Careful now....you nearly lose me with all that "PE" crazy talk
It would really come down to the model. I use my Spyderhawk (and Dragonhawk) a lot less than I expected and they're both SE, I can only imagine how much less I would use the same knives in PE.
But, with the scarcity of hawkbills these days I'm still interested, but mostly for the FFG part. If I could get a FFG/SE Caribbean hawkbill I'd be all over it.
Oh I love my SE hawkbills too. For stuff like plastic straps you can't beat them. But for cutting stuff like cardboard, SE doesn't really offer much in performance over PE in my experience; it tends to snag more when dull (and cardboard can dull a knife pretty quickly, especially if it's a low carbide, low hardness steel as all the SE Hawkbills are),the chisel grind makes it harder to make straight cuts, plus they always seem to come with a hollow grind.
I just think that we've got SE hawkbills pretty well covered with the current offerings; PE seems to be a neglected niche that I'd love to
see filled with a steel like CPM M4.
With that said, I'd also be all over a FFG/SE Caribbean hawkbill!!
I dunno man, besides the chisel grind walking issue that is pretty much the opposite of my experience with SE and cardboard after sharpening them the way I do. I've had lots of snagging issues in the past with factory ground serrations but rounding the tips has solved that issue for me.
Cardboard is a funny material. I spent a few years working in a couple factories making the stuff (Georgia Pacific and Smurfit Stone). You can actually cut it very effectively with a dull PE if it's ground super thin. Edge and blade geometry are very important. If I were cutting lots of it at a job again I would probably go with PE just because of the chisel grind issues.
Question that you need to ask yourself: How you are going to sharpen it?
If your only option is sharpmaker with diamond stones, are you willing to make your time grinding away possible chips in the blade on sharpmaker?
K390 is no joke, I spend some time grinding away one small chip in the blade, and that was with Xcoarse DMT plate with a lot of contact area.
With hawkbill you are limited to corner of a rod...
The KME jewel stick is a good alternative.
-Matta.k.a. Lo_Que, loadedquestions135I ❤ The P'KAL
"The world of edges has a small doorway in, but opens into a cavern that is both wide and deep." -sal
I don't know about 'general' utility, but for me the 'work' utility is very much there. The way some of the cables I come across are zip tied, it would be dangerous to cut them with anything but a small hawkbill or a very thin pair of wire cutters (I'd likely cut myself or the cable). And a small hawkbill clips to my pocket easier than wire cutters :D
-Matta.k.a. Lo_Que, loadedquestions135I ❤ The P'KAL
"The world of edges has a small doorway in, but opens into a cavern that is both wide and deep." -sal
I don't know about 'general' utility, but for me the 'work' utility is very much there. The way some of the cables I come across are zip tied, it would be dangerous to cut them with anything but a small hawkbill or a very thin pair of wire cutters (I'd likely cut myself or the cable). And a small hawkbill clips to my pocket easier than wire cutters :D
Honestly, the only cutting situation I can think of where a hawkbill wouldn't be ideal, is cutting on board or surface (and even then it is certainly possible to do). All other types of cutting it excels in.
And rope cutting tests aside, how many of us actually cut on a cutting board for the majority of our EDC use?
- Connor
"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
I don't know about 'general' utility, but for me the 'work' utility is very much there. The way some of the cables I come across are zip tied, it would be dangerous to cut them with anything but a small hawkbill or a very thin pair of wire cutters (I'd likely cut myself or the cable). And a small hawkbill clips to my pocket easier than wire cutters :D
Honestly, the only cutting situation I can think of where a hawkbill wouldn't be ideal, is cutting on board or surface (and even then it is certainly possible to do). All other types of cutting it excels in.
And rope cutting tests aside, how many of us actually cut on a cutting board for the majority of our EDC use?
I could easily just carry a hawkbill for my EDC (I did for years). I could also easily carry a regular blade for EDC outside of my work. I tend to carry both. Both types have tasks and cutting styles that they excel at. Cutting flat surfaces, pull cutting, etc... One of the reasons I'm glad Spyderco makes the LB hawkbill and the Hawkbill Dfly, they're small but effective and it's easy to throw them in a pocket in addition to what ever else you're carrying.
-Matta.k.a. Lo_Que, loadedquestions135I ❤ The P'KAL
"The world of edges has a small doorway in, but opens into a cavern that is both wide and deep." -sal