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centofante III vs. IV in EDC
- Thread starter boogeyman
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 10, 1998
- Messages
- 648
My preference would be for the IV, that's why I hassled for it in the first place 
. I like a Wharncliffe blade in a small knife because it maximises the amount of edge in contact with the object being cut and the fine point is also useful.
clay
. I like a Wharncliffe blade in a small knife because it maximises the amount of edge in contact with the object being cut and the fine point is also useful. clay
I can only speak for the 3, but I believe the 4 has the same flaws. Ah, well....
First, the good news...when open this knife is amazing. Beautiful blade on the 3. Handle feels great. Everything about the knife is perfect when open. The jimping on the spine works great as well (again, when open). The weight (2.5 ounces) is perfect for me. The size is perfect. The frn handles seem like a completely different material from the frn on other
Spydercos.
Now, let's take it when closed:
On the plus side, it is one of the best clips for discrete carry that Spyderco makes. It could be better, don't get me wrong....but for a Spyderco it's pretty good. (The clip does scratch easily).
What I dislike are three things:
1) The jimping on the spine is way too agressive in your pocket...if you're only used to knives like the Salt and the Para-military you don't know what agressive jimping is.
And where the back of the blade meets the handle is an open gap....that area is also too agressive (perhaps due to the thinness of the blade).
You would not want to get this knife near an expensive pair of Italian slacks! :thumbdn:
2) No freaking lanyard hole...yet lots of room for one!
3) Clip gets scratched too easily. This seems to be true for my Calypso Ir. as well. Yet my Salt I clip seems fine.
Fix these 3 things, and the three would be one of the greatest knives ever! I assume the four has exactly the same flaws as the three....if somehow they fixed any of them when they changed the blade shape, please let me know!
First, the good news...when open this knife is amazing. Beautiful blade on the 3. Handle feels great. Everything about the knife is perfect when open. The jimping on the spine works great as well (again, when open). The weight (2.5 ounces) is perfect for me. The size is perfect. The frn handles seem like a completely different material from the frn on other
Spydercos.
Now, let's take it when closed:
On the plus side, it is one of the best clips for discrete carry that Spyderco makes. It could be better, don't get me wrong....but for a Spyderco it's pretty good. (The clip does scratch easily).
What I dislike are three things:
1) The jimping on the spine is way too agressive in your pocket...if you're only used to knives like the Salt and the Para-military you don't know what agressive jimping is.
And where the back of the blade meets the handle is an open gap....that area is also too agressive (perhaps due to the thinness of the blade).You would not want to get this knife near an expensive pair of Italian slacks! :thumbdn:
2) No freaking lanyard hole...yet lots of room for one!
3) Clip gets scratched too easily. This seems to be true for my Calypso Ir. as well. Yet my Salt I clip seems fine.
Fix these 3 things, and the three would be one of the greatest knives ever! I assume the four has exactly the same flaws as the three....if somehow they fixed any of them when they changed the blade shape, please let me know!
- Joined
- May 5, 2000
- Messages
- 1,478
Just got a 4. I don't mind the jimping (I rather like it), the lack of hole (never use lanyards), or the clip (nice deep carry and beveled, unlike my sharp Para clip). Mine is pretty tight/stiff to open, though. I'm wondering if it will break in.
I'll do a better review some other time, but my first impression is that it's a classier Delica. In which case the little fit and finish issues (blade a little off center, a little flash on the FRN and not 100% perfect fit between the two sides) aren't really that big a deal. It's a $50 knife after all.
I did notice that, while it's sharp, it doesn't keep up with the sharpest Spydies I've had out of the box. No matter. A little cardboard-and-paste stropping will take it to the next level.
BTW, most people probably don't realize that this knife has nested liners. I know I didn't know.
I'll do a better review some other time, but my first impression is that it's a classier Delica. In which case the little fit and finish issues (blade a little off center, a little flash on the FRN and not 100% perfect fit between the two sides) aren't really that big a deal. It's a $50 knife after all.
I did notice that, while it's sharp, it doesn't keep up with the sharpest Spydies I've had out of the box. No matter. A little cardboard-and-paste stropping will take it to the next level.
BTW, most people probably don't realize that this knife has nested liners. I know I didn't know.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
Hands down the Wharncliff for me. It is a jack of all trades blade shape. Capable of being used much like a Stanley knife blade for general utility work as well as most of the same tasks the C3 blade can do. It is my hands down favorite blade and for more reasons than just the general jack of all trades utility design. It is also more sheeple friendly and less likely to make the bearer look like he is carrying a defensive weapon instead of a cutting tool. Even if it will certainly stab as well as the other design in a pinch it is generally not considered a defensive style of blade or seen in that light like a dagger, spear point, or long sweeping hook blade for ripping would be.
shmackey- Great to hear a review is in the works! Do you have a III to do a side by side? If not, have you handled a III and can you give your observations? I'm really wondering if by throwing in the wharncliffe blade that this knife could some how cut better than the III. Every single time I hear/see a discussion on the III there is always a "man that thing cuts well" or such.
blue man- Good looking out with that review... especially the dress pants part! Do you think if I ended up with the cento that I could possibly make the jimping less aggressive with some elbow grease and a file? Also, what knife (in the same category as the cento in size and price) do you carry in dress pants?
blue man- Good looking out with that review... especially the dress pants part! Do you think if I ended up with the cento that I could possibly make the jimping less aggressive with some elbow grease and a file? Also, what knife (in the same category as the cento in size and price) do you carry in dress pants?
boogeyman said:
Yes, I imagine you could make the jimping and tang edge less agressive with some sandpaper and elbow grease. Personally I'm not going to....I'd rather just Spyderco revise the model a bit, and get a new one....or learn for future models.
The burgundy Calypso Jr. zdp-189 is extremely pocket friendly. There's nothing on this knife that's likely to abrade anything. I could even see carrying it in the same pocket as a cell phone or mp3 player...which would be crazy with the Centofante III.
Shmackey...I'm surprised given your dislike of the bite of the para-military you don't mind the agressive jimping on this knife.
- Joined
- May 5, 2000
- Messages
- 1,478
Blue Man said:Shmackey...I'm surprised given your dislike of the bite of the para-military you don't mind the agressive jimping on this knife.
Me too. Maybe the jimping on mine is less aggressive than yours? It's not too bad. The Para has that wide-open full-sized tang-shelf that chomps me every time.
Interestingly, the Centofante, D'Allara, and even Delica have tangs that stick out when the knife is closed, but the shape of the handle still keeps your hand from contacting the tang when you reach in your pocket.
The Para would still be on my top-three list if I could have only one knife; the hungry tang is just an inconvenience that i might take care of myself.
boogeyman, I don't have a III. I might have handled one; I've handled most of the recent ones at some time or another. I think that the whole issue of "cutting better" for the III or IV depends on what you're cutting. Pretty much everything I cut doesn't require a rounded edge, so I'm pretty happy with the IV. Also keep in mind that all these different blade designs do subtle things with the orientation of the point. To stick the point of my Rhino Temp into a piece of tape requires a contortion that I don't need to do with the Cento IV. And the III would be somewhere in the middle, but much closer to the IV.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2005
- Messages
- 4,761
The later paras, I believe, have rounded tang edges...mine certainly does and doesn't cause me any trouble. Thankfully.