Ive often thought about what makes an expensive knife worth it’s value.
Like I don’t know what Chris Reeves wife’s bulk price for S35vn costs.
Or how excited you were to travel to Europe to buy a Lathe, so now your knives cost even
more bro!
Which then begats the old sale thread…
This was my grail knife and that’s why it pains me to sell it, in unused condition.
The pig carcasses in thousands used to make your internet videos.
What percentage of their Made in USA knives are outsourced to China.
Or what profit margin is acceptable to retain a team of lawyers to keep internet reviewers
in check.
Like I really don’t know and I have spent too much much of my not valuable time thinking
about it.
But what I do know- is everyone has a thing they have a hard time justifying the price
to those people not into that thing.
For me the Hawk Knives MUDD auto is one of those things.
It’s like buying a luxury car, you don’t pay necessarily for more reliability, or durability-
but more for being in an exclusive club of assholes that like to show everyone else how
they like slightly nicer things than everyone else.
But let’s look at the dimensions like the overall length and weight.
So what made you sell your grail knife, you bought 2 months ago?
Blade length and cutting edge.
Sir Meows-A-Lot tested positive for PCP again, need funds fast to send to cat rehab.
Price firm.
Handle size and grip area.
Turns out you can get a fungal infection from sharing yak hair cod pieces.
Need to see a specialist immediately.
Trades welcome.
Spine thickness and handle thickness and behind the edge.
Did you finally learn a material object just couldn’t fill that hole, and you’ve donated
all your possessions to charity.
Tallnesses.
I said “fill that hole.
Huh huh.”
The Hawk Mudd not only looks cool but it’s a fairly unique auto.
The whole idea behind it is to have a completely sealed action which is the pivot, lock, and
switch mechanism so it can’t get gunked up, and then to charge you $390 for it.
The MUDDs parts are made in the USA by a company called Millit and Gavin and Grant Hawk’s
small team assemble the knives and QC each one.
It worked on me, but let’s look at the blade first.
The blade is made from a stone washed 20CV blade steel in what looks like a slight hollow
grind.
20CV is considered, by knife experts who use and don’t use their knives alike to be a
premium steel.
20CV has a high corrosion resistance, excellent edge retention- but is kind of hard to sharpen.
It’s similar in composition to M390.
In case you’re wondering I have not had to sharpen this one yet.
The blade is a good every day carry size, with a little over 3 inch cutting edge.
Although I do have lighter knives with longer cutting edges, I am willing to break my under
4 ounce rule for this one.
AND NOT BECAUSE I FEEL GUILTY ABOUT THE PRICE OK?
Deployment and lockup.
It’s an auto and because the world is unfair and cruel, it is not legal to possess on or
in your body in a lot of areas.
The action is handled by a switch on the side that slides.
Slide back to deploy.
Deployment is quick and consistent, and not quite as obnoxiously loud as an out the front
automatic, like say a Benchmade Pagan.
The blade has never failed to lock on deployment, as should be expected with a nearly $400 knife.
I had a Kershaw launch 4 or 5 auto once, and it locked up maybe 7 out of 10 times.
The draw back to a single action auto is they’re not as easy to close one handed as say something
cool and snappy like a knife with an axis lock, or compression lock.
And truth be told if you can’t deploy an axis lock as quickly and consistently as an
auto, you suck and should really think about starting a Youtube channel.
I can close it one handed, just fine- pull back on the lock with my thumb and ease the
blade close with my pointer finger… there’s resistance of course, but I’ve been working
out.
One of the things that might not be appreciated as much is the attention to the small details-
however us knife fondlers will instantly pick up on it.
Take for example this Reate made orca, which is about a $350 knife.
When caressing it down you’ll notice some edgy uncomfortable areas that haven’t been
knocked down, chamfered or tumbled- and you might furrow your brow.
The Mudd, has none of these areas.
Close inspection of the MUDD shows you have literally no life or friends but also there’s
many bevels and tumbled areas, that give the knife a pleasant hand, body cavity, and mouth
feel.
The areas of texture like the G10 scales, and the button and blade spine jimping, give
traction where it’s needed, and not vulgar sharp parts.
Simpler constructed knives like the spyderco para military 2 also have a good hand feel…
but in my opinion car payment knives shouldn’t have these issues.
This all translates into a comfortable to hold handle and it’s slightly unusual shape
is bearable because of those considerations.
Since the handle slightly sacrifices ergonomics for it’s design, it might not work for larger
more tactical hands.
The liners are lightweight aluminum and the scales are G10… it comes in a few different
color options but this and the carbon fiber are my two favorite, uhh… can we say color
ways?
Is this a shoe review?
The pocket clip.
It’s deep carry and great.
It isn’t edgy- again it’s been tumbled, and it’s swappable to the right or left
side.
I’m sure the pocket clip perfectionists out there might have some words with it- but
for my tastes it’s about perfect.
It’s functional and most importantly it blends in well with the blade and handle.
The springiness is on point, not to hard on the pocket and easy to slide in and out slowly
and creepily.
Comparisons.
First the Mudd.
It’s hard to say exactly why I like the MUDD, but most of all it’s just a good looking
knife to me.
Hawk Knives has been refining this knife’s design for years… slimming it down making
it lighter, and cheaper- and it shows.
A lot has to be said for a company making a few things- and making them well.
Here’s an old AK-47 from Boker.
A subscriber gave this to me sometime back, and I’ve had every intention of reviewing
it, but just haven’t yet.
Good cheap auto.
Remember autos really aren’t my thing usually.
They have to be really pretty for me to like.
The AK ain’t pretty to me at least, but maybe it is to you.
Now the Orca.
I plan on reviewing this soon, but here it is now.
This is a pretty good knife, kinda weighs about the same as the Mudd.
I dunno though the lock disengagement could be better, I get my finger pinched between
the scales and liner.
Like not enough to hurt, but enough for it to very mildly bug me and then whine about
it on the internet.
Now the Cold Steel broken skull.
This knife might make a lot more sense for people, people who use their knives.
The styling isn’t my favorite, but it’s very lightweight and has a big ass wrestler
endorsed blade.
Then there’s the Double Action Benchmade Pagan.
Dual action means it can be opened manually, but a double action auto means that the switch
opens and closes the knife- like this OTF (out the front) auto.
Ok wrapping it up.
No one can make you like or dislike a knife- unless of course they’re holding that knife
to your throat.
However you’ve been training for this by taking your tactical classes, so you should
be able to take him.
Automatic knives despite what you’ve been told aren’t any more dangerous or scary
or even really deploy faster than a good modern knife with a fast deploying blade.
I can deploy the Spyderco Para Military 2 or Benchmade Fact just as quickly, and close
them easier.
However I am drinking the Koolaid here.
Hawk is a small company, takes care in designing their knives, and I kinda buy into to the
small company scarcity thing… where you have to sign up for a list and be quick to
buy them.
Looks like you won’t be able to get this knife at least again until 2020- because Hawk
is focused on producing the Deadlock.
Which costs over $1000 depending on the options.
I don’t like all of Hawks designs, but the Orbit, the Mudd, and Deadlock are all pretty
awesome.
The MUDD has quickly become one of my favorite knives- although sometimes I wish I got the
carbon fiber scales.
Anyway, if you like this sort of review please follow me on Instagram.
I have been posting more regularly over there than here lately.
Just haven’t had a quiet Saturday or Sunday to record my voiceovers the past few weeks.
I promise I’m not going anywhere.
Just signed a lease on a house with a backyard so look for my fixed blade whack offs to resume
in a month or two.
Donate to my Patreon a few bucks a month, because it helps me afford knives to buy to
review- and stay sponsorship free- outside of the occasional manufacturer donated knife.
Like subscribe and comment, thanks for watching.