Knife Deep Dive: Spyderco C24G “Blackhawk''

Deep Dive: Spyderco C24G “Blackhawk''

This beautiful vintage piece is the Spyderco C24G "Blackhawk". Designed by Spyderco founder Sal Glesser, the Blackhawk is made in Golden, Colorado, USA

In 1994 Spyderco released the C24 Blackhawk along with its bigger brother, the C23 Renegade. Both models had a blade in the shape of a clip point, a backlock and black aluminum handles. Originally they were intended to appeal to the 'biker' market. They were also Spyderco's first models without the "hump"; the raised part of the blade's spine above the hole, where the thumb usually rests. Because of this and the fact that they are equipped with finger chokes, both the Blackhawk and the Renegade can be seen as predecessors of the current C41 Native.

This particular model (with G10 handle scale) was only produced between 1994 and 1997 with both a smooth edge and full serration. During this time they were produced with either "Golden Colorado USA" or "Golden Colorado USA Earth" engravings in the blade. This particular model also includes the word "Earth". Another interesting detail of this model is that there is a misspelling on the pocket clip, which makes it highly collectible. The clip reads "US PATENT 4347665 FORIEGN PATS PEND", in which the word "foreign" is misspelled.

In 2002, Spyderco reintroduced the C24 and C23 for a short run, with a steel liner on one side of the handle. All 1994-2002 models were produced with Gin 1 Blade Stem.