What is the purpose of claw blades?

Hawkbills, or pruning blades, are great for, well, pruning. They're great for harvesting mushrooms as well.
 
Better know as a hook bill, bill hook and hawkbill knives. Originally invented for gardening/agricultural use -think of a sickle or scythe. Also think about similarities to how an animal claw works.

Small ones are useful for pruning, mushroom harvesting, linoleum cutting and other completely legit purposes for which the downward curve helps to always place a cutting edge directed at your object. The inward pull also helps you to use more force to cut yet keep good control of the blade.

Design also happens to be a good ripping knife if used for SD.

Why would you want to carry something if you aren't even clear what it is for?
 
I have a boker subclaw and the claw curve is very usefull. I like it more that standard subcom. On such a small blade, with the claw, whatever you're cutting stays on the blade (say a rope or a pencil being sharpened) , instead of sliding off too fast if using standard belly. Same goes for cutting cardboard and some other stuff.
 
If you want some of the Boker SubCom series, but aren't sure about the SubClaw, try a WharCom. That one might be more up your alley, with its wharncliffe blade profile.
 
The forward curve is excellent for pulling cuts on things that would normally want to slip off of a blade, like rope, plants, etc. Instead of slipping off they are held into the edge. :)
 
I think they are SD blades.

Regardless if they can complete other tasks well or better than other shapes..... you will have a tough time convincing a non knife person it is not a scary claw for slicing people up.
 
I think that their primary function is to extract money from people who do not know anything about blade fighting, but want to look real tough and scary. Oh yeah, and also for people who install flooring and all that other stuff mentioned in the thread. These are highly specialized knives designed for one purpose: to cut with a pulling motion. This makes them excellent weapons, so long as you can convince your opponent to stand still while you put your knife past his body so that you can cut him while pulling the blade back toward you. In the real world, attackers have the annoying habit of trying not to let you hurt them, making specialized weapons with limited utility impractical. Talk to a REAL martial arts expert (one who has survived combat, not just taken a class at the "Y") and he or she will always tell you that the best armament is a good pair of shoes; to make it easy to run away as fast as you can before the fight starts! No, I am not opposed to self defense, or to carrying defensive weapons, and I have carried knives since I was eight years old. However, I have also treated people who have "won" knife fights, and the results were not exactly encouraging.
 
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You can use a screwdriver as a sd weapon. If you like the blade style and have use for it, buy it.
 
CountyRat said:
I think that their primary function is to extract money from people who do not know anything about blade fighting, but want to look real tough and scary. Oh yeah, and also for people who install flooring and all that other stuff mentioned in the thread. These are highly specialized knives designed for one purpose: to cut with a pulling motion. This makes them excellent weapons, so long as you can convince your opponent to stand still while you put your knife past his body so that you can cut him while pulling the blade back toward you. In the real world, attackers have the annoying habit of trying not to let you hurt them, making specialized weapons with limited utility impractical. Talk to a REAL martial arts expert (one who has survived combat, not just taken a class at the "Y") and he or she will always tell you that the best armament is a good pair of shoes; to make it easy to run away as fast as you can before the fight starts! No, I am not opposed to self defense, or to carrying defensive weapons, and I have carried knives since I was eight years old. However, I have also treated people who have "won" knife fights, and the results were not exactly encouraging.
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Another way a hawkbill type knife can be used is in defensive blocking or parrying of incoming blows or attempts to grab the defender.

I recently had this knife made by Ray Laconico (knifemaker on this forum) for exactly this purpose.

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The knife is held in a reverse grip which presents the edge towards the attacker, point down. It is for defensive deployment only.

Andy
 
CountyRat said:
These are highly specialized knives designed for one purpose: to cut with a pulling motion. This makes them excellent weapons, so long as you can convince your opponent to stand still while you put your knife past his body so that you can cut him while pulling the blade back toward you.
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Nope, any regular slash works.
Try it out. It works, and quite well.
The only downside is that they generally suck at stabbing, at least in any normal stabbing motion.
 
CountyRat said:
I think that their primary function is to extract money from people who do not know anything about blade fighting, but want to look real tough and scary. Oh yeah, and also for people who install flooring and all that other stuff mentioned in the thread. These are highly specialized knives designed for one purpose: to cut with a pulling motion. This makes them excellent weapons, so long as you can convince your opponent to stand still while you put your knife past his body so that you can cut him while pulling the blade back toward you. In the real world, attackers have the annoying habit of trying not to let you hurt them, making specialized weapons with limited utility impractical. Talk to a REAL martial arts expert (one who has survived combat, not just taken a class at the "Y") and he or she will always tell you that the best armament is a good pair of shoes; to make it easy to run away as fast as you can before the fight starts! No, I am not opposed to self defense, or to carrying defensive weapons, and I have carried knives since I was eight years old. However, I have also treated people who have "won" knife fights, and the results were not exactly encouraging.
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I can see going to a clinch with an attacker and then having the advantage of pulling for a wound. Good close quarters knife. I've been in many violent encounters, so I'm not just babbling however knife fighting no, I don't do that.
 
DennisStrickland said:
as i mentioned some months back:scary to look at but scary doe'nt get the job done performance is what counts.
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They aren't very versatile as EDC multi-purpose utility knives, but for specific applications mentioned above, AND being excellent at slashing, they do a very fine job.

I would rather slash with a Civilian or Crossbill than a Sebenza if I were trying to defend myself. It would be no contest.
 
CountyRat said:
I think that their primary function is to extract money from people who do not know anything about blade fighting, but want to look real tough and scary. Oh yeah, and also for people who install flooring and all that other stuff mentioned in the thread. These are highly specialized knives designed for one purpose: to cut with a pulling motion. This makes them excellent weapons, so long as you can convince your opponent to stand still while you put your knife past his body so that you can cut him while pulling the blade back toward you. In the real world, attackers have the annoying habit of trying not to let you hurt them, making specialized weapons with limited utility impractical. Talk to a REAL martial arts expert (one who has survived combat, not just taken a class at the "Y") and he or she will always tell you that the best armament is a good pair of shoes; to make it easy to run away as fast as you can before the fight starts! No, I am not opposed to self defense, or to carrying defensive weapons, and I have carried knives since I was eight years old. However, I have also treated people who have "won" knife fights, and the results were not exactly encouraging.
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Well, this topic is not a preaching topic so much as a hypothetical topic. I'm pretty sure most people will know that getting out of danger is better than getting into it. There is no harm in thinking about blade types given the situation, though.

Back on topic, hawkbills are better at pull cutting, which makes them good for slashing. Essentially, one would be trading an effective stab for a more-effective slash. From there, it's personal preference.
I don't think eskrimadors and other Filipino practicioners mind too much; the cultural love over the karambit is a testament to that.
 
Andrew, StabMan, CarbideRat, and Azraell are all correct in what they say above. However, the same slashing and defensive moves can also be made with a knife with a conventional cutting edge and a point. The practical difference, IMO, is versatility. A properly designed, skillfully wielded drop point will slash and block just as you correctly point out that a hawk bill blade will, AND MORE. I am not a martial artist, but I have been trained in blade fighting, and trust me, if you must use a blade as a weapon, you want to be able to use it in three dimentions, and you want it to cut or pierce in every dirrection, with as much flexibility as possible so that you can transition from a block to a counterattack (with either edge, point, or both) with minimal movement of the hand and wrist.
 
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