Endura, is it a good knife?

usrangers1985

usrangers1985

Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
90
I have been looking atone fora while now. Is it a well made knife? I don't have any experience with Spyderco at all, except an Endura Trainer I got for MBC. $45.00 seems like a good buy for this knife. Any opinions would be appreciated.
 
I had one for a couple years, ended up trading it, but I miss it - I might buy another one. Basically a Delica, only longer. Blade length similar to the Buck 110 that most people have had sometime in their lives, only *considerably* lighter in weight. Just as tough, though, I think. Beautiful open/close action, plenty big. Definately a great knife!
 
It's one of the best knife values you can find! If you do a search you'll find that the Endura is a widely praised knife.

The Endura and it's smaller brother, the Delica, have been Spyderco's best sellers for years - with good reason. Good ergonomics, easy to open, ambidexterous, great blade steel (VG-10) and a great company which stands behind it's products. What more could you want.

There may be stronger knives, but the Endura can handle what most people would expect of a knife - and for a lot less money.

David
 
The current Endura and Delica have VG10 blades and can be found for as cheap as about $40 (plus shipping). You simply can't get a better blade for the money. The handle is actually plenty durable, grippable, and easy to carry.

Other knives have better cosmetic fitting of parts and better handle materials, but those don't add much in the way of function. A stiffer handle would be nice, but as you can tell with your trainer the FRN handle is actually pretty good. If you like the Endura design, there is no reason not to get one.

I also recommend getting Spyderco's bluntly-named (is there such thing as a reverse pun?) "Sharpmaker" system to keep it super sharp all the time. I recently "discovered" it after using mainly flat stones for 10 years, and it's a great way to keep the knife in tip top condition. Your don't really "need" to sharpen this knife all the time, which is the great thing about this knife, but it's really nice to have a perfectly sharp knife 100% of the time. It will run you another $50, but you can use it to touch up your kitchen knives too.
 
I've carried an Endura for years. Haven't lost one since I bought some spares. I'm in the Heating & Air Conditioning business and I use an Endura to cut and strip wire, cut flex duct and fiberglass duct board, to cut the burs from the inside of copper tubing, to open equipment, etc, etc.
I have a bunch of other higher dollar Spyderco's, but an Endura gets used and abused every day. I have used my Endura's in ways I wouldn't dream of with a >$100 knife......and with a few minutes with a sharpmaker, the VG-10 will shave hair.
The Endura is the "Greatest Knife Value of All Time" IMHO
G27
 
usrangers1985 said:
I was actually planning on getting a sharpmaker. I've heard loads of good things about it.
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It's really good. You can get your knife as sharp as it came from the factory with virtually no skill, not a whole lot of time, and just a little bit of carefulness. MUCH easier than flat stones and more convenient than messing around with clamping devices. Someone with almost no brains or dexterity at all could make at least a useable edge if they just obey the instruction book and all of its pictures.

As with any sharpener, it takes a few uses for the fine stone to get really fine. Mine has no major lumps and bumps on the stones like some lower-priced sharpeners from other companies.

The cool thing compared to standard rod-based sharpeners is the triangular shape. Rotate the rods so the corners do the work and it sharpens faster and lets you sharpen serrated edges. Most round rods are too large to get the small serrations on a Spyderco. But you can also rotate the rods so the flat side of the rod does the work, which gives you a better edge than a smaller contact area (small contact area = more pressure per surface area = good for speed but bad for a fine edge). The flat side also makes it easier to sharpen a knife without slipping the blade tip off of the rod and blunting it. You still have to be careful when using the edge of the rod, but the final stage is on the flat side and can make up for a few "oopsies."

I have been sharpening knives by hand for a long time, and am quite proud of the good job I can do on a flat stone, but the Sharpmaker really does give you an amazing edge and it's not difficult to maintain the same angle.

It's really not even that expensive. $50 / 4 rods = $12.50 each. A smaller triangular rod runs about $8, but these are twice as long and don't have all of the imperfections. It's a very fair price for a simple system that does a nearly perfect job.
 
I cannot speak personally for the endura, but I have a calypso Jr. and spyderco makes an exelent FRN handled lockback. The VG10 steel is aces. I keep it shaving sharp all the time with less than 10 minutes a week. Basically I will hit it up qick with some crock sticks and then strop and its back shaving. Usually I dont have to do this every week. Just when i notice i have to push harder for something, or after a big knife project.

Now, I am curious aobout the sharpmaker. I am decent with stones, and plan on using that for my primary sharpening. BUT, those who have gone from using stones alot to the sharpmaker. What about the sharpmaker was superior. For some reason i really enjoy the process of a benchstone. Other than the varying motion, and perhapse ease, what does the sharpmaker add?
 
Zerileous said:
What about the sharpmaker was superior. For some reason i really enjoy the process of a benchstone. Other than the varying motion, and perhapse ease, what does the sharpmaker add?
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I kind of enjoy stone sharpening too, but it's slower to get the finest edge on a stone compared a a V setup where you can just swipe it fairly fast before walking out the door. That's the most important part to me, since I don't usually let my knives get dull.

I find it really easy to slip up on a flat stone. You have to concentrate more on a flat stone compared to a rod setup, and it only takes once slip to scratch a nice shiny blade. It also only takes one stroke at the wrong angle to set you back a few. I really just prefer to not have to think about it as I work, even though I could do it either way.

The included stones are also pretty good quality. I always used a Lansky rod for final sharpening because it was the finest thing I had. Unfortunately, it was a little too small (long-ways movement of the blade is bad, so longer stones are better) and no other Lansky I could find was as good. I have some arkansas stones and some fine ceramic rods, but none of them are as smooth as the old Lansky (including newer Lanskys). I saw a very well used Sharpmaker in a store, and it was as smooth and flawless as my old Lansky rods. I still use flat diamond stones to set the bevel right, but once that is out of the way I switch to regular maintenance with a rod sharpener.

I swear the Sharpmaker, with just a little bit of care, can sharpen a knife darn near as good as I can on a good flat stone. The only way I can do better on a flat stone is with a lot of slow and careful work, and even then the difference is small, probably beyond what the blade can hold for more than a single cut.

The only thing I might bother to sharpen on a good flat stone is some high speed steel at 63+rc. That reminds me, I should try out my Fallkniven U2 on the Sharpmaker.
 
The Endura(full SE) was my first Spyderco 11+ years ago. I still carry it today. I have bought other knives to replace it, but I just can't. I can't seem to retire this knife. It is an early model, it only has G2 steel :) , but that doesn't seem to slow it down at all. It has been all over the world with me and cut everything from sandbags to motor mounts to a lid off a can of beans. If it seems to be getting dull, whip out the 203, or actually I have a 204 sharpmaker now, but it use to be the old 203 model, and get it back to super-sharp. :)
A very good knife IMHO.




Blades
 
I love the Endura.It is a classic,I picked up my last one at a flea market.$20.00 for a brand new Endura,CE(no box).It is carried as a my neck knife.
 
This is a stupid question, but the sharpmaker will sharpen an Emerson right? the blade is a little different, and I haven't sharpened that kind of edge bfore.
 
usrangers1985 said:
This is a stupid question, but the sharpmaker will sharpen an Emerson right? the blade is a little different, and I haven't sharpened that kind of edge bfore.
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Emersons are sharpened at 30 degrees on one side I think. The sharpmaker doesn't have a setting that is right for this, but it is labeled by its total angle (ie, what we would normalle call a 15 degree bevel makes a 30 degree edge). One side of the base has 40 degrees (20 each side), the other is 30. You could angle the blade of your Emerson flat against one of the rods, then just move over to get the perfect 30 degree angle against the other rod.

Even better, take a coarse stone to your Emerson until it is at a more reasonable angle, like 20 degrees. Then it would cut better and solve the sharpening problem too.
 
I have an Endura as well as the Delica (actually, I have a Native III and Para -Military as well :D ). Cost up here was a bit more than stateside, but I feel both are tremendous value for the money - you get a well made, highly functional knife with a supersteel at a very reasonable price :) The Delica is more suited to my EDC things, so I haven't used my Endura all that much yet. Like the rest, I've found that VG-10 is very easy to touch up back to factory sharpness.

- gord
 
usrangers1985 said:
This is a stupid question, but the sharpmaker will sharpen an Emerson right? the blade is a little different, and I haven't sharpened that kind of edge bfore.
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What model of Emerson are you considering sharpening? Most of the Emerson line are chisel-ground, meaning they're sharpened on only one side. The only Emerson I have that appears to have a different grind (but really doesn't) is my Mini-Commander.

You could re-profile your Emerson so it is able to be sharpened with the Sharpmaker, but that would take a considerable amount of time and work, plus the blade would not be as strong near the tip as it is the way Emerson designed it.

Good luck to you whatever you decide!

Cheers,
3Guardsmen

P.S. You absolutely can't go wrong with a Spyderco Endura! It'll cut so well that you may just decide to leave your Emerson as is, save it as a self-defense tool (as it was originally designed), and do all your cutting chores with the Endura. :)
 
I bought a Delica and Sharpmaker around 1989 or 1990. I lost the Delica a couple of months later and bought an Endura to replace it (figuring it would by easier to keep up with a bigger knife). I carried that knife until sometime last year. I wore the serrated edge down to a plain edge with use and re-sharpening. The FRN grip held up perfectly to lots of use and abuse. It's been the best knife I've ever owned.

I bought another Endura and a Delica recently. I carry the Delica more often now since I work in an office and people have weird opinions about knives. I still consider the Endura the best lightweight large knife available. I know you will be happy with one.
 
3Guardsmen.

I already have the Emerson Karambit, I love it. I was actually planning on getting the Commander plain edge.
 
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