Spartan Blades: Bill Harsey Designed Hunter & Difensa, and the Phrike (VERY Pic Hvy)

Awesome review thanks mistwalker.
How abusive have any of you been with your spartans? I looked into getting a horkos or a harsey ii ( which is now unavailable D: ) but whenever i looked at s35vn steel reviews, most users said it rolled or chipped at light use and that the steel wasnt at all tough. Reading that over and over turned me off...although the reviews were not specific to spartan HT s35vn.

I just came across your review which is making me consider them again.
Not to mention, i see some of you other users have busses and like spartan also, that is reassuring to say the least.

Thanks in advance
 
Spartan Blades is known (famous ?) for their excellent heat treatment of S35VN.

In one of our german knife forums is an extensive review from a guy who is doing professional outdoor/"survival" seminars and he is using the Difensa there, posting tons of pictures about using it heavily and he is amazed about how it maintains its sharpness and how resistable the flat dark earth coating is, even through opening cans and stuff like that. Okay. Longest sentence ever. Sorry :)

Stefan
 
Thanks! That is reassuring.
Those difensas are beautiful but $425 beautiful...horkos seems more realistic for me haha
 
XtianAus said:
Thanks! That is reassuring.
Those difensas are beautiful but $425 beautiful...horkos seems more realistic for me haha
Click to expand...

I own both. The Difensa is far more versatile because of the Harsey handle. The Horkos is more of a pure combat utility blade. I wouldn't want to use the Horkos for extended woods work as the handle just doesn't seem designed for such work IMO. The Difensa can flex into a woods blade because of the very comfortable handle, IMO. Both are great but the difference between them is much more than price. FYI, there is a horkos on the exchange right now.
 
Thanks for the heads up, appreciate it.
But that spartan went real quick on the exchange haha i had nooo chance.
How do you find the horkos besides the handles?
 
XtianAus said:
Thanks for the heads up, appreciate it.
But that spartan went real quick on the exchange haha i had nooo chance.
How do you find the horkos besides the handles?
Click to expand...

I haven't used it much. It stays on my pack and will only be used in an emergency, I think true to its calling as a combat utility blade (carried more than used). I did do a slight reprofile on the edge to make it less obtuse. The S35vn was easy enough to work with. I wouldn't worry about the steel at all.
 
XtianAus said:
Awesome review thanks mistwalker.
How abusive have any of you been with your spartans? I looked into getting a horkos or a harsey ii ( which is now unavailable D: ) but whenever i looked at s35vn steel reviews, most users said it rolled or chipped at light use and that the steel wasnt at all tough. Reading that over and over turned me off...although the reviews were not specific to spartan HT s35vn.

I just came across your review which is making me consider them again.
Not to mention, i see some of you other users have busses and like spartan also, that is reassuring to say the least.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

I have been using my Difensa pretty heavily for more than a year and a half now, and the blade has held up very well. It holds and edge well. I have had no chipping or folding, and I have done quite a bit of chopping with it. The handle really is excellent, and I find the knife to be surprisingly good as a bushcraft knife.
 
Awesome thanks guys :) i may have to pull the trigger on a horkos as a self christmas present soon then haha
 
craytab said:
I own both. The Difensa is far more versatile because of the Harsey handle. The Horkos is more of a pure combat utility blade. I wouldn't want to use the Horkos for extended woods work as the handle just doesn't seem designed for such work IMO. The Difensa can flex into a woods blade because of the very comfortable handle, IMO. Both are great but the difference between them is much more than price. FYI, there is a horkos on the exchange right now.
Click to expand...

I agree. I have had both. I love the attitude of the Horkos blade, I much prefer the Harsey handles for any long term use in heavy cutting duties. I've had my Hunter for over 6 years now, still one of my all time favorite knives. I want a Model II very badly if I can ever swing one.
 
image.jpeg image.jpeg
Hi, all
Just thought I'd bump this and post a couple comparison photos of a difensa next to a fiddleback forge production duke. (Not sure why one photo is upside down). They're pretty different knives, but some might be trying to decide between one or the other for that higher end general field knife category. Both are very nice knives and would certainly do that job well, though they are very different design philosophies.
 
craytab said:
I own both. The Difensa is far more versatile because of the Harsey handle.
Click to expand...

The newest one I have, the TT that I picked up at Blade this year, is also one of Bill's designs. It's been my edc for months, I'll have to do a review of it later too.

20180726_162513_LLS.jpg


20180726_162613_LLS.jpg


20180811_105533.jpg
 
craytab said:
Oh yes. Please do. Looks very interesting.
Click to expand...

I am currently working on the write up on it for Knives Illustrated, so it will be a bit. But I will definitely do enough new material afterward for a review later on as well.

I am currently on the VERY LONG wait list to get one of Bill's hand made Tactical Trout models, which has the same handle style as the Spartan Harsey Hunter and the Difensa.. One of the things I found most interesting with the TT as they are calling this one, is that he went with the handle from his H Class, which I actually like better for discrete carry.
38052288_2072886186068787_971272296683536384_n.jpg
 
Last edited:
I wish Spartan would release the hunter again, but uncoated. Absolutely love that knife, but I’ve never understood coating S35VN. Makes clean up, especially after cutting meat, more of a pain in the field.
If Spartan is listening, please do a run of uncoated Harsey hunters and put me down for one!
 
Warbow150 said:
I wish Spartan would release the hunter again, but uncoated. Absolutely love that knife, but I’ve never understood coating S35VN. Makes clean up, especially after cutting meat, more of a pain in the field.
If Spartan is listening, please do a run of uncoated Harsey hunters and put me down for one!
Click to expand...

Lol, I have asked for the same thing, and an uncoated TT actually. I've bugged them a lot about that. They may do them someday, we'll just have to wait and see. I think the concern is likely surface rust under the bolted-on handle scales over time in salt water.
 
Hey mistwalker, ive had my eye on the new TT. Looks great. Do you have a photo of or can share your thoughts on the tip? Is it tapered thinly or left with some meat on it?
 
Anyone making leather sheaths for the TT yet? Just got one from Spartan and feel that it deserves some leather.

Scott
 
SHyde said:
Anyone making leather sheaths for the TT yet? Just got one from Spartan and feel that it deserves some leather.

Scott
Click to expand...

I don't know if anyone is specifically making them for the TT. Mark at Condos leather made a fantastic leather sheath for the Hunter so he would be a good candidate. I carry mine in a pocket sheath. I think one with dragon scale tooling would be bad ass.
20180901_164102.jpg


20180901_164049.jpg


20180901_164653.jpg


20180901_164147.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top