Bout to order my first spyderco!

joeyza

joeyza

Joined
Feb 27, 2013
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really wanna get into spyderco knives and really wanna like them, so ordering me a Spyderco Tenacious for my first one. what you guys think, this a good first choice to get into the brand? or any other recommendations? wanna try and keep it below $50 for my first one..
 
Welcome to Spyderco!
For starters, I'd ask if you'd feel more comfortable with a liner lock or a lockback. If you choose liner lock, I'd recommend anything from the
Tenacious family (Ambitious, Persistence, Tenacious, Resilience) depending on what size best meets your personal needs. If you chose lockback, I'd recommend the byrd Meadowlark 2 or Cara Cara 2 again depending on your size preference. If you hang around the Knife Exchange long enough, you could also shoot for a user Delica or Endura around $50. Hope that helps.
 
My persistence was my second spydie and i wish it was my first i love the knife. It feels great in hand opens smooth and fast with the middle finger flick and it sharpens up to a razor very easy. Its probably the knife i carry the most when i am at work. The tenacious is just the slightly bigger brother.
 
For her own reasons my petite wife wanted a Tenacious to carry in her tiny pockets. Being so cheap I jumped on it because she is getting into knives and I finally have someone to talk blade. It is, for the price, really great. The lower end steel wont hold an edge forever but sharpens so easy. It's strong and rigid lacking flex like some FRN knives. I think of it as a beater that you can use and enjoy guilt free. The washers inside are paper thin and there are two per side, don't know how that will work over the long run. Fit and finish are good too.

But... it is on the lower end of the line. Don't judge a Sage, Para or other higher end buy the lower. I have to make analogies so here goes. Don't judge a Corvette buy driving a Cobalt.
 
The Tenacious was my first Spyderco, now I have a ton of them! It's a great knife to start with, I still use mine every now and then.
 
Personally, I'd suggest spending a bit more and getting a Delica or Endura. They typically retail for a little over $50, but they pop up on the exchange here periodically for less. More comfortable ergos, better steel, better F&F. Just overall a better knife in every regard, IMO.
 
You can get a Delica or Endura for under $60 and they have much better steel and are made very well.
The Tenacious line is made extremely well too, but I would go for the Delica or Endura. You also have your choice of colors, Purple, Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, and Grey.

You can also get a Spyderco Dragonfly for under $50 in Stainless Steel or FRN. If you don't mind a small knife, I would also suggest this. It's a great little knife, awesome quality and really good for EDC. If you wanted to kick up your price limit to $65 you could get the British Racing Green/ZDP-189 Dragonfly.

The Dragonfly(unless you get stainless), Delica, and Endura are all FRN handles and not G-10 like the Tenacious. However, FRN is a good strong material and feels good in the hand. All three of these models have better steel and aren't made in China like the Tenacious.
8cr13mov(Tenacious) steel is a decent steel that holds its edge pretty well, is easy to sharpen, and is quite wear resistant. However, for not much more money you can get a Spyderco in VG-10 and I think that is your best bet. Better steel and overall quality for maybe $20ish more at the most.

The Tenacious is a great starter Spyderco, but if I had the option of getting something with a bit better steel, I would.
 
I just got a tenacious. That said what blade chick said is solid advice. The endura is quite large, tenacious only slightly smaller. I traded out the endura just last week. Usps lost it. And I more than likely will have to order a new one to send direct to the person I traded with. I don't believe usps will find it. They are selling new for roughly 55-60 new great colors options I'm digging the brown for some reason and blue. Unless you are a big guy its quite a lot of knife to edc.

The delica is more normal sized of a folder so it depends on your needs. The tenacious is easy to sharpen. If you find sharpening your knives therapeutic you won't mind the softer crmov steel at all. Persistance and ambitious look like winners in terms of size. All spydercos pretty much look the same. Comes down to size of handle, blade and material when choosing spydies...as the form and function of them as cutting tools are near perfect. I only recently discovered them myself after hating on them because they all look the same. The titanium ones are hot!

The vg10 is really nice it tears through material like a hot knife. I feel from a tactile standpoint that there is less resistance cutting with a vg vs crmov but it could be in my head.
 
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