- Joined
- Oct 2, 1998
- Messages
- 36,157
I recently learned of Chris Hatin from fellow forum member TomW. Chris is a full time police officer in upstate N.Y. who is a knifemaker when he is not out chasing bad guys.
Since I have a penchant for neck knives and I have been wanting to try a knife in D2, and Chris is a fellow LEO, I felt that all of the elements were present to convince me to try one of his knives.
I went first to Chris' temporary website:
http://www.geocities.com/chrishatin/hatintec.html
and took a look at his wares. Nice looking knives at reasonable prices. Of the four neck knives present, the one that grabbed me the most was the spear point. That, and the fact that I didn't have a spear point in my current arsenal.
I contacted Chris and we simultaneously sent out knife and check. Two days later the knife arrived. Wow, that was fast!
On first blush, I was struck by the similarity in design and appearance between the Hatin knife and a "Subway Bowie" made for me by Fred Perrin earlier this year. The main difference is that the Perrin is a clip point/Bowie style blade, slightly shorter, and made of polished carbon steel.
Both feature black/green G-10 scales(one of my personal favorites) and chisel grinds. The Hatin is matte finished via sandblasting.
The handle is well radiused with no edges digging in anywhere. It is obvious that Chris put some effort into this area.
The grind lines of the spear point blade are well turned out, and there is a small section filed into the spine for good purchase with ones thumb.
One of the first things one notices is the heft of this piece. It is full 1/8 inch D2 and solidly constructed. This knife is not going to fail when called upon. No spine whacking test needed.
The edge cleanly sliced paper and shaved my arm right out of the sheath. Still, it didn't seem to catch my fingerprint when I tested the edge, and I didn't know whether to attribute this as a characteristic of D2 or the grind or my fingertip that day.
Anyway, I broke out the hones and learned that even with DMT Diafolds in all four grits, it can take a while to reprofile D2. All I can say is stick with it, eventually you will raise a burr and with it, a wicked sharp edge. (Not that Chris' wasn't. I just wanted to experiment and learn a little.)
The knife comes in at six inches overall length, 2.75 inches of which are cutting edge.
The sheath is black concealex. What is different about it is that it is lined with a velour-like material that not only prevents scratching the blade (not much of a concern with a user like this one) but keeps the draw virtually silent.
Chris wears his under his arm sling-style, so he provides the sheath with a wide nylon lace long enough to wear the knife bandolier style if that is your choice.
I prefer to wear my neck knives center chest, so I removed the lace and equipped the sheath with a stainless ball chain. Perfect. Low profile, minimal print under a tee or polo shirt.
I have treated the blade with Marine Tuf-Cloth to see how it holds up oxidation-wise here in the sub tropics of South FL.
In short, I think Chris offers good value in a solid no-nonsense package. I plan on putting this baby through its paces.
Chris offers knives in a variety of styles, so if neck knives aren't your thing, there is probably something else on his site that may catch your fancy. Give it a look.
Blues
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Live Free or Die
Some Knife Pix
