Kyle Hanson Tactical Maybe?

Don Hanson III

Don Hanson III

Joined
Oct 3, 2002
Messages
12,297
Kyle's latest, with his new stamp. Not a DH3 collab! :)

Lot of talk of new blood & tacticals. How's this?









 
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Another fine knife from Kyle....congrats on his own stamp. :)
 
Beauty ! One of my favorite shapes and love the tapered tang.
Tactical or Do All ?
Dozier
 
I agree thats a great piece to just shove in your pocket and use it for whatever comes along. Looks like you have self defense covered. :thumbup:

Bill
 
I like the tapered tang but not with carbon steel....I don't ever like exposed carbon tangs....they rust and patina.

The hamon is too high....you can get away with it, but Kyle should make them narrower....it is the "right" way, and he can learn it now, and not make the egregious errors that you and other makers of this generation make.

Needs a black sheath to be tactical.....also maybe a sharpened swedge.

It's a nice knife, and I'm not slamming it at all....but he has opportunities to make it great and make it right....right now.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Steven, that made me smile. You are right on a couple points, wrong on others. It does need a black sheath...:)

Thanks guys!
 
Great seeing Kyle having his own piece/mark. He is growing at a nice pace and producing a super knife. I would bet that is W2, and not sure how you can go wrong taking that one out on a hike.

I'll leave the tactical part to the experts. I just like knives. :)

- Joe
 
I like it very much. I agree with Steven about the Hamon. I know lots of makers do it that way but I would think its just the area near the edge that needs to be hard so what he said makes sense. It wouldnt hinder me from buying it, as I even had to check my bank account when I saw this posted.

Tactical? Needs timascus and weird multi bevel grinds that do nothing for cutting performance.
 
Kohai999 said:
The hamon is too high....you can get away with it, but Kyle should make them narrower....it is the "right" way, and he can learn it now, and not make the egregious errors that you and other makers of this generation make.


Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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Why? I understand someone's preference or tradition, but it being "wrong"?
I am honestly curious?
 
BenR.T. said:
Why? I understand someone's preference or tradition, but it being "wrong"?
I am honestly curious?
Click to expand...

Sure it's aesthetic, but that high a hamon is almost through hardened, and it doesn't look right...I mean...why bother? It is exactly like doing a stainless/carbon laminated blade, but exposing over 3/8" of carbon? Why bother? There is no tangible benefit.

It's a small knife.....if you want to demonstrate mastery over a heat treat, use some restraint and balance....this trend of half or over half-hardened blades is new and uniquely Western....go back to the masters of the Japanese style of hamon, learn what and why they did, emulate and if it still doesn't work for you....at least you tried.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I will say Kyle has entered the tactical market spec'tac'ularly. :D :thumbup:
Nice looking piece.
 
I like a rougher/coarser finish on a synthetic handle personally. When they're too polished up they can be slippery.
Kyle, I'm diggin that little knife you made that your ole man just set me up with. It's got personality :)
 
The lack of a guard concerns me a little. The hamon issue to me seems to be about personal preference, to me it looks high but again that's a personal choice. After the edge is hard, it's just about decoration after that, is it not? (not if it was going to be subjected to a bend test, I guess) Kyle is exhibiting skills that surpass that of an average knife maker, I'd say most of his hurdles are behind him. Good job Kyle
 
this trend of half or over half-hardened blades is new and uniquely Western....
Click to expand...

I don't know, Steven, there is after all a Japanese term for this "new phenomenon"... hitatsura. Although, for the most part I agree that if toughness is the most important factor, and clay quenching is deemed the best method (not so likely these days), then many hamons in the US today are a bit high.

But of course, we have incorporated and interpreted the hamon, along with many other blade elements from throughout world history, into a wide palette of possibilities for the American handmade knife. Many do use it primarily for visual appeal now.

I guess that's a long winded way of saying "it is what it is." Anyone is free not to like it.

As for the knife at hand, I think it's real slick and Kyle (big surprise) is well on his way to becoming a hamon Jedi.
 
The hamon on a knife this size knife is more a visual thing than anything else. Kyle actually said it was a bit higher than he wanted, but I told him to roll with it because I like it...

Carbon steel & full tangs, works for me! I don't care much for stainless steel. Kyle will do some hidden tangs soon. If Kyle wants to use SS at some point, he is sure free to do it.

This one is very thin, I though maybe too thin, but Kyle said "no it's not". He doesn't always listen to his old man. I will say, thin W2 at 61-62 Rc is a pleasure to use and sure makes a light weight package.

Think I'll go look for the black leather dye...

Steven, I really do appreciate your comments here and respect your opinions . Thanks buddy!
 
Kyle

I think this is an awesome EDC and would double as an excellent caper and SD blade

I think you are really on to a nice package
 
Spot on "The hamon on a knife this size knife is more a visual thing than anything else."

As a Missourian, I believe brown leather is tatical outside of St. Louis and KC :)

The pictures don't show "thin" and thin is great.

Is it light and thin enough for an "in pocket sheath"?

Good job.
 
I think it's a sweet knife.

I gotta disagree with STeven about the hamon. :foot: ;)

Moving the hamon up into a thicker cross section is hard to do, and looks really nice to my eye. I think creating hamons in western style knives has become its own thing, and comparing them to what is traditional in a Japanese blade is, quite simply, comparing apples to oranges.

If we are going to be technical about material properties, then a fully hardened (tempered martensite) structure is optimal even in very large blade, IMHO. But there are many of us that like the aesthetics of a differentially hardened blade enough that we chase after hamons/transitions anyway. In a blade this size, a hamon is 100% an aesthetic choice.


Now all that aside...! ;) If this blade were polished the way that I do most of mine, I almost guarantee it would show the ashi lines extend down closer toward the edge. That is NOT to criticize the etch/polish on Kyle's blade!!! (cuz I really like it! :)) Just to point out that some of the transitions are VERY likely to be closer to "traditional" than you might think.
 
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