I just got this the other day via JDSpydo. (Thanks Joe!)
It is Ceya's knife called the Ceya Hawk. Some quick specs before I go on:
OAL: 10 1/2"
Blade Length: 6"
Cutting Length: 5 3/8"
Blade Width: 1/8"
Steel: Ask Ceya :o
Kydex Sheath
First of all, mahalo Ceya for letting me test your designs. As I have said before...they kick ***!!! This one is no different. Blade shape is unusual in that it appears to be a wharncliffe with a curved tip. Upon closer examination, it is actually bellied...sorta like a *very* stretched out Civilian. Swedge placement at the tip I like, and have it on some of my designs also. Good sign...at least I am on the right page! :D This type of "half swedge" enables the tip to mainatin strength, while slimming the spine enough for efficient thrusting and ease of penetration.
ONLY thing "wrong" is that the sheath has loosened a bit. Holding the by the supplied neck chord, I shook the Ceya Hawk up and down in sheath...it fell out and onto the carpet. No biggee...not like I would neck knife this beast anyway! Ergonomics are excellent, and as with all Ceya's designs, they are smartly balanced. This, credit is also to the maker of Ceya's Knives also of course.
Okay, I started testing with can cuts. I know, I know...but the ABS guys do it! :D I had a bit of a hard time at first, but then I got the hang of it after like, the 5th or 6th can. Clean cuts were not possible, I guess due to the blade shape, however, one can got it's bottom cut after I severed it...this means the Hawk cut it mid-air or something. (check out pic afterwards). After all the miscues, the edge was still sharp. One can actually freaked me out a bit...I saw the bottom fall, had no clue where the top went. I then heard it hit the shed roof and it feel in the yard. WHOA!!! :confused:
Off into my forest I went...
I started off looking for guava saplings to cut. Some of these are very flexible, so if you don't got a sharp knife, they simply bend and snap back in place. LOL, kinda like a Weeble Wobble toy! Anyway, cut cleanly a bunch of saplings in various diameters. Also, did some whittling on some wood to make "kindling". The Ceya Hawk excelled at this. I did notice that the front end of the Hawk came in very useful when choking up on the blade for detailed whittling. Oh, the flat of the blade I found was good to smack mosquitoes also! :p
After all this, the blade was still sharp. I then did some thrust and slash testing on my CNT Dummy made up of duct tape and nylon fibers that are VERY strong. The Ceya hawk penetrated accurately, even with the Hawkbill tip. Slashes went very well, and that "sweet spot" up blade front worked nicely with snap cuts!
I can imagine what a cut and drop would do! :eek: (This is where you cut and then drop your bodyweight downwards in full!) I made it to the 2x4 core on my dummy when I wanted...*ThUnK*!!! No tip damage. Sweet.Knife was still sharp. :confused: I emailed Ceya about this, and he told me that this Ceya Hawk was not sharpened for years!!! He even "dared me to dull it"! LOL! More on this later...
I felt kinda bad as the can bombing and sapling cuts took it's toll on the blade's finish somewhat. I cleaned her up as best as possible, and now she is pretty much "back in shape". This blade has a fine beadblasted finish on it. I was surprised to see that the maker was not DMK...it was made by E. Chavar!!! :eek: Anyway, cleaning the blade I checked for chipping. None. Scratches in blade finsh...none. What the???
I did more testing on brush this afternoon. Said tests were done yesterday upon it's arrival. More to come in Ceya PT.2!
God bless and mahalo for reading!
