REVIEW – Vosteed and RS Knifeworks (Rob Saniscalchi) have collaborated again on a new knife called the Griffin. I’ve been lucky enough to try a few Vosteed knives out but this is their first hawkbill shaped blade and I was excited to see how it performs.
What is it?
The Vosteed Griffin knife sports a 3.49” hawkbill blade made from Sandvik 14C28N stainless steel with G10 handles. There are four versions to pick from. A gray stonewash blade is available with a yellow G10 handle while a black stonewash blade can be had with black, purple, or orange G10 scales. All feature a traditional liner lock that engages with a solid thunk, a back and front flipper, thumb hole, smooth ceramic bearings, and a non-reversible stainless steel pocket clip.
What’s in the box?
- The Vosteed Griffin
- Soft storage case with Velcro patch
- Sticker, cleaning cloth, and support card
Hardware Specs
Click to expand Hardware Specs
- Model Number: A1101
- Blade Length: 3.49″ | 88.65 mm
- Overall Length: 8.24″ | 209.17 mm
- Blade Width: 1.10″ | 28.02 mm
- Blade Thickness: 0.118″ | 3.00 mm
- Blade Material: 14C28N
- Blade Grind: Compound
- Blade Style: Hawkbill
- Blade Finish: Black Stonewash
- Hardness: HRC 60±2
- Handle Length: 4.75″ | 120.52 mm
- Handle Width: 0.80″ | 20.33 mm
- Handle Thickness: 0.51″ | 13.00 mm
- Handle Material: G10
- Color: Orange
- Weight: 3.76 oz | 106.60 g
- Opener: Thumb Hole | Front Flipper | Back Flipper
- Lock Type: Liner Lock
- Pivot Assembly: Caged Ceramic Ball Bearing
- Pocket Clip: Non-reversible | Stainless Steel
- Carry Position: Tip-up
- Knife Type: Manual Folding
- Backspacer Material: G10
- Backspacer Color: Yellow
- Designer: Rob Saniscalchi
Design and features
The Vosteed Griffin is a nice addition to their lineup. I carried a Spyderco Tasman Salt for years that had a serrated hawkbill blade which worked great for cutting rope and zip ties. Anything requiring a pull cut is where the hawkbill shape excels. Sandvik 14C28N steel is a great budget steel that you will find used a lot for knives. That’s for good reason though as it’s known for excellent toughness, ease of sharpening, and corrosion resistance but edge retention is lackluster. With knife steel you typically only ever get 3 out of those 4 characteristics and 14C28N provides a good compromise with the only downside being you have to sharpen it more frequently.
For cutting rope, pruning, opening boxes, and cutting wires the Vosteed Griffin knife works wonderfully. It’s also very fun to open with three deployment options. It sports a front flipper, back flipper, and thumb hole. The liner lock engages with a nice solid thunk and the ceramic ball bearings keep the action buttery smooth.
Taking the Vosteed Griffin knife apart, the steel liner under the vibrant orange G10 scales have cut outs to save weight mostly on the non-liner lock side. The engagement point of the liner lock has been crisply machined. Normally with liner locks I will always put a little super glue in the detent ball hole since I prefer a very light resistance when opening but the Griffin is perfect the way it is.
Hawkbill blades are popular with sailors to cut rope, rigging, and fishing line. Gardeners and agricultural workers often prefer the curved blade shape for pruning plants and harvesting vegetables due to the ease with a pull cut. It is also an effective self defense and martial arts knife shape due to the aggressive sharp point.
With a very slim 4.75” long handle and weighing only 3.75 oz the Vosteed Griffin carries nicely in the pocket. No issues with the flipper scratching my wallet or car key which I carry in the same front right pocket with my knife. The clip holds nicely and puts the handle at a good depth without being too conspicuous. I can also now color coordinate my knife with my orange jacket.
What I like
- Extremely functional blade shape
- Three deployment options make for great fidgetability
What I’d change
- Minor gripe but a lanyard hole would be nice to tie it off when boat or river fishing
Final thoughts
The Vosteed Griffin knife is extremely functional, feels great in the hand, and allows for effortless pull cuts. At $79 the Griffin is affordable but doesn’t slack on quality. The G10 scales are offered in bright orange, purple, yellow, and black with different colored back spacers and I think the brighter options suit this knife the best. For fishing, cutting zip ties, gardening, and opening packages I have always preferred a hawkbill blade and the Griffin is my new daily carry due to my affinity for the blade shape. Give it a try and I’m sure it will be your next EDC as well or check out Vosteed’s other great knives.
Price: $79
Where to buy: Vosteed website
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Vosteed
More: Vosteed knife reviews from The Gadgeteer team
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Lanyard hole wise. You could pass the lanyard through the hole in the clip, perhaps?
Greetings Jacob-William,
Agreed. I use gear keepers with metal clips when I fish so I will hook it to the pocket clip. Again, it’s a minor gripe just because most of their other knives have lanyard holes integrated.