HEAdesigns Grants the Hunter a 2022 Follow-up

HEAdesigns head honcho Sam Abdelrahman has crafted a spiritual sequel to his 2019 Hunter model. This one is called the Chief, and it boast similar overall dimensions but a very different blade shape.

The Hunter’s most distinguishing characteristic was its cleaver-cum-trailing point blade. That shape is staying with the Hunter; for the Chief, Abdelrahman chose a spear point – tamer, but still clean and striking like all HEAdesign blades. At 2.85 inches, its blade length is identical to that of the Hunter, and the dual opening methods of thumb hole and front flipper have been carried forward on the Chief as well. However, where the Hunter had 154CM steel, the Chief comes clad in S35VN, which will deliver a noticeable, if not life-changing, boost in performance.

Both versions of the Chief are frame locks

For as adventurous as HEAdesigns can get with the blade shapes, it sticks to well-executed takes on the basics for its handle designs. The Chief’s handle exemplifies this, as it’s even more streamlined than the handle on the Hunter. Instead of the flared, notched butt end we saw on that knife, the Chief’s back end curves downwards in a more traditional fashion. There is no decorative millwork on the front scale either, just a smooth, gently-contoured scale made from either carbon fiber or titanium. The carbon fiber model, by the way, is notably lighter, weighing 2.4 oz. compared to the ti model’s (only comparatively) chunky 3.1 oz. A simple sculpted titanium clip, non-reversible, rounds out the package here.

The Chief is billed as a follow-up to the Hunter. It’s hard to think of it as a straight up replacement for that knife, given that the Hunter, like all HEAdesigns knives, was produced in limited quantities that sold out quickly. However, it does live on in a different production format, as a collaboration model with Boker that released last year.

The Chief, too, is limited, with just 100 pieces produced for each configuration.

Knife in Featured Image: HEAdesigns Chief