Hackman Balisong

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Hombre
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:46 pm

Hackman Balisong

Post by Hombre »

When it comes to the Balisong I prefer FHM Balisongs. Anyway today I bought this one... A Hackman Balisong... For me, I must admit that it is hard to imagine a more ugly Balisong than this one but I bought it for the history of this model...
In the book "SOG Knives and more from Americas war in South East Asia" by Michael W: Silvey you can read a little bit about it....
Should be grateful for opinions...

Best,
Stefan
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TMD
Posts: 195
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 2:43 pm
Location: EUROPE

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by TMD »

I dont think it is that ugly :) They are very rugged knives and their history in Vietnam is interesting.
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whippersnapper
Posts: 8354
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 12:39 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by whippersnapper »

The red is unique. Can't say I have ever seen another.
Hombre
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:46 pm

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by Hombre »

Thank you for your nice words. I really appreciate that!
Yes, because of the Vietnam history it is very interesting but I still think it is ugly...:)
So far it is the exception in my collection... Meaning to say that I shall never buy a blade which I do not think is beautiful and keep it in my collection...Well, here I changed my mind because of the history... :)
How about you guys... Do you have blades in your collections which you think are really ugly but you keep it because of the history?

Here is one more picture... Both Vietnam era and both made by Hackman, Finland... The beauty and the beast... Which is which is in the eye of the beholder...:)
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TMD
Posts: 195
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 2:43 pm
Location: EUROPE

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by TMD »

Wow! You have a Garcia survival knife, very nice! Last one I saw for sale was 700 Euros!
Hombre
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:46 pm

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by Hombre »

No, TMD... It is a Hackman... Not a Garcia...

The Garcia was a clone of the Hackman Survival Knife that was developed in response to a shortage of Randall 18 knives for the Vietnam War in the late 60’s early 70’s. The Hackman Survival Knife was designed by Ken Warner and Pete Dickey and produced in Finland. The Garcia came out after the Hackman stopped production and was identical but it was a lighter knife with a 3/16th thick blade instead of Hackman’s ¼” thick blade. It was made in Brazil and featured a survival kit in the sheath with a whistle, compass, sharpening stone and flint sparker.
TMD
Posts: 195
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 2:43 pm
Location: EUROPE

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by TMD »

I see I got them mixed up, the knife I saw for sale was a Hackman, unfortunatly I coudnt afford it.
Its a very attractive knife and I understand why you call them the beauty and the beast :)
Hombre
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:46 pm

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by Hombre »

I understand... No problems at all...
I would like to have a Garcia myself so I could compare the two... Anyway friends of mine have told me to not buy it if it is not cheap because I will be disappointed... Well, we will see...
Mario
Posts: 284
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2020 4:59 am

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by Mario »

I got a Hackman just like that one last year! Paid about $100 for it.
TazmanTom
Posts: 403
Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2014 3:49 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by TazmanTom »

Hackman experts chime in... mine has the same blade as this one with the grinds ending at the tip of the knife. I was told this grind was early. Most have a grind that continues down the blade ending up 1/2" behind the tip. I've seen this called a Scandi grind. Anybody know for sure ?
TazmanTom
Posts: 403
Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2014 3:49 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by TazmanTom »

One just popped up on AAPK with the other grind I described for comparison.
Nephilim
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2021 12:29 am

Re: Hackman Balisong

Post by Nephilim »

I was going to post a couple of day ago, but there was a little delay in activating my account. I'm mostly just cross-posting from an AAPK thread, but I want to spread knowledge about these cool old knives and hopefully elicit some new information.
Image
The top knife with the black handle has the clip point blade, while the bottom knife with the red handle has a puukko style blade. I don't think I've seen a red handled, clip point hackman before, like in the original post. I have no idea if one of these were earlier production, later replaced with the other pattern. I speculated that the clip point blade might have been intended specifically for the American market, but that is just a guess.
I believe that the form of the logo changed during production.
Image
(not from my collection) I think the logo on the top two knives are the earlier style, form the late 1960s. The lower knife has larger text next to simplified roundel and dates from the 1970s. I can't really be totally sure of any of this information and would appreciate any additions or corrections, particularly from anyone from Finland.
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