Blixa wrote:I admit it. I'm drawn to the Harpy for style and literary reasons. But I guess its more of a slasher than a stabber and if I'm buying I need a good all purpose knife to carry whle hiking and camping, too.
I've never been a big fan of "hawkbill" style blades for practical and asthetic reasons. As a self defense knife, the design of the blade will make it prone to sticking or lodging in the target. That's bad as if the blade gets stuck it could result in the knife getting yanked out of your hand. Bad for weapon retention. Also, as a fighting knife, the design is very awkward for thrusting or even for slashing as the point is way off axis from the the line of the forearm for thrusts and the point will tend to dig in for slashing, preventing a solid draw cut (Aslo the reason why it'll tend to stick).
For general utility purposes, I suppose it'll work.
Aslo, the damned thing is eighty shades of ugly.
Now, if you're looking for a general use knife, you're best bet is something from CRKT. CRKT makes some very high quality blades and very reasonable prices (at least compared to Emerson). Emersons, while the best, are expensive as all hell. If you accidently misplace a CRKT you're out maybe $100. You loose an Emerson and you're out a couple hundred or more.
I've been handling and working with weapons for so long that wepaons retention and awareness are second nature to me. I've gotten myself to the point where I just don't feel quite right unarmed, so I've gotten to where I'm always aware of where my weapons are at all times. The newbie, be it carrying a gun or a knife, as strange as it sounds, will sometimes forget themselves and saet a weapon down, get distracted, and completely forget where they set their weapon down at.
So for the beginner, I recommend starting off with the less expensive stuff. That way, when you loose it, and believe me, eventually you WILL loose it, you don't feel so bad.
On Mathematics: I divided by zero! Oh SHI....