new hissatsu just a puff piece?

bladefan

bladefan

Joined
Dec 14, 2000
Messages
324
Is the new hissatsu from crkt just a puff piece? can this knife actually be used for what it is intended based on the given specs? aus-6 in particular, I remember reading lots of "bad press" when the design first came out, any opinions on how this one might do?
 
Well, yeah!
If I am not mistaken it was talked about in this here forums many moons ago.
And the post attracted negative comments about the way it was marketed.
But, you know what! I am certain its partly, if not because, that it was EXPENSIVE for a made in Taiwan blade.
The one reason it didn't have a huge following.

But now that CRKT is in the picture
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?postid=2237206
Things could change for the better.
And I for one, am all for one.

Meanwhile as we await the second coming
what say you we do a little reading
http://www.dojoofthefourwinds.com/hissatsu.html
on this very cool blade.


Krizzard, out

"...Whoever kills with the sword must be killed by the sword... "
- The New Testament, Revelation 13:10
 
The first one was too expensive, IMO. Cool concept, flopped at the price. This was "Ancient Edge"/Bugei doing those IIRC. This is CRKT, cheaper price, CRKT does have good quality. As for the steel, some points to consider:
Some of the most lethal knives in the world are made from tooth-brushes and/or any other materials that convicts can beg/borrow/steal and then rub on cement until they make 'em pointy. Needless to say, crucible particle metalurgy isnt part of the process of making a Reach.
I get the impression, looking at the blade, having read the article when it came out a few years ago (its what got me to seriously think about edged weapons combatives, actually), that its a stabber more than a slasher - if it isnt, it should be, thats what the design says, and thats what a "fighting knife" merits IMO, something that can stabg ood, hit vitals, get business over quick.
Soo - lets consider prison shanks, lets consider than long before steel we had chipped glass (obsidian is a glass) and stone, and then we had soft metals like bronze, lots of people got killed by those. Lots of people have been killed by prison shanks, ice picks, screw drivers, etc. Obviously these arent made out of your premium steels, some arent even steel - and those that are definately arent AUS-6 in quality.

Its not S30V, nooo, its not even ATS-34, nooo. But! Its pointy, it can be made very sharp, this isnt a knife for cutting boxes - leave it very sharp, and pointy, dont go digging with it - it will be fine.
People perforators do not need to have the best steel in the world. Yes we can all be fussy over it, and shun anything thats not CPMthis or that, but reality says - its pointy, it can kill ya. If it can kill ya, it can kill him. 'Nuff said. :D
 
Krizzard,

I am not sure if the original Hissatsu was made in Taiwan. The first 100 were hand ground by Bob Engnath. One of those would be a special piece in any collection for sure. The Hissatsu suffered in my opinion because it was priced too high for a production piece, their ads had cool pics but BS machismo text, the sheath had problems with its clip/attachment piece, and their interaction here was promotional, but uninformative. I also don't know why they advertised regularly in Knives Illustrated, while I don't recall any adds in Tactical Knives!

Well, enter the CRKT version. No doubt it will have a serviceable sheath, but one that should be replaced by good custom kydex work. The blade is designed for fast draw and use, so a nice pouch style kydex sheath would kick butt. THe hissatsu was designed to have a textured handle with an hourglass-like shape, 2 great retention properties. The butt of the knife looks to be well designed for capping a thumb over it too. AUS-6 isn't anything to get super excited about, but as stated, this is more than adequate for a tac blade! S30V would be my preference, but AUS-6 will work. This knife is designed for combat, and isn't intended to be a wood splitter or warehouse cardboard cutter. However, the design of the blade will lend itself to being a nice light utility piece. By far though, folks will be getting a great martial design at a much better price than the original. If you want a "hissatsu" in better steel, you can always get a custom! James Williams (designer, and the guy behind Bugei Trading Co.) has called this design an Osoraku Zukuri tanto. I think that this is misnamed, as an article I have by Bob Engnath would call the Hissatsu a different name because of its spine. A 2/3 tip with curved spine is an Osoraku Zukuri, while a 2/3 tip with straight spine is another name. I'll dig that magazine out later and post.

The real sad news is that this knife won't be out until January!
 
The reason why the original had so much bad press was because of the marketing. They were say stuff like the cutting index of this knife is off the charts. When asked about what they were talking about...well they didn't really know either. Imitation ray skin was also something they actually bragged about. I'm pretty sure they had made many spec ops references too, but I can't remember for sure. It was as if TRS was doing the marketing for the Hissatsu. :)

Will the CRKT Hissatsu be puff piece? If you decided to take only that knife with you into the jungle for a week, the answer would probably be yes. However, if confronted by a BG (bad guy) on a dimly lit street, the answer would probably be no.
 
I can't wait to see this new CRKT Hissatsu. Based on the specs, it looks to be promising, however, I hope the Zytel sheath won't be a disappointment. As far as the steel goes, I have no problems whatsoever about the use of AUS-6 on inexpensive knives. To be honest, it works just fine for me. Every knife that is used will eventually need to be sharpened, so the advantage with CRKT knives is that they're not difficult to sharpen and they are very affordable. Besides, if you carry a purely defensive knive like the Hissatsu, who cares if it's AUS6?
 
Originally posted by bladefan
Is the new hissatsu from crkt just a puff piece? can this knife actually be used for what it is intended based on the given specs? aus-6 in particular, I remember reading lots of "bad press" when the design first came out, any opinions on how this one might do?
Click to expand...

For a "pure" fighter, you can make the argument that a blade steel that is incredibly wear resistant isn't the most important thing in the world. A defense situation shouldn't be the same as 2000 cuts of manila rope, right? Still, you want the steel strong enough that it won't bend if torqued, and the edge won't turn. And tough and ductile enough that it doesn't break, edge doesn't rip off, etc.

So if wear resistance isn't that important, and 6A is tough enough, then 6A's only shortcoming is that it isn't the strongest steel in the world, but the blade spine is plenty thick to help make up for that (edge turning ends up the only slight worry). Overall, I think the steel choice is fine. For me, much more worrisome is the shape of the handle considering the intended use, including (presumeably) thrusting.

Joe
 
I think Aus-6 works just fine in SD blades and CRKT's fit and finish are very good, so I don't think that you need to worry about it's sturdiness (compared to the custom version anyway).

I don't seem to be able to grasp why people think that this design is so special. To me, it simply doesn't look very practical, the lack of a guard (any type of guard!) is the main problem IMO.
I've read the article and stating that a guard is superfluous and might even be in the way under CQC circumstances (as opposed to fencing) is just a ridiculous statement IMO.

A well-designed regular hilt is not supposed to be a "blade catcher" (it might be used as one but that's not its main purpose) - maybe it was a few centuries ago, but today it ain't.
A guard keeps your fingers from slipping into the blade when the tip encounters a hard impact. Slicing your own finger tendons, especially those of your strong hand, is not exactly what I would call a smart move. It will turn the situation FUBAR and preventing such a disaster is paramount IMO - therefore the relatively small risk of having a secure, yet compact hilt snag on your opponent's clothes (or your own while drawing the knife) is worth taking.


Just my $0.02.
 
I know that the lack of a guard will be an issue for some (many?). I believe that part of the reason the Hissatsu is a guardless design is because the way James Williams advocates it be carried in conjunction with a tactical vest. It is to be carried centre chest, so it can be grabbed with either hand. The worry is that a guard could catch on other gear, so the handle has the texturing and is "wasp waisted". I don't want to discredit this outright, as there are plenty of Japanese blades without guards that were used in combat. Time and testing will tell though whether the guard is neccessary on this knife. At any rate, a custom maker could make a similar knife with a wider handle front, or with a true guard if one wanted.
 
thanks for the input, I really like the design, and looking forward to seeing the actual product.:)
 
Very puffy. Probably 90% of the knives out there could be used to stick somebody. Makes the Buck Nighthawk, the various CS 420hc fighters and the S&W HRTDR look like real bargains - which they are. The original CRKT fighters - the Sealtac series were a much more effective design. If they could offer that blade in 8A or 440C like S&W with a slightly modified / improved handle (kraton - swells - fingergrooves - anything would represent an improvement over the thin and slick zytel handles they used on these); that would be a knife worth owning.
 
since there are and continue to be many guardless knifes made for thousands of years. The hardened gold dagger buried with King Tut was a wasp-waisted and guardless affair, as were stone age knives.

The SOG Pentagon with kraton handles and guardless design has been employed for two decades, still selling fine.
I do find my guardless knifes are less apt to catching on clothes if you wear the blade under shirt or jacket.
 
Hmmmm... John Greco's Whisper C.T. is a "pure" fighter. Right now it costs around what the hissatu will, it stabs like crazy, and, having used it for camping, it cuts manila rope just fine. While the intent of the hissatu might have been innovative (and it isn't, really - stilletoes have been made before), it looks like a puff piece to me. Just my 2 cents.
 
The Hissatsu and Corkum First Strike are results of both makers, James Williams and Steve Corkum being inspired by the ancient sword craft of Japan, while adding their own modern innovations providing CRKT with two impressive knives. It is easy to recognize the elements of ancient Japanese influence in both blades by site but in handling them one can feel their modern adaptations.
The Hissatsu is a result of James Williams’s combination of both his extensive back ground in martial arts and a design made famous by the legendary samurai warlord Takeda Shingen to produce a functional tactical knife for Close Quarters Battle (CQB). Intended for trained law enforcement groups and military tactical teams, the Hissatsu is designed as a back up weapon for when the use of firearms is no longer practical.. The blade is a dual grind Tanto blade made of AUS 6M steel with a polished satin finish. The handle is twin fused, double injection molded with a high impact polypropylene core with a non slip Kraton surface, giving the appearance of a traditional Japanese pattered ray skin handle. The handle itself holds comfortably and securely in either forward or reverse grip postures for aggressive thrusting maneuvers or slashing. Stealth like aggressiveness are the words that come to mind while describing the tip of the Hissatsu’s providing the blade with enormous penetrating power. As well the overall dual grind edge is certainly not lacking in slashing capability.
An interesting feature is the decorative design on the handle called the Oyatsubo. The Obyatsu (emperor node) on the Omote (outside/public side of the knife) is not merely decorative it aids the wielder in being aware of the posturing of the cutting edge in any type of situation by feeling its position in their hand.
Overall slim design of the Hissatsu combined with the molded black Zytel sheath and multi position G-clip make for an easy versatile carry of this knife. The knife measures12.12 inches overall with a cutting edge of 6.62inches.
While handling the Hissatsu one gets a feel of its overall aggressive nature and the ancient influences behind its designs.
 
I ordered a Hissatsu from www.knifeworks.com and a guy called me and told me that it was out of stock. He did offer a black blade model of the Hissatsu that CRKT had sent him for a sample for the same price. I always thought the polished blade Hissatsu's were good looking knives but a darkened blade model might just be an improvement considering it's true intended purpose.
 
I know the guy who designed the hissatsu, and, from testimony of soldiers stationed in Iraq, it is definitely VERY usable. It isn't a good utility blade, in fact, it downright sucks for utility, but it's not made for utility - it's made for poking and cutting people. If you need to poke and cut people, buy one. Otherwise, look elsewhere.
 
I think it is well known that the utility the Hissatsu is designed for is killing. I knives for skinning, chopping, triming my nails ect. Just another blade for the collection.
 
RiddleofSteel,
do you have any more info on the black-blade version of this knife? Any pics maybe? I wonder if it will be available as an option soon.

Thanks,
George
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top