We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.
Hawk Knives Talon: Another Fancy Blade I Can't Resist
Hey everyone, it's time for another edition of "Someone Loaned Me a Knife, Let's Try Not to Pound It Through a Log," and this time, it's my favorite, the Hawk Knives. And why, yes, Hawk Knives trust me enough with a prototype, and I don't believe it either.
Now, this article is about the newest model in the lineup—you're excited, I'm excited—and specifically, we're excited for the Idaho-made Talon. I mean, all Hawk knives, like their mainline knives, are made in Idaho in a shop.
In This Article
- Knife Obsession
- Hawk Family Tree
- Acronyms
- The Talon
- Size and Specs
- The Blade
- Lock System
- The Handle
- Carbon Fiber Options
- Chip Clip
- Comparison
- Aluminum VS Titanium
- Price Tag
- Bottom Line
- Video Review
- Conclusion
No Skits This Time, Just Knife Obsession
Now, let’s get into this Hawk Knives Talon review. I have gushy, glowy praise for a pocketknife, which is completely normal and well-adjusted, I assure you.
You know, I just want to go to the mall and the line at CVS where you pick up your medications and talk to everyone to know about pocket knives, just like a regular guy.
The Hawk Family Tree: Deadlocks And Mud
Now, if you're familiar with the Hawk knives, they are famous for the Deadlocks first and foremost, which, of course, I am a number one fan of. The Model B and the Model C I own are perfect switchblades, and I will accept no other opinion.
And there's the MUD, which was made by Millet in the USA, back then, in 2017, 18, 19—they made most of the parts. I believe Hawk did the final assembly on them in QC, and these were last produced in 2019, but I snagged one in the last run. And you are not going to buy this one. It is, it is like mine forever.
When I die, it's going to accidentally be thrown away with all this other useless junk I have, and no one's going to know, and that's going to be the right thing for it.
Acronyms Galore And My Missing Shortcut
Now, it stands for something. It's like, Multi Under Demo? Donut? Datsun? Didgeridoo? I don't remember. Okay, okay, let me look it up. It is the Mud Utility Dirt Defiant. Okay, the Hawks love their little acronyms, and if you look at some of their—like there's the RAM, there's—I think ET? Was there one called the ET? I don't remember if that stood for something. They have several knives and several locks with their own little acronyms. If, if you're familiar, you understand that.
Then you have the Shortcut, their box cut fidgeter, um, and unfortunately I cannot find my Shortcut right now. I feel like I used it stripping caulk, and hopefully, one day I can find it, but if you've seen it, like, let me know in the comments.
As a backup, though, to show off my current Hawk collection, I do have the Mantis-produced Gear Head. This one was more of a conversation piece than a user, though. Of course, when I say conversation, I mean primarily with myself. It's not technically a real Hawk, but it's Hawkish, as in like it's not designed and made by them—it is designed by them, but it's like, you know, it's made by somebody else.
That's how it's like classic Hawk, where they used to design and other people would make it, you know. Kershaw used to make a lot of them. I don't know; who knows?
The Talon: Carrying The Orbit And Mud Legacy
But today, the Talon evokes memories of the Orbit, which is a Serge Panchenko collaboration, and the MUD—it kind of has those classic lines. It looks and feels like it fits in that lineup, and I super regret ever missing out on the Orbit. Right?
Or the Zero Tolerance MUD. I mean, I didn't; I didn't know about those at the time, so I'd have to travel back in time. So I guess that's not possible, and I don't want to buy your $800, $1,500 one. Okay? I don't have any money. I'm broke. "Oh, he owns Hawks, but he's broke, huh? I have an idea.” No.
Size And Specs: Just The Regular Size, You Know?
So now the Talon is unique in the Hawk-produced, Idaho-made knives because it is not an auto. I guess neither is a shortcut, but is that a pocket knife or a box cutter? I don't know.
Now, this one here is about the same size as the MUD and carries through the aesthetic of that one. And here are the dimensions of it. It is not a massive knife; however, it is in line with the MUD or, say, Paramilitary 2. It's like a medium-sized knife, you know. When someone asks how big it is, you just say, "The regular size." You know what I'm talking about.
The Blade: M390 And Not Your Surgical Slicer
Now first, here is the blade. The blade here is M390—I know, titanium and M390, how could you have guessed—and it is sheep's foot-ish. Like an—maybe it's like the upswept blade style, like a Persian? I don't know. Maybe you have your own cool little name for it.
Um, as you know, though, Hawks are not your ultra-surgical slicers, and I expect a little bit of flare in the grind and a solid thickness, and this is that. Like, if you own the MUD and/or if you own the Deadlocks, you know what to expect out of a Hawk.
I am not a TRM cult member, and I'm not looking to join. I appreciate people who slice hairs and those paper-thin slices of tomatoes. It seems like a good use of your time.
You know, I see those on the feed, and people get really excited about how they can slice things., I usually don't think about that when I'm using my pocket knife to just break stuff down or cut things open, but those guys like it.
The Weird And Wonderful Hawk Lock System
The action here is awesome. It is a fidget, and it is not an auto or assisted, so you can buy, own, flaunt, and have it confiscated off you in a lot of the places you may not be able to with their autos. Now, this is a Hawk lock with a toggle detent, and what does that mean?
I have no idea because I'm stupid. So for the other stupids at home, it's kind of like a button lock, but it's not a button lock. "Oh, okay, that makes sense." More specifically, though, the switch on the side is more of a lock release than a hold-and-fling deployment method. You need to either use the thumb studs or, more logically, the front flipper tab to deploy.
You know, it's kind of a front flipper. Um, the thumb studs are more for, like, overt travel stops, and then, you know, for the thumbs, so maybe they're not thumb studs. So, front flip to deploy, hold the toggle detent Hawk lock thing-a-bobber back, and fling it closed.
The deployment is easy and smooth. And I know the more I describe it, the less it is like a button lock, 'cuz usually you can press and hold button locks and then fling it. But I'm saying that for a good reason, and that good reason is I don't know what I'm talking about.
But the toggle detent does have a detent to get over. So, like some button locks, the blade just swings freely. You can manipulate your wrist, and it falls into the handle. You release it, and it's locked closed. This one doesn't work like that. It's not a bug; it's just how it works.
If you release the blade, if it's vertical, it does fall closed, or you just are going to have to give it a flick. If you're just trying to flick it close, it's not going to just fall close. It's not a drop shutter. I just do not know how the detent works. Toggle detent. If you can't handle it, guess what? You don't have to buy it.
The Handle: Perfect, Obviously
All right, what about the handle and design? If you thought I was going to say anything other than "perfect," then maybe you don’t know me at all. I can't overstate enough just how nice this looks and feels in your hand.
There's a fondling quality to all Hawk knives—they have their weathered edges and smooth transitions and materials. It's kind of like Serge knives; they also have this quality, too. I feel like the Hawks and Serge are kind of like kindred spirits. They do collaborate a lot. They have a similar aesthetic, and I just kind of love the look.
You can just kind of sit there, get drunk, and cry a little, fondling them in your hand. Maybe it's a great knife. Maybe there's a lot of other stuff going on right now with your DraftKings, and crying feels good. That's between you and your pocket knife. You don't need to talk to anybody else about those feelings.
Squiggly Wiggly Carbon Fiber Options
Now the handle here is going to come in squiggly-wiggly-looking carbon fiber slabs. There are four options currently, and I'm sure there's going to be all kinds of custom ones, but I will not be able to afford all of them.
But maybe those bourbon knife guys out there like that kind of stuff and have that kind of money. But I think I like the Dark Matter Polar most of all, and the Mars Valley kind of has a rusty quality that kind of pops, too. It kind of looks like Mars. Maybe you left your knife outside overnight. It kind of has that quality on the slabs and pocket clip.
The Chip Clip: Another Over-Engineered Hawk Feature
It's the same style found on the Deadlocks and the Shortcut. It's got that chip clip technology. I'm sure some out there hate pinching it and putting it in your pocket, but I love it. It's like another little over-engineered thing that makes it a Hawk knife.
It's functional and gives you something to fidget with while you think about where you last had your Shortcut. Pretty sure it was. It was in the front windows that I was stripping the caulk from. I don't remember. But you just press and push in your pocket, and there's nothing wrong with it, and I love the pocket clip. It looks cool, and it's fidgetable.
Comparison Corner: Talon Vs. The Rest
Hawk Knives Talon review comparisons? We'll keep this short. First, the Talon versus the Paramilitary 2. Again, not small, not overly large, just medium-sized. My Paramilitary 2 has, of course, the aftermarket Lotus scales, I think, and a Lynch clip. This was originally the blurple when those cost $140, which is—it feels like 20 years ago.
Now the Deadlock. Let's go to Model B first. Um, I don't have any more money, but if I did, I would track down an all titanium Model B with flamed hardware. You know what? I might even go as far as trading it for a few of these catalytic converters I've recently found lying around. Everybody just finds, like, you know, copper catalytic converters just kind of lying around in their yard, right? Like, I do?
The Aluminum Versus Titanium Saga
Now, the Model C is made of aluminum. Let me tell you a story. There was a time when the Model C came in aluminum, and you paid around 1,100 bucks for one. Then, they switched back to titanium, so the guys who complained about aluminum being premium and "never used, kept in a safe" switchblade could now complain about the price going up.
That's how titanium works in knives. But the Hawks did switch back to titanium because it made it easier to manufacture—not easier, but they knew how to deal with titanium better than aluminum because each one comes with its problems. I don't know; it sounds like knife maker stuff that I don't fully understand.
I thought aluminum would be easier, but it wasn't, and that's the story. I do prefer a lighter knife if possible. I have a lot of knives in titanium, and I will always gladly take an aluminum variant if it's cheaper and at least looks cool.
Remember, the number one rule to buy a pocket knife is it's got to look cool to you. Okay? If this doesn't look cool to you, then sorry. That's not your opinion; that's just wrong.
The Price Tag: Prepare Your Wallet
Now the MUD. Now, this was my first Hawk, and it was about—man, was it $450 bucks? I don't know. Yep, that was a time, wasn't it? $450 Hawk knives. It wasn't that long ago.
Wrapping it up, um, I saw that these drop with a $300 deposit and cost a full $950. So $300 up front, and then your invoice when the knife is ready in a couple of months or whatever. And listen, okay, I waited on my Deadlock for over a year after my deposit.
So if it takes longer than like a month or two or three months, suck it up. If I can deal with it, you can too. You know what? Think of it this way: a $650 invoice will be a lot easier to swallow after a little bit of extra time anyway.
The Bottom Line: Absolutely Amazing
To sum it up, these are absolutely amazing. I don't know how long these are going to take to make. You will need to check with them. I think it's a few months. I don't know, I'm talking out of my ass here. Um, I don't have any notes on this pocket knife, mostly because I have bad takes.
Everything is perfect on it. The pre-orders will be open in just a few days, so God, I hope I get this article done. Be ready, though. You will need to sign up for their newsletter to get the drop link. People who have bought Hawks before know this by now.
You will get advanced notice. This is the link to purchase that at this time. If you haven't signed up for the newsletter, you won't be able to purchase it. So this is your warning.
Watch This Review
Thanks To You
That's it for my Hawk Knives Talon review. Anyway, I really appreciate you guys sticking with me for the 10 or so years I've been doing these reviews. Thank you for reading.
