Spyderco's Hawkbills: Their many uses?

Bohica1998 said:
My only problem with the SS Harpy is that I have Arthritis which can sometimes make it hard to hold onto, especially if it gets wet or sweaty. That's why I like the idea of getting a G-10 handled version. To be honest, my FRN Merlins see more pocket time that the Harpy for just that reason. :(

I'm definitely ready for a new G-10 handled Harpy (or even second run of the first version)!! :D
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Yeah I hear that complaint from many of the brethren about the stainless handles being slick so to speak. Personally I'm wondering if that can be overcome somehow. There's got to be some practical ways of modifying those stainless handles to make the folder less slick.

It's probably a topic to put up on the "maintenance" sector of BF. Now on the other hand I do like the solid feel of stainless.

Nothing wrong at all with the Tasman. I've said several times that FRN is truly a great handle material for "hard use" folders. And the TASMAN certainly is a hard use folder.

"GRIP" certainly is a big factor when using any cutlery and ever more so important when using a Hawkbill.
 
Jim malone said:
Their many uses:
I think the hawkbill blade is perfect as a biomechanical cutting implement.
For me this means that a yellow handled H1 Spyderhawk or tasman is a good candidate to be used as a slashing self defense weapon. The 4 women in my household are not trained knifefighters and they seem to have expressed quit some resistance in stabbing someone in the throat or the eyes in a self defense situation. They do feel that slashing the hands, arms, legs or balls :eek: that's assaulting them is more "human".
The hawkbill blade is the poor mans civilian or matriarch, with probably the equivelant slashing power but a stronger point.
The yellow handle and their use in needlework, fishing and diving makes these knives perfectly explainable if found on your person or in your car.
I know that if i buy them a uber tactical black knife designed for self defense they will not carry it, but if i give them a funny coloured tasman salt to cut their knitwork threads with they might actuallly carry it.
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What a sobering thought :eek:. I remember an old Led Zeppelin song entitled "Dazed & Confused". Where Robert Plant himself sang the lyrics "The Soul Of A Woman Was Created Below" :eek:

But hey if it works for them and makes your woman a "Hawkbill Girl" then I guess we'll just have to live it now won't we :D But I do know one thing for sure>> >The creeps and jerks sure better stay away from those ladies to be sure :eek::D
 
Jim malone said:
Their many uses:
I think the hawkbill blade is perfect as a biomechanical cutting implement.

I know that if i buy them a uber tactical black knife designed for self defense they will not carry it, but if i give them a funny coloured tasman salt to cut their knitwork threads with they might actuallly carry it.
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Ever thought about getting them a Ladybug Hawkbill? In addition to the Tasmans, of course! :D

For such a small knife, it sure cuts like a larger one!

It's funny, I haven't gotten any of the Tasman Salts yet. I just managed to come across some good deals on the Merlins, so....:thumbup::)
 
Speaking of the ladies using Hawkbills for self defense and all joking aside I had heard on the Spyderco.com Forum about 3 years ago that the Matriarch model which we all know is the smaller brother/sister of the highly celebrated Civilian model. I had heard that one of the primary intentions of that smaller version of the Civilian was to have a lighter/smaller version to accomodate the ladies.

Afterall the word "Matriarch" would indicate that as well. I also know that a lot of you don't really consider the "reverse S" blades like the Civi or Matriarch to be true Hawkbills. I completely disagree because I truly think both those models fall into the Hawkbill category in every way. Now for sure they are primarily designed for self defense and LEO use but I truly believe them to be Hawkbills just the same.
 
A PE G-10 Crossbill is one of my work knives... it mostly gets used in opening and breaking down boxes. It's also responsible for me not picking up a Superhawk when they went on closeout. The Crossbill is almost the same size and shape, and is so good that I just couldn't justify the Superhawk.

SE Spyderhawk for clearing vegetation, especially blackberries and similar viney stuff, when it's not feasible to use a machete. Before the H1 Spyderhawk came out, I used a SE Tasman for the same thing, but the bigger blade of the Spyderhawk is so much better for that purpose that it kicked the Tasman out of my pocket. These days the Tasman mostly just lives in my SAR backpack.

I also have a Ladybug Hawkbill that I sometimes use for opening packaging, but the thinner hawkbill blade on a Victorinox Pioneer Harvester works better on things like plastic clamshells.
 
randomlooker said:
SE Spyderhawk for clearing vegetation, especially blackberries and similar viney stuff, when it's not feasible to use a machete. Before the H1 Spyderhawk came out, I used a SE Tasman for the same thing, but the bigger blade of the Spyderhawk is so much better for that purpose that it kicked the Tasman out of my pocket. These days the Tasman mostly just lives in my SAR backpack.
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As far as for gardening, landscaping, and any other work with plants I just keep hearing over and over how useful the Spyderhawk is. I guess that extra blade length makes it a handy blade for working with plants of all types.

Most people would regard the Spyderhawk as being a Martial Arts oddity. But I'm far from that assumption because I see dozens of practical uses for the Spyderhawk. Now don't get me wrong because I'm sure it's got plently of martial art's capabilities but I know it's also got dozens, if not hundreds of practical uses as well. Don't be intimidated because of the Spyderhawks size or appearance because it's a great knife for many cutting chores.

I bet if the truth were know the Spyderhawk could potentially be a "Farmer's Best Friend". I know in my gut it would be super in a survival situation too. You could have a Spyderhawk and a Harpy and cover most bases with those 2 models.
 
I tend to prefer hawkbills with the more traditional pruner-type configuration. I like the extra mass they have, as well as the straight portion of edge at the base of the blade. If Spyderco made something with a blade more like this I'd be sold.

01BO207.jpg
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I tend to prefer hawkbills with the more traditional pruner-type configuration. I like the extra mass they have, as well as the straight portion of edge at the base of the blade. If Spyderco made something with a blade more like this I'd be sold.
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That looks more like a "SheepsBill" to me :D A cross between a "sheepsfoot & hawkbill" :rolleyes:. Yeah I know what you really mean :). That's truly more of a traditional linoleum layer's type blade that we had on the markets for years. But hey if it works for you then go for it. I doubt if Spyderco would ever get into that style when the one's they have are going well.

Actually I've found Spyderco's hawkbills to have just as much cutting power as the older styles myself personally. I used to have one similar to the one you have pictured at one time. Mine was made by "Western" and it seemed to be pretty well made. A friend of mine who is a carpet layer took a fancy to it and I ended up trading it to him. I personally find that less blade mass gives me a bit more versatility on some cutting jobs. Particularly when using the Spyderhawk model. I've yet to come up against a tough cutting job that the Spyderhawk couldn't take on.

Just curious what is it about the extra blade mass on that style that you feel gives you an advantage? Because with the Spyderco Harpy model which has a very thick spine for a blade it's size I feel has enough rigidity to take on some pretty tough chores.
 
JD Spydo said:
As far as for gardening, landscaping, and any other work with plants I just keep hearing over and over how useful the Spyderhawk is. I guess that extra blade length makes it a handy blade for working with plants of all types.
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Yup. Consider a thick blackberry vine grown out across a trail. With the Tasman, it took a couple of swipes and me holding on to the vine (Ow!) to cut it out of the way. With the Spyderhawk, one pull without any bracing needed will do the trick. It's a combination of more cutting edge and a more pronounced curve to the blade.
 
randomlooker said:
Yup. Consider a thick blackberry vine grown out across a trail. With the Tasman, it took a couple of swipes and me holding on to the vine (Ow!) to cut it out of the way. With the Spyderhawk, one pull without any bracing needed will do the trick. It's a combination of more cutting edge and a more pronounced curve to the blade.
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I sure hope that Spyderco is reading this. Because seriously some expert gardener website like A.M. Leonard or some other well known gardening tool vendor could literally clean up with a high quality tool like the H-1 Spyderhawk. And with the new Spyderhawk being made with H-1 just think you wouldn't have any rust or corrosion problems and the only maintenance you would have would be an occasional lube job on the pivot and a good sharpening about once or twice a year.

Other than that you would have a gardening tool useful for a myriad of garden chores. Hey it truly makes sense to me :):thumbup:

And "RANDOMLOOKER" just think how normally rough that vines are to work on. With a full Spyderedged Spyderhawk they would be child's play. I sure hope that many gardeners and landscapers are reading this one. Also consider most of the knives I see on the gardening websites are pretty ordinary at best. And some are just absolute junk. That's another reason I don't think Spyderco should abandon their Spyderedged fixed blades. I've sure found tons of work for my full SE Temperance 1 for instance.

And people there are tons of legitimate uses for knives in gardening and landscaping.
 
Speaking of gardening with hawkbills, I believe Sal said somewhere that one of his best customers for the Civilian (or Matriarch?) was a mushroom grower who used them to harvest his crop!

Personally, I'm hoping they come out with a G-10 H1 Spyderhawk! PE and SE!
 
I can see where the "reverse S" blade would be great for all kinds of gardening and landscaping. Just last year when I was growing over 35 different tomato plants there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't use my Spyderco full SE Harpy.

Also I was constantly using one of my fully Serrated Spyders for some type of gardening chores. And they came in very handy. I'm going to make it a point to get one of the PE and SE Matriarchs coming up and try them out for gardening just to see how they will work.

The Reverse S blade I can see could have some advantages to conventional Hawkbills. But I consider all Hawkbills to have their own niche.

Maybe Spyderco ought to consider an H-1 Gardening line of Hawkbills. Although I do remember hearing that VG-10 was originally developed in Japan and was intended to be an agricultural steel.
 
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