Sorry about failing to post for a few days, everyone. I had a busy labor day weekend. I hope you all had a fun one as well.

Today I’d like to talk about what I feel is an underrated knife, the Buck Short Nighthawk.

The Buck Short Nighthawk is the shorter version of the Buck Nighthawk. The larger Nighthawk also has a plain edge while the Short Nighthawk has a partially serrated edge. The Buck Short Nighthawk is made from 1/4 inch thick 420HC. The thickness gives it a lot of strenght, and 420HC is a fairly tough steel to begin with. It is very stain resistant and fairly soft and tough. It does not hold an edge for a very long time, but the edge holding is more than acceptable.

The handle is very comfortable. The olive drab sections are rubber (kraton), and feel very grippy and secure, yet comfortable and giving. There is a thumb ramp which also has a rubber/kraton section to keep your thumb from slipping.

The sheath that comes with the knife is only so-so. It has a plastic core and is woven around the outside. The plastic core does not secure the knife, so the strap and snap must be used to keep the knife secure. This is much slower than Kydex and less classy than leather. However, for the $30-$40 street price the sheath is typical.

The serrations, IMO, take up too much of the blade, but for a heavy duty knife like this they do make sense. This type of knife is not meant as a slicer, so heavy serrations (as opposed to very pointy ones) will do well for the heavy cutting and sawing this knife will see.

The Buck Short Nighthawk is not a Strider, but it is a great heavy duty tactical knife for the price. I think of it almost as an entry level tactical fixed blade. If you like it, you may want to consider moving up to something more expensive. I would suggest the Buck Short Nighthawk over any Cold Steel product as an affordable tactical.