Am I the only one who doesn’t like Spyderco

I have owned many, many Spyderco knives over the years, so I definitely don't hate them. That said, Spyderco is one of the few companies whose knives I've purchased, didn't fall in love with, sold, thought at a later time "Maybe now I'll love that knife...", bought the knife, discovered that "Nope, still don't love this knife", sold, thought at a later time "Maybe now I'll..."

Seriously, I've owned like six different PM2s, and a few different Militaries. I admit that I'm an oddball who sometimes enjoys that "handle larger than the blade" aesthetic, but I just never seem to click with these two knives, and they're the friggin' flagship knives. It's the same for the Enduras. I've owned at least 15 of those over the years. Today, I own zero Enduras.

The model I DO love however, is the Delica, and I've got plenty of those!! So, I do like Spyderco, I just tend not to gel with some of the knives that have made them famous, and a beloved staple around here.
 
PsychoSword said:
I understand what Spyderco is, and they just aren't my style of knives and have always seemed a bit cheesy. I don't like thumb holes, I prefer flippers, and I don't like the blade shapes or grind. I know they were real popular with the self defense martial arts crowd of the late 90's and 2000's. I've always had a bad taste for them, since I've always considered them the original "mall ninja" brand of knives. Every mall ninja back then thought they were super cool and all knowing with their Endura and G22 or K(M)imber 1911.
Click to expand...

Wow. That's certainly a take.

Hear this, folks? Today I learned that mall ninjas carried Kimbers. 🤣🤣🤣
 
Hell yeah .... I'm a Zombie loving Mall Ninja :)

i-qDJdWs9-X3.jpg
 
New guy here. It intrigues me some on here liked certain spyderco models but not most of their other models. I’m considering buying either a Delica 4 or a Native 5 but have not had the opportunity to handle either one. I like the shape of blade on the Native 5 and it’s compression lock but their must be a reason for the apparent popularity of the Delica 4. So I would like to receive some feedback from those of you who have/had both.
Thank you for your time.
 
I’m an ex- Spyderco hater turned fan boy. Once I started carrying the para 3 it became my benchmark in terms of reliability, deployment and cutting ability. But Super subjective to my needs.

On the other hand I recently got an M4 shaman and while it’s an impressive blade I just can’t get used to it. The blade is such a chonker and while it cuts amazingly the blade itself is so heavy that deployment and shutting is cumbersome and not very reliable. But I know there’s plenty of guys who like carrying big ass overbuilt knives even in urban settings.

They’ve done amazing things with their branding and trademarks and are arguably the most identifiable knife next to Swiss army.
 
DrillerNC said:
New guy here. It intrigues me some on here liked certain spyderco models but not most of their other models. I’m considering buying either a Delica 4 or a Native 5 but have not had the opportunity to handle either one. I like the shape of blade on the Native 5 and it’s compression lock but their must be a reason for the apparent popularity of the Delica 4. So I would like to receive some feedback from those of you who have/had both.
Thank you for your time.
Click to expand...
Native 5 doesn’t have a compression lock. Are you thinking if the shaman?
The native is still a great knife. Delica too. If it’s your first Spyderco I’d do the delica since that’s a flagship model. If you like it, you might like other models.
 
I didn’t think I liked Spydercos until a couple of years ago because the spydie hole made them ugly… Then I handled a PM2 and now I have more Spydercos than anything. They do knife things exceedingly well. I personally think the hole is the easiest or at least most versatile deployment method there is in a non-auto knife. Can be opened with different fingers, with gloves on, pretty much whatever. Also, there is no thumbstud to get in the way while cutting and sharpening. It does generally make for a taller knife but that doesn’t bother me on most models. I don’t particularly care for their FRN scaled models but I do have a few.
 
What finally got me was the paramilitary 2. I'm a big fan. The handle feels great, especially if I have a more difficult task to perform, and the blade is a really nice slicer. That's usually what I'm doing with my pocket knife. I'm slicing.

Spyderco uses any steel I could possibly want with a great heat treat. A lot of other makers offer a much more limited catalog at way higher prices and they don't push the ht (looking at you, benchmade). Combine that with the fact that I can typically find the paramilitary 2 in the blade steel I want and there are plenty of aftermarket parts if I want to change things up and I'm sold.

Dollar for dollar I think Spyderco is pretty tough to beat. You just have to find the model that best suits you. There are so many to choose from. Use it for a while and I think you might be impressed.

If you don't like the physical appearance and you can't move past that, it might not work out. I don't think they're the prettiest things out there, so I can relate. It just depends on what's important to you.

If you're like me and performance is higher ranked in your priorities than looks, then I think it's a good fit.

I still hate their sales model with the sprint runs, but that may be how they keep turning out such a good knife. They've got my business regardless.
 
DrillerNC said:
New guy here. It intrigues me some on here liked certain spyderco models but not most of their other models. I’m considering buying either a Delica 4 or a Native 5 but have not had the opportunity to handle either one. I like the shape of blade on the Native 5 and it’s compression lock but their must be a reason for the apparent popularity of the Delica 4. So I would like to receive some feedback from those of you who have/had both.
Thank you for your time.
Click to expand...
I prefer the Delica 4, slim and easy one handed open and close. I actually do the knife fidget quite a bit with this one.
The native is good it just doesn’t appeal to me as much. I prefer the pm3 with a stouter blade over the Delica 4 if that is what you are looking towards.
 
I can speak only for myself. Pros: My most loved, goto Spyderco models are the Chap, the Military, the Native and Native Chief, and the Sage. I carry the M390 PITS since I bought it March last year. Before that I carried the S90V CF Sage for months. Spyderco makes the best serrations, I own a few, esp. like the Caribbean, the Dragonfly, Tasman. I like their backlocks and the opening hole. They do a lot of coproductions, resulting in some great designs from the best designers, which would otherwise not be affordable for many. They have the widest price range of all knife makers, starting from Chinese stuff, all the way up to expensive models. There is something for everyone. Spyderco offers all kinds of great steels some of them not seen in other production knives.. Lastly, it is an American, family owned business, not a faceless corporation.
 
Last edited:
It's funny how personal preference varies from model to model with Spyderco. I have a similar experience to what Quiet posted above with the PM2, though it is beloved by many. Bought it, didn't bond, sold it; bought it again because of some interesting aftermarket scales, didn't bond, sold it; and now still I find myself thinking "I don't have any 15V and I don't have a PM2 in the collection sooo?..." 🤣. Then, I get the Stretch 2 which is said to be similar in ergonomics to the PM2 just in a LW/lockback configuration, and I love the damned thing. Go figure. Likewise, I hear much talk of what a great EDC the Native is. I have one, I like it fine, but am pretty much just meh about it and much prefer the Delica myself. My favorite is by far the Manix, but I also like to pick up different models to experience in the vast array of interesting steels that Spyderco offers.

Which brings me to what I really love about Spyderco, which is the company itself, namely Sal and Eric Glesser. They are truly knife nuts themselves, and obviously have a passion for bringing enthusiasts excellent cutting tools in cool steels that they think we'll want. Hell, they're even active on the forums. What's not to like about that?

noFvJjT.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top