I recently purchased two Kershaw 1436 G-10 Hawks from a seller on E-bay. I have found this knife to be of exceptionally high quality for the money. I paid $56 for two of them and feel this to be a great deal.
For those of you who do not know what it is, I will describe it as best as I can. It's a 3 1/4" clip point blade with a G-10 handle scales and an uncoated, plain edged, ATS-34 steel blade. The lock is liner lock, and the blade is flat ground. It 4 1/2 closed. It is very lightweight. it weighs about the same as my Calypso Jr. but has about 1/2 longer blade. It is tip down carry. The G-10 has a nice grippy texture without being rough on the hands. The scales are held in place by screws and not rivets. There is a single knurled thumb stud set up for right handers. The pocket clip is steel and is coated in some type of gray finish. I dont know what the finish is but it seems tough. I havent used it enough to show any wear yet. The blade is thicker than you would expect on such a sleek and light knife. It is about 3mms judging from my Calypso Jr. It is about the same thickness as the CJ at the thickest part.
Both of the knives I got were nice right out of the box with the blade centered in the closed position. One of them has a little front to back blade play while the other is solid. The edges were sharp but I have seen sharper. They will shave hair but it pulls the hairs a little. The edges were ground slightly different on my two knives from each other. There are slight variations in the edge grind that I cant tell are flaws or just the way it has to be ground to follow the blade profile. It is nothing I would have noticed if I wasnt looking closely just to get all the info for the review. Dont get me wrong, these knives are of super high quality and I am only nit picking in order to provide some idea of the length I had to go to find flaws. As far as overall quality goes, I would not compare it to anything in the $30 range. It was designed to sell for $60-80 so this is no surprise. It compares with Sypderco knives in the $60-100 range. Overall quality is better than
As can be expected, they are awesome slicers and cutters. The blade design is perfect for all around use. I can see this knife being a handy EDC for many people who dont require a self defense knife or a pry bar. This would make a great kitchen knife or food prep knife because of the shape. The handle is very comfortable and the pocket clip doesnt bother me at all. It fits right into the palm and doesnt poke or dig in.
The only things I would change to make this a perfect EDC for me would be to make it a tip down carry and make the point more of a drop point. These are my preferences only and many people would disagree with me I am sure. I liked the two I got so much that I decided to buy two more. I am considering getting a few more as gifts. This is a $30 gift that would really impress.
The knives I got were not marked ATS-34 but I have an explanation. Jeff Goddard Director of Sales & Marketing at Kershaw Knives wrote this response to this question. Here is Jeffs response:
They were all ATS-34. Some were made in Japan for another market and maybe they did not mark the blades. Some we had at warehouse were from Japan. The blades should be marked with country of origin. Most made here in the US
This makes sense as my knives were made in Japan and marked KAI as well as Kershaw.
This model has been discontinued and will shortly be hard to come by. If you want one, I suggest you pick one up before the word gets out and they are all gone. It is a shame because this is the best design I have seen from Kershaw yet.
Here is a link with a pic.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349888&highlight=kershaw+hawk
I am not selling these. I didn't know they even existed until "topher" replied to my thread. I just thought I would share a deal I found with a few people that might like it. I still think it is one of the best deals to come down the pike in a while.
For those of you who do not know what it is, I will describe it as best as I can. It's a 3 1/4" clip point blade with a G-10 handle scales and an uncoated, plain edged, ATS-34 steel blade. The lock is liner lock, and the blade is flat ground. It 4 1/2 closed. It is very lightweight. it weighs about the same as my Calypso Jr. but has about 1/2 longer blade. It is tip down carry. The G-10 has a nice grippy texture without being rough on the hands. The scales are held in place by screws and not rivets. There is a single knurled thumb stud set up for right handers. The pocket clip is steel and is coated in some type of gray finish. I dont know what the finish is but it seems tough. I havent used it enough to show any wear yet. The blade is thicker than you would expect on such a sleek and light knife. It is about 3mms judging from my Calypso Jr. It is about the same thickness as the CJ at the thickest part.
Both of the knives I got were nice right out of the box with the blade centered in the closed position. One of them has a little front to back blade play while the other is solid. The edges were sharp but I have seen sharper. They will shave hair but it pulls the hairs a little. The edges were ground slightly different on my two knives from each other. There are slight variations in the edge grind that I cant tell are flaws or just the way it has to be ground to follow the blade profile. It is nothing I would have noticed if I wasnt looking closely just to get all the info for the review. Dont get me wrong, these knives are of super high quality and I am only nit picking in order to provide some idea of the length I had to go to find flaws. As far as overall quality goes, I would not compare it to anything in the $30 range. It was designed to sell for $60-80 so this is no surprise. It compares with Sypderco knives in the $60-100 range. Overall quality is better than
As can be expected, they are awesome slicers and cutters. The blade design is perfect for all around use. I can see this knife being a handy EDC for many people who dont require a self defense knife or a pry bar. This would make a great kitchen knife or food prep knife because of the shape. The handle is very comfortable and the pocket clip doesnt bother me at all. It fits right into the palm and doesnt poke or dig in.
The only things I would change to make this a perfect EDC for me would be to make it a tip down carry and make the point more of a drop point. These are my preferences only and many people would disagree with me I am sure. I liked the two I got so much that I decided to buy two more. I am considering getting a few more as gifts. This is a $30 gift that would really impress.
The knives I got were not marked ATS-34 but I have an explanation. Jeff Goddard Director of Sales & Marketing at Kershaw Knives wrote this response to this question. Here is Jeffs response:
They were all ATS-34. Some were made in Japan for another market and maybe they did not mark the blades. Some we had at warehouse were from Japan. The blades should be marked with country of origin. Most made here in the US
This makes sense as my knives were made in Japan and marked KAI as well as Kershaw.
This model has been discontinued and will shortly be hard to come by. If you want one, I suggest you pick one up before the word gets out and they are all gone. It is a shame because this is the best design I have seen from Kershaw yet.
Here is a link with a pic.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349888&highlight=kershaw+hawk
I am not selling these. I didn't know they even existed until "topher" replied to my thread. I just thought I would share a deal I found with a few people that might like it. I still think it is one of the best deals to come down the pike in a while.
