Question??

Grego

Grego

Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
402
I am interested in purchasing the Buck Night Hawk (650 OD) does anyone have any experiences with this model? (good/bad)

I have never owned a knife made from 420HC...but I know its not a typical blade steel, does Bucks heat treatment make the 420HC a very good performing steel?

What the edge holding ability and overall toughness like?

Thanks for any opinions you can offer on this paticular model.

The intended use of the knife would be exactly what it was designed for.
 
i had one once. very good knife, held a great edge. it was a decent knife for camp chores though it wasnt really great at anything in particular. it is a little small and short to be a great chopper, and a little to big to be a great skinner. the steel is sorta brittle so dont do any prying with it or you will break the tip off or worse break the blade. a little while back someone had a link to a video on you tube where a guy did a destruction test on a nighthawk and several other knives. the nighthawk's blade broke into after it was flexed to about 10 or 15 degree or something like that. for comparison, a ka bar marine corp combat knife was flexed to somewhere around 25 or 30 degree and never did break. the nighthawks are a good knife but in my opinion there are much better and much stronger knives available for the same money.,,,VWB.
 
I have a 655 which is the short serrated version of the Nighthawk. In my opinion it's a great knife. The handle fits my hand perfectly and the blade is really stout. The blade is a little thick for fine tasks like peeling, slicing, etc but it works great for heavy cutting chores.

In the same youtube video the VeeDuB mentions, the guy pounds the thing through cinder blocks and steel conduit so it's plenty tough enough for camp use.

Do a search here for 'Nighthawk' to find some other recent threads about the 650 and 655.
 
I also have a 655 and I fully agree with you, Messersmith. Having a thick blade doesn't make it easier to bend in the bend test that vwb563 mentioned. The handle is very comfortable in your hand and the balance is good, also. The only thing is where the sheath holds the handle. Not many knives are held at the end of the handle.
 
If i gave you my opinion, I wouldnt suggest to buy the nighthawk. It's a very good knife, Don't get me wrong. But the quality to price ratio just dosnt seem worth it, Not with all buck knives, But i wouldnt suggest to buy it.
 
It is a great knife for the price. The handle feals awesome in your hand. It gets very sharp and holds a good edge if you reprofile it. The only downside is no lanyard hole in the handle.

I love em I own 8 of them. Here are my non users.

100_1318.jpg
 
Blade child, I just found a 655 and 650 for $45:thumbup: each on the blade shop, if you can find a knife for that price that can open a Volvo without keys,:D i would be impressed.
 
They are not brittle. They are tough. It takes way too much force to break one to actually worry about it. The blades are thick and hard, so bending over 15 degrees should not be a criteria for evaluation. Any stainless blade with a sharp (fine) tip for penetration is going to be subject to breakage when used for prying. If that's the performance issue, let it break it off and reprofile the tip to make it blunt for prying and gouging. It's a compromise in any blade. Regards, ss.
 
edbeau said:
I also have a 655 and I fully agree with you, Messersmith. Having a thick blade doesn't make it easier to bend in the bend test that vwb563 mentioned. The handle is very comfortable in your hand and the balance is good, also. The only thing is where the sheath holds the handle. Not many knives are held at the end of the handle.
Click to expand...


I would take a 650 into the field for all around use over a 119.
Having said that, however, my favorite FB is a 105. For EDC around the 'hood I have a Kalinga FB though.

Focus Goose!!!! I think the 650 is a lot of Buck for the buck.

Great collection ashtxsniper. Thanks for the pic.

BTW, I too don't care for the stock 650 sheath.

103969106-M.jpg
 
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