Lakota hawk history or version?

R

robwilliams

Joined
Jun 2, 2012
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So back in about 1989 my Dad wanted something called a Lakota Hawk. Me and Mom got him one. It sat in his dresser unused and I sharpened. Last year when he was in the hospital he gave me back that knife and 2 others.
I looked up what I could find of its history. I read they can say Seki, Moki, or 440. This says none of these. Most are shown with a sheath with a snap loop. This is a drop in. Does this make this an earlier version or later version or what? There is no stamp regarding the steel type just a patent number.


https://imgur.com/a/6fCqW6o

It is amazing, a brute meant to be used and I likely never will. Dad is quite ill and wanted me to have all the knives I gave him other than the ones he lost, and whatever I wanted so they didn’t get given to my cousins etc when he does pass. A bit premature I would say but I agreed to take them.
 
Here's hoping Dad rallies back and has good long go of it. Interesting knife. I mostly like the design, though not a choil guy, and the thumb ramp and some handle facets look way to sharp and pointy for my ergonomic druthers.
 
It appears to be an earlier version. I no longer have the fixed blade Hawk, but I still have a Lil Hawk folder that would be from the same time frame.

My Lil Hawk and the Lakota Phoenix pictured with it I believe are VG-10 steel and manufactured by Moki. They were really nice knives, solidly built and really good steel for the time. These two have held up great.
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Their "gimmick" so to speak was the ability to stand them blade edge down on the flat bolster and butt so you could pick them up easily when you needed to set them down. I'm not sure I ever used that feature on any of them, but the two pictured have field dressed way too many animals to count.
 
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beeinak said:
My father had a couple of them in the 80’s that he really liked and enjoyed being able to set them down as designed while cleaning deer. I seem to remember Seki.

Hang on to the knives as memories shared. Best wishes for you and your family.
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Yeah, some are marked Seki instead of Moki. I think when they switched to the Seki markings they changed the sheaths slightly and had a black wood handle along with some of the leftover cocobola scales. I think they change the name of the folding Lil Hawk to Pro Hawk at some point when Seki produced them and I think some were made in AUS 8. After that I lost track until the cheaper zytel and diamondwood versions in 440 started popping up.
 
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Thanks guys ! So far I am leaning towards the fact it is a very very early edition. Still no clue on the steel composition though which is frustrating.
I thought it was ugly, I dislike finger chocks. I didn’t understand the shape of the spine……. THEN I held it! The clouds cleared and the sun came out and there was clarity then and there! It was like some of the really ugly shapes Spyderco has made I turns my nose up at right until I picked one up and was amazed at the utilitarian aspect. Built to work!

This Lakota will power through whatever in a hammer grip, slice without wandering and pierce incredibly with the thumb coil, or dress a squirrel or small trout like an exacta with the finger choil. I will likely never use it and get rid of it some time, but I am curious as to what it’s made of etc.
 
According to this catalog page the Lakota model 270 "Hawk" was made of "8-A high carbon stainless steel", which I assume is AUS8. I don't know where the knives in this catalog were made or if they used other steels at other times.

There is a Facebook page for Lakota knives (and others) called "Lakota & Condor Knives by Hoffman". According to that FB page Lakota knives were designed by a man named Phillip W. Hoffman.

A closer pic provided.

Ot5qGIS.jpg

LlrdcWi.jpg
 
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killgar said:
According to this catalog page the Lakota model 270 "Hawk" was made of "8-A high carbon stainless steel", which I assume is AUS8. I don't know where the knives in this catalog were made or if they used other steels at other times.

There is a Facebook page for Lakota knives (and others) called "Lakota & Condor Knives by Hoffman". According to that FB page Lakota knives were designed by a man named Phillip W. Hoffman.

A closer pic provided.

Ot5qGIS.jpg

LlrdcWi.jpg
Click to expand...
Thank you! I think you answered the steel issue. Probably this is their “8A” steel and later on they went with 440 stainless and changed the sheath. I likely have an early version. I see they had synthetic handles later and different woods. This is definitely the mahogany version. I think it’s kind of neat to have an early one.
 
Maybe someone can tell me what I have here. Its Lakota Falcon but with no makers mark on one side, generally they are marked Moki or on of the other makers. The scales apper to made of maybe black dymondwood? My guess is its a post Hoffman lakota, probably made by blackjack? I did spend sometime cleaning it up and the I would say the build quality is so-so. Any opinions? It seems unlikely that someone would fake a Falcon due to the odd nature of the design.Falcon2.JPEGfalcon1.JPEG
 
I wanted one of those, a long time ago.

My Buck 121 and 301 said 'No!'

My Dad agreed.

Still think those knives look great!
 
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