Surprisingly impressive knife...

G

glocker199

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Mar 14, 2005
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I'm usually a bit of a knife snob. I don't like liner locks or frame locks and I generally frown on the Taiwan/China imports. That being said i just acquired a Blackhawk Hornett II and this thing is quite impressive.

It's a little 3.1" bladed tank of a knife. Super heavy duty, full steel liners, open post construction, grippy sculpted G10 scales and a beautifully machined blade of thick AUS-8A steel. This is one f the most solid feeling folders I've handled at any price.

The fit and finish is perfect, the blade moves like its on greased ball bearings and it locks up like a vault. I still don't like liner locks but this is an excellently executed knife. It's a shame more of the "big name" brands don't do as well with their imported knives.

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I wanted one of these when Blackhawk was Masters of Defense, but it was never at the top of the list when I had knife money to burn. I would be very interested to hear how it holds up after a few months of use.
 
Every now and then cheap stuff can surprise you. I bought an OTF Lightning from a coworker, he'd been using it for a few months, I had been using it for 4 when I lost it.
By all accounts, this knife is cheap garbage, but the blade held an edge well and the construction was incredibly solid. Liked it enough that i'll prolly grab another when I have the spare $20
 
LOL.

$90 for an imported 'overbuilt' knife with AUS8 steel?

Cold Steel laughs at this thread...
 
Professor_Jack said:
Every now and then cheap stuff can surprise you. I bought an OTF Lightning from a coworker, he'd been using it for a few months, I had been using it for 4 when I lost it.
By all accounts, this knife is cheap garbage, but the blade held an edge well and the construction was incredibly solid. Liked it enough that i'll prolly grab another when I have the spare $20
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I picked up a Lightning just because I thought "what the heck" and it was, indeed, surprisingly good. Closed and opened solidly every time, except the very first time my brother in law tried it and I guess the spring broke. I don't think it was anything he did. No reflection on the knife though, held up for a very long time, particularly given the price. I wouldn't say it puts any other OTFs to shame but for the guy who just wants to try the OTF experience, it's great.

Now if only I could find a model of butterfly that would give me a similar value-oriented experience...
 
glocker199 said:
This Blackhawk isn't really that cheap of a knife, they sell for $75-90.
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And for some strange reason, even though "looks" are usually low on my list, its price vs. its appearance is one thing that keeps me hesitant. Of course that's no reflection on use and performance. But it appears to me, every time I look at it, to be a knife that shouldn't cost more than a Smith & Wesson. So it's hard to pick one up at the going rate.
 
BitingSarcasm said:
I wanted one of these when Blackhawk was Masters of Defense, but it was never at the top of the list when I had knife money to burn. I would be very interested to hear how it holds up after a few months of use.
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Blackhawk was always Blackhawk. Masters of Defense was a Microtech label that they sold to Blackhawk.
 
Scurvy092 said:
LOL.

$90 for an imported 'overbuilt' knife with AUS8 steel?

Cold Steel laughs at this thread...
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But they were in a similar place not less than a year ago... Other companies charge hundreds for knives with consistent problems, no different really. Still think the design looks cool.
 
Your knife has excellent lineage--the original Masters of Defense series of knives, originally with good 154CM satin or polished blades. I have the Watson Trident folder from the original MOD company. It's quite a knife.

If you want you can probably find a lot of history on your model by searching MOD here. There are a couple of extensive threads on the knives and some wonderful pics of the original products. I made a few posts myself.

Upon MOD's purchase by Blackhawk, they immediately downgraded the MOD line with the rationalization that "these knives can now be made available to those who, before, may not have been able to afford them..." blah, blah, blah. Thus the knife now in AUS 8, thinner liners and lock and less expensive washers as I recall.

I honestly must say I still seek the original MOD models because they were so damn good. If you held the two side by side you'd see what I mean. Glad to hear though that the Blackhawk version of the Hornet is still a good performer and pleases you. It and the other four of the original MOD line were certainly designed by "Masters." I think the hornet was designed by James Keating, one of the original five Masters.
 
average gimp said:
Blackhawk was always Blackhawk. Masters of Defense was a Microtech label that they sold to Blackhawk.
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The original Masters of Defense was owned by Microtech??? You sure?? First I've ever heard of that.....

Any links you can send me to document this? Thanks.
 
EChoil said:
The original Masters of Defense was owned by Microtech??? You sure?? First I've ever heard of that.....

Any links you can send me to document this? Thanks.
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Sorry, no links. IIRC Ayoob either wrote an article about the original MoD knives or was discussing them in the now out-of-print Paladin video. He specifically mentioned the person who was behind MoD and the guy worked at Microtech at the time. Coupled with the fact the MoD folders all looked like variants of what Microtech was producing at the time.
 
Masters of defense never had anything to do with microtech. MOD was MOD and sold to blackhawk. It was never owned by tony. Rumor was microtech ghost built a few knives for them but even that was never confirmed.
 
average gimp said:
Sorry, no links. IIRC Ayoob either wrote an article about the original MoD knives or was discussing them in the now out-of-print Paladin video. He specifically mentioned the person who was behind MoD and the guy worked at Microtech at the time. Coupled with the fact the MoD folders all looked like variants of what Microtech was producing at the time.
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Not saying you're wrong but I'm under the impression MOD was an independent company set up in North Carolina. My understanding was that the principals, great knife designers, didn't see eye-to-eye after a time and the company was sold. I've never seen anything to indicate them being a branch or whatever of Microtech. One of them may have been a former Microtech person, that's entirely possible. I'd like to see more on that....

The Blackhawk MOD's are probably good but the originals were top of the line quality. Blackhawk purposely loosened the specs for lower pricing.
 
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