Microtech’s Hawk Auto brings back the 1996 hawkbill in M390MK

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A hawkbill that first sold in 1996 is back in production, and the shape still argues its case on the first pull cut. Microtech’s Hawk Auto pairs that deep 3.95-inch curve with a push button, a spring, and the company’s own M390MK steel.

The short version: it’s a specialist. Everything the Hawk does well flows from the curve, and everything it gives up flows from the same place.

The Hawk was one of Microtech’s early signatures, a 1996 design that kept resurfacing in small runs while the company’s out-the-front autos took the spotlight. This run puts it back in the regular catalog as the 166-10, stonewash finish, black handle, no limited-edition games.

Price: $456.00
Where to buy: KnifeCenter

A hawkbill cuts on the draw. The hooked edge catches rope, webbing, zip ties, and strapping, then pulls the material into the belly of the curve, so the cut deepens as you pull instead of skating across the surface. Gardeners prune with this profile, sailors cut line with it, and warehouse crews open strapped freight with it, all for the same reason.

Straight edges push. This one pulls.

Six holes drilled along the spine give the blade its signature, carried through from the 1996 original. They trim a little weight and do nothing for the cut. I like them anyway.

M390MK is Microtech’s house variant of Böhler M390, a steel built for edge retention and corrosion resistance in equal measure. A blade that works by dragging material across the edge lives or dies on retention, and the stonewash finish hides the scuffs a working curve collects.

In the pocket it rides deep and still, closed profile clean of sharp corners on the reach-in. Open, the handle’s curve locks the hand in behind the edge, right where a pull cutter wants it.

The numbers sit in full-size territory: 8.75 inches open, 5 inches closed, 4.96 ounces on the scale, and blade stock 0.200 inches thick behind the edge. It’s a substantial knife that carries smaller than it reads, mostly because the handle curve nests into a pocket the way it nests into a palm.

The handle is 6061-T6 aluminum with 3M grip tape inlays, and the tape is the right call on a knife that cuts on the pull. A draw cut loads the grip backward, toward your fingertips, and smooth aluminum would creep. Jimping at the spine and a carbide glass breaker at the pommel finish the working end of the design.

The clip carries on the right side, tip up.

Deployment is a push button, and the same button works the lock. It fires with the authority Microtech’s springs are known for, and it closes with a deliberate press, no fumbling for a separate release. Designed by Tony Marfione, built in the USA, the Hawk carries its maker’s fingerprints in every tolerance you can feel.

Now the other side of the curve. A hawkbill won’t push-cut through a sheet of cardboard laid flat, it won’t spread anything on bread, and its tip sits too high and hooked for the detail work a drop point handles without thinking. Slicing on a board is out. Opening letters is awkward. Most daily cutting is push cutting, and this blade declines most of it.

Sharpening asks more of you, too. A recurved edge won’t sit flat on a bench stone, so touch-ups run on a ceramic rod or a tapered sharpener, worked section by section. M390MK holds its edge a long time, which softens the chore, but when the day comes, it’s a chore.

That’s the trade. The best pull cut in the drawer, paid for in everyday range.

One limit, plainly: it’s an automatic, and automatic knives are restricted in some states and cities. Check your local rules before it goes in a pocket.

Price arithmetic is simple this time. KnifeCenter lists the Hawk at $456 in stock, and Microtech’s own store lists $457 and shows sold out, so the dealer is both the cheaper route and the only route today. At $456 it sits against premium American autos, and the money buys the curve, the steel, and the build tolerances, in that order.

Price: $456.00
Where to buy: KnifeCenter

Buy it if your cutting runs on the pull: rope and line, straps and webbing, vines and freight, or if the 1996 shape has been on your list since the first run and you want it in modern steel. You’ll know in one shift whether the curve fits your hand’s habits. Collectors get the 1996 lines without the auction hunt.

Skip it if your everyday cutting is push cuts, food prep, and detail work, or if your state says no to automatics. Microtech’s own LUDT gives you the same button-fired build with a straight edge that handles all of that, and your $456 stretches further there. The Hawk is the rare revival that knows exactly what it’s for. Thirty years on, the shape hasn’t softened, and neither has the asking price for entry.

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