Any long-term Spyderco FRN knife users?

[el gigantor]

Just wondering if anyone here has been carrying a Spyderco model with FRN handle scales consistently for a few years or more. I'm curious how the material (and backlock mechanism) holds up to extended and repeated use. Photos would be fantastic too!

 

[oldmanwilly]

No problems here.

The top one is dragonfly I've carried and used heavily for ~23 years. The Native has been carried and used on and off for 17 years or so. The bottom one is a Dragonfly I've used heavily for about 4 years now.


I genuinely prefer FRN handles to nearly all others. The bottom knife here, a Pacific Salt 2, has been used the hardest of this bunch for 4 years now.


My Police 4 has been worked hard and is doing great.


As is my Stretch 2.


The only ones that have gotten a bit loose are the top two pictured that are held together by pins rather than screws, but even then just barely. Not remotely enough wiggle to cast them aside. They've each got quite a long life ahead of them.

 

[kobold]

I am using a Native LC200N SE in the garden, year after year and i think it will turn into a PE before the FRN shows any damage.
I just clean it w a toothbrush and it looks like new.

 

[Dadpool]

Just wondering if anyone here has been carrying a Spyderco model with FRN handle scales consistently for a few years or more. I'm curious how the material (and backlock mechanism) holds up to extended and repeated use. Photos would be fantastic too!

My longest FRN daily driver was a Delica 4 that I carried for two years. That was pre-BF for me, so I don't have any photos of it...and I lost it to boot.

The FRN looked the same after two years as it did on day one.

Spyderco's FRN, especially with the bi-directional texturing (...when the clip actually contacts the smooth pad), was what made me enjoy plastic scales on knives. It's tough stuff and one of my favorite handle materials.

 

[DA170]

Just wondering if anyone here has been carrying a Spyderco model with FRN handle scales consistently for a few years or more. I'm curious how the material (and backlock mechanism) holds up to extended and repeated use. Photos would be fantastic too!

Gifted my son a Pacific Salt SE , Stretch 2 XL SE Salt, And Tenacious Lightweight Serrated the last 5 years! He’s an avid Saltwater fisherman and distribution Lineman for large Utility company. He went to Texas and worked for Xcel Energy as a transmission lineman during Covid. His Forman dropped the PS and Tenacious from 90-110 feet, in Texas on multiple occasions, with no major damage to the knife. He stopped using the Tenacious because cutting heavy media with FR gloves caused the lock to disengage! I now have the knife in a glovebox of one of my vehicles. He uses a serrated Shaman and a Milwaukee hawkbill now for work. The PS is in his new boat and he still carries the Stretch IWB on weekends. Great knives!!

 

[Ikhnaton]

I've been carrying and using a Sage 5 LW for more than two years, the texture of the FRN has lost a bit of its "bite", gotten a bit smoother, but apart from a few dings and scratches (from open beer bottles), it still looks great. Can't comment on the backlocks, since mine is a compression lock, but that also still works flawlessly

 

[cabfrank]

Many, many. Pacific Salts 1 and 2, Dragonfly, Delica, Ladybug, Native Chief LW, Salt 1, more if including other locks or fixed blades: Lil Temp LW, Para3 LW, Jumpmaster, ARK...all fantastic knives with fantastic locks and fantastic FRN. They may not be the fanciest, but they are unsurpassed for working with, carrying, handling and cutting stuff.

 

[stillshot2]

I sure hope FRN lasts a really long time. I bought my son a native 5 lightweight the day he was born to give to him when he was older and could appreciate it. The thought of the FRN or FRCP or whatever is used becoming more brittle over time and cracking would be kind of a bummer.

 

[Skywalker31]

FRN is great. This Delica is almost 10 years old now (Dec 2015 purchase) and is one of my most-used Spydercos; definitely the most used under 3".

Lockup is still solid, action is good. Some dings around the edges but that's mostly from being used as a hammer or a bottle opener as I Ikhnaton said. Blade is still mostly centered; certainly no rubbing on the scales.

I really like Spyderco's FRN.

 

[JJ_Colt45]

I prefer the feel of micarta by far, but the FRN holds up very well. I have a handful of Spyderco's with the FRN scales and most look just as they did new other than a scuff mark or two on a few of them. The few with noticable scuffs have been used extensively, a couple dropped from ladders or roofs, buried under boards and drywall, and carried in all types of weather and no issues at all with scales or locks.

 

[oldmanwilly]

To further this discussion a little more, I am intrigued by Spyderco's new offering of a Shaman with a sculpted FRN handle:

https://www.knifecenter.com/item/SP229SBK/spyderco-shaman-lightweight-folding-knife-cts-bd1n-stonewashed-serrated-blade-black-frn-handles

It looks to me like they have figured out a way to keep the thickness and contouring of the original Shaman handles using FRN rather than G10. I'm not particularly interested in the Shaman, but this makes me hopeful that Spyderco will try the same with other models (Bodacious, Endura, Stretch, etc.). It would be great to try a full lineup of knives with sculpted FRN in addition to the existing thin, flat FRN handles.

 

[Chowser]

I bought a blue FRN Delica in the early 90s, my first 'good knife', and carried it until the integrated clip broke off. It lives in my shop, and gets used often. It's still tight and snappy.

 

[cabfrank]

Spyderco will put a clip on it for you. I think it's only $20, but I don't know that for sure.

 

[The True North]

If you use them as knives, for cutting, they will last lifetimes.

 

[brownshoe]

Just wondering if anyone here has been carrying a Spyderco model with FRN handle scales consistently for a few years or more. I'm curious how the material (and backlock mechanism) holds up to extended and repeated use. Photos would be fantastic too!

About 20 years ago, I bought my little girl a beat to hell first gen Endura for -$5 at a flea market. The knife had been severely abused - the integral clip was broken off as well as the tip; both have been redesigned to be stronger. I cleaned, sharpened and oiled it. Still works fine today although it’s not abused like it was. FRN is very durable and the Japanese know how to make a good knife; lockup is perfect.

 

[rizza32]

Bought mine 24 years ago. Carried it every shift as a medic for 3 years. Now sits in my turnouts as a back up. Little weathered but no issues.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I edc this PM3-LW and work with it. The clip popped out a few times, not much holding it.

I found a teeny tiny stainless washer at a hardware store. It’s held up for quite a while. I worried about the screw length, still do actually.

I love the knife, but once you lose trust, it’s hard to really “trust” that it’ll be there in a pinch.

Color me “on the fence”…

 

[oldmanwilly]

I edc this PM3-LW and work with it. The clip popped out a few times, not much holding it.

I found a teeny tiny stainless washer at a hardware store. It’s held up for quite a while. I worried about the screw length, still do actually.

I love the knife, but once you lose trust, it’s hard to really “trust” that it’ll be there in a pinch.

Color me “on the fence”…

That sounds more like a problem with the clip than the FRN in general. I've had the same issue with a wire clip on my Dragonfly, so it's not unique. I like your solution with the little washer.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

That sounds more like a problem with the clip than the FRN in general. I've had the same issue with a wire clip on my Dragonfly, so it's not unique. I like your solution with the little washer.

Just seems like a rinky dink design for a pocket clip for a man wearing jeans, working, bending, kneeling, climbing and such.

If it’s not unique, it’s common. This isn’t a cheap Chinese knife, it’s a legendary American brand and needed to be “rigged” for normal use. If the screw isn’t catching enough meat and eventually lets go, it’ll be useless to me.

I’m hoping for the best, but “hope” really isn’t a plan.

 

[Iron Oxide]

Just seems like a rinky dink design for a pocket clip for a man wearing jeans, working, bending, kneeling, climbing and such.

If it’s not unique, it’s common. This isn’t a cheap Chinese knife, it’s a legendary American brand and needed to be “rigged” for normal use. If the screw isn’t catching enough meat and eventually lets go, it’ll be useless to me.

I’m hoping for the best, but “hope” really isn’t a plan.

If the screw isn't catching enough meat? I don't know because I haven't taken my Para 3 apart, but it appears the screw holding the clip threads into metal on the other side (took pic of mine but not using imigur or whatever that silly app is), not the FRN. In any case, the only thread engagement you've lost is the thickness of the washer. Get a longer screw to make up the difference (use a stone or file to shorten it if necessary) and Loctite it if it gives ya a little more confidence. As a mech, I've done this many times.

If the screw does go into the FRN, a longer screw will still restore whatever you lost to the washer (which is a nice solution BTW). And even if the screw goes into FRN, it's thick - on my Para 3, there is a kind of stand-off from both scales, so the FRN is the full width of the handle. You're going to bend the clip or pop it out before you pull the threads outta the FRN.

Your problem is with the wire clip and the screw that retains it, not the FRN. I'm just offering another POV/potential solutions in hope you regain confidence in your Para 3. BTW, if your clip got torqued enough to distort it (it's twisted and will spring back to twisted shape, not it's original shape), maybe it needs to be replaced. I love wire clips because they're far less likely to scratch paint on vehicles and they're easy on hard-working hands. I've tweaked spoon type clips in the course of work too, so I respectfully disagree that wire clips are rinky dink. YMMV, of course!

OP, sorry for the highjack. And now back to our regularly scheduled Spydiestuff!