[Pax Jordana]

For christmas, I asked my brother for an Opinel. He says, what kind? I says, surprise me!

Surprise me he did, with a no. 8 'hookbill' knife. Like, a roofing or linoleum knife.

Has anyone found these things to be especially useful anywhere besides roofing, linoleum, or roofing with linoleum? Being an opinel and a hookbill I wouldn't consider fighting or even most everyday utility with it. (EDIT: actually it'd be pretty handy for opening boxes with..)

Heck, maybe I'll try skinning with it.

[MatthewVanitas]

#8 Serpette, right?

I think they're also used for gardening. I gave one to my sister for Christmas for taking botany samples. Small world.

-MV

[mp510]

The Opinel is often marketed for gardening and mushroom gathering. Ontario makes a line of knives with hawkbills that include some kitchen knives IIRC.

[tellner]

Good for mushrooms. Good for cutting stalks and stems. Decent for grafting.

[JTW Jr.]

opening cans of Copenhagen... ;)

[wooderson]

Waaaaay too nice to even think about roofing or linoleum. That's what 50 packs of dispoable blades are for.

(For one thing, with that blade you couldn't get enough leverage to cut a shingle without the potential for serious self-harm.)

[carpediem]

It has a hooked "hawkbill"-like blade, correct?

Hawkbills cut pliable things, esp. ropes/cords/etc. really well.

On a fictional note, Thomas Harris has conjured up more pernicious uses. :evil:

[hso]

As has been pointed out the Op that you were given is intended for gardening, e.g. grafting.

[Sistema1927]

I wouldn't automatically dismiss the hookbill as a weapon.

I heard of one case where a person walked into a bar, spun another fellow around in his bar stool, and then carved a perfect "X" across his chest. The victim fell DRT. Unfortunately, the attacker mistook the identity of his target and killed an innocent party. (From what I heard, the attacker was trying to avenge some assault on a family member.)

I guess that if you cut enough blood vessels you don't have to worry about penetration.

[hso]

"hawkbill" knives have been used as weapons for years and proven to be very effective at biting in and ripping out leaving a pile of "blue worms" for the defender to concentrate on.

[Pax Jordana]

Yes, no. 8 serpette. Sorry, I don't speak french, I didn't know how much of all the stuff on the package to include :o


So, I've never gardened before but I will have use for it in pruning.. does one simply make a draw stroke, or perhaps start on the far side and use the curve to work 'round what's being pruned??


Oh, and thanks all for knowledgeable answers, as per usual :D

[p35]

My EDC, more and more these days, is a Camillus hawkbill. Just feels right somehow and does what I need it to do.

I don't see how you could stab with it- might be good for slashing but that gives up about half the possible ways to use a knife for defense in my ignorant opinion.

[shecky]

The hawkbill is a surprisingly practical EDC knife. I find they allow for fine cutting control and natural slicing motion, where the knife is drawn in the direction of the cut rather than pushed. The only thing I can think of right now where they are not suited would be dicing vegetables.

I know nothing about it's use in SD, but I sure wouldn't want to be sliced by one.

I occasionally carry a Dalton Pocket Hawk clone or a old Imperial Hawkbill slipjoint. They seem to have performed quite well for my needs.

[rtl]

I used one of those once to trim a horse hoof for an unplanned reset in the mountains, still keep one in the saddle bag should I ever need to do that again. Imagine it would work better than harsh words and an evergreen switch for SD.

[MatthewVanitas]

This brings up the alternate question:

"What were you planning to do with the standard #8 that you can't do with the Serpette #8?"


-MV

[vynx]

I used one (differnt brand) for opening boxes of clay pigeons when I worked at Fox's Trap and Tap 35 years ago - the hawkbill shape was great for slicing boxes open.

[Caimlas]

This is going to sound weird, but I like them for cutting meat up. I'ts much easier to tack the knife blade into the cutting board, and take a sizeable cut of meat and drag it through the blade (one hand on each) than it is to wiggle a knife through a cut (provided they're both sharp. Alternatively, you can drag it through the cut.

I would NOT want to be in a knife fight with one; I imagine it'd leave a huge nasty gash, the likes of which would bleed you out quickly.

[Skofnung]

This is going to sound weird, but I like them for cutting meat up. I'ts much easier to tack the knife blade into the cutting board, and take a sizeable cut of meat and drag it through the blade (one hand on each) than it is to wiggle a knife through a cut (provided they're both sharp. Alternatively, you can drag it through the cut.


That sounds like a great idea!

I've been thinking about making a kerambit out of one.

[Kimber1911_06238]

opening tins of Cope and cutting sod

[p35]

"Fox's Trap and Tap"? A combination range and tavern? Sounds like a great idea, although I doubt it would fly today.

[lawson]

great for cutting wire, cable, rope, plant stems, etc. i have a Case Electrician's Knife that gets a lot of use.

[proud2deviate]

I used to EDC a Spyderco Harpy. Great little knife; about the only thing it didn't do too well was open envelopes. Nowadays it mostly gets used to peel pomegranets.

Hawkbills are great; as they say, just sink the tip and let her rip. . .