D'Allara Reports for 1st Shift!

Hawkbill

Hawkbill

Joined
Nov 22, 1998
Messages
982
I received a really nice surprise when opening a Spyderbox this afternoon!
A new D'Allara Rescue in all it's glory. I fell in love with the feel, sturdy design, and spirit of this tool when the WTC knife came-in.
Double metal liners behind the FRN scales, and the scales themselves are seriously-contoured and grippy! The pattern used on the FRN reminds me of mud and snow-rated SUV tires!

VG-10 steel used for the blade, which by my ruler runs just a shade over 3" (3 1/8" or so) of edge.

First thing I did was switch the wire clip to the opposite side for left-hand carry. My new duty knife is now set to start the dayshift tomorrow!
 
Congrats Hawkbill, enjoy it.
Use it hard, he would have wanted you to.
I know I've said it on this forum before but I will never stop honoring the memory of my friend. John D'Allara was a first class individual.
 
The D'Allara looks like a winner. Nice texture on the FRN-handle.
Do you have a pic of the other site, with the Spyderco-logo?

Shiden-Kaj
 
Hawkbill,

Let us all know what you think after the D'Allara has made its rounds with you for a while.

Lifter,

Officer D'Allara was lucky to have a devoted friend like you. The knife looks fabulous and we're honored to be able to offer the folder in his name and memory. Keep him in your memory everyone.

Joyce @ Spyderco
 
Dave & Joyce:
I will use this knife...and I'll keep in mind the spirit of it's namesake.

Shiden-kaj:
Both sides of the FRN are the same. The Spyder logo is molded into the center of the circle, no inlay on this one.

I'll report back once it gets some real-use.
 
Thanks for sharing the pics, Hawkbill.
I expected there would be a metal inlay of the Spyderco-bug in the center of the circle, just like on the WTC knife.

Shiden-Kaj
 
I got to handle these the other day when they came in and was right impressed with thier beefiness, they have a very solid feel to them. The palm swell is just right in the hand and the knife feels like it could pry a tank open.
 
will these be coming out in plain-edge? Please? PLEASE? I've been lusting for one for at least a year, since I saw the first pic of the 9-11 commemorative, but I hate SE. :(
 
Originally posted by fishface5
will these be coming out in plain-edge? Please? PLEASE? I've been lusting for one for at least a year, since I saw the first pic of the 9-11 commemorative, but I hate SE. :(
Click to expand...

Hmmm, a PE rescue knife... I guess the better question would be why?
I have heard from several forumites who love PE, and I can't argue with their choice in general, BUT on a rescue blade, serrations just make good-sense.
Seatbelts, and other fibrous materials of similar makeup are very resistant to cutting, and PE blades have a greater tendency to slide-off them without cutting through. Yeah, sharp does a better job than dull, but even a sharp PE won't cut some of these as well as a sharp SE.
There have been many PE models produced along these lines (Rescue, Mariner, Harpy, Merlin to name a few) which have all been discontinued. Sales just don't seem to support these models forever.
 
I'd like PE b/c it creates a stout knife in the "folding ronin" mold. If there was PE I would re-shape the tip & have an awesome SD/utility knife, that wouldn't look like it was specifically made for cutting people, and which would be priced very reasonably. That puppy (with a pointier tip) would be a WICKED reverse-grip fighter, almost a hawkbill due to the angle of blade to handle, but without the limitations on utility imposed by a hawkbill. But you're right, I'm probably out of luck on this.
 
What do you think of the lock? I am pretty interested in this knife from a lock/handle perspective, it looks very promising.

Do you think that it would be a good handle/lock platform for spyderco to put other blade styles in? I would really like to get one with a lil'temperance style leaf blade. Maybe if we pressed Sal something like that could happen.
 
Fishface: I didn't consider the possibilities offered by reprofiling the tip to make a general-use blade...in PE this would then make more sense. Good point (no pun intended).

LizardKing: This is my second Spydie with the Ball-Bearing Lock (first I acquired the Dodo). The lock-mechanism on my two knives is extremely reliable to date, and it rivals the Axis-Lock I have on a Griptilian trainer (I got the trainer as part of tuition when attending a knife-course recently).
My lay-opinion: We will be seeing more models with this lock in the future!
 
Just picked one of these up. What a solid knife! Smoothest opening Spydie I currently own and built like a Sherman tank. Don't know what to think of the wire clip just yet, but its kinda strange that such a solid folder has such a fragile and cheapish looking clip.

Lots of texture on the FRN scales. Way too much in fact (under the clip). Need to remove the clip and sand it down or it will eat blue jeans for breakfast.

Classy move by Spyderco to name this workhorse after officer John D. I will think of him while I carry it. :)
 
Well, I haven't found any really tough stuff to cut yet, but the boxes I have broken-down with this D'Allara simply fell apart! The constant straight edge just EATS cardboard.
In spite of the rescue style sheepsfoot design, there's just enough point to punch through cardboard quite respectably, too!

Did I already mention how much I like this one???!!!
 
Originally posted by LizardKing
Do you think that it would be a good handle/lock platform for spyderco to put other blade styles in?
Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely.

I spent quite a bit of time working with the passaround Dodo, and I'm rather impressed with the ball bearing lock. I think that the BM Axis is better for the time being, but that edge may evaporate as the ball bearing lock is further refined.

The fact that Spyderco finally put some steel liners behind their FRN handles is very promising, as well.

In all likelihood we will see several different blades sprouting from this handle. It is hard to believe that the development costs and tooling could be justified by the production of just one knife with rather limited general appeal.
 
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