uses of plain edge hawkbills

Sal Glesser said:
Good points.

Also when cutting carpet or the like, you want to control the tip against a surface backing the cut, without the rest of the cutting edge getting in the way. The hawkbill lends itself to that trait.

The Harpy was designed for pull cuts on nets. It had no rear "expansion" or "hook" to keep the blade from snagging and pulling the knife out of your hand. The Superhawk had "expansion" at the rear with a "hook" to better hold on to the knife,

sal
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then , by implication is it safe to say that regardless of it being a plain edge or serrated edge , the Harpy would be unsuitable for cutting carpet ? since it does not have the hook or expansion , even a plain edge model would not be suitable for cutting carpet. it was only made to cut rope and net and since the serrated was (relatively) better at the job , the plain edge was discontinued. did i get it right ?
 
carbonsteelfan said:
then , by implication is it safe to say that regardless of it being a plain edge or serrated edge , the Harpy would be unsuitable for cutting carpet ? since it does not have the hook or expansion , even a plain edge model would not be suitable for cutting carpet. it was only made to cut rope and net and since the serrated was (relatively) better at the job , the plain edge was discontinued. did i get it right ?
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Think your interpretation of Sal's comment is completely wrong. The Harpy may not be optimized for cutting carpet, but it a task that plain edge hawkbills have been performing for a long time, so the PE Harpy should do a decent job of it.
 
carbonsteelfan said:
then , by implication is it safe to say that regardless of it being a plain edge or serrated edge , the Harpy would be unsuitable for cutting carpet ? since it does not have the hook or expansion , even a plain edge model would not be suitable for cutting carpet. it was only made to cut rope and net and since the serrated was (relatively) better at the job , the plain edge was discontinued. did i get it right ?
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You're overthinking this. The SE model sold better so the PE was discontinued.
 
kershawguy13 said:
You're overthinking this. The SE model sold better so the PE was discontinued.
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Oh ; well thanks for correcting me . In a month time l shall own a GSakaki PE VG-10 Harpy with stainless steel handles. I must say ; l am very excited . It shall become my new edc
 
Bet you a dollar it won't be your EDC for long unless you are a longshoreman, work in a warehouse or live in a bad 'hood
:)
 
brownshoe said:
Bet you a dollar it won't be your EDC for long unless you are a longshoreman, work in a warehouse or live in a bad 'hood
:)
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Why not ? I go yachting every week. I.currently edc a serrated HARPY. I works well on rope net and fishing line. I.think that the smooth cutting ability of the plain edge harpy will be desirable for my gardening and harvesting hobbies. And of course self defense is an added advantage. But l am curious. Why do you say it won't be my edc ?
 
There's a lot of things a straight blade can do better for EDC, such as cutting fruit, sharpening a pencil, cutting your chaw, mincing a little garlic, cutting a vegetable...that's why hawkbills are a more "specialized" blade. I have a serrated edge harpy, but I usually carry a little straight blade knife as well (Benchmade Park Avenue, Spyderco Mouse, small slipjoint).
 
Let's be honest, for the light duty uses most of us do, a hawkbill would suffice. That powerful, downward angled tip being especially good at blister packs, opening boxes, etc... I can't imagine a hawkbill sharpening a pencil any worse, in fact it seems theoretically better than a straight edge... Yeah, they're a bit more limited for certain tasks... But not as cripplingly as many people make them out to be.
 
I am a borderline Hawkbill Fanatic>> and all my Hawkbills are Spyderco. I EDC a Spyderco C-60 but also carry a Harpy most of the time along with my Ayoob model. I have several of the plain edged Hawkbills but most of my users are full Spyderedged. I love my original blue handled, VG-10 Spyderhawk for peeling fruit and harvesting persimmons in the fall. I pretty much exclusively use all my Hawkbills PE & SE mainly for pull cutting.

What really amazes me about hawkbills in general and I'm including the smaller Merlin, Tasman and Harpy models is that they tend to invoke fear in a lot of people for some reason. And what's funny about that is that I don't really consider most of my Hawkbills SD blades. Oh I would use them if they were handy and the need arose but they wouldn't be my first pick by any means.

I also have used my VG-10, PE Spyderhawk for some meat cutting jobs and I use it every time I butcher a deer. I've used it in the kitchen for cutting some veggies and fruits before too. But for serious pull cutting you just can't beat a serrated Hawkbill. I find any Hawkbill to be a great companion EDC folder to have handy. I sure wish that Spyderco would make a fixed blade Hawkbill model but I would want it in PE & SE both.
 
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