Why did they discontinue the G-10 Harpy ?

carbonsteelfan said:
How about Using H1 for both the plain edge and serrated models ? Think about it. The biggest market for Hawkbills comes from the marine industry. Being a recreational fisherman , l can attest to that. Now serrated H1 outperforms any other steel in terms of edge retention that l know of. And most Hawkbill users will want the SE version. Hence making them in H1 seems like a sensible choice to me. Now ; l know that plain edge H1 is only as good as Aus-6 in terms of edge holding. BUT most of the people buying plain edge hawkbills are collectors. So edge retention won't be such a big deal to them. Of course ; VG-10 is pretty good too ; But we marine people would really like H1s rust resistance.
Click to expand...

Brother what you've said in this post is true but I will take a couple of friendly, respectful exceptions to what you've said>> First of all you are 100% right about H-1 steel being superior for marine use and I have several H-1 Spyders for that reason. But trust me there are a lot of people like me who use a mid sized Hawkbill and the Harpy being my top favorite to use as a companion blade for my main EDC. I've found throughout the years that a Spyderedged Hawkbill is an ideal companion blade for my main EDC which is usually a plain edged Spyderco folder. So please don't lose sight of the fact that there are many of us who use Hawkbills for utility uses.

And please understand that I also have some plain edged Hawkbills that I actually use for certain jobs and there is a growing market for PE Hawkbills. Personally I find the SE Hawkbills to have more utility uses to them but the few jobs I've found that PE Hawkbills work well with tend to work very well for those type of jobs.

My point being is that I personally will buy a PE & SE G-10 Harpy if we can get Spyderco to make us a Sprint Run and hopefully they will also end up back on the main line up. You do make some excellent points but don't overlook the fact that there are those of use who have a lot of "non-marine" uses for them as well. I just recently did a job where a lot of cordage was involved and I used my M390 Military along with my H-1, SE Spyderhawk>> and if I would have had a G-10 SE Harpy I would have used it instead. Once people realize that there are practical uses for Hawkbill blades I think we could easily see a huge spike in sales for all Hawkbill blades and Spyderco definitely makes the best.

BOTTOM LINE>> It would truly be a wish come true if we can get a G-10 Harpy in SE & PE
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi JD,

The tooling is in Seki.

Hey Darby,

We would also make some plain edges, at least one for you. :p

sal
Click to expand...

Terrific! I have a BBS PE Lil Matriarch and a USN PE Ladyhawk and really enjoy them both and carry them both often. A PE Harpy would be a very nice addition to my rotation. There really has been so much talk of so many great knives lately that the next year or so is gonna be awesome.
 
You are 100℅ right JD. I apologize if my statement made it seem as if Hawkbills are only for marine use. I just wanted to say that their biggest market comes from the marine industry. And plain edge hawkbills are very nice. I own a Japanese SS handle PE Harpy in VG-10 myself. I just got too carried away thinking about H1 harpies. I mean c'mon ! Serrated H1 is like a mini chainsaw.
 
I would LOVE to see a Sprint Harpy in any flavor they can cook up. PE would be really cool to have an actual (attainable) variant in other than the Japanese-market ones.
 
I'd be all over this sprint run! Always liked the harpy and a fan of G-10! Any steel, any color, I'm in! Definitely +1 on the plain edge too.
 
I vote for a burnt bronze or urban grey G10 with a black ceracoted fully serrated blade. That would be glorious. Tip up carry, with the Wave.
 
carbonsteelfan said:
You are 100℅ right JD. I apologize if my statement made it seem as if Hawkbills are only for marine use. I just wanted to say that their biggest market comes from the marine industry. And plain edge hawkbills are very nice. I own a Japanese SS handle PE Harpy in VG-10 myself. I just got too carried away thinking about H1 harpies. I mean c'mon ! Serrated H1 is like a mini chainsaw.
Click to expand...

No apology necessary at all and that's not at all what I was trying to get across>> I'm just saying that the great usefullness of the Harpy and other Hawkbills simply isn't limited to Marine Use. Actually the point I was trying to make is that Marine Usage is only one of many practical uses that the Harpy is good for. And I'm seeing more and more on threads regarding Spyderco's Hawkbills that many people are reporting great results using the Harpy and Spyderhawk both as gardening and landscaping tools>> which to some degree surprises me at a little.

The Harpy truly is a universally ideal sized Hawkbill even though I also dearly love the SPYDERHAWK as well. And on another Forum I'm on they are giving a lot of praise to the LadyHawk ( Spyderco's Ladybug Hawkbill) which has my head spinning. I"ve never taken any of the Ladybug sized Spyders seriously at all but it seems like I'm lagging behind because the smaller Hawkbill models are trutly gaining a lot of popularity here of late. Great Thread "CarbonSteelFan!!
 
If you own both the SE and PE of any hawkbill style knife, which one gets the most use? And what percentage use does each get if you care to narrow it down that much?
 
I own both a serrated and Plain edge Harpy. The serrated one is a G-10 ATS-55 Model. The plain edge is a VG-10 stainless steel model. The SE is the one that sees actual use. The PE Harpy doesn't see any serious use , except maybe as an occasional pizza cutter.
 
DougC-3 said:
If you own both the SE and PE of any hawkbill style knife, which one gets the most use? And what percentage use does each get if you care to narrow it down that much?
Click to expand...

Oh without any doubt the Spyderedged ( serrated) version of any of my Spyderco Hawkbill blades gets at least 80 to 90% more usage than any plain edged Hawkbill I've ever used. There is something about Hawkbill blades and serrations that seem to go well together. Especially with pull cutting which is what Hawkbills are noted for>> most pull cutting goes a lot better with a Spyderedged blade. Actually there are very few jobs I use PE Hawkbills for.

I do believe that Spyderco took the Hawkbill design coupled with Spyderedges and showed the world what a great cutting tool it is. Now there are jobs that can be done decently with PE hawkbills but most of those jobs can also be done well with a conventional designed PE blade with a slight belly.

I also have the same opinion with REverse S blades as well>> the serrated ones seem to have a lot more uses than the PE models do.
 
I have a serrated Harpy from the time when the pocket clip molded from the same material as the handle. I tend to not carry or use it anywhere I would have to clip it, since I don't want to break the clip off--I don't know how well the material aged and don't want to find out. I used to use it to deadhead my rosebushes until I got a PE Tasman salt. Maintaining a PE is so much easier than a SE that it was an easy call. The H1 steel seems to dull faster, but overall I spend less time sharpening, and I don't have to worry about getting the gunk off from the plant or the ammonia/baby soap solution on it. Modern Spydies have the lanyard hole too, and a short loop of shock cord makes a ring that holds its shape; I stick my pinky through it, so I can drop the knife to use the hand and just flip it back into position when finished. Maybe there are better ways to do it, but I will trim the roses far more often if I am having fun at the same time.
 
BitingSarcasm said:
I have a serrated Harpy from the time when the pocket clip molded from the same material as the handle. I tend to not carry or use it anywhere I would have to clip it, since I don't want to break the clip off--I don't know how well the material aged and don't want to find out. I used to use it to deadhead my rosebushes until I got a PE Tasman salt. Maintaining a PE is so much easier than a SE that it was an easy call. The H1 steel seems to dull faster, but overall I spend less time sharpening, and I don't have to worry about getting the gunk off from the plant or the ammonia/baby soap solution on it.
Click to expand...

As far as getting off residue you get from cutting plants with Spyderco Hawkbills, or any knife for that matter; simply just use some 91% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol and it will cut through about 90% of any plant residue. If you get something tougher than that to remove then just use some Mineral Spirits ( paint thinner) and that should remove anything else. I've never failed to clean any of my Spyders that I've gotten any type of sap or plant residue with just 91% rubbing alcohol.

It's funny that H-1 plain edged blades need to be sharpened more whereas the H-1 Spyderedged blades seem to hold up better than just about any steel they have ever used on their blades. I'm hoping to see some Spyderco Hawkbills with a newer/better blade steel soon. As much as I like VG-10 I think it's high time for them to do some Hawkbills in something else. As far as handle material I do think that G-10 would make a superb handle material I wouldn't be opposed to them using CF, Micarta or even titanium. I don't know exactly why the G-10 Harpy didn't do well the first go around on the sales charts but now that there are many more fans of G-10 handles I do believe it will do well this next time.
 
singularity35 said:
Hannibal Lecter didn't buy enough of them...
Click to expand...

loved and wanted a harpy ever since. was too poor as as student to get any when the chances of getting one was still decent. now i haunt ebay looking at the serrated ones sadly. got in contact with a japanese site yesterday that might have one for me in ss. need plain edge harpy :( for now all i have is the serrated harpy in ss and a tasman salt coming. hopefully this japan site pulls thru. any one ever dealt with OHYASU-YA?
 
Last edited:
Well if we indeed do see the G-10 Harpy come back as a Sprint Run that would be fantastic. But please Spyderco do the G-10 Harpy in both PE & SE to accomodate all the good people here wanting them. If nothing else any Sprint Run folder or fixed blade of Spyderco's is always going to have collector appeal down the road at some point.

I do distinctly remember the Carbon Fiber Harpy Sprint they did back around 05 or 06 was done in both SE & PE and it was a great success>> try finding one of those if you don't believe me.

It only makes good sense that we need a Harpy with a grippy handle. Now that people know more about the Hawkbill models in the past 5 to 6 years I wouldn't be surprised if Spyderco ended up putting the G-10 Harpy back in the main line up.
 
JD Spydo said:
Well if we indeed do see the G-10 Harpy come back as a Sprint Run that would be fantastic. But please Spyderco do the G-10 Harpy in both PE & SE to accomodate all the good people here wanting them. If nothing else any Sprint Run folder or fixed blade of Spyderco's is always going to have collector appeal down the road at some point.

I do distinctly remember the Carbon Fiber Harpy Sprint they did back around 05 or 06 was done in both SE & PE and it was a great success>> try finding one of those if you don't believe me.

It only makes good sense that we need a Harpy with a grippy handle. Now that people know more about the Hawkbill models in the past 5 to 6 years I wouldn't be surprised if Spyderco ended up putting the G-10 Harpy back in the main line up.
Click to expand...
I don't know anymore , JD. I've noticed a problem with my G-10 Harpy recently. Whenever , l close the knife , the tip gets blunted out somehow , by hitting the spacer. Haven't noticed that problem with the as model though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top