- Joined
- Oct 2, 1998
- Messages
- 43,855
This morning, after lingering as long as I could before going off to the "salt mine", a welcome knock was heard at my door. When I opened it, I saw that the UPS man had brought me a box from Maryland. Ahhhhh, "life is good", I thought, as I proceeded to tear open the box and unwrap a knife which exceeded my already fairly high expectations.
A little digression is in order .
In the May issue of Tactical Knives, Jerry VanCook wrote a very nice article about the "Shobu" by Steve Corkum, doing business as "Hawk Knives".
After reading the article, I was very impressed on several levels. Firstly, VanCook's own enthusiasm was infectious. He absolutely raved about the Shobus he tested.
Secondly, I have long been an admirer of Japanese style blades and have been wanting to add knives of that mode to my collection. And .the Shobu was available as a neck knife. (Those of you who have been hanging around on the forums for some time know that I am a big fan of neck knives.)
I made a call to Steve Corkum up in Maryland shortly after deciding that I "needed" to add a neck Shobu to my collection. Steve is a very gregarious sort who doesn't mind staying on the phone chatting about everything from hockey to boxing .and, oh yeah, knives. We have spoken on several occasions by now and have struck up a nice long distance friendship.
Steve appears to be a man with strong passions for things tactical, martial as well as aesthetic, and has a background to support those passions.
Steve agreed to make a neck Shobu for me, and told me that if I ordered at that time he could probably make one for me in a month's time or so. I said that was fine.
After discussing it with Steve, I opted for black ray skin under the traditional Japanese style wrap with Turk's head knot.
The Shobu, as are all of Steve's knives, is made from 1050 carbon steel which is clay tempered in the Japanese fashion. The knife is ground from quarter inch stock. This is no effete knife. When you hold one in your hand you know you are holding something substantial. The knife is slightly tapered at the spine, thickest toward the middle and zero/convex ground to the edge. The edge isn't what I'd call "razor sharp", but has a good serviceable edge backed by a massive blade. I wouldn't be afraid of hurting this knife.
The clay temper line along the edge is visually stunning. It runs the entire length of the blade up to the tip. Unfortunately I don't yet have a picture of my particular knife (no digital camera or scanner), but the picture above gives a good idea of what my knife is like except for the color of the ray skin and the fact that it is a picture of a larger Shobu. (Photo courtesy of KnifeArt.)
All shobus are made to the same proportions, so it's just a matter of scale. My neck Shobu has an overall length of 7 inches, over half of which is cutting edge. The blade is about 7/8" at the widest point from spine to edge.
The handle is black same (ray skin) covered by epoxy coated poly/nylon laces. The very end of the knife is wrapped into a nice pommel, while a Turk's head knot acts as a pseudo guard. The grip is very good as a result of the deep texture of the wrap, but caution is still called for in any stabbing or thrusting maneuvers.
The neck Shobu comes with a very nicely made kydex or concealex sheath and a long piece of paracord which can be configured in various ways through the grommet holes of the sheath. Steve also made a hook (attached with a chicago screw) for securing the sheath to a belt for inside the waistband carry. Very simple and elegant in design.
I wore the knife today to work and surprisingly, for such a stout little piece, it didn't feel heavy at all. Plus, it didn't print too badly under a cotton polo shirt. Good stuff.
Overall, the look of this knife speaks of a bygone era. It is very traditional and very modern at the same time. Yin and Yang.
Steve's knives are available through contact directly with him at:
www.hawkknives.com
They are also available through Jay and Karen Sadow of Arizona Custom Knives as well as Larry Connelly of KnifeArt.
I highly recommend checking out Steve and his knives. They are the real deal.
Blues
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Live Free or Die
Some Knife Pix
[This message has been edited by Blues (edited 06-18-2000).]
