Spyderco sets the standard for great Hawkbills

TiNi said:
Was this model a Pimp job for you or was it factory produced knife ?.

Much prefer G10 over a steel handle, just my preference :) .
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My personal Harpy that I EDC on a daily basis is a factory serrated edged, ATS-55 version with a G-10 handle. Yes I agree that the G-10 Harpy is by far the best one out there as far as gripping and the ability to do work around wet conditions. I've never for the life of me understood why the G-10 Harpy didn't go over like wildfire when it was in the line up. From what Mr. Glesser told me about the model 3 years ago it was an abysmal failure on the sales charts.

I had a Carbon Fiber version for a while and it was nice as far as weight goes. But it wasn't even as easy to handle as the G-10 version was. I have a feeling though that we will see another G-10 hawkbill on the horizon.
 
3rdMusketeer said:
JD, do you have some Specs on this new Superhawk?......and what do you think of the Byrd Crossbill Plain Edge? I got one of these just out of curiosity, it is very well made, smooth action....very good value imho.
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I don't have specs on the Superhawk. Although I have seen a prototype of one. It is between a Harpy and a Spyderhawk size-wise. The curvature of the blade is not quite as pronounced as it was on those 2 models but it is a very functional design none the less. You can go to TED's website by doing a Google search. I'm sure he has all of the stats on it. He's really good about getting every model on his site.

The P'Kal and Superhawk are indeed going to be a premium set of specialty Hawkbill type blades. If you like the Spyderhawk or Harpy I'm sure you will like the Superhawk.
 
Oh I had few misfires in the brain. The Emerson hawkbill is the Police SARK not the Persian. I get the mixed up, but the Emerson Persian was pre-Spyderco Persian and just like the SARK wipes away the spyderco knife.

The SARK is 154cm steel, Ti liners, wave, G10 handle, comes plain, serrated, polished and black. It does beat every spydie hawkbill (including carbon fiber harpy) hands down. If you're a hawkbill lover, the SARK is the best there is for a production knife and at $190 MSRP, it certainly competes with spyderco.
 
brownshoe said:
Oh I had few misfires in the brain. The Emerson hawkbill is the Police SARK not the Persian. I get the mixed up, but the Emerson Persian was pre-Spyderco Persian and just like the SARK wipes away the spyderco knife.

The SARK is 154cm steel, Ti liners, wave, G10 handle, comes plain, serrated, polished and black. It does beat every spydie hawkbill (including carbon fiber harpy) hands down. If you're a hawkbill lover, the SARK is the best there is for a production knife and at $190 MSRP, it certainly competes with spyderco.
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Sir, if you have such a problem with Spyderco, why do you keep coming in the Spyderco forum and trashing them? I would have to disagree with you in that Emerson's Persian "wipes away" the Spyderco Persian. They are very diffferent knives. Emerson's are nice, but they are fairly different creatures than Spydercos. The fit and finish on the Spyderco Persian is nicer than the Emerson. It's also better looking, IMO. I can't think of any aspect of the Emerson Persian that is demonstrably superior to the Spyderco. Is 154-CM much better than VG-10? (not really) Is G10 better than Micarta? (no) Is a liner lock better than a backlock? (not IMO). Is Emerson's clip better designed? (no) Is the blade geometry better? (no) Is it easier to sharpen? (no). Does having ti-liners make a knife that much better? (no). So what is it about the Emerson that makes it so much better, besides your personal opinion? Oh yes, and you mention that the Emerson is available in "polished", which is untrue. Emerson no longer makes uncoated blades. The "shiny" blades you see are silver (hard chrome?) coated.

Further, I would assert that the SARK is a modified wharncliffe, NOT a true hawkbill. The SARK knives do have a forward curve to them, but it is very slight. The Karambits or even the LaGriffe would be better examples of Emerson hawkbills.
 
brownshoe said:
Oh I had few misfires in the brain. The Emerson hawkbill is the Police SARK not the Persian. I get the mixed up, but the Emerson Persian was pre-Spyderco Persian and just like the SARK wipes away the spyderco knife.

The SARK is 154cm steel, Ti liners, wave, G10 handle, comes plain, serrated, polished and black. It does beat every spydie hawkbill (including carbon fiber harpy) hands down. If you're a hawkbill lover, the SARK is the best there is for a production knife and at $190 MSRP, it certainly competes with spyderco.
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Emerson uses liner locks. I won't use linerlock knives and I certainly wouldn't use this lock type for a "hard" use knife, regardless of advertising. I have had several liner lock failures on all types of knives, ranging from the low end to a $600 handmade knife. As regards "hawkbill", the SARK is a nice shape, but it is considerably different in geometry with a much less pronounce curve, so it performs differently, not better or worse, just different. As regards quality control, well, I haven't owned an Emerson factory knives in some years as I was not satisfied with the ones I owned.

The new Superhawk will have an S30V blade, carbon fiber scales and a compression lock. The blade will be just about the same length as the SARK, but more curved. I am a big fan of Spyderco quality as well. I think there is a lot to look forward to in the Superhawk.
 
brownshoe said:
Oh I had few misfires in the brain. The Emerson hawkbill is the Police SARK not the Persian. I get the mixed up, but the Emerson Persian was pre-Spyderco Persian and just like the SARK wipes away the spyderco knife.

The SARK is 154cm steel, Ti liners, wave, G10 handle, comes plain, serrated, polished and black. It does beat every spydie hawkbill (including carbon fiber harpy) hands down. If you're a hawkbill lover, the SARK is the best there is for a production knife and at $190 MSRP, it certainly competes with spyderco.
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Hello Brownshoe: I have seen the SARK on 2 occasions. I do indeed like the design. And I've always had respect for any blades that Ernest Emerson puts his name on. There is one other Non-Spyderco Hawkbill that I liked even a little better than that model. It's popularity was kind of shortlived because of it's super high price tag. I am talking about the MOD "CaraCara". It is a titanium handled hawkbill with S30V blade steel and the handle was CNC milled.

I'm not in any way saying that Spyderco doesn't have some healthy competition but dollar for dollar I think you are going to have a tough time getting a bang for your buck as well as you do with Spyderco Hawkbills. I do like the overall design of the SARK and CaraCara but I will put a Spyderhawk and G-10 Harpy up against either one of them for the performance capabilities and the price I paid for them. I still maintain that the Great Spyder FActory has earned a high grade in that area. JD
 
My favorite hawkbill used to be the Microtech Vector (think I got the name right :)) but it's out of production.

I think Emerson's liner locks are pretty much above reproach and even Spyderco uses linerlocks. If you don't know why Ti liners are better than steel, maybe you need to find a different hobby.

Mr. Moonwilson I ain't trashing spyderco, just giving my opion. The only hawkbill I own now is a g10 harpy I paid $35 for at SMKW closeout. It's not bashing to point out that the emerson and microtech are more advanced in design, construction and materials than any spyderco hawkbill product...its the truth.

The spyderco hawkbills are variations of the merlin/harpy with the same FRN handles. The carbon fiber harpy has the same blade as the cheap one. The H1 steel merlin has the same FRN handle and lockback design. Even the old superhawk was an endura handle and locking system with just a mega-merlin blade. Currently, Spydercos hawkbills follow their philosophy of taking existing products, make a few changes here and there, but no complete redesigns thus saving on tooling, materials and desgin costs, and now they have a "new" knife. The emerson and microtech hawkbills were unique designs for their lines. It appears the Superhawk may be different if it truly is a new design, S30V steel and carbon fiber. Compression lock leaves me cold though. Too hard and dangerous to unlock with one hand.
 
I like the looks of the Tasman Salt. This would make a nice addition to my tackle box.
 
Don't forget the off-shoots of the Hawkbill clan. I am mainly referring to the Dodo and Karambit models which were truly in the tradition of the original Spyder Hawkbills.

The 2 biggest problems we have with Hawkbills are #1: Just trying to get someone to try them out. #2: Just getting them past the pre-conceived misconceptions that most people have about Hawkbills.

I am coming to the conclusion that there indeed needs to be a Hawkbill video to educate .knife user about the myriad of practical uses that Hawkbill knives can provide.

It's also interesting to note that most of the public perceive Hawkbills as some sort of martial arts self defense knife. Well yes they indeed would be a good SD tool but that is only the tip of a huge iceberg in regards to the huge list of cutting chores that can be efficiently accomplished with a Hawkbill blade. This is another area of Spyderdom that EDGE-U-Cation could be the key
 
The simpler Hawk bills, also known as Linoleum or Carpet knives, have been a common self defense carry in New York City and other east coast cities for years. These cities have laws against daggers, without a straight blade, hawkbills don't fit this category. Plus if you work as a laborer, a hawkbill can be called necessary for your job, thus giving you a legal reason to carry a knife concealed in your pocket. Hawbill knives thus gained a reputation as being the weapons of choice for certain ethnic an socioeconomic groups. The first hawkbill I ever got, a Sabre linoleum knife, was confiscated by my NYC police officer uncle from someone who was street fighting with-it. The gentleman lost his knife, but wasn't arrested...too much paper work for the end of the shift :)
 
brownshoe said:
Currently, Spydercos hawkbills follow their philosophy of taking existing products, make a few changes here and there, but no complete redesigns thus saving on tooling, materials and desgin costs, and now they have a "new" knife.
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:confused:

Is there something wrong with this? Spyderco has a wide and varied product line that is constantly changing thanks to their implementation of different blade shapes and styles.

I understand that you are being specific to the lack of a newer, better, from-the-ground-up hawkbill but I think you statement, taken generally is off the mark.

Ex. The Salt I and the Tasman Salt: Same locks, clips, and handle design. Drastically different blades; two very different knives, priced similarly but offering much different things to different users. How would different blades make the same knife?

The way you say it actually sounds good to me, more variety in the heart of the knife paired with a tried and true handle at a consistent price point. It's not like they are changing the blade style, keeping the FRN handles and then doubling the price.

Compression lock..to close..press lock bar and flick down
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Boo to the compression lock for lefties, it's horrible.

The 2 biggest problems we have with Hawkbills are #1: Just trying to get someone to try them out. #2: Just getting them past the pre-conceived misconceptions that most people have about Hawkbills.
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I agree completely. I just recieved my first hawkbill, a Tasman Salt, and I am already amazed at how much different it handles that I percieved it. I am working on a picture intensive review and will let everyone know how it handles EDC tasks/food prep when compared to a more conservative blade style.
 
Mr. Spoonrobot, my comment was meant to point out only that this may be the first truly "new" hawkbill spyderco has designed since they first made the harpy/merlin many years ago. This is not good or bad, just the way spyderco does business. It maximizes profit however, it minimizes the amount of truly new desgins they issue. Like putting the fancy steels in discontinued knives like the calypso for short sprint runs. It's not really a new knife, but it gives existing designs and tooling a new lease on life and of course, maximizes profit in relation to investment. Case does the same thing.
 
I was indeed tempted when the pointy-SARK became available years ago. I purchased the knife from a major online retailer as new. Turned out to be a rescue-SARK reprofiled (at the factory) and sold as the police SARK. Only problem was the point was as dull as watching golf on tv.

I guess any company can fall victim to producing a product and then modifying that item to meet demand...
 
Sorry to take this of topic....

Holy crap, brown shoe, I was bored, so I looked through a bunch of your posts in the Spyderco forum. Wow, seems like you almost have a vendetta against Spyderco, nothing to obvious, but wow. It goes all the way back to 2004.

ANYWAYS! I've been trying to decide if I should get a Tasman Salt SE, I just got to handle one at a local knife store. Man, that thing is wicked. I didn't feel like paying what they were charging for it though .... :grumpy:
 
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