Are Hawkbills versatile ?

How versatile are hawkbill knives? Do they make decent self defense knives? Or are they just a knife for cutting cord & rope ect. Are they useful for anything else? Would you use one for S.D.?

That's why this was posted here. I to would use a firearm instead of a knife. Firearms cannot be carried someplaces knives can. I was woundering what others thought of this style of knife. As the increased interest in them shows. I.E.the Krimbits, Spyderco Hawkbills ect.

I agree! A knife subforum would be nice as they predominant this one. There are so many S.D.items & styles out there. But Gun &Knives seem to be the top 2 items discussed. I agree with your point about stabbing. That is why I asked this question. These knives seem to be becomeing more popular. I am certainly seeing more of them. The Krimbits for one & the Spyderco matriarch 2, civilian ect. Are they a serious knife for what they are S.D.? Or just a fad.

A friend who was a army Ranger & I decided to try some experiments with some hawkbill knives. We used a cardboard box about 4'long & about 12"×14" size. We both took turns We put our backs against the floor & the other person held the box. We used his Spyderco Tasman & a Spyderco Harpy . The object was to see if we could inflect a decent stab wound to the box! But only from the bottom or side! Also slashing wounds! Both of us were able to inflect stab wounds & slashing wounds. We found that as you stabbed into the box, that by rotating your hand as you thrust into the box, we could produce some significant stab wounds! Slashing was also possible & effective. This was by no means a scientific test. But it is interesting & something I will be testing more about. I do think other designs work much better & willnot depend on one for S.D.! That Mayerco looks like it would work.

I decided to try Spyderco's BYRD line. I know most here believe the hawkbill knives to be just a line cutting tool & not for SD. I am seeing a trend to use them as SD knives. I picked up a BYRD CROSSBILL HAWKBILL KNIFE
It had to be ordered so I should have it by next week & will let you know about it. If I can get someone who knows how to add pictures to my post I will do so.

I have a old Case linoleum Hawkbill that was my dad's. It was the first one I had ever seen. Dad always kept it sharp & said it would cut someone up bad if you used it for S.D.! He never used it for that reason or carried it.

Thanks for that link Fred! I was looking at some knife pictures online the other night and saw a picture of about 16 knives & saw something that looked alot like those talons. But none were marked. Now I know what they were. That was a great article along with a pretty cool knife! I also saw some BYRD knives that had been modified by people to work in the same manner! I will look around for a copy of that Talon though!

I received my Byrd CROSSBILL knife today! What a deal! It is bigger than the spyderco HARPY. It looks & feels good, & is a good buy if you are looking for a knife like this. This one has the metal handles,but the next one will have the FRN handle. BYRD makes the PELICAN & the FLIGHT also. One is a sheepsfoot & the other looks like the ENDRA. I like this brand as these are well made knives. I will agree that the last thing you wont to do is get into a knife fight! But people have used them for self protection long before firearms came along! And different people used different knife styles & different knife fighting styles . I think that whatever knife style you chose, you should be able to learn to use it for work or S.D.! Yes some knives are more versatile than others! But I do consider the hawkbill to be more versatile than I had thought! And with some of the new blades coming out, I would say I am not the only one! And at this price you can modify them to your own taste! Now if I can just locate one of those Kershaw TALONS w/ can opener!

Welcome to the conversation Mr.Bear. In my looking around on the internet & speaking to other knife collectors, I found that the Spyderco 'Civilian ' was made for undercover work &as a anti-mugging knife. The 'Matriarch' &'Matriarch 2' were made as cheaper & better models. The Kershaw 'Talons' shown in F.F.'s link about Southern Narc useing a knife with similar features, show that these knives were made for 'emergency fighting'! I have carried knives for this reason when I was a police officer in case I lost control of my wepon! We all carried a knife for that reason! Certainly some of the new knives are being made for that type of use. Not all of us are into knives or have knife fighting training! I was taught to end it quick & expect to get cut, because you have to get close! We carried the best knives we could afford & we concealed them! If these designs had been around I am sure some would have used this style. Even back then, everyone had their own style of fighting & knife. I carried a Buck folder on my belt & a 6"combat knife in a concealed pocket inside of my jacket. Or in my boot. Hidden buy my pants. I think all of us has seen different styles come & go. But this style seems to have potential! I learned we can always learn something new everyday!