Review Request : Mike Franklin HAWG

J

Joe Liguori

Joined
Oct 7, 1998
Messages
53
Has any one had experience with the production version of Mike Franklyin's HAWG.
They are distributed by Joy Enterprises and I believe they are made by Fury. I don't know where they are made and I'm not sure what the steel is. I know it's 440 but I don't know if it's 440A or 440C. I like the looks of the rainbow Ti with CF scales. I don't want to pay $65-75 for a POS.
 
I found a really good price on one and bought the knife "just for the heck of it." I can't answer all your questions, partly because I don't know your intended use for it, but here are a few of my thoughts. The sandblasted handle slabs have a really pretty layered look and feel great. Mine has the purple anodized aluminum frame, which is attractive (in an unusual sort of way) and gets a lot of positive feedback from women at my martial arts academy. However, it's definitely not a macho looking color!

The blade shape is so unique and aggressive, it's almost worth having just for that. It comes with a very sharp factory edge. I don't doubt that you could do some damage with it.

On the negative side, the knife feels very lightly built and doesn't look like it will take any heavy use (but that's not why I picked it up). The lock is OK, but I have a lot of linerlocks that feel more positive. I haven't cut enough to tell you whether it holds an edge respectably.

If I were serious about a Franklin knife, I'd save for one of the customs. However, if you can get a production model very cheaply, it makes an attractive conversation piece and I've enjoyed it for that reason.

DPD.
 
Originally posted by DPD

On the negative side, the knife feels very lightly built and doesn't look like it will take any heavy use (but that's not why I picked it up).
Click to expand...

I have seen this knife too and noticed that it is lightly built. Then I found out the liners are made of <i>aluminum</i>. That's the reason why it feels the way it does. I wonder how long will it take to induce up and down blade play in this?
 
I have seen them. The liners are indeed anodised aluminum. Although they are "eye catching" they are....how shall I say it?.....Junk! They are merely knives to show off, not to be used. The packaging is also cheap (typical of all Fury brand knives). No literature or warranty info in the box. That way there's no one to contact when the cheap aluminum liner lock fails and you really do some damage on yourself:eek:
 
I took the knife out last night and looked at it again. Two things to add: (1) They use what look to be delrin washers in the action, so it is very smooth, and (2) the liner lock makes full contact with the tail end of the blade (fully overlaps). As I noted above, the frame is aluminum and the knife is lightly built. It is not suitable for a daily user (the blade shape alone dictates that), but if you had to defend yourself with it, it appears capable of inflicting some damage on the bad guy. I think you would have to use it a lot before the aluminum lock put you at risk of hurting yourself. Nonetheless, I think I'll stand by my original advice to save for an original if you want it for anything other than a conversation piece/novelty.

DPD.
 
I don't think any linerlock is really suitable as a self-defense knife, though of course you could argue positively for some of the CRKT blades equipped with LAWKS safeties.
 
i looked at some of the production pieces by fury and distributed by joy enterprises at the show this past weekend....the dealer who had them was actually embarrassed i asked to examine one and said he couldn't wait to unload them....i was completely underwhelmed not only by the poor quality of the materials from which it was constructed by by the shoddy workmanship and feel you could do better saving your money to buy a pos chinese manufactured pot metal bladed 3.50 per dozen spyderco ripoff than to waste your hard earned money on this product...i cant believe franklin lets his name be associated with such a garbage product....just my harsh .02 cents worth....feverdoc
 
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