Gil Hibben designed United Cutlery Knives - are they good or bad?

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Knifelvr97

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Aug 18, 2020
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Hi folks, I recently discovered two knives that I think have a cool design: the Gil Hibben Legacy Bowie and the Magnum Bowie. But I wonder if these blades are only display pieces or if they can really hold up to some serious tasks? Do you have any experience with 7Cr17 and 3Cr13 steel?
Thanks and have a good one;)
 
Man, 12 yr old me would be excited beyond belief to get either of those pieces! I had an entire wall of Gil Hibben United Cutlery knives as a kid (with both Mortal Combat movie blades haha). But......the wall is where all of those knives have stayed ;) The steel is serviceable but I don't think I would trust the construction to hold up to anything beyond gravity.
 
ArchVV said:
Man, 12 yr old me would be excited beyond belief to get either of those pieces! I had an entire wall of Gil Hibben United Cutlery knives as a kid (with both Mortal Combat movie blades haha). But......the wall is where all of those knives have stayed ;) The steel is serviceable but I don't think I would trust the construction to hold up to anything beyond gravity.
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Well that's a good question if they are solid enough or not. The two bowies seem to be full tang, which is a good thing but i have never heard of them being serious blades that's why I ask. I mean they look good, but do they perform well too?
 
I would opine that the above mentioned steels are just about avg. or below avg. as to how they perform. That being said if you can find an older issued or I should say the original Alaskan Hunter designed by Hibben and made/distributed by UC grab one. They are 440c and superbly made. Like a fool I sold mine off years ago but without question they are very fine knives. stay safe
 
They're mostly fantasy display knives.

If used, you'd probably find they won't hold an edge. (Esp. the 3Cr...)

Give them a try and report back, it'll be fun!
 
certain many are skeptical and
frankly i would have never belived it;
but, it appears to be functional knifewise
to some extant for backyard adventures
 
The older Taiwanese knives weren't bad at their price points, and things like the karambits, and throwing knives were actually quite nice. I'd be real careful about any Chinese hidden tang models. I've seen bad fit on many of them, which doesn't give me hope for what's under the hood.

The older United gets a bad rap. They used Camillus as a subcontract for tons of stuff. They were also an early subcontracter of Eickhorn, Boker, Fox, and a few others. They also subcontracted to a decent number of respected Japanese makers too. The good stuff gets lost in the shuffle, but if you put in the time to learn who was making what, you can be pleasantly surprised sometimes.
 
Every time I hear cast part I assume pot metal (coated zinc cadmium).

n2s
 
They are basically wall hangers . They may cut well for your ultimate knife fight of your dreams? Save your money and buy a better knife. Unless you are 12y/0?
 
Like others, I did always want those fantasy knives. My neighbor got the SMKW catalog and I would drool. It wasn't until I was 17 that I bought my first knife, and it wasn't a fantasy knife. SOG Pentagon Elite on sale for $35 which was a good deal back in 1996. I was making $5 an hour part time. Hard to believe that was 24 years ago.

Buy what you want/like, but I wouldn't look at anything from United for dependability. There's a reason those knives are always displayed on a fancy stand in the catalogs (Or online).

Confession: I once owned the Klingon knife by United. I know, I know. It was at a flea market. I have no idea what happened to it. I've moved so many times.
 
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I agree with the "buy what you like" philosophy. Not to get sappy but, every knife purchase is a step in ones journey of discovery regarding ones taste in knives, ones need for knives, and ones judgement of quality.

In regards to "cheap" fixed-blades, I remember a thread on the subject a while ago, and one of the posters told the story of how he received a cheap fixed-blade from someone. He considered the knife to be total junk and decided that for fun he would take it out and torture it to the point of destruction. He beat the hell out of that cheap knife, did everything he could think of to break it, but the thing wouldn't break. Finally he stopped and said "Damn, this is actually a tough knife", and he decided to keep it as a user.

I myself have been surprised and impressed by cheap fixed-blades. I used to work construction, then owned my own contracting business, and I carried a fixed-blade on sites which I found very useful for a variety of tasks, especially inspecting old houses that I was going to renovate.

I started out carrying a $300 D2 steel semi-custom (Wilson Tactical 25) which I had been carrying for years, including at a previous shipping job, and I used that knife to cut a variety of construction related stuff, pry wood, hack into rotted beams, chop through ancient plaster, pry out old wall fixtures, etc, etc, and it worked great for these purposes. But then I decided I wanted to preserve that knife (we had been together a long time), and so I looked for something new, and cheaper, that would serve my needs.

I saw a knife pictured in a thread on this forum that appealed to me, a Master cutlery "Alpha Team" fixed-blade, found one on sale on Amazon for $8 (not a typo, 8 bucks), bought it, sharpened it up, and proceeded to put it to work. And to my surprise, despite being mystery steel, that cheap knife handled everything my $300 knife did without missing a step.

Sometimes cheap knives can surprise you.

In closing, I want to speak up in defense of United Cutlery, at least the United knife I own. A long time ago I bought a United boot knife, named "Under Cover" (model number UC26, long discontinued). I was looking for a tough, dependable boot knife with a thick blade (3/16") and strong tip. It was inexpensive, and I wanted to see what it could handle. With an icepick grip I pounded the tip of the blade 1/2" into a 2x12 several times, and each time pried it out side to side, I expected the tip to snap off, it didn't, nor did it bend in the slightest. Then I took the rubber handle off, laid the knife across two steel bars and pounded the center (where the blade meets the tang) with a one-hand sledge hammer, I expected the knife to break, it didn't, nor did it bend. I determined the knife was sufficiently tough, and I bought 3 more. This is not an endorsement of all United products, just my personal experience with one. That first knife is one of my most prized fixed-blades, and I carry it regularly when I go out at night on my own property.
 
If you are going to use the knife, I would avoid United Cutlery like others have said. If you want a display piece, go for it.

If you want a knife to use, let us know what your budget is and where you live (to help narrow down which website(s) you can order from) and we will offer some suggestions.
 
The United Cutlery stuff is not cheap. $70+ is a lot, when you consider that for just 3x that number you can get a nice well tested knife and a little more would buy you an entry level custom knife. As mentioned before the construction on this stuff is risky. I am not familiar with the knife that you are looking at, but the guard and pommel may well be pot metal; if so they, would be primarily zinc, which can oxidize and corrode, and can crack or shatter from minor impacts. The "full tang handle" can be something else as well, like a separate box handle built around a short tanged blade. These things were made for kids primarily as wall hangers. Some can be used, others will fall apart. Of the two that you mentioned, I would go with the legacy bowie. It would seem that fewer things can go wrong with that one.

n2s
 
GIRLYmann said:
certain many are skeptical and
frankly i would have never belived it;
but, it appears to be functional knifewise
to some extant for backyard adventures
Click to expand...

At 15:00 he says "This knife wants to be a wall banger, not a wall hanger!" as he is chopping soft wood in his loafers and shorts, lol.

My first United Cutlery Hibben knife is on the way, it's a Hibben Hurricane Blackout edition. I wasn't planning on getting one but it was offered for free with my order from Budk. It looks like a decent folder with ball bearings, some cnc machining, carbon fiber scale, and a 7cr17 blade.

I looked at some of their other knives and while alot of their stuff is still cheap fantasy blades, more than a few of their more expensive blades look good. They make a nice high polish karambit and their Legacy boot knife and Legacy Combat Fghter look nice and have great Amazon ratings. The Hibben I found the most interesting was the Legacy II Fighter Knife:

I wouldn't buy one for the going rate of $150+ but it's a cool knife to look at and actually seems like a fairly unique design. In one of the reviews I saw it was explained that most of Hibbens knives are not designed for all around use but for fighting primarily, and they are generally more than adequate for this purpose. I enjoyed reading about the history of Gil Hibbens, he's a martial arts master and also is President of the Knifemakers Guild:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knifemakers'_Guild

It's probably safe to say that Gil Hibbens knives have been the most viewed in the world considering how many movies they've been in. Meeting Sylvester Stallone and making a couple custom knives for him was the best thing that ever happened to his career. Here's an interview with him and his son:
 
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