to the city and delivered valuable minerals to the city’s defense industry. The Feldjaeger knife combines in itself the powerful blade of the Maximus model that deserved a lot of praise from its users around the world thanks to the great working qualities of its versatile blade, as well as tactical handle from the Tactical Echelon series.

This highly-technological handle consists of two materials:

- top layer from Kraton – soft, but durable material that gives a warm feeling and reduces slipping

- bottom layer from Polyamide – stiff and strong material giving stiffness to the soft on the outside handle so it does not peel off

The relief of the handle is designed to ensure secure grip of the handle using different grip styles.

Smart positioning of soft wavy jimping and extensive guard provides secure grip and makes sure the user feels the exact position of the knife in their hand even in total darkness.

The combination of the handle features reduces the risk of fingers slipping onto the razor-sharp edge, even when the knife gets pretty dirty.

Serrations are cut on the Feldjaeger’s blade to allow for quick cutting of ropes, cords, cables and belts, which is proven to be very important in critical and emergency situations – a feature that the Feldjaeger service insisted on.

At the request of the SpetsSvyaz Service, on the blade and under the handle scales we drilled two oval holes, as well as a round hole in the guard – their purpose is not disclosed by the client. However, with these holes and paracord installed on the knife’s sheath it is easy to make a solid spear.

Feldjaeger’s blade is around 5 mm thick and this makes it strong during lateral loads and gives the knife the weight required for effective piercing strikes.

Beside this the knife is quite wide to allow using as a small shovel for digging holes and channels in the ground to install electronic devices and lay cables.

The knife is supplied with a highest grade sheath of tactical class with full MOLLE compatibility.

When designing the sheath we took into consideration important factors to conform to strict Russian and NATO military standards and requirements: knife must be rattle-free during user’s movement; knife must allow insertion into the sheath any side; the knife must be locked in the sheath securely by at least two points of holding. Of course we also adhered to Kizlyar Supreme’s approach of making not what is easier for us, but what the customer would want.

We did not restrict ourselves to cheap standard materials used by the competition, but took advantages of the strongest and most versatile materials that our technological age can offer.

As a result we have a multifunctional sheath that allows a variety of carry options either handle-up or handle-down way that can be attached to a belt, tactical webbing, backpack or other tactical gear. With Kizlyar Supreme’s Thigh Belt (supplied separately) the knife can be attached to user’s thigh with a strong nylon belt that can to be adjusted even to the large over-trained military legs – this helps keeping the sheath stuck to the thigh reducing the knife movement when running and thus further reducing the noise.

The sheath consists of a high quality outer ballistic nylon sheath and molded glass-reinforced polyamide inner sheath.

The knife is locked inside the inner sheath by three independent mechanisms:

- special bumps that fall into the grooves in the handle of the knife – this makes it possible to wear the knife on a vest handle-down without even using the button strap

- special clip installed at the bottom of the sheath – it envelops the blade tip on both sides reducing blade movement and preventing rattling

- button strap – this is actually an overkill with the presence of the two secure mechanisms listed above, but to provide extra psychological comfort to users we decided to install it as well. Our button strap can be adjusted for left and right handed users as well as moved laterally to allow for most comfortable position for instant opening

The front of the sheath features MOLLE lines to allow installation of any MOLLE-compatible accessories – flashlight, survival kit, sharpener, multitool, folding knife or any other tool in a compatible pouch. For example, many Leatherman tools and Fenix flashlights come with pouches that can be installed.

According to the feedback we receive from expert magazines, independent reviewers, world largest tradeshows and professional users our Tactical Echelon sheaths are the best sheaths for tactical class knives in comparison with other best world knife brands in such areas as reliability of locking, silent carry, silent extraction, attachment options, speed and comfortable draw, reliable design and long-life.