The Hawk Strikes!

Early summer of 1999 found me in Boise, Idaho on assignment to pen a feature for American Handgunner on Chris Reeve Knives’ recent move to shift his custom knives work to micro-manufacturing. Chris relayed to me he simply couldn’t keep up with the demand for his extremely popular Sebenza folder. He had added staff and CNC equipment to make the transition, and — long story short — the company not only makes Sebenzas but has added other models of both folding and fixed blade types, with many garnering major cutlery industry awards since. The Sept/Oct issue Handgunner article documented his transition from custom to factory and we have done follow-ups since.

After a couple of days of interviewing and watching knives being produced, we took an afternoon to take in the countryside north of Boise on the way to meet one of his friends. We pulled into Idaho City — once the state capital and now a small town of roughly 500 souls — and snaked through the metro area to a trailer park with a huge barn off to one side. Chris’ friend turned out to be Grant Hawk, an eloquent yet crusty bearded man in his late 50s, who was in the process of becoming a knifemaker after a long stint as a gold miner.

Under Reeve’s tutelage, Hawk soon mastered fixed blades at his shop in the barn and soon had his son, Gavin, doing the same. Within two years, he had mastered his first folder, dubbed the Hawk D.O.G. (Deadbolt Over Grabstep), which featured an unusual blade that rolled out with a piston lockup. The D.O.G. was a hint of success to come. One of the partners of Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT) who saw it signed Grant up for the manufacturing rights, and Hawk Knives was off to the races.

A Family Affair

It wasn’t long before Gavin was a full participant in Hawk Knives with his father, and they made a heck of a team. The next knife the father and son team produced would set the tone for projects to come. That was the Hawk T.O.A.D. (Toggle Operated Anti Drag). The inner workings of the T.O.A.D. consisted of a toggle mechanism that allowed the blade to open with no drag whatsoever.

The collaborations with manufacturers kept rolling in, and over the long haul, the Hawks generated collaborations with a host of manufacturers, including Kershaw, Chris Reeve, Mantis, Böker, Buck, Camillus, Quartermaster and Millit. The father and son team garnered a reputation for designing some of the most imaginative, envelope-pushing cutting hardware on the planet.

The secret to their madness is the way Grant and Gavin approach a project. Rather than simply trying to “out-cool” the mainstream pack, which is the norm, they set specific, unique parameters or goals for what the knife should do. For instance, with their M.U.D.D. (Multi-Utility Dirt Defiant) knife, they set out to design a folder that wouldn’t foul in bad circumstances like, well, dropping it in the mud. Their answer was a design that sealed off the working mechanisms of the folding knife, its pivot and lock, by isolating these assemblies’ exterior to detrimental elements. Zero Tolerance Knives got on board for a M.U.D.D. factory-produced version.

The Process

The use of acronyms for many of the knifemaking duo’s designs throughout the years became part of the allure and mystique that is a Hawk knife. As Gavin’s computer skills grew, the interface between father and son became more efficient. Typically Grant would take a concept for a new design and work it up on a rudimentary (compared to today’s technology) MS-DOS computer program, and when they liked what they saw, Gavin would take over and refine the design on a modern, sophisticated CAD program that could be used to program their own equipment for parts or outsource them to other support companies.

Two other knives included here — the acronym-less Beetle and Tangent — are related to the Hawks’ continued knack for producing unique blade-locking designs. These were the first knives solely designed by Gavin and signaled the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree. When the blades on these knives are employed, they lock into place by firmly gripping the handle. Such is the stuff this creative cutlery team has fascinated knife buyers with for decades.

Behold The Deadlock

On October 9, 2014, the Hawks introduced their first out-the-front automatic (OTF) to their faithful followers on Instagram. The Deadlock would be their most ambitious project to date and developed over years, not months. The self-imposed challenge with the Deadlock was to build an OTF auto that would propel the blade out of the front of the knife quickly and smoothly and with no play in the blade, the latter of which had always been a weakness in out-the-front designs. The first Deadlocks, the Model A’s, went on sale at the Seattle Knife Show on April 24, 2015, and were very well received. Grant and Gavin immediately went to work on a Model B aimed at making the knife easier to manufacture. This would be a turning point for the Hawks as one of their suppliers was struggling to meet their demands. The company had no choice but to ramp up its operation at “the barn” and make the leap to becoming a manufacturer. Déjà vu, Chris Reeve. New staff and equipment were added, and the Hawks never looked back.

The Deadlock Model C is now the current production version, and given the intricate internal mechanisms to achieve the rigid goals from day one, they have always been upscale in price. Entry-level Deadlocks start at $2,000 and they have customers waiting in line to get their hands on them.

Grant In Memoriam

Sadly, Grant Hawk passed away during the writing of this feature on the extraordinarily creative father and son team. He was a humble giant in the cutlery industry who cared more about what he could create than the money he could generate doing so. Fortunately, he left us Gavin, who is so close to the original it is uncanny. Same inventiveness, same demeanor and same drive to make knives the best that they can be. Hawk Knives is in good hands. Rest in peace, Grant Hawk.

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