Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 18,679
I guess I first really noticed Spartan Blades back at the beginning of 2009 when I saw their Ares model on the cover of Tactical Knives magazine and immediately became infatuated with it. I'm not a soldier, and couldn't really justify that kind of money on a field knife at the time, but man I sure liked that model a lot. A couple of years later, I learned I would be doing the tests and evaluation of a collaborative work between Spartan Blades and knife making legend Bill Harsey, the Spartan-Harsey Hunter. Having owned a few knives designed by Bill Harsey over the years, and having stared at knives on the Spartan Blades website more than once, I was pretty excited about this.
In the process of researching the steel used and the people involved, while I awaited the arrival of the knife, I learned as much as I could about the history of Spartan Blades, and co-owners Curtis Iovito and Mark Carey. Both of these men are retired from the U.S. Army Special Forces with long impressive service records, with more than 40 years combined military service between them. While that is impressive in and of itself, for a knife company which makes knives marketed to combat personnel, it is their business model that really impresses me.
You see, Spartan knives are not only US made, they are made of 100% US origin materials. Further all of the out-sourced work is done by companies which are owned, manned, or both, by combat wounded US military veterans. The back story just kept getting better.
Along with this, Mr. Harsey has a distinguished history of making knives for combat personnel, and a reputation as being the knife maker to the Green Berets. I have seen some of the custom knives he has made for active duty Special Forces soldiers.
In thinking about all of this I began to worry that it was an over build up, and that the knife would not live up to the expectations I was developing just seeing the potential that was there. However, the knife arrived in a couple of weeks, and the testing began, and concern would be short lived.
The Spartan-Harsey Hunter, pictured here at nearly two years old, has traveled a lot of miles with me. This particular Spartan Harsey collaboration has a hollow-ground blade that is hand ground by Bill Harsey himself. The grind is exceptionally well done so that it gives the 3/16” thick blade good slicing ability, but is not fragile in hard use the way some dedicated hunting knives are.
The specs from the Spartan website
Designer: William Harsey
Overall Length: 10 1/2"
Blade Length: 5 3/16"
Blade Thickness: 3/16"
Blade Steel: CPM S35VN
Blade Hardness: 59-60 HRC
Blade Style: Drop Point—designed as a sturdy combat & hunting knife.
Coating: SpartaCoat - PVD in ZrN (Flat Dark Earth)
Handle Material: 3D Contoured CE Canvas Micarta® Black or Green
Weight: 0.64 LBS
The knife arrived sheathed in a very well made, molle/pals compatible, multi-cam sheath
The three-dimensionally contoured handle is very ergonomic and nearly melts into the hand. It textured so that it provides a very secure purchase even in less than ideal conditions. It feels really good in multiple grips and holds
The knife arrived with an extremely sharp edge.
And the handle texture remained easy to grip even with greasy hands
The knife got some hard work right off the bat, processing fire wood at a rental cabin that provided plenty of fire wood but no kindling or ax to split any with. So the Hunter was used first to baton wood into kindling size pieces, and second to whittle shaving for tinder, and handled both in stellar fashion. Very tough for a knife with a hollow-ground edge. What you may think is wear in the coating in these photos is not wear, it is merely the coating picking up material it has passed through. It cleans up well with some WD-40 and a rag.
As far as toughness and abrasion resistance tests go...along with various rope and strap cutting, the knife has also been used to open cans on outings, and butcher parts of a truck fuel tank made of heavy wall synthetic material, with parts of the can and the tank caught on the coating being the only sign of use.
The knife has gone to work with me on many adventures, from swamps in south Florida, to frozen woods in northern Michigan, and lots of places in between.
It has been used to gather wild edibles for preparing meals in the field, as well as more than a few meals cooked in hotel rooms.
And the knife is still doing very well, and looking pretty awesome right at three years later
In the process of researching the steel used and the people involved, while I awaited the arrival of the knife, I learned as much as I could about the history of Spartan Blades, and co-owners Curtis Iovito and Mark Carey. Both of these men are retired from the U.S. Army Special Forces with long impressive service records, with more than 40 years combined military service between them. While that is impressive in and of itself, for a knife company which makes knives marketed to combat personnel, it is their business model that really impresses me.
You see, Spartan knives are not only US made, they are made of 100% US origin materials. Further all of the out-sourced work is done by companies which are owned, manned, or both, by combat wounded US military veterans. The back story just kept getting better.
Along with this, Mr. Harsey has a distinguished history of making knives for combat personnel, and a reputation as being the knife maker to the Green Berets. I have seen some of the custom knives he has made for active duty Special Forces soldiers.
In thinking about all of this I began to worry that it was an over build up, and that the knife would not live up to the expectations I was developing just seeing the potential that was there. However, the knife arrived in a couple of weeks, and the testing began, and concern would be short lived.
The Spartan-Harsey Hunter, pictured here at nearly two years old, has traveled a lot of miles with me. This particular Spartan Harsey collaboration has a hollow-ground blade that is hand ground by Bill Harsey himself. The grind is exceptionally well done so that it gives the 3/16” thick blade good slicing ability, but is not fragile in hard use the way some dedicated hunting knives are.
The specs from the Spartan website
Designer: William Harsey
Overall Length: 10 1/2"
Blade Length: 5 3/16"
Blade Thickness: 3/16"
Blade Steel: CPM S35VN
Blade Hardness: 59-60 HRC
Blade Style: Drop Point—designed as a sturdy combat & hunting knife.
Coating: SpartaCoat - PVD in ZrN (Flat Dark Earth)
Handle Material: 3D Contoured CE Canvas Micarta® Black or Green
Weight: 0.64 LBS
The knife arrived sheathed in a very well made, molle/pals compatible, multi-cam sheath
The three-dimensionally contoured handle is very ergonomic and nearly melts into the hand. It textured so that it provides a very secure purchase even in less than ideal conditions. It feels really good in multiple grips and holds
The knife arrived with an extremely sharp edge.
And the handle texture remained easy to grip even with greasy hands
The knife got some hard work right off the bat, processing fire wood at a rental cabin that provided plenty of fire wood but no kindling or ax to split any with. So the Hunter was used first to baton wood into kindling size pieces, and second to whittle shaving for tinder, and handled both in stellar fashion. Very tough for a knife with a hollow-ground edge. What you may think is wear in the coating in these photos is not wear, it is merely the coating picking up material it has passed through. It cleans up well with some WD-40 and a rag.
As far as toughness and abrasion resistance tests go...along with various rope and strap cutting, the knife has also been used to open cans on outings, and butcher parts of a truck fuel tank made of heavy wall synthetic material, with parts of the can and the tank caught on the coating being the only sign of use.
The knife has gone to work with me on many adventures, from swamps in south Florida, to frozen woods in northern Michigan, and lots of places in between.
It has been used to gather wild edibles for preparing meals in the field, as well as more than a few meals cooked in hotel rooms.
And the knife is still doing very well, and looking pretty awesome right at three years later
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