Hardcore Hardware Australia? Anyone owned one?

materials from europe and USA, cutting and grinding or machining is not specified, but that might be due to the wording of the post, not an exact quote from the company. If the major work was being done in Europe or the US, I can't see where they would save money over doing it in Australia.
 
Concat said:
Cutting and materials = Europe and USA
Heat treat and finish = Australia

They plan to move all operations to Aussie some time soon.

That's the TLDR of post #15.
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#15 is what Werewolf Tactical said (the guy who sells the stuff)

HHA said in past #17

I can tell you that all HHA tools are designed and developed 100% in Australia. We use only the very finest of materials in the production of our designs. As part of a number of production processes, premium quality D2 tool steel (BOHLER K110/AISI D2), is sourced from the very best merchants in Europe and/or the US. We have our steel CNC cut and surface ground off-shore with finishing in Australia using Australian content/labour.

Off-shore content/components are sourced from first world industrial Nations. HHA only uses milspec fittings & materials in the fabrication of its carry systems and tool handles, for example our kydex, G10 and tactical nylon including para-cord and Cordura are made in the USA.

The manufacture of our product is complicated as it comprises both local and imported materials, those that state or imply that our products are made in say Country 'A' or Country 'B' make a false statement and should consider this. In our opinion the manufacture of any product is only one piece of the puzzle in creating and developing a successful brand and superior product line backed up by impeccable service.
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Where the "off-shore" for the cutting and grinding is, was left unsaid. Since they don't out and out say, I'd assume China, or a bit farther down the "chain."
 
First world nations are pretty much exclusively from NA, Europe and Australia. It's an antiquated term.

Regardless, if they do use China or Taiwan or the like, then they are misrepresenting themselves in that post. Just my 2 cents.
 
Concat said:
First world nations are pretty much exclusively from NA, Europe and Australia. It's an antiquated term.

Regardless, if they do use China or Taiwan or the like, then they are misrepresenting themselves in that post. Just my 2 cents.
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Precisely. Some might say "antiquated"....some might say they are just handwaving to avoid saying where there stuff is cut and ground.

"First world industrial nations" :rolleyes: If your stuff is made in a first world industrial nation, you are gonna say what nation.
 
What concerns me, is that the knife community (who don't object to China-made for sociopolitical reasons) has come to accept the quality of work that can come out of China.

So saying "China" ain't a bad thing anymore. Which makes me wonder if they are not talking about China. Hey, they opened that door.
 
THIS is the kind of chat I wanted to see. It really gives you a stuff to think about. Marcinek I work for them as I said. My role is strictly in product review to better give our customers an idea of what suits their needs as well as teaching courses that they set up for me with local M/P.
 
Yes I make custom pieces as well. Case by case basis. As many of you know it is time consuming to make a good custom blade and as I have stated I keep pretty busy. Plus to be honest I am not practiced enough to make them quickly. Just something I enjoy doing.
 
A lot of hate on anything to do with the Asian markets. I guess I felt that way about plenty of production knives. A few ka bars I picked up for some marines recently changed my mind... sort of. Still take a beating, pommel is not as good. But a descent blade?
 
Werewolf tactical is not the seller marcinek. That is me (my profile) asking questions at another knife forum copy/paste fail. The answer came from antonio_luiz. As you can see at the top.
 
WereWolf185 said:
Yes I make custom pieces as well. Case by case basis. As many of you know it is time consuming to make a good custom blade and as I have stated I keep pretty busy. Plus to be honest I am not practiced enough to make them quickly. Just something I enjoy doing.
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Ah. I was confused by when you said you were a first time maker.

WereWolf185 said:
So I've been reading the forums for quite some time and finally decided to join. I've loved steel since my first swiss army pocket knife my dad gave me when I turned twelve. Now twelve years later I am ready to get into actual blade making. I know there is a lot to it but being in Indiana can not find anyone who knows enough and is willing to teach.

I guess my question is what do you guys recommend for a first time knife maker? What steps should I take to learn the craft and find my own style etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance gentlemen.
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WereWolf185 said:
Werewolf tactical is not the seller marcinek. That is me (my profile) asking questions at another knife forum copy/paste fail. The answer came from antonio_luiz. As you can see at the top.
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:confused: Do you sell as "werewolf tactical"? Do you work for WereWolf Tactical? Your story keeps changing. Over at the "other place" you said "I operate Werewolf-Tactical." And here you said you "Have been selling various gear and customs made knives as well as higher end production knives on a private basis ..."

The whole story here seems awfully murky. Certainly adding to the confusion is the eBay seller Werewolf Tactical...which you said is not you. But is in the same business as you or the company you work for. Certainly hope they don't start selling Hardcore HArdwear! That would be even more confusing, right? :)
 
As part of a number of production processes, premium quality D2 tool steel (BOHLER K110/AISI D2), is sourced from the very best merchants in Europe and/or the US. We have our steel CNC cut and surface ground off-shore with finishing in Australia using Australian content/labour.

Off-shore content/components are sourced from first world industrial Nations. HHA only uses milspec fittings & materials in the fabrication of its carry systems and tool handles, for example our kydex, G10 and tactical nylon including para-cord and Cordura are made in the USA.
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Taking this at face value, I see nothing about it that suggests any materials are purchased in China. If you are buying the steel overseas - from the Australian perspective, it's ALL off shore - then it would seem possible that you are getting it from the production facility that actually grinds it.

As for what they look like, that BFK resembles an Extrema Ratio in the blade profile, and they do make knives as a European source. It would also explain the costs - stuff like that ain't cheap, once they bring it back onshore for local Aussie production, they will definitely save the transportation charges. Even Liberian freighters aren't cheap anymore.

D2 is the basic power woodworkers blade material, and that has been commonly used on knives for a long time. It's semi stainless, holds an edge for a long time. It doesn't finish well, and it difficult to get a great edge on it. Sounds like upscale tomahawk or tac knife material. I don't disagree it might be more than needed. Upscale alloys cost more money to shape and fabricate, you pick them because they have high abrasion resistance, expect double or triple the cost to grind or finish them.

As a gift to a deploying soldier, ask first. Some unit commanders won't tolerate them, other's don't care, and whatever, it still has to get out of country thru Customs inspections overseas - and back. He needs a heads up if it's a gift, he may not even need it 'cause he already has it secreted for use there. Lots of soldiers do that - it's all spit and polish issue walking up the ramps to board, once incountry, dang, where did all the mall ninja stuff come from?

Since it is frequently found to be dead weight, they wind up in the bottom of duffel, too. The Stryker Brigades and others issue hawks, but others returning have said 15 months incountry and they never saw one other than junk at a bazaar - which was later confiscated by Customs inspecting his duffels.

Rather than offer something the soldier may not really want or need, trust his judgement. Plenty of stuff like this gets shipped back home after a month or so incountry.

As for someone here using it - apparently few Aussie troopers frequent the forum. It's not being imported in any major quantity, and (treading gently) the tactical use of a hawk here would be an unknown. BTW, this isn't in the Axe and hawk subforum? Seems more experienced review would be warranted there, not in General.

Not a bad product as much as an expensive unknown. Since most deploying aren't combat and have no need, odds are it will just be Fobbit wear.
 
Tripod you were 100% correct! At the ranch we review at he was with us not knowing my intentions. After some of the stuff was done he was more interested in my MFK03 knife I got from them. He even said a lot of what you did. Joe was Marines Sniper, he did more that warranted the weight. Aaron just needs a good knife to take a beating. Ended up giving him that. Saved me $$ and he loves it. Now I need another one for me...:( Oh well!
 
Hey Marcineck, I really do not know who werewolf tactical on ebay is. I do not sell as them in any way shape or form. My username on here is werewolf185 because that is the weight I compete at in martial arts. At knife forums for some reason it would not let me use it so I went with "tactical" because the company I work for has that in their name. ***** **** Tactical ******** the third word to be exact. I have never used ebay, as I have said, if they do start selling HHA I will crap bricks! :cool:

Yes I joined the forums to get knowledge on knife making several months back to get an idea of where to start. Needless to say I got more information than I could handle. Since then I got some schooling from a local blade maker. It is NOT as easy as people think. This is an art form. Under appreciated by all except those who know.

A linear time line to help those who are confused: My name is Enrique, I will change my username shortly to keep from future confusion. I teach martial arts out of Indianapolis, IN for five years now, I have 13 years of martial arts experience and teach knife/combatives and MMA to local military and police. A few months ago I got the itch to try and learn to make these sharp tools/weapons I have long appreciated. I was aware product placement/ promotion on the forum is not allowed and considered spam by all and only distributors seem to have call to do that sort of thing anyway.

A few years ago when doing a raffle for Wounded Warrior through our school several of my friends and I got the idea to make it a regular thing and start programs in our community to help our nations soldiers through various programs to help them after they are separated from military service. We started a company to continue this. (still not to be named, do not want anyone thinking I am promoing it without giong through the right channels and it is not my job anyway). After a couple months we had a lot of the m/p we teach ask for good stuff and they liked one of our guys cool stuff he had from RMJ. We carried a few pieces and eventually the survival course we ran liked my 2hawks warbeast so we undertook some of those as well.

This cycle repeated itself several times until our little project got too big and we expanded it recently. One of our group has a forge and everything so he started making knives and got me interested. I got on the forums since I had often visited them and started researching blade making. Recently HHA became a product of interest in the exact same way all of our stuff does. One of the guys brought it up, I tested it, shablam. The rest is history. Some research on the internet on a company I knew NOTHING about was the door to where we are now.

We provide: product review and instruction to m/p (my role) charity promotion and fund raisers (joe and mat) product sales (james) and forging custom pieces (don). So there ya go. A nice little time line of has brought us here! I hope we can all grow from this. I will post reviews where appropiate. Wait there is a hawks forum!?!?! I know where I am going next...

Cheers
 
WereWolf185 said:
Hey Marcineck, I really do not know who werewolf tactical on ebay is. I do not sell as them in any way shape or form. My username on here is werewolf185 because that is the weight I compete at in martial arts. At knife forums for some reason it would not let me use it so I went with "tactical" because the company I work for has that in their name. ***** **** Tactical ******** the third word to be exact. I have never used ebay, as I have said, if they do start selling HHA I will crap bricks! :cool:
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Certainly the existence of werewolf tactical on the auction site had confused me, before you told me that was not you quite a while back in this thread.

One more question, and I'll stop. So what is this Werewolf-Tactical you say you operate? Is it your "side" gear-selling business (not on the auction site!)? [not the company you work for (work for, not operate), where you teach martial arts and review and review/recommend gear for them to sell]
 
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That is just what I call myself and the name on my tshirts when I teach at local police departments. Just thought it made me sound cool ;) Although I will be changing all of that shortly. Having three different names for three different things I am involved in was just confusing for people. Lost the vote for the name 2-3 out of the five of us haha. And it is not a problem bud, I would rather people ask if they have a question! Cheers.

-Werewolf
 
My Kestrel Feather arrived. It's incredibly light! Compared to the LFT01 it carries much more comfortably under-the-arm. Since the sheath is designed for that carry method, it's also a lot more balanced.

I'd have preferred if the blade drew before the spike, the way it does on the HH, but the RMJ just feels so much better that it makes it a non-issue.

The spike is actually sharpened, too. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I'm sure the opportunity will be forthcoming. The weekend approaches, after all.

The plastic buckle on the RMJ is quieter than the snap on the HH, but harder to close one-handed.

I'll post more impressions soon.
 
I have a BFK and MFK Gen 1. They are the best knives I've ever handled. I don't collect, and I admire knife artisans but I don't have a use for safe queens. I have seen some great applied hand crafted knives, but I plan to use them as tools and these hha knives are outstanding. I worked with several Australian sniper platoons and SAS during my military years, and I was told about HHA. I didn't aquire one until I left the military, and it hands down defeats anything I used, abused, and destroyed in the military. I used a Navy MK3 for my escapades in Central Asia, and it held up well. But my work in the Pacific was too humid, and I used titanium. I wish I had one of these hha knives. The steel is German D2 and it's mirror honed with great longevity. I haven't had to sharpen either knife yet. My main concern is actually is I can sharpen it in the field because it doesn't come with a stone. Only negative I can think of. They are built like tanks and I'm not easy on my tools. I'm not out there trying to hack through cinder blocks, but I have no doubt they could do it. Oh and the quality is amazing, you have to handle one to appreciate it. Very high quality milspec fittings and the scabbard is like Tactical Assault Gear TAG quality. The gen 1 are made for big hands, and they don't sell them anymore. I bought a new in box green bfk gen 1 as a backup for the MFK.
 
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These quality assets are then shipped to one of our numerous, hand-picked and certified first world, off-shore production facilities where they are expertly CNC cut, surface ground and machined to our set tolerances by skilled engineers, using state of the art equipment.

Dependent on the model, the semi-finished components are then returned to Australia for any final processes, finishing and assembly. Each and every tool is then quality controlled, packed and ultimately dispatched from our headquarters. All Hardcore Hardware Australia packaging materials are 100% designed and manufactured in Australia using locally sourced recycled cardboard and environmentally friendly inks.
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Sounds like the knives are probably made in China or Taiwan and then shipped to Australia for packaging.

I looked at the knives and not a fan of most of their styles. The three large fixed blades have square transitions from the blade to the handle and that is a stress riser failure waiting to happen if the HT is not on the money. Especially with D2.
 
WereWolf185 said:
Tripod you were 100% correct! At the ranch we review at he was with us not knowing my intentions. After some of the stuff was done he was more interested in my MFK03 knife I got from them. He even said a lot of what you did. Joe was Marines Sniper, he did more that warranted the weight. Aaron just needs a good knife to take a beating. Ended up giving him that. Saved me $$ and he loves it. Now I need another one for me...:( Oh well!
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Necro thread bump, did you ever do a review?
 
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