Delica favored over zt 0450 and 940-1

M

microtech85

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I have shown 3 of my pocket knives to 5 friends who are non knife people to get their opinions of which knife they liked best or would want to keep. The knives were benchmade 940-1, zt 0450, spyderco delica 4 stainless steel. Of these three, all five people selected my stainless steel delica as the knife they liked best and or thought was the best quality or design. I was not surprised that people liked the delica, but i was a little surprised that all 5 individualy chose the delica. I thought people would find the 940-1 to be the nicest. But either way, they are not wrong, they all chose a quality well built knife. Although i carry the 940-1 the most, i still carry my stainless delica on a regulsr basis. I think it is such a great knife for yhe money and i paid $90 at a local sports store.
 
Interesting, Microtech -

In my experience people choose the full ti, ball bearing flipper over the oddly configured (Spyderhole) and seemingly inexpensively made "plastic and rivets" construction of the Spyderco.

This would be non-knife people, and in my experience, they choose the one that weighs the most.

The Spyderco is a great knife, and we all know that FRN is a fine material, but to many who are not in the know, it's "just plastic".

Interesting that you found 5 people that all chose the Delica, they all exhibit a "function over form" mentality for sure.

best

mqqn
 
It's definitely the weight that got them. I was once like that.

Used to think the heaviest knife was the best made. I'm glad I'm over that.

Or maybe I'm not? My current edc is a ZT 0630 haha.
 
That is very weird. Id say the 940-1 is easily the best. But I can see why a lot of people don't like the blade shape from a purely aesthetic pov. I originally didnt like it until I got it in hand and had time to truly appreciate how well thought out the profile was. With that said and assuming these people are "non-knife people" I dont see why anyone would choose the delica over the flipper (or a carbon fiber axis) Ecspcially all 5 of them, unless you were talking the delica up about "how much cheaper it is and its just as good"?


You don't work for spyderco do you? :D
 
Mqqn, it is the stainless handle version that i showed all of them. I feel perhaps the weight may have influenced their opinion

And Deer, i did not talk up the delica. In fact i tried telling two of them how great i thought the 940-1 was and that they should not let its light weight decieve them. And no i dont work for spyderco.

I have had a couple of non knife people tell me they thought the 940-1 was too long and scary looking; to that, i disagree.

And it is because all of them liked the delica the best that has prompted me to post about it because i was expecting them to choose between the 940-1 or the 0450.
 
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All of them liked the blade shape of the hollow ground delica blade. It is a very nice looking blade, but one of them preferred the blade shape of the zt. Keep in mind though, these are people who dont carry knives, although one of them has a sak he always uses while camping
 
One of my friends who is a knife person and owns the benchmade barrage in m390 preferrered the zt over my others, although he too liked the look of the hollow grind delica blade. The stainless delica has really grown on me and i find the hollow grind to be very useful and easy to sharpen. At first the pinned construction was a concern to me, but after owning it for some time, i find it to be very sturdy. I would reccommend that delica fans consider adding the stainless version to their collection. It has completely replaced my frn ffg delica.
 
Same situation, my wife and brother in-law prefered my vg10 Delicas, over the zt450 and the 940-1.

I honestly think the Delica is the best cutting, very thin flat grind is awesome.

Personally, I prefer the 940-1. More robust

Lately I have been enjoying a more carefree cutting attitude that the thicker 940 can hold up too.
Things I would consider abuse the when carrying a Delica the 940 will just eat it.for instance yesterday I used my 940 to cleaver through a plastic buckle.


The Delica is awesome but requires more judicious use to prevent destruction due a perceived sense of fragility due to the thin blade.

I sure it's fine, and they do make a saber grind version but I think the flat grind is perfect.

I really enjoy the 940 handle, most comfortable to me it is neutral in design and acceps multiple grips with out getting in the way.

Love the axis lock, fast and smooth.

the blade design is my favorite. It's not a great slicer but gives alot of confidence for hard use. I also enjoy the steel used on the 940-1 holds a great working edge and hones good on ceramic.

S90v is not the best steel for a pocket "razor" but it is perfect when you need a knife that keeps cutting rather then blunting.

It not that it can't get razor sharp, it can, it's just it seems to draw back from the advantages of of this steel by smoothing out the teeth to a high polish.

It also cuts with authority when extremely sharp. Very aggressive.

Cracks a smile on my face when I get to whip it out and shred something

Seems to excel with a toothy edge, low finish, or a polished toothy edge.
Again it's very sharp. You can whittle a hair even though it's not completely mirror polished. You just need to polish the teeth not the entire apex.

Conversely
VG10, I love it, I bring it to a higher edge finish ( 6k) and keep it hair popping sharp with strops. But with lots of cutting it just stops cutting. Blunted. But is super easy to sharpen, just stubborn to debur at times.

Cleaner cuts but less endurance.everything is trade off.


These are my two favorite folders, the zt 450 just has the best action and is very stylish.
 
I need to think about this one... I don't love the blade grind on any of them for different reasons. All decent knives, if it was the zt 450 cf I would probably grab that. For non knife guys if they can respect the delic(ate) tip on the delica, that would be a good choice as the other two steels can be a bit more challenging. DBH makes some good points, I don't think there is an obvious answer but I am a bit surprised at their choice.

Russ
 
If it was the stainless steel version, I would assume the weight played a big factor since that is a good but heavier than the other two while still being the shortest overall.

This is why so many 'value' priced knives have a lot of stainless. People still associate weight with quality.
 
Related issues: my SG Delica 4, despite being screamingly sharp, is the worst slicer in my collection. Hard to believe it wedges that much, but it's a struggle to even get it through an apple that any other knife slices with no difficulty. Otherwise, I like the basic design well enough to consider the current ffg version, but I have doubts about its strength. The tip seems kind of flimsy. What has been the experience of users, especially those who come across tough stuff to cut?
 
These do seem to be odd results, I guess influenced by the weight of the stainless steel Delica vs the Ti and CF on the other knives. For most non-knife persons, the Spydie-hole and FRN puts them off, at least until they've used it and seen the efficiency of it. My guess would be most would choose the 450 due to the "Knifier" appearance of it were it not for the perception of "greater weight means greater quality". The Stainless Delica outweighs either knife by over an ounce...more than an ounce and a half in the case of the 940-1. I wonder what would happen if you equalized the weight?

I have all three knives and will try the experiment with a CF 450 and an FRN Delica and see what happens.
 
The Delica is a great knife. Good regular carry size. I do prefer it with non-stainless scales.
 
Most of the non knife enthusiast that I've shown my 940-1 to think it's cheap because of the lightweight. Kinda funny.
 
I just got to handle a 940-1 this weekend and was really shocked at just how light it felt. Pretty cool for such a useful blade.
 
I personally have been carrying both the 940-1 and zt or delica each day for a while. I just cant seem to choose one. They each have positive attributes. I find the 940 and 0450 to be somewhat interchangeable. They are very similar. The delica ss with hollow grind has a very fine edge. The 940-1 has a thicker more utilitarian all purpose edge thatbis not as conducive to slicing as the delica. However, the s90v is an extremely aggressive cutter. It really is something special. Deadboxhero, you said these two are my favorites; which two?
 
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