Any surgeon or taxidermist will tell you the best tool for cutting flesh is a scalpel. And that’s where knife-maker Havalon got its start. Their parent company, Havel’s, is a medical device company that supplies scalpels for surgical use. When the idea arose to bring the same incredibly sharp blades to the outdoors, it gave tools to outdoorsmen that are more precise than any hunting or fillet knife ever invented.
The first Havalon Piranta was a blade modeled after an autopsy scalpel that folded into a sturdy handle. It offered all sorts of outdoorsmen the benefits of an ultra-sharp scalpel blade in the form of a pocketknife. But the blade itself was not built to handle the rigors of everyday use. That’s when Havalon began tinkering to find the best combination of sharpness and strength. The resulting innovation has made Havalon one of the top-selling knife companies in the country and the leader in the hunting industry.
“We have always felt—that a sharp blade does not need to be used with any excessive force,” said Havalon Marketing Director Ryan Cull. “This is still a core belief of our company, but we know there is a segment of consumers that want to have sturdier blades.”
The Havalon Talon is The Only Knife You’ll Need
The need for a sturdier blade that retains Havalon-level sharpness launched the Havalon Talon project. Designers set out to create a knife handle that accommodates an entire collection of different ultra-sharp blade styles. With a 3-inch serrated blade, a 3-inch gut hook combo blade and fillet blades of 5, 7 and 9 inches, it is the only knife you’ll ever need at the cutting board or skinning pole.
This all-in-one precision cutting tool was three years in the making. Havalon achieved a handle mechanism to swap out blades quickly and easily. This is possible through the ingeniously simple push-button Quik Change II system. Finding the sweet spot between scalpel sharp and durable was the next step. The blades also needed tailoring to their particular uses.
Through more tinkering and testing, Havalon landed on AUS-8 steel—the gold standard—which offers the best combination of edge retention and strength. Havalon designed custom thickness and shapes for each of the different blades. Fillet knives require flexibility; gut hooks do not. Each blade type was carefully considered and rigorously tested to achieve optimal performance for its intended use. The final result is a single knife kit that outperforms a whole cutlery set of traditional knives.
Strong and Sharp
Extreme sharpness is something Havalon users have come to expect with blades intended for replacement when they lose their edge. Talon blades are different.They are scalpel sharp, yet they are strong enough for resharpening.
“So long as users don’t pry on the blades with extreme force or damage them in some other unforeseeable way, they should be able to go years without buying replacements,” said Cull. “The versatility of the blade styles along with the strength and sharpness of the blades make the Havalon Talon one of the most innovative products to come out in the industry in years.”
To see all the features of the Havalon Talon and all of Havalon’s other scalpel-sharp knives, go to .