In my opinion the only things one can determine about a person from watching them in a television show are: whether or not they are entertained by them, and how they feel about the character being portrayed. Hollywood changes everything it gets its hands on to suit its own needs, and present the image they want to present. I believe it was Susan Lucci, but it may have been another day time drama star, who was struck in the face with a frozen pie at a supermarket back in the 70s. She sustained a broken nose and had to have plastic surgery, all because of something her character had done to another character on the show. Seems that some have trouble separating the illusions from the realities. I don't do TV, I've only watched a few partial episodes of Man Woman Wild here and there on line when I hear certain knives are featured, and then I only look for the knives, how they are used, and how they perform...skipping through everything else. So I really don't have much to add there. I did however get to do phone interviews with Myke a few times for the piece I did on the Hawke's Hellion. He seems like a super nice guy, and he was fun to talk to. One of the statements that sticks in my head the most was about the design of the Hellion. His words were (paraphrasing) I really don't care if you call it the ugliest damned knife you have ever seen in your life, the question is does it work as a survival tool. The short answer was yes, and in a true survival situation in a wilderness environment I can think of a great many knives I would choose the Hellion over...with all Moras being at or at least very near the top of that list. I don't have any real input on the new stuff since I haven't handled any of it yet, and I have no idea who is producing it. As usual with most knife lines though, some designs I could work with, and some have no appeal to me. I'm not crazy about the idea of the fold out guards, but with him being a medic I understand his concerns about injuries in the field in the middle of nowhere, and in this sue happy country we call home he can at least say a guard was available if someone cuts their self and then tries to sue over it. From the perspective it was apparently designed, in the hands of someone with a good working knowledge of the human anatomy, that little carry knife (with three sharp edges and the tanto secondary tip) could do a lot. I don't know who is making them, but if the quality is there, that Peregrine (his little general purpose fixed blade) looks like something I could work with. I like that it has a more pointy tip than the Hellion, and AUS-8 isn't the worst stainless on the market. I guess I'll be checking it out next time I'm in Sevierville.
Well..... I think we all know that straight edges are easier to sharpen than curved ones. So in a survival situation, that type of knife should be easier to sharpen on a flat stone. The knives at SMKW look horrendous, but I know that was his theory about the Hellion. And our very own Mistwalker seemed to think that the Hellion wasn't that bad of a knife.
I wouldn't buy any of them though. Even the Hellion.
In my experiences, while straight edges do sort of suck at skinning large game...making it take longer if you wish to keep and use the hide, they are much easier to maintain with small flat stones, organic stones, and under stress, and work pretty well in most other uses. A straight edged Wharncliffe blade is a lot easier to maintain than a skinner with lots of belly, it's simple physics. The only problem I had with the Hellion was a personal one in that it doesn't have as sharp a point as I myself prefer, but the utility pouch on the front of the sheath offers a quick solution by being large enough to carry a smaller, pointier companion knife. The Hellion is a big sharp piece of 5160 spring steel, with multiple edges, and a working saw, made by a company I have come to trust to make tough knives. Would be be my first choice for a survival knife in deep bush? No, but it's a lot closer to being the first choice than it is to being the last one.
