Max Knives MK108O — 440C Hawkbill Folding Knife, Orange Handle

Overview

Same geometry as the rest of the series, different colour: the MK108O carries a 72 mm hawkbill blade in 440C stainless steel, plain edge, 3 mm thick, on a 135 mm orange anodised aluminium handle. Open, it reaches 187 mm and weighs 142 grams including the belt clip. The hooked blade cuts on the pull instead of the push, which suits it to baler twine, sack ties, greenhouse film and any springy stem that a straight blade would simply push ahead of itself.

An orange handle on anodised aluminium

Anodising is not paint laid on top of the metal: it is an oxide layer grown into the aluminium itself, coloured all the way through, which hardens the surface and does not flake off the way a lacquer does. Hence this flat, saturated orange that stays put in use. On a knife you take outdoors, colour does real work: set down in grass, on a tarpaulin, in a flower bed or in the back of a boot, an orange handle is spotted from several paces away where a dark one vanishes. The belt clip does the same job upstream, keeping the knife in one known place.

Technical specifications

Hawkbill blade in 440C stainless steel, plain edge, 72 mm long and 3 mm thick at the spine. Orange anodised aluminium handle, 135 mm, which is the folded length of the knife. Overall open length 187 mm. Assisted opening, liner lock, belt clip. Weight 142 grams. That ratio, 187 mm deployed from 135 mm folded, tells the story: a pocket knife that unfolds into a proper cutting tool.

Care

440C takes damp in its stride, but it deserves a wipe after sap, soil or salt water, before the knife is folded shut. Clean out the hollow of the edge, which is where plant fibre and twine debris collect. A drop of light oil on the pivot keeps the assisted opening crisp and the liner lock clean; cycle the blade to spread it, then wipe. The orange anodising washes with soapy water. Sharpening is done with a round stone or a small-diameter steel, following the concave curve.

Legal notice. Carrying a knife in public without a legitimate reason is an offence in France and in most European countries. Check the law that applies where the order is delivered before purchasing.