Folding bird's beak and/or sheepsfoot?

J

jimchurrasc

Joined
Aug 17, 2013
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Hi all, hope your holidays are going well!

I'm looking for my next semi-EDC, and I'm trying to figure out what I use my knife for. The reality is, I use it for a lot of chores that would best be suited by... a birds beak blade! I have, for example, an excellent cherry wood Victorinox Forscher birds beak thats just great, i could use it from cutting to peeling to everything in between.

So my question is, anyone have something thats a good pocket knife, with a birds beak shape? And second, does a sheepsfoot, in your opinion, satisfy that same need? Are there classier "newer" sheepsfoot or birds beaks that are small enough (eg < 3.5/4" blade) to be a real EDC?

Thanks for all your help!
 
I like some of Spyderco's hawkbill blades for rough work - gardening, pruning, rope work and such. The Tasman Salt is a nice size for pocket carry. The Harpy is about the same size, but with a stainless steel handle and thicker blade it is quite a bit heavier. My personal favorite in that type is the larger SpyderHawk Salt which is discontinued, but there is a new version coming out according to the 2018 catalog. Great Eastern Cutlery has done some more traditional hawkbills in recent times, but they can be hard to find since they only do small runs and don't often repeat patterns.

I like sheepsfoot blades as well, but I don't see them in the same role as the hawkbill. The hawk is more specialized. The things it does well it does better than anything else, but some things it is nearly worthless for.The sheepsfoot is more of a general purpose blade, at least for me.
 
Try A.G. Russell’s pocket beak, it locks and won’t break the bank. GEC #47’s have Hawkbills, as do Case pruners, as well as some electricians style knives. Good luck.
Thanks, Neal
Ps-try posting this question in traditionals, y’all will get a heap of answers-just not Knives that open one handed. Oh, there’s always karambits too, huge variety, with my nod going to Emerson’s folding and fixed.
 
Thanks for the answers! I find that for my uses - lets say, peeling apples, pruning trees, cutting tight rope - hawk (or birds?) seems to work great. For things it doesn't do perfectly - say, cutting a slice of cheese - it still "works". Thats why I'm tending to look for that one, if that makes sense! I just like the kind of feel it has in hand, and a small folder would be perfect. I'll keep monitoring this thread, but these suggestions are great starters, thank you.
 
Rough Rider makes a very nice sheepsfoot or "Half Hawk" with a pen secondary blade.
I have used mine for EDC on days I expected some heavy cutting. They are not light weight, but they are solid, and hold an edge quite well.
While I don't have one yet, their hawk blade (no secondary blade) looks like a good one, too.
Both have several handle choices.
 
Sheep's foot blades are useful too.look up great eastern cutlery,they make some awesome sheep's foot folding knives.
 
I like and use both designs, sheepsfoot is better for typical edc type tasks but I did use a hawkbill only for several years, a spyderco byrd crossbill. I now use a BM mini-grip sheeps and the 2017 forum gec barlow with a sheeps blade.

The biggest difference in real-world use, for me, is the ability to cut against a hard surface with the sheepsfoot design with more than just the tip, especially the modified sheepfoot on the mini-grip. I like the hawkbill design for cutting without firm backing or loose material like free-handing card board or rope. Serrations are similar in use that they grab and gather material at a point to cut, drawing material into the cutting surface. I view hawkbills like a single, large serration. I haven't tried a serrated hawkbill but the spyderco tasman salt SE is on my want list.

There are a few folding karambit designs that are very similar to hawkbills. The biggest difference is the degree of curve of the bill and he length of the flat between the curve and handle, karambits usually not having as much flat length and a higher degree of curve but they can cut rope well. The karambits are much less useful for EDC tasks, IMO but some folks like them for self-defense/fighting or to practice various martial arts.

The AG Russell mentioned above could be a nice option for you.

There aren't a lot of longer hawkbills out there that I'm aware of that are larger the 4" or 3.5" in the folding variety as most are going to be in the 3.5"-2.5" blade range.
 
My favorite one-handed sheepsfoot blade is the David Boye dendritic cobalt folding boat knife in serrated sheepsfoot version. It isn't cheap, but it cuts very, very well, especially fibrous materials such as marine rope, etc., without the serrations hanging up (they are a gentle, wavy pattern). And to keep it on the multi-tool topic, it also sports a titanium marlin spike, which comes in as handy as the blade itself, for undoing overly-tight knots, light prying, and opening cardboard cereal boxes w/out damaging the box flap, etc. The entire knife is corrosion-proof, much like a Spyderco Salt knife.

Jim
 
I’d love a non-serrated version, or one of his fixed blades. They come in at 4”, but he also has shorter models that would be very pocketable, 2” or so blades
Thanks, Neal
 
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