ANV Knives M73 KONTOS - SLEIPNER, Stonewash ANVM73-003

M73 Kontos carries all the basic elements that connect the knives of the M series. Full tang construction with fully milled perimeter and lightweight handle for perfect balance, a blade made of Swedish Sleipner steel, finished with a 3D processed Stonewash or Cerakote handle from a solid piece of micarta. M73 KONTOS has a clear distinguishing feature - a hexagonal insert made from an original tank tread cap. A self-locking Kydex sheath complemented by a pair of MOLLE clips is also included. Interview with the knife designers: "When designing the M73 knife, we wanted to highlight the familiar elements of the T72 tank. In the spine of the knife, we see the strictly straight upper surface of the tank body. The front false blade embodies the axe, i.e., the front armored part of the tank. And finally, the blade itself follows the same curve as the hull vanes in the area below the tank driver," describes Corporal Petr Stach and Corporal Petr Knot from the 73rd Tank Battalion. "We also wanted to preserve the symbolism of the turret number designation, so we labeled the knives with a serial number only on the sheath, which, like the turret, protrudes from the body of the tank/knife," adds Sergeant Stach. "The biggest challenge was undoubtedly adapting the handle base to the tank rail cap. It was especially important to profile the blades in such a way that the handle would still be comfortable and functional despite its unconventional shape," says Ondřej Němec from ANV. "We wanted to bring some symbolism into the knife as well, so the handle has three sets of screws, just like our battalion has three tank companies," describes Sgt. Uzol. "In addition, each company has three crews, and each crew is made up of three men," concludes the description of the collaboration result by Sgt. Stach.