What is the purpose of claw blades?

CountyRat said:
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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I'm not attempting to argue for or against, but the blade I had Ray make to my design has several things going for it which I prefer.

First, the hawkbill point, when held in a reverse, edge forward grip, points toward the attacker and not at me or my forearm.

Second, the blade shape makes stabbing with the point quite easy.

Third, the blade shape will "catch" incoming blows or grabs better than a straighter blade.

Fourth, it would be used in a "pushing" motion, rather than a "pulling" motion, as the intent is to "push" the attack away, not bring it into my body.

Andy
 
Fourth, it would be used in a "pushing" motion, rather than a "pulling" motion, as the intent is to "push" the attack away, not bring it into my body.
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Just to add, hooked blades can cut twice because your opponent will instinctively pull-away from the blade and cause additional cutting/ripping to himself.
 
I went ahead and bought the subcom instead of the sublaw yesterday. Just didn't really see the need for the subclaw.

As an aside....geez. Subcoms are heavy for a little back-up blade.
 
I'm an electrician. Claw blades are the best for opening packages, cutting tape on boxes, and tops for skinning wires the way I do.
Everyone should own a subcom knife at least once!
 
AliasNeo said:
While I would probably not ever use the blade in a SD scenario, should I ever have to, carrying an "offensive knife" in the eyes of the law could create intent, or something.
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Generally speaking, the criminal law does not distinguish between "offensive" blades and "defensive" ones. A knife is a deadly weapon. It's how and when you use a deadly weapon that determines whether it's a crime or self-defense.

In some states, some types of knives are illegal. Switchblades, doubled-edged knives, butterfly knives are some examples. In some cases, it's blade length alone. It all depends on what the law of your state is.

If what you're carrying doesn't fall into the proscribed category, then the type of blade is irrelevant.
 
I was actually wondering this same thing some time ago. It is very subjective of course but could it not be just as well argued that because the hawkbill designs do leave something to be desired in terms of stabbing that they are actually less "offensive" capable. Kind of like those EMT/firefighter blades (sorry, there is probably a term for them that I do not know yet) with blunt tips but razor sharp, often serrated blades. I kind of see the one hawkbill folder (cheapo not worth mentioning brand) I have as a glorified box cutter and it works very very well in that capacity.

Would this logic sound reasonable to a layman deciding your fate and trying to determine if you are some nutcase after you did indeed have to use what you had on you in a SD situation, or to anyone else who sees it and is deciding if you are some sort of mall ninja or not? Probably not because it does look scary and that is all that probably matters to most people who see one. So the moral of the story is carry something that looks nice and happy, maybe get some flowers engraved on it, and if that translates to a blade that actually has greater lethal offensive potential that is just great with the average person as long as it doesn't look scary like those claw blades or switchblades, dirks, daggers, etc.. - you know, the "assault knives."
 
pinhead said:
I was actually wondering this same thing some time ago. It is very subjective of course but could it not be just as well argued that because the hawkbill designs do leave something to be desired in terms of stabbing that they are actually less "offensive" capable. Kind of like those EMT/firefighter blades (sorry, there is probably a term for them that I do not know yet) with blunt tips but razor sharp, often serrated blades. I kind of see the one hawkbill folder (cheapo not worth mentioning brand) I have as a glorified box cutter and it works very very well in that capacity.
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Rescue knives?

As to the box cutter comment, I think you're right. Those make for some nice, very nice box cutters. Doesn't look like it'd be much fun trying to sharpen them though. That's the main reason I don't like recurves.
 
I've got three of them (Spyderco Civilian, Harpy and Reese Weiland Wasp), and they all reside in display cases. Unless you just want to scare the sheeple, that is the best place for them.

Opening a really nice Reese Weiland Wasp in polite company is a good way to empty a room!:D

I have one like the bottom one, except the blued finish wore off. So I took it apart and polished everything. Hmmm, polished titanium! NICE!
 
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Unless you just want to scare the sheeple, that is the best place for them.
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Nah, I don't know how many hooked knives I own but I use several of them. I have carried several from the Civilian to customs for SD to hobbycraft to backpacking tools.

I keep a Spydie Tasman Salt (PE) with yellow scales in the office which I use to open boxes, etc. Everyone is so used to seeing it that the office ladies ask me to borrow "that yellow knife" whenever somebody needs to open a box. No fears, no worries, and they understand that it is sharp. They also see my blue Spydie Yojimbo, but I don't lend that one out.
 
AliasNeo said:
Such as the boker subclaw, for instance. Are claw bades for defensive use?

I'd like to carry one but if its clear that the claw blade is an offensive weapon it could cause some problems.

so, whats with the claw? Thanks!
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Very simple: they don't stop cutting till they hit bone! The rest is editorial.

Mr. Wilson
 
j.curd for defense you can do a better job with a portable corkscrew. this info comes from a professional i know, by the way have you tried the g.e.c. 1095 on cardboard yet?
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
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
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I'm likin' it... a lot :thumbup:. He have a website?
 
The Spyderco Byrd hawkbill I have is the best box cutter I've ever encountered, but that's all it is for me.
For my lifestyle it's a very limited-use blade style.
Denis
 
YayILikePie -
I was referring to something like this where nobody is going to be accusing you of having a stabbing device. While hawkbills can certainly stab better than these blunt tips I still tend to think of hawkbills as almost entirely slicing devices and thus less likely to be seen as a "weapon." Then I remember my fellow citizens who want to ban ugly and mean looking things with no other logical basis and I think better of carrying a hawkbill as they'll be in the jury pool (too bad an IQ test is not part of the jury selection process).
http://spyderco.com/pix/products/large/C79OR_L.jpg
C79OR_L.jpg
 
personally I would never own one. They often look very mean and Dont find they look very fun to sharpen. I try to have a people friendly approach with my knives as I care about having people feel comfortable around a blade and myself. The more people I can make feel comfortable around a blade the better.

I usually edc only one knife and pulling out a badie like that to cut open some fruit just looks silly and odd. Plus if yo ever ended up in a sd situation and killed something with a blade like that just wouldnt look very good especially if the person (assuming they didnt die) said you attacked them with it. You could have a hard case to fight if no witnesses were present. Best to avoid knife fights because often both people end up losers. Better to lose some case and pride imo
 
you can do a better job defensively with a portable corkscrew.opinion was from a working professional. surprise is the best advantage.
 
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 agree.

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