Spyderco Spyderhawk Passaround Review

FivePointOhh

FivePointOhh

Joined
Oct 7, 2002
Messages
2,088
The Spyderco Spyderhawk is a very intimidating looking knife. Almost everyone that saw this knife was aghast at its presents. A couple actually jumped back with eyes wide open! This is a nice sized knife for someone like me that has large hands. With an overall length of 8 1/4"/210mm and a closed length of 4 15/16"/125mm, it sits well in your pocket due to its thinness and 3.0oz/85g weight. The blade opens smoothly and locks in with a resounding click. It is exceptionally sharp to boot! The Spyderhawk fits well in the hand, but I personally wish it had a thicker handle. I like the fact that it has a black pocket clip to match the fiberglass reinforced nylon handle materiel. I wish all knife companies would do this. One thing I don’t like about this knife is how far the blade sticks out of the handle when closed. If it wasn’t for the lanyard hole, the blade could have been made to sit further down in the handle. All in all, it’s a great knife. I had some extra paracord lying around so I attached a lanyard to the knife.

attachment.php
 
Just received the knife a couple of hours ago. The first thoughts I had were:

1) Wow, it's bigger than I thought it was.
2) I love the lanyard..I wish I could do that..thanks fivepointoh
3) What the hell am I gonna use this for?

One thing I noted right away is, true to fashion for these curved spydies, is that the tip has already broken off:

shtip.jpg


I took it outside, and it made quick, clean work of some small dead evergreens I'd been needing to prune.

evergreen.jpg


Not a very practical knife for this purpose, but I wanted to see how quick it would cut through these small branches. Nice job.

Then even with all that rough sawing, it still cuts paper like buttah..

papercut.jpg


More later..
 
Head's up donovan, it's on its way tomorrow.

(Edit - Actually it's on it's way today. I wrote that at 3 in the morning, so it was kind of yesterday, but really today. Anyway, it's at the PO now and headed to you, Jack)

I've had fun playing around with the Spyderhawk, but like the Salsa passaround, it also showed me that I don't want to own this knife.

It's not practical for my purposes, and I don't have enough money to collect very many knives strictly for their "coolness" factor.

This knife is very cool, but it's not for me.

The major points:

1)It cut like a champ, no surprise there. It's the Spydie way.
2)The tip was broken off when I got it. No surprise there either. This is another reason I wouldn't own it, or any other hawkbill type blade with an ultra thin tip.
3)The knife rides a little long in my pocket. I frequently felt the handle jabbing me in the gut when I knealt down.
4)I felt it was very conspicuous.

On a scale of one to ten:

Coolness factor - 8
Practical use - 4

Sal, Dave..et al, thanks for the opportunity. And keep em coming!
 
Thanks for the reviews. I wonder if those serrations sticking out of the handle when the 'hawk is closed could be dangerous/tearin' up the pants?
 
I like the hawkbill blade. I just wish they would produce a plainedge version.

I believe that a sprint run of plainedge Spyderhawks are planned for the forum. If they make some I will buy a few.
 
I have a harpy and merlin and even though a small amount of serrations show, I've never had them catch on pants or anything while closed.

Also the bladeforums plainedge spyderhawk is onsale now, see the spyderco forums.
 
The Spyderhawk arrived today and it is still Spydie-sharp. I'm taking it to work with me for a couple of days to put it through its paces. I'll post my thoughts then.

Jack
 
O.K., I've had my fun with the Spyderhawk and not too many surprises. I'm a big fan of hawkbills and I carried an Endura for 10 years so the size was not an issue. I'm not as big a fan of FRN handles as I used to be. Nothing wrong with them. Certainly strong enough and it helps keep the price at a manageable level, it's just a tactile thing. Doesn't feel right. I have a G10 Harpy that I love. Very stout for a small blade and the handles are grippy and give a real sense of solidness. Anyway.....

My work EDC is a custom CPM3V hawkbill with approximately the same size blade as the Spyderhawk, so I was able to do a little head-to-head cutting and judge the Spydies VG10 vs. my favorite steel (Ihave a Shabaria in VG10 and really like it. Heck of a slicer, but this is my first experience with VG10 serrations). If you haven't tried 3V it cuts like a... well, like an extremely sharp knife. Outstanding performance. The VG10 was a solid performer, though. It cut very smoothly through cardboard, even the thick double wall stuff. Slices paper cleanly, but the serrations would hang up slightly when cutting poly (greenhouse plastic). This becomes a small problem when cutting several hundred linear feet, but it may have just been a burr that would even out with a sharpening. After two days of use it was still plenty sharp, but I'll give it a quick pass on the Sharpmaker before mailing it on.

All in all I like this knife. I would love it in a plain edge with G10 handles. My one minor complaint is with the visual aesthetics. I wish Spyderco would re-do the handle so that it doesn't look like they stuck the blade in a handle designed for another knife. Of course, this isn't a big secret since the handle is stamped Endura. :) The MOD Lady Hawk is a nice example.

Thanks to DaveH for spearheading things and to Sal for making some of the most innovative knives on the planet. Will box it up and send it off in the morning.

Jack
 
Got it this morning, I was surprised at how large it is. The tip did not appear to be broken to me. I'll get a pic up later. It feels good in my hand and the pocket of my jeans. I took it out to the Post office with me. I saw a buddy of mine (fellow knife nut and gun lover) while we were talking I just casually fliped it out and he liked it. On the other hand a man rounded the corner and almost dropped his package when he saw it. I don't think it's sheeple friendly, if that sort of thing is important to you. For me, I could care less, it's legal so **** the sheeple IMHO. More later.
 
Ok, I'm not at work today and it is raining here so I have been cutting lots of stuff. I have cut up about 10 feet of approx 2/16 inch corugated cardboard. Several strands of paracord and several strands of yellow nylon rope. It cut's all of these things with the greatest of ease. I also cut an aluminum can in half. It did a pretty good job. I feel like that is about as far as the extreme testing will go with me. So we know it cuts all knids of rope very good and cardboard, and wood. Now we know it can do pretty well on thin aluminum. I sharpened it up on what else,but my Sharpmaker and it is paper slicing (push cut, each large serration) sharp again. I might cut a few more boxes up for the trashcan and that will probably be it for me. Here are some pics, I will post final thoughts later. Thanks.

James

spydercan.jpg

inhand.jpg
 
attachment.php


A limited number of plain-edge Spyderhawks are available. See the Spyderco Forum for details.
 
Wow! These are great, informative reviews. Can't wait to get it in my mitts. You guys have the best pics.
Thanks
Tom
 
Great looking knife. Thinkning about getting a new hawkbill to peplce the POS I carry with me. Any idea when Spyderco will start mass producing the PE version? Or maybe even a half and half version?

Erin
 
Ok, my time with the Spyderhawk is over and here are my final thoughts and impressions.

Even though it is about as large of a folder as I would ever carry, it did ride pretty good in my jeans front pocket. Even after carrying it for a couple of days, I was still always aware of it’s being there, I don’t care for that in an EDC pocket knife. That brings me to my next point.

I do not think that this is a good EDC. I doubt that it was designed to be that anyway. It is easy to open and the lockup is solid. I just cannot see me wanting to use something that large all the time.

I think of this knife to be somewhat of a niche knife. After a good sharpening, I found that it cut even thick plastic well. I think it would also be useful in most type of construction settings where you would be opening or unwrapping lots of stuff(concrete bags, boxes of cable, shrink wrap on sinks etc), or cutting any type of rope or webbing. I think that it would most definitely stand up to regular hard use. See some of the pics above, cutting through wood, aluminum can, etc. It can hold it’s on with the likes of that type of stuff.

In the end, I LOVE the way it looks. It is really cool for a knife lover, and probably really scary for sheeple. I do not NEED this knife, nor do I think I would use it much if I had it, but I would like to emphasize that is because of MY lifestyle and hobbies. Not because of a flaw with the product.

That being said, I would LOVE to have a plain edge one for the pure joy of looking at it because it does have a VERY HIGH coolness factor.

Ratings:
Overall Quality/Value: 9 (well built for not a lot of $$$)
Cool Factor: 10 (It gets attention quickly :D)
EDC: 3 (too large for me to carry “just because” with no task in mind)
Proper Task Specific rating:10 (If you need PURE cutting power this is it)

If you work or play in the right environments(see above) and had a use for this knife, I think you would do good to have it.

If you just want a really awesome looking knife to show off, it’s a winner there too

If you want a “pocket knife”, I don’t think that this is the right one for you, but as I said earlier, I don’t think it was intended to be that.

I would like to thank Mr. Sal Glesser for donating this knife to be passed around. That shows confidence in your product and love and trust of the consumer. Also, thanks to forum member DaveH for running this thing and bladeforums for providing a place to hang out.
 
Originally posted by ERINT
Great looking knife. Thinkning about getting a new hawkbill to peplce the POS I carry with me. Any idea when Spyderco will start mass producing the PE version? Or maybe even a half and half version?

Erin
Click to expand...

PE will never be mass produced. The BF edition is a one time offering. There will be no 50/50 offered ever, AFAIK.
 
The SpyderHawk came to me just as I was leaving for a short vacation in the NC mountains - so naturally I took it along for the ride!

While on the trip, I never had any real life Spydie-test-situations, so I spent a bit of time just "playing" it. I usually do not use serrated blades, and never have used a hawkbill like this one, so for me it was a new perspective.

Pocket carry was comfortable, although it does take up a bit extra room across the pocket opening due to it's width - a lot of the blade spine shows above the handle when closed. Even still, I could insert and widthdraw a coin at the bottom of the pocket without catching on any part of the closed knife - an action I use as a carry comfort/safety test. I will echo a previous reviewer and suggest a handle designed specifically for the knife would be an improvement.

As far as self defense usage goes, the look alone might be a determining factor! Deploying it from the pocket for the first time in front of the wife (who tends to be alarmed by most of my toys, given my perpensity to injure myself with them) earned the expected "What in God's name is that thing :eek: !"

In terms of utility, the blade would cut saplings, packages, twine with relative ease. The curve of the blade tends to trap the object being cut, helping to keep it against the cutting edge. I would love to see a regular/production/user version of this knife with a plain edge (not a numbered collectors version)! I much prefer plain edges, even for utility.

One proof of it's utility use came in a practical exercise. Upon returning from vacation, I discovered the H2O treatment system required more salt. It was dark and raining like hell, but for those of you who have a well that contains a good dose of iron and sulfur, you know that it is imperative to keep the treatment system running in top shape. So, I put a 60lb bag of salt on my shoulder and headed out in to the torrent to fill the brine tank. I did not want to set the bag down in the mud to open it, then sling the mud onto my clothing and into the tank. But guess who was in my pocket! I opened the SpyderHawk, sunk the tip into the bag, and gutted it like I was the Doc in "Hannibal" - without having to move the bag from my shoulder. The bag emptied it's "guts" in the tank in about a second. It very well may have been the most satisfying one handed experience that could have been described in this forum :D

Of course, any sharp bladed thing would have performed the same task, but the hooking action of the hawkbill makes for effective ripper. I just may have to add one to the user collection.

Fun stuff.
 
Ok my time is up, knife is on the way to the last guy on the list and I wanted to post a few thoughts on the knife while its fresh in my mind.

This passaround was very different for me compared to many others, as I ussually in the first couple of slots, so this was my first time to see a knife after its been through a majority of the list.

The knife still looked NIB and I was very impressed with how it has held up. I signed up for this one to really get a feel for something with this blade style as I have never handled anything like it before, unless you count my wifes old MOD Ladyhawk, which isn't exaclty the same thing:D

I found to be very light of course, with the FRN handles. I knew I didn't care for this handle material off the bat, but like I said, I really wanted to test out this blade shape. With this blade style, the knife closed is very wide, but being as thin as it is, its not uncomfortable to carry in my pocket. The super duper Spyderco hole makes it very easy for fast one hand opening like everyother Sypderco model I handled.

This blade, to me, is not useful for anything except Self Defense or some serious rope cutting. But its very ocward for things like opening mail or boxes:D

The serrations were preformed outstandly, as always from the Spyderco crew. It didn't see much use with me, but I enjoyed the oppertunity to check it out.

I would really like to hear someones opinion of this compared to a Civilian.

I would buy one with a different handle material, if I don't get a Carbon Fiber Civilian first.

Thanks again DaveH and Sal!!!
 
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=2204524#post2204524
Just so you guys Know we are going to add to this thread with our Canadian Passaround of the spyderhawk Knife, since I was first to have it here is my review.

My review of the knife is it is an incredible cutting machine, I am a big fan of hawkbill knives because you don't have to contort your hand into an odd shape to use the tip of the knife, it is very natural to make precision cuts on items. plus if your cutting cordage or rope the reverse shape of the blade keeps the material on your knife instead of allowing it to slide off.

I own most of the hawkbill blades from spyderco, Harpy, Merlin, Matriarch, Civilian and the Spyderhawk is the winner of the bunch.

The handle size and overall "largeness" of the knife impress me as I am a large handed person and found the harpy to be too small and slippery and the Merlin to be better but still a little small for anything but a general utility knife.

I love the spyderhawk, 5 stars from me.... I even ordered 2 PE Bladeforum models.

051013.JPG
 
I did the US passaround. The Canadians always get the cool bags, I guess :)
The blade was indeed WOW! factor
I showed the guys at work and they were in awe.
It fit well in my pocket. As edc.
I have always liked the frn handles a lot and this was no different. A winner of a handle :)
The blade is most sharp. I could even turn light screws with the back of the blade :)
The usefulness was very limited for me. I cut carpet, heavy cardboard, electric wire covering (romex sheath) and some garden plant stalks. Butter each and every time.
The Spyderhawk is well made, rest easy there.
I can see if I cut lots of rope or other cordage (is there other) it would fall into my user category.
Alas I probably won't own this one.
THAT IS THE BEAUTY OF A PASSAROUND!!
Trying them out then reporting my impressions :)
Can't own them all :)
Hard as I try tho. :)
Thanks again to Spyderco for the opportunity to handle this knife.
Dave is a heckuva passarounder too :)
Tom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top