For years knife makers have been upping their steel game with newer harder super steels.
Not because you need them, but so bloggers and Youtubers knifesplain why you need that
better steel via rope cutting and Rockwell hardness porn.
The upside is this seems to be the only way knife bros are putting the steels to work
that they pay for in their fancy knives.
(Crab wrangler voice) Hey man I’m a crab wrangler, and when I’m out on the rig and
I need to be able to rely on my Z-finite to cut, 3,000 yards of rope 22 hours a day, when
I’m out to sea for 8 months at a time For the next 22 years.
I don’t have all day to sharpen, I need to rassle them crabs.
Ok not everyone rassles crabs and needs extreme edge retention, so the knife makers are really
hitting the squiggles hard.
Instead of staring at your S45VN sprint run, you’re staring at the squiggles as you flip.
And that’s fine.
Maybe you see a message in them, and like a soft gentle worm in your ear it motivates
you do do things you wouldn’t normally do.
But we need new squiggles and swirls, or squirrels if you will, to make our knives real darn
pretty like the QSP hawk here.
Which finally has an affirmative answer to the question…
(creep voice)You know does the handle match the blade?
But before we go any further lets enhance some video with numbers and blue lines.
Like the overall length and weight.
So what’s your current favorite knife thing to overpay for?
Blade size and cutting edge.
Other than brand or the standard edge retention.
Handle size and grip area.
Are you a squiggly savant or a pivot bearing believer.
Spine thickness and handle thickness.
No less than three rows, all ceramic!
Tallnesses.
The weight enhancing properties of titanium over aluminum in your expensive letter opener.
I’m more of a zirc man myself!
The QSP hawk is a Chinese-made medium-ish sized folding knife.
A few months ago I reviewed the QSP woodpecker, which is a slightly larger titanium folder,
with probably the smoothest bearing system on any of my knives.
The blade can be closed with just a twist of the wrist, and no shakes.
The holy grail of the how many wiggles crowd.
Anyway so looking closer at the Hawks blade.
The blade is made from a Chinese Damascus steel.
I asked QSP what the steel is composed of, and they said it’s 9cr18MOV and VG10 layered
and laminated.
I know somewhere deep down you and I both wish it had a D2 layer.
One day we’ll get the CRs and the D2.
But for now we’ll have to endure the reply guys telling us why it’s a bad idea in the
comments.
The pattern on the blade matches the handle fairly well.
Has anyone else here noticed that I’ve never reviewed a Damascus bladed knife?
The patterns don’t usually do much for me, but that’s kinda my own thing.
Remember the important thing for knife addicts though is do you think it’s pretty, and
what would the resale be like.
I’m probably gonna do a giveaway of this knife on Instagram in a few weeks or less.
So that’s your notice to follow me there if you haven’t.
The knife was fairly sharp out of the box.
The Hawk is a flipper, but also with thumb studs.
The tab has jimping.
I am a jimpless tab bro, which is a guy who has tender finger meat and also wonders: how
can 1 calorie taste so good.
Easy the chemicals.
I think I’ve made the tab joke before.
Its the diet soda chemicals.
The tab and thumb studs are a little scratchier on the finger meat than I’d like, but the
strong detent and bearings give the deployment a nice pop.
Speaking of pop anyone else know a soft drink with 1 calorie, and flavor robust flavor?
The tab is a little easier to use for deployment than the studs, but not much.
There’s a tiny, but not insignificant bit of creakiness to the bearings, can we call
it bearing whine- without making me sound like a prick?
Anyway I improved it with some Nano Oil.
You could use knife pivot lube.
Lockup is nice.
Disengagement of the lock is less owie on your tender fingers than the tab
and studs.
Lockup covers about the 1st third of the tang.
You can give it a hard fling and get the blade to deploy by flinging it downward.
It’s not easy though and not a good way to deploy.
The handle is some sort of spiraled marbled carbon fiber that matches the blades Damascus
pattern.
One of the better integrated patterns I’ve seen.
The handle is smooth and underneath has polished stainless steel liners with no skeletonization.
Edges are knocked down, no owie areas other than the stud and tab textures.
The grip area is a little on the small side for my hands.
The pocket clip is stainless steel and slides in the pocket nicely, but it is a little tight.
It’s also a deep carry, and not reversible.
Blade backward tip up in the right pocket, which is fine for right handers.
Comparisons.
First the hawk.
I believe this knife runs about $100.
Fit and finish, and materials all suggest that’s a fair price per it’s fanciness.
Some people might be grossed out that it has stainless steel liners versus titanium, but
that would increase it’s price.
Even with stainless steel it keeps weight under my arbiritary 4 ounce mark, which I
break if I really like the knife.
Now the Woodpecker.
This knife costs about $80 more, and has a smoother pivot.
Not sure which one looks better to my eyes.
Fit and finish is on par.
Handles on both are very comfortable Now the Para Military 2.
This is about $140 knife now- pretty close to perfect as in- No owie ergonomic parts,
great fidget factor with a nice lock.
Nice looks, neutral generous grip area, and thin-ish in the pocket.
Ok let’s wrap it up.
The Hawk is a fine knife.
Don’t see any major issues with it.
Would like a slightly longer handle per my hand size and maybe a tab geometry or shape
that doesn’t need jimping.
Jimpless tabs are do-able if you get the geometry right.
The styling is kinda a personal preference- I’m not really into Damascus stuff, but
maybe you are.
I have the opinion that QSP, while a newer company makes some good budget, and some good
slightly nicer EDC pocket knives.
You won’t get a much lower price point for the materials they use vs other brands.
So I’d say it comes down to if the styling speaks to you.
Anyway say Hi to the patrons like, subscribe, comment, buy a t-shirt or don’t, follow
me on Instagram.
Thanks for watching.