EDC Folding knife advice

J

Jejerusik

Joined
Apr 7, 2022
Messages
148
Hey guys,

Looking for some advice. I am keeping my collection small these days. So typically if I buy a knife I sell one to offset majority of the cost.

Anyways, quick side note. I don't have any knife shops around me. The closet place that sells knives is walmart. I have a army store but they carry more novelty type knives.

Down to the main questions. I have a XL hand. Typically my main EDC has been a bugout. Nothing wrong with it but I'm kinda looking to move on. Not going to get into a huge thing. There has been 2 knives I have been looking at. 1, Spyderco native in maxament. 2, Spyderco delica 4 in K390.

Never held or used a delica or k390. Owned 2 natives that I didn't have alot of time with. It was more I got them in, bill came up, packed it back up and returned it the next day. So, the most I got to do was pull it out look at it and in the same mail was the bill. Decided before I got attached, scratched it, or ruined it I just put it back and that was that. Long way of saying I didn't get alot of time to hold them.

Anyways, anyone have experience with either or both? Is k390 that much tougher where because the edge retention still amazing it wold be better to have the extra strength? Is the native 5 more comfortable for a larger hand? Is has all the kinks in maxament been worked out and the "chipping" fear gone away? Is there a different spyderco that might be even better to look into?

I use EDC knife for everyday mostly cutting tasks. Cutying stuff at work, straps, boxes, carving some wood, even use the tip to help me line up my machine. As well as stuff around the house, and if im helping friends. If I want hard use I grab my 6 inch fixed blade in 3v.

Side note, I have owned an used a PM2 and a para 3 lightweight. The LW I wasn't impressed it. I'm not sure if it was the scales, the ergos, the blade steel, the pocket clip or all of it. The PM2 was ok but it felt like I had a brick, why I always ended grabbing my bugout instead.

Thank you in advance. I will try to answer everyone.
 
Daniel W said:
Mornin, I have a Delica in K390 and a Native. The Native is slight bigger in the hand then the Delica. Now the K390 is fantastic at edge holding though it will patina, given the two you can’t go wrong. I also have a Bugout that only gets carried every once in a while since the Spyderco came home
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Thats where I am kinda at. Like the lack or egros on the bugout was great at first. But the Spyderco quality, heat treat, and amount of options is great! And you can get a spyderco for a great price. I mean the native 5 maxament is 200 bucks new. The delica in k390 is like 120-130 new. It's hard to beat the quality and price. I'm not a benchmade hater but even with the bugout. It's 140-150 new, then you have to buy better scales if you want something more solid. I will say one thing I liked about the Para 3 LW was the scales were solid. Honestly I wish the native 5 was in k390 and it would be a done deal! I just worry that the delica would be too small for my hands. But the k390 seems like it would fit my needs better than maxament.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I have XL hands as well and both knives are pretty comfortable for me, but for extended cutting tasks I would definitely rather have a Native than a Delica. No experience with Maxamet, but K390 is awesome. It holds an edge for a long, long time, but you do have to watch for surface rust.
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Thats actually really helpful. I like to maintain my knives. Gives me a reason to decompress at night. I also suspect it's not much different than maintaining 3v. So you don't feel like the delica isn't getting lost in your hand?
 
I will toss in the Endela in K390 for consideration. It is a little longer than the Delica but not quite as long as the Police. As far as K390 goes, Im a fan, the edge gets very "sticky" and bites into mediums very well. Almost feels like its nano serrations or something.. I dont know, hard to explain and Im a novice. Anyway, the Endela and Stretch straight spine are hard to beat.

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For big hands and with a desire for an Spyderco EDC, the Para 3 is hard to beat. If you do not like the lightweight version, perhaps the standard one the way to go. The delica 4 is nice, but for smaller hands and it feels like a lightweight.
 
sadmin said:
I will toss in the Endela in K390 for consideration. It is a little longer than the Delica but not quite as long as the Police. As far as K390 goes, Im a fan, the edge gets very "sticky" and bites into mediums very well. Almost feels like its nano serrations or something.. I dont know, hard to explain and Im a novice. Anyway, the Endela and Stretch straight spine are hard to beat.

View attachment 1961475
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I hear alot about the endela I need to look into them more. I try to keep my blade around yhe 3 inch mark. Living in Massachusetts the capital you have tons of restrictions. But outside of that area the restrictions are alot less. But the laws are also very vague.
 
AE_Conrady said:
For big hands and with a desire for an Spyderco EDC, the Para 3 is hard to beat. If you do not like the lightweight version, perhaps the standard one the way to go. The delica 4 is nice, but for smaller hands and it feels like a lightweight.
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I feel like alot of people complain about the LW para 3 but the regular para 3s people seem to have better luck with
 
Jejerusik said:
Thats actually really helpful. I like to maintain my knives. Gives me a reason to decompress at night. I also suspect it's not much different than maintaining 3v. So you don't feel like the delica isn't getting lost in your hand?
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Nah, it's not bad. It's got a long handle for the blade length, which I like. I like the hand filling handle of the Native a little more if I'm going to be bearing down hard on the knife, because I find with the Delica for tasks like that the handle tends to turn a bit in my hand as it's kind of slim, so I have to divert some energy into gripping the handle tightly rather than pushing the blade through the material, but that's only with stuff like triple wall cardboard and such. For the majority of EDC tasks it's totally fine in hand for me.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Nah, it's not bad. It's got a long handle for the blade length, which I like. I like the hand filling handle of the Native a little more if I'm going to be bearing down hard on the knife, because I find with the Delica for tasks like that the handle tends to turn a bit in my hand as it's kind of slim, so I have to divert some energy into gripping the handle tightly rather than pushing the blade through the material, but that's only with stuff like triple wall cardboard and such. For the majority of EDC tasks it's totally fine in hand for me.
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I think I may pick up the delica4 in k390. I also think I want to ask spyderco if they will do a native 5 in k390. To me that seems like the ultimate option. Maxament I know they have worked some kinks out, and yes I'm not batoning with my edc knife, but I know k390 can do some batoning. And if it came down to a survival situation the k390 would still have enough toughness to hold up. It's a hard one. Finding the one end all be all edc isn't easy.
 
L/LX hands here also and a Delica felt great in them. I like the Tenacious better, especially now that I have it in S35VN. But the Delica is a great knife.
 
David Mary said:
L/LX hands here also and a Delica felt great in them. I like the Tenacious better, especially now that I have it in S35VN. But the Delica is a great knife.
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I haven't looked at the tenacious. May I ask what it is you like about that model?
 
If you have been happy with your Bugout I think you would really like the new Taggedout. Larger than the Bugout but still light weight with a great blade.
 
Sibyrnes said:
If you have been happy with your Bugout I think you would really like the new Taggedout. Larger than the Bugout but still light weight with a great blade.
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I appreciate the suggestion. I actually have not been over the moon about the bugout. I have used it for close to a year and never loved it. Looking for different steel options too.
 
Jejerusik said:
I haven't looked at the tenacious. May I ask what it is you like about that model?
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I can palm it easily, I can open and close it easily one handed, strong lock, great detent, great blade shape, pretty thin grind (I reground mine, but I regrind everything haha), the steel has proven to be excellent for using and sharpening, the bi-directional FRN is simply brilliant in grip and ergonomics, and tip up or tip down carry is available.
 
I have wide hands (XL palm, L fingers, lol). I really like how my Delica feels in hand, but I skip over it for a Deka as my normal EDC (like the ABLE lock better than backlock).

I just got a Sage 5, similar to Native just a tiny bit bigger. It doesn't fit as comfortably as the Delica if I hold the Sage by the handle. However, if I choke up on the finger choil, the Sage feels great. Might be the same way for you with the Native. (Also, wire clip on Sage 5 is a hot spot for me, replaced it with a Lynch NW clip - much better.)
 
David Mary said:
I can palm it easily, I can open and close it easily one handed, strong lock, great detent, great blade shape, pretty thin grind (I reground mine, but I regrind everything haha), the steel has proven to be excellent for using and sharpening, the bi-directional FRN is simply brilliant in grip and ergonomics, and tip up or tip down carry is available.
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I will look into that!!! Thank you!
 
_cl said:
I have wide hands (XL palm, L fingers, lol). I really like how my Delica feels in hand, but I skip over it for a Deka as my normal EDC (like the ABLE lock better than backlock).

I just got a Sage 5, similar to Native just a tiny bit bigger. It doesn't fit as comfortably as the Delica if I hold the Sage by the handle. However, if I choke up on the finger choil, the Sage feels great. Might be the same way for you with the Native. (Also, wire clip on Sage 5 is a hot spot for me, replaced it with a Lynch NW clip - much better.)
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Thats actually a huge reason why I gravitated towards the bugout. I had a deka for a little while. I can't remember why I got rid of it. And I saw the Sage line. I wasn't sure. I havent heard too much about them. See the wire clip on my LW para 3 my knife actually fell out of my pocket a couple of times. And their wire clip wasn't the only one that did that. I had a different brand wire clip do that to me too.
 
I wear a 2xl glove usually. I can hold the Delica and isn't bad for the size of the knife, but I would recommend you go with the Endela. Slightly bigger overall to make sure you have room but not quite the Endura. FYI, the Endela was made to split the difference in size between the Delica and Endura, hence the name...
https://www.dlttrading.com/spyderco-endela-red-black-zome-black-20cv-blade
Nothing wrong with the VG10 version either, I own both Endelas.
 
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