Considering an Urban... what are your thoughts on this knife?

ZDHart

ZDHart

Joined
Feb 16, 2010
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Among those of us who can have and carry knives with locks, is the Urban a popular model? Or are these models popular primarily with those who are not legally able to have locking knives?

The size and design of the Urban is very appealing to me, but all of my Spydercos and other folding knives have locks (which I like). So I'm wondering how much I might like the Urban.

I am definitely attracted to it for its size and materials... just not sure how much I would like not having a lock. Is this a minor point? My use would not be heavy duty by any means... mostly typical daily use like opening packages and what not... certainly no challenge for a non-locking knife.

So far, the Spydercos I have are a Sage 1, G10 Dragonfly, Persistence, Cat.

Far past "need", but I think I want an Urban. Your thoughts appreciated.
 
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If you keep your finger in the choil it's about as safe as a knife gets. Don't stab refrigerators and you'll be good to go.
 
mongomondo said:
Don't stab refrigerators and you'll be good to go.
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Oh man... I hate it when I can't stab fridges with a knife! ;) Oh well, I'll just use the Persistence for my fridge stabbing.

BTW, love MadMen!
 
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Great show!

I have the UKPK which is very similar to the Urban, I'm very satisfied with it.
 
I have both the Urbans and they are great little knives, the leaf blade is the one to go for IMO.
The UKPK is a nice knife too but I actually prefer the smaller size of the Urban. :thumbup:

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I carried my orange wharncliffe Urban today.

It's one of my favorite knives. It's really a UKPK Jr, and it's extremely comfortable in hand. The action is stiff and smooth. It never feels unsafe. I love the wharncliffe blade too.

I dont' know how it's not more popular. It's small, light, well made, and really cool looking...But it feels much more comfortable than all the other knives of this size I've tried.

I'm thinking about getting it a big brother UKPK, but even if I do, the Urban will still be popular for me to carry. Not to mention it's just lovable looking. All my NKP friends like this one.

If I didn't have a Caly3, I'd get the leaf blade one, but Since I have many Spydercos, the Wharnie seemed best. It's a great utility shape, as it scrapes things easy and works like a giant Xacto knife. I am in design school so this becomes very useful.

Get one, you'll love it.
 
quattrokid73 said:
I carried my orange wharncliffe Urban today.

It's one of my favorite knives. It's really a UKPK Jr, and it's extremely comfortable in hand. The action is stiff and smooth. It never feels unsafe. I love the wharncliffe blade too.

I dont' know how it's not more popular. It's small, light, well made, and really cool looking...But it feels much more comfortable than all the other knives of this size I've tried.

I'm thinking about getting it a big brother UKPK, but even if I do, the Urban will still be popular for me to carry. Not to mention it's just lovable looking. All my NKP friends like this one.

If I didn't have a Caly3, I'd get the leaf blade one, but Since I have many Spydercos, the Wharnie seemed best. It's a great utility shape, as it scrapes things easy and works like a giant Xacto knife. I am in design school so this becomes very useful.

Get one, you'll love it.
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+1 on the Urban Wharnie. Great little knife that is perfect for most normal EDC tasks. Get one...I suspect you will love it!
 
Thanks... Wouter's review is very helpful... a nicely done review, as well. Straight and to the point.
 
I like my Urban wharncliffe a lot, in fact I slightly prefer it over its bigger brother the UKPK. Compact, yet good in the hand, and not-aggressive looking.
If you are interested, I made a short video review about the Urban and the UKPK.
 
I have the Wharncliffe Urban and it's nice knife carries well in the pocket and is sfe as long as you keep your finger in the choil.
 
I had an Orange Wharnie and carried it several times but ended up selling for other knives. It's a great EDC and as stated, keep your finger in the choil and it's a safe knife to use. In fact, the way I liked to close it was to drop my index finger back, out of the choil, then just push down on the thumb ramp with your thumb. The blade breaks into the first stage of resistance, which in itself, is a safety measure to some degree. Certainly when closing it.


In the end though, I selected it as a seller for more knives because I really did miss the lock in a emotional kind of way. I just felt like one important piece (to me) was missing and that was the lock. And after all, operating the lock is a big part of the fun when you're repetitively molesting your knife on the sofa in front of the TV :D
 
Dagon said:
I like my Urban wharncliffe a lot, in fact I slightly prefer it over its bigger brother the UKPK. Compact, yet good in the hand, and not-aggressive looking.
If you are interested, I made a short video review about the Urban and the UKPK.
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Mr Dagon! Greetings from half-way around the world. Nice to see you here. I've watched your videos in the past and in great part due to your UKPK/Urban video (which I also watched yesterday and earlier today, prior to seeing your post here) I have ordered a UK Pen Knife with leaf blade and green G10 scales. I found one for $75 including shipping and felt that was a good enough price to be irresistable!

Did you ever get your aftermarket CF scales to fit your UKPK?

Now that I've broken my "slip-joint knife barrier", no doubt I will be adding an Urban soon as well.

Many thanks to you all; I think I'm going to be very happy with these slip-joint knives! (I've developed a bit of a Spyderco addiction, I'm afraid.)
 
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Reeek said:
And after all, operating the lock is a big part of the fun when you're repetitively molesting your knife on the sofa in front of the TV :D
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Oh man do I love to repetitively molest my knives in this manner... so much so that I've earned a few self inflicted thumb cuts with my Persistence while playing with it during web browsing. The Persistence cutting edge comes fully back to the handle, which can be unforgiving during lapses in close attention while closing the knife.

I'm hoping that without locks, the slip-joints will still be enjoyable to "play with" while watching TV or surfing the web.
 
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ZDHart said:
I'm hoping that without locks, the slip-joints will still be enjoyable to "play with" while watching TV or surfing the web.
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I haven't carried my UKPK for a while, but when I did I would mess with it all the time. After fiddling with it for a bit I found the sweet spot on the thumb ramp to push on to make it snap shut past the half stop. Just make sure to keep you're fingers out of the way.:eek::D The thing I like about it compared to traditional slippies is that the blade won't go past the normal closed position so you don't have to worry about it hitting the backspring.
 
dannyp said:
I haven't carried my UKPK for a while, but when I did I would mess with it all the time. After fiddling with it for a bit I found the sweet spot on the thumb ramp to push on to make it snap shut past the half stop. Just make sure to keep you're fingers out of the way.:eek::D The thing I like about it compared to traditional slippies is that the blade won't go past the normal closed position so you don't have to worry about it hitting the backspring.
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danny... thanks, I'll try that out! Poorfish should have my UKPK here by Monday or Tuesday! I'm looking forward to it.
 
I have an urban... been collecting dust for many months. I Just don't like it. Not sure why... the clip maybe, it just doesn't slide in and out of my pocket like my other knives. The lock is/was a non issue, finger on choil and you are good to go.

Ski
 
Did you ever get your aftermarket CF scales to fit your UKPK?
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I almost forgot about it, I actually need a second screwdriver that fits, it's like this that I need a second screwdriver to prevent the screw at the back from turning when I turn the one at the front. That's why I couldn't get the screws out. And it is true, it more or less slipped my mind. Will be fixed.

Now that I've broken my "slip-joint knife barrier", no doubt I will be adding an Urban soon as well.
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Then I'd add the wharncliffe version, to enjoy a different feel. The normal Urban really feels like a small UKPK.

Many thanks to you all; I think I'm going to be very happy with these slip-joint knives! (I've developed a bit of a Spyderco addiction, I'm afraid.)
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Spyderco will soon release their low cost "lightweight" UKPK variants, I am lucky enough to have a maroon drop point pre-production one, I recommend to check it out. BTW, here is my review clip about it.

Not to hijack the thread, but I have a Spyderco addiction as well, around 40 of them. My current faves are kiwi / Urban wharncliffe / caly 3 / stretch CF / Chokwe / Military and the Perisan and Gayle Bradley come close.
 
Ive been off and on EDCing a Wharncliffe urban in rotation with a Full SE delica, and iev gotta say, its one hell of a knife, its a real worker for a knife that size.
 
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