Spyderco Hawkbills: What You Use Them For?

[JD Spydo]

Scaring people.

OH I know you're just being funny but that does bring up something I find interesting. So many "non-knife" people who don't share our hobby or overall love of knives don't realize that "First & Foremost" a knife is a "tool". And many people would look at a Hawkbill blade and with limited knowledge they would perceive a Hawkbill blade ( Spyderco's or anyone else's) to be a martial arts type weapon or some type of tactical gear meant for nefarious purposes.

But truly even though to a limited degree you could make a case for all of that >> but bottom line the Hawkbill blade is a very pragmatic and handy tool to have for all kinds of jobs. There is such a wide range of cutting jobs that I use serrated Hawkbills for it would probably take me a half an hour to list most of them. I've said for a long time if Spyderco would market these great tools to the right target market I do think they would have a problem keeping them in stock.

 

[ferider]

but bottom line the Hawkbill blade is a very pragmatic and handy tool to have for all kinds of jobs.

Not all Hawkbills, JD. Mine came with a tag that says "This knife was NOT designed to be used as a utility knife. Its unique design will not support everyday use and our warranty will not cover the results of using it as a utility knife."

 

[brownshoe]

Not all Hawkbills, JD. Mine came with a tag that says "This knife was NOT designed to be used as a utility knife. Its unique design will not support everyday use and our warranty will not cover the results of using it as a utility knife."

The Civi is not a hawkbill knife, neither is the Matriarch.

 

[nephron]

The Civi is not a hawkbill knife, neither is the Matriarch.

What are they then? Maybe not the classic definition but close enough and will get the idea across better than anything else I have seen, but maybe I have missed their description.

 

[brownshoe]

What are they then? Maybe not the classic definition but close enough and will get the idea across better than anything else I have seen, but maybe I have missed their description.

Hawkbill, pruner, linoleum knife all have a single curve to the blade, in the general shape of a hawk's bill. It's an old shape.

.

I believe the Civilian blade shape was invented by Spyderco for undercover DEA agents as a personal self defense tool. It has more than one curve and is designed as a weapon agaist humans. Some might call it a recurve, but you could call it a Glesser blade after the founding family.

 

[nephron]

Hawkbill, pruner, linoleum knife all have a single curve to the blade, in the general shape of a hawk's bill. It's an old shape.

.

I believe the Civilian blade shape was invented by Spyderco for undercover DEA agents as a personal self defense tool. It has more than one curve and is designed as a weapon agaist humans. Some might call it a recurve, but you could call it a Glesser blade after the founding family.

Thanks for your insight but I will continue to call it a hawkbill, it is the best description available that everyone will recognize. Maybe you could start a worldwide forum to get the Glesser Blade into the lexicon though.

 

[brownshoe]

Thanks for your insight but I will continue to call it a hawkbill, it is the best description available that everyone will recognize. Maybe you could start a worldwide forum to get the Glesser Blade into the lexicon though.

Using the same names for things can be helpful. AGRussell has a series of pages on the names for blade shapes and other various parts of cutlery. So does Bernard Levine in his books. He has pages for names of blades and handles.

If you say hawkbill, nobody, especially a knife collector, will think of the Civilian blade shape with its fragile tip. Hawkbills are designed for every day use as a pruner or linoleum knife. The tips are strong enough to cut through wood. Therefore, they will be really confused if you then tell them your "hawkbill" Civilian came with a manufacturer's warning: "This knife was NOT designed to be used as a utility knife. Its unique design will not support everyday use and our warranty will not cover the results of using it as a utility knife."

 

[nephron]

Using the same names for things can be helpful. AGRussell has a series of pages on the names for blade shapes and other various parts of cutlery. So does Bernard Levine in his books. He has pages for names of blades and handles.

If you say hawkbill, nobody, especially a knife collector, will think of the Civilian blade shape with its fragile tip. Hawkbills are designed for every day use as a pruner or linoleum knife. The tips are strong enough to cut through wood. Therefore, they will be really confused if you then tell them your "hawkbill" Civilian came with a manufacturer's warning: "This knife was NOT designed to be used as a utility knife. Its unique design will not support everyday use and our warranty will not cover the results of using it as a utility knife."

Hawkbill is a description of a knifes shape not its usefulness.I guess I will have to keep the warning a secret then, probably a good idea anyway.

 

[JD Spydo]

Using the same names for things can be helpful. AGRussell has a series of pages on the names for blade shapes and other various parts of cutlery. So does Bernard Levine in his books. He has pages for names of blades and handles.

If you say hawkbill, nobody, especially a knife collector, will think of the Civilian blade shape with its fragile tip. Hawkbills are designed for every day use as a pruner or linoleum knife. The tips are strong enough to cut through wood. Therefore, they will be really confused if you then tell them your "hawkbill" Civilian came with a manufacturer's warning: "This knife was NOT designed to be used as a utility knife. Its unique design will not support everyday use and our warranty will not cover the results of using it as a utility knife."

The Civilian model isn't really a true, classic Hawkbill. It's described as a "Reverse S" model. Now I wouldn't argue that a "Reverse S" blade isn't a type or variant of the Hawkbill design>> but the Reverse S model was designed strictly for Self defense and Sal originally intended for Law Enforcement use only. Which is why they include a warning about the tips being easily broken in the Civilian and Matriarch models both. The Civilian and Matriarch both are really not intended for utility uses however I've used my VG-10 Matriarch for such uses with no problem.

However I've believed for some time now if they made a Matriarch with a thicker tip it would make a great utility folder IMO. I far prefer the Matriarch over the Civi and have for a long time.