Mohawk Hunter, An American Bushcraft Knife

[Mistwalker]

When I picked up the current (May 2011) issue of Tactical Knives a couple of weeks ago I read a piece Steve did called Iron Age Cutters. The subject matter is bushcraft and U.S. made bushcraft knives. Looking at the photos I realized I had somehow completely missed a TOPS knife that I really like the looks of. With it's 5 inch blade of 3/16 1095 steel, micarta handle scales, and a tang extension on which the end surface is flat and perpendicular to the line of the spine, and therefor the tip, it looked like a design that I would really like to carry on trips to the field.

The specs taken from the TOPS website

Blade Length:......5.0"
O/A Length:........10"
Cutting Edge:......4 3/4"
Thickness:.........3/16"
Blade Color:.......Black Traction Coating
Handle:............Black Linen Micarta®
Steel:.............1095 High Carbon Alloy RC-58
Sheath:............Kydex With a Rotating Steel Spring Clip
Weight:............9.1oz
Weight.............w/ Sheath: 12.0oz
Mfg................Handcrafted in the USA




The balance point is just to the rear of the first finger, or roughly on the first handle bolt.

The knife came with a nice edge.

end part 1 of 5

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[Mistwalker]

I've done a little whittling and notching with it and i like how it handles.

 

[Mistwalker]

I like the nice pointy tip a lot.

I put it to the test starting fire under very wet conditions about 10 minutes after getting it out of the mailbox. I went down to check out the damage after a series of severe storms had past.We had some high winds and torrential rains pass through the area and I was pretty sure I had heard at least one large tree falling close by. I learned later there were trees down on and in houses, across roads, and on power lines all over town. Some people were without power for over 60 hours. On the way back up the driveway I checked the mail, found the box and headed to the fir pit in the woods out behind the house. Everything I used for tinder and fuel were soaking wet after the storm that came after days of off and on rains.

I started by finding a piece of fatwood up on the side of the ridge.

and gathering a lot of dead twigs scattered over the area brought down by the storm.

 

[Mistwalker]

First I split the fatwood into smaller pieces. It was a nice rich piece.

Then I whittled a pile of shavings for tinder, put them on a couple of wet leaves in the saturated fire pit, sparked them to life with a fire steel, then added some of the smaller pieces and let them catch up.

 

[Mistwalker]

I broke some cardinal rules of fire starting by placing my tinder on wet leaves and using wet fuel off of the ground, as you can see by the steam, but fatwood saves a lot of work when you just want or need to get a fire going... and I had a lot of debris to clean up out of my yard so the little one could run and play without tripping over a LOT of limbs.

The knife was really no worse for the wear and abuse. I love how micarta is so durable and cleans up so easily just being washed in a pool of rain water.

I was right, I do really like this one a lot. It is a great size, it gives me the controllability I like along with the strength I prefer to have in my field knives. It handles well and so far my only problem with it is that I don't care for belt clips or high-riding knives when I am carrying a pack with a waist belt, so I'll likely make a webbing drop system for it.

 

[wildmike]

Looks like a nice one! Thanks for the review Mist.

 

[Chris Pierce]

I like it a lot. Looks like a really useful blade shape and handle too.

What did you pay for it?

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks Mike, liking this one a lot. Simple, straight forward design, very functional. Definitely a favorite.

 

[TheGame]

That is possibly the first TOPS knife that I have seen that I have wanted from first seeing it. There were others I thought I might like, but this is something I will have to get eventually. Not too thick at 3/16, and I love extended tangs. Would have never seen it had you not posted this. :thumbup:

 

[untamed]

Looks like you're on a roll there Mist! Nice one again! :thumbup:

 

[untamed]

If you could ever swing the Pasayten Lite Traveller, I'd bet it'll be an awesome review too! (wink, wink, nudge, nudge )

 

[stanley_white]

GREAT review!

I have been eying this model for awhile but you are the first person I have seen post a review.

Thanks!

-Stan

 

[1066vik]

that's a very practical looking knife - thanks for putting that on my radar!
(oh, yeah - nice review, too)

 

[Angus McGunnigl]

Great review. It really does seem like an "American Pukko" almost.
I appreciate the time you put into the review. Thank you.

 

[Mistwalker]

I like it a lot. Looks like a really useful blade shape and handle too.

What did you pay for it?

Thanks, I like it a lot too.

Not sure how to answer that without risking a deal spotting infraction. I'll send a PM in a few.

That is possibly the first TOPS knife that I have seen that I have wanted from first seeing it. There were others I thought I might like, but this is something I will have to get eventually. Not too thick at 3/16, and I love extended tangs. Would have never seen it had you not posted this. :thumbup:

I have felt that way about a few of them actually. I have become a little hung up on TOPS knives since I have really put a few of them through hell in teaching some extreme stuff. Their heat treat is just awesome. But I still can't believe I had missed this one in the last search of the site. I really couldn't afford this one...but just couldn't resist it. It is the closest production knife I have seen to a couple of drawings I've done of my own ideal knife (at current thinking, you know how that goes). Pricing having those made the best price I found was $250.00 with a three or four month wait so I set about making my own. When I saw this one I just couldn't pass it up.

Looks like you're on a roll there Mist! Nice one again! :thumbup:

If you could ever swing the Pasayten Lite Traveller, I'd bet it'll be an awesome review too! (wink, wink, nudge, nudge )

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it.

I have been told by a few that I should give it a try.

I have a couple of knives coming that were a bit pricey...one other custom and then one in S30V...so my budget is in rough shape at the moment. but I think I'll end up trying that Light Traveler at some point, maybe this summer.

GREAT review!

I have been eying this model for awhile but you are the first person I have seen post a review.

Thanks!

-Stan

Thanks Stan, glad you enjoyed the post. I couldn't believe I missed it. I thought it was a new model, I was really surprised to learn it had been out for five years now.

that's a very practical looking knife - thanks for putting that on my radar!
(oh, yeah - nice review, too)

Thanks, glad you liked the review. I love the knife, I'm glad Steve put it on my radar.

Great review. It really does seem like an "American Pukko" almost.
I appreciate the time you put into the review. Thank you.

Thanks, glad you liked it.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw it.

 

[knarfeng]

A very informative review with great pics, as always. Thanks for your efforts.

Nice blade.

 

[Mistwalker]

A very informative review with great pics, as always. Thanks for your efforts.

Nice blade.

Thanks Knarfeng, glad you enjoyed the post.

 

[s7brad]

alright buddy.... finally came across one of my faves! i've had the mohawk hunter for a few years now and absolutely love that thing. It was my primary for over a year and even helped me climb my way out of danger by using it as a hand/foot hold in a small ravine.

I have the lite traveller also, I think you would like it. I use it for light batoning but mostly food prep at home and camp

 

[Mistwalker]

Cool, I'm definitely loving the Mohawk Hunter myself. This one is going to get carried a lot, I wish I had noticed it sooner. I am studying how I am going to best be able to make the sheath work better for me with a pack with a waist strap. I bought some wide webbing and I am going to see what I can come up with for a drop sheath.

The more I see that light traveler the more i like it. Looks like it would be a great general purpose camp knife, and excel at food prep.

Thanks for adding the pics.

 

[s7brad]

My pics are no where close to yours buddy. those were taken with my blackberry. When I take the bigger pack I carried the mohawk crossdraw on the waistbelt. Usually around here its just a sling pack so knife carry isn't that much of an issue. Both models carry pretty close on the hip, at least with my love handles they do. lol