Does anyone doubt the ability of the Civilian?

Dirk

Dirk

Joined
Mar 19, 1999
Messages
2,277
I know many people have said they had some serious doubts about how well the Civilian would perform it's intended task. I always knew the Civilian was a serious blade. However, I had reservations because I never saw any tests like CS had done with their knives.

ALL OF MY DOUBTS ARE GONE!

I saw the results of an accident with a Civilian and spoke to the people there when it happened. First off, it was nothing life threatening. And from what I heard, not that painful!?!? I had just touched up the edge of an older G-10 Civilian for a friend and knew it was extremely sharp. At some point he let another friend look at the knife. This guy was seated and flipped the knife open so it was in reverse grip. The knife was open at the side of his leg. He didn't realize the length of the blade and moved across his leg. He thought he cut his pants. Well, he cut his pants and his leg. Approx. 4" long and according to the stain on the blade a little over an 1" deep. My friend that saw this said the blade moved without hesitation, it didn't snag or slow. He said it was just like a hot knife through butter. The guy that cut his leg didn't feel anything. He heard a small rip and that's when he thought he cut his pants. Fortunately my friend is an EMT. Nothing vital was cut and he was taken for stitches. I saw the cut itself and I am betting the blade went deeper than the 1" mark on the blade. We all learned an extremely important lesson, especially the guy who cut himself.

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If ignorance is bliss,
why aren't more people happy?

[This message has been edited by Dirk (edited 04-14-2001).]
 
awwwwww man that made me cringe just thinking about it, as i sit here and look at my matriarch - i bet he needed some vicodine the next day - was it a non-serrated version?? when i got my matriarch, my best bud was looking at it and the blade snapped shut on his knuckle and cut a perfect imprint of the spyderco serrations - not bad enough for stitches, but he hollered - like i said had just taken it out of the box and those things come SHARP.........

ya gotta be carefull, and ya still are gonna get cut every now and then......

really like my matriarch, think it is well made, etc - but there was a thread in the tactical section of bladeforums.com and it centered around which knife was the best for self defense, and some made a pretty good arguement for the REKAT SIFU, because of the larger size, and the stabbing ability, and believe me i got 1 this week, they are plenty sharp too (well actually it is plenty sharp after about 20 strokes on my fine DMT, about 30 on the xtra fine DMT, and about 30 seconds on a steel - they could learn a lesson from spydie on that 1, and a lot others could to - WHY IN THE HELL SHIP A HIGH QUALITY KNIFE NOT RAZOR SHARP TO THE MAX?? is it some kinda legal thing or what? ive got emerson, MOD, BM, buck, gerber, kershaw, cold steel, REKAT, CRKT, etc and i swear OTHER THAN spydie none were THAT sharp - the closest believe it or not was a camillus arclite, $20 - go figure?? and also the SIFU is not a viable option to many because of the blade length, 5.4"(legal issues), and it is heavy at 8 oz, and large and harder to carry than the civvy, but not that big a deal for me, carried a CS gunsite 5" for about a yr, guess im used to it - also 6'3 225 so that helps too in concealment

but anyway, ya gotta have confidence in your weapon, and i think a lot of it is a mute point - if ya have a good modern design folder(or fixed) most are gonna work ok IMHO, and if ya have something more for tactical use (ie- civilian, matriarch, SIFU,etc) thats just icing on the cake, as they are surely some of the best designs available now, and probably ever......

and some training would be nice too - my next step, hopefully this summer

vet
 
Guys,
I'll take a hawkbill over a SIFU,a
friend has seen what a hawkbill can do
to a person! I am a believer!
jim
 
Having seen - and felt - what the tip of a Matriarch can do to a forearm during some careless manipulations (in front of the computer, at about three a.m.), I can say that I'm a believer myself. I even have the scar to prove it
redface.gif


Leo

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"Though the meek shall inherit the Earth, they won't keep it past Saturday night..."
 
Sorry to ask such a "dumb" question, but what is the intended use for the exaggerated hawkbill? I can see opening boxes, maybe cutting rope/line on boats, but beyond that it strikes me as essentially a good blade shape to have accidents with, as several here have testified. Overall, it doesn't seem particularly utilitarian to me.

Can someone please explain?


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Asi es la vida

Bugs
 
Bugs,

you nailed it: it's a great maritime knife. When I'm on a boat I want a hawkbilled blade. I've seen nasty accidents where people got caught in various lines on a boat.
 
Bugs, the Civilian was designed originally as a law enforcement back up tool. Can be used to cut flex cuffs, seat belts, clothing but it was intended to cut the BG. Not as effective as a back up gun maybe, but it is a small package and easy to carry. It also looks VERY intimidating. If you do a search, you should be able to come up with some good explanations from Sal about it.
 
Bugs,

The Civilian and Matriarch's sole purpose is self-protection. Sal Glesser has stated so himself in more than one ocasion.
The accident I suffered was my fault alone, not the knife's. I was sleepy, distracted and careless - not a good time to play with blades. The responsibility is all mine.

Leo

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"Though the meek shall inherit the Earth, they won't keep it past Saturday night..."
 
When I reffered to maritime applications, I was talking about the hawkbilled spydies (harpy, merlin). I don't think the civvie and matriarch are technically hawkbilled. Aren't they reffered to as "reverse S-Curved." The civvie and the matriarch are indeed solely for self-defense.
 
I remember someone telling me this was the knife that got broke in the shop just looking at it. I am getting a Matriarch and am interested to hear just how tough the tip is on these blades.

I am using it as a mushroom farmer...
wink.gif


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Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
Wayne,

As long as you follow Spyderco's advice and reserve it for what it was meant to (hope it's never necessary, BTW), it should be tough enough.
For utility purposes, I'm sure a Merlin or Harpy would be a better choice.

Leo

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"Though the meek shall inherit the Earth, they won't keep it past Saturday night..."
 
While I don't have extensive axperience with the Civilian, I don't think I have ever read about or heard about one breaking.

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If ignorance is bliss,
why aren't more people happy?
 
I broke the tip of a Aluminum plain edge several years back...I was lucky to find one and purchased it ...carried it for about a year and then I got stupid...I had forgotten my work knife and instead of walking to the back to get it I pulled of the civvi and cut a heavy duty packaging strap..Went through the strap fast , hit the steel support of the cart I was working off and took over a inch off the blade...then I got even dumber and ground it to some godforsaken shape..It ended up in the closet till this year when I found out what it was worth and cried when I thought what I had done to it..If I scanned a pic of it I would would have to hide in fear and shame from the forumites..Heck I bet even Sal himself would come down here and kick me square in the Nads..

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Support Bladeforums..Buy your gear here.

What's wrong with talking to yourself?? It's sometimes the best conversation and eitherway your always right... -Me-
Formerly Endura Duck
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Duck:
Heck I bet even Sal himself would come down here and kick me square in the Nads..
</font>
Click to expand...

HA! LOL! Sal might actually replace the blade for you. It will probably cost you a small fee but I think it would be worth it. Give the folks at Spyderco a call, they're top of the line in regards to customer service.

Sorry that happened but that last line made me laugh!
smile.gif
 
I lost the fine tip on my Civilian when training with it, my cutting dummy has a plastic pipe "skeleton" in it's arms, i cut through the denim and other cloth and slammed the skeleton hard at an angle and it snapped.
Not the knives fault, entirely mine, it was still useable as i cut the dummy up some more before looking at the damage, a few minutes with the sharpmaker and it's hardly noticeable.
The civilian is not a cutter, it devours anything that get's in it's way
eek.gif
i'd hate being in the way of it.
A true performer.
[end of rant]

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Be well!/Jonas aka 2Sharp

"May all your detonations be expected"

The coolest bar in the world: http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/8373/index.html
My knives!
 
Think of the children:


I tried that several months back...Cant be done..
frown.gif
 
Cool, I won't fret over it then! What is the blade style like to train with? Do you need to use it in a different style? Compared to a more traditional blade like my Military?

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Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
I've logged several cases of the Civilian being used in actual street confrontations. It has performed awesomely, and the tip is definately strong enough on live targets.


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Check Six...
Dennis

 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by DenCQB:
I've logged several cases of the Civilian being used in actual street confrontations. It has performed awesomely, and the tip is definately strong enough on live targets.
</font>
Click to expand...

Any links where we could read about those cases. Sounds interesting!
 
Guys,
The hawkbill alone is unbelievable as a Weapon! As stated by me , in past threads,my M/A instuctor was raised in a time 1940's in Fl. where hawkbills were used as weapons, he has SEEN what they can do,not movies, or mag. articles but real life! Anyone can say "I" think but when somebody has been there I'll take HIS word over ,"I think,or maybe, or what if!This knife RIPS & TEARS not CUTS can you all UNDERSTAND the diff.He took one look at my Civ. & said, If I had to face someone on the street with a blade THAT would be it!Me ,I carry a Civ. as a backup to my Gunting! End of story!
jim
 
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