Got my Southard flipper. for sure my new favorite.

PURPLEDC

PURPLEDC

Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Messages
8,578
Man, Just opened up my southard and this thing is amazing. Im a HUGE bearing flipper folder guy. In fact if its a folder I wont use anything else, its just my thing. I was carrying a much larger bearing flipper that while a nice knife was IMHO just too big for most cutting chores and I just needed something a tad smaller. The southard is an amazing knife. I hate this term but they truly knocked it out of the park. I havent got a single complaint. Thanks spyderco.
 
Just curios what the "larger bearing flipper" folder you were carrying was?
 
MDQBox said:
Just curios what the "larger bearing flipper" folder you were carrying was?
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the 0560. While I like that knife very much and wont be getting rid of it, the southard is much more friendly for my needs. And The fit and finish of the southard is honestly the best Ive had in any knife custom or production. And having owned some nice customs that says alot.

oregon said:
Photos, please. THX
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at some point maybe but its no different than all the other southards people are posting.
 
Just got mine yesterday, absolutely perfect lockup, very early, no blade play at all and perfectly centered when close, wasn't that sharp, but 45 seconds on the sharp maker fixed that. I usually prefer blades closer in size to the 560, but the Southard while noticeably smaller closed packs a lot of blade/cutting edge into a medium sized package. Also I was surprised how much darker grey the titanium is on it, but I like it since it looks different than the other Ti knives I have. Might get a new color G10 scale when I get a chance though.
 
Got mine today and I agree. I was surprised as to how light it was. Just a great all around folder. Perfect size too.

I would like to darken the pocket clip, though. Any hints would be great.
 
I completely agree. This knife seems to be better for my needs in terms of size than some of my other flippers. The fit and finish is extremely nice. The Taichung factory is doing some great work for Spyderco. Very impressive knife.
 
I got mine for X-mas today. I love it. I don't find it to be too light of a knife though, feels kind of like the weight on my 0561. It screams hard use though. My only gripe is the pocket clip. If only they used a darkened titanium clip, or something to match the contrast of the scale. That, and I don't like shiny stainless clips. Same grip on the 0561. Fit and finish is perfect.
 
I think what really impresses me is just how refined the knife is. Most times when i get a new folder I need to tweak this or adjust that. Not this knife. It seriously has exceeded my expectations in every way. At first when I first heard of them I was really critical of the whole "Taiwan" thing. Talk about eating crow. And lots of it. I really dont care where my knives are made now that ive seen this. I will forever judge something based on real hands on experience with it. And Ill never label something simply because where it was made. In fact im really hoping Spydercos next flipper will also be a taichung made knife.


Varg Lobos said:
Got mine today and I agree. I was surprised as to how light it was. Just a great all around folder. Perfect size too.

I would like to darken the pocket clip, though. Any hints would be great.
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Remove the clip and then soak it in PCB etching solution from radioshack. It is ferric acid. Many makers use it to etch blades and steel handles/components. Bead blasting or sand blasting before soaking will yield darker results.
 
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I have never owned a flipper before; this one piques my interest.
I worry about the knife deploying in pocket or inadvertently during retrieval from pocket. Is this an issue with flippers?
 
I have had mine for a few weeks now and I am very impressed. The fit and finish is perfect, as well as lockup and action is smooth as hell. I ran the 204P through its paces against some other high end steels and it held its own to say the least. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...m-Elite-PM2-20CP-and-Griptilian-M4!-Pic-heavy

Very impressive and I will be ordering another pretty soon. I hope they come out with some different colored scales too, that would be awesome.

Here's a pic with my Baer
103.jpg
 
Can someone please comment on how it carries in the pocket? It seems like a fairly thick folder in the pocket compared to something like a Sebenza or Umnumzaan which are my main edcs. Honestly a slim and thin profile for ease of carry is more important to me than just about any other feature. Would love some honest input from Southard owners out there before I drop 3 bills on these beauties.
 
It's about the same thickness as a large sebenza with inlays, over the inlays. Maybe 0.5-1mm thicker. I posted comparison pics in a different thread.
 
It really carries well compared to other frame-locks with blades as close in size. In fact it's handle is very compact for it's blade length. You have to directly compare it side by side to see just how much blade it really has, it seems like a much smaller knife to me until I do that.
 
kawr said:
Can someone please comment on how it carries in the pocket? It seems like a fairly thick folder in the pocket compared to something like a Sebenza or Umnumzaan which are my main edcs. Honestly a slim and thin profile for ease of carry is more important to me than just about any other feature. Would love some honest input from Southard owners out there before I drop 3 bills on these beauties.
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I don't mind the thickness in pocket. I've got one pair of jeans that are a bit more snug than my others and I usually carry a Skyline when I wear those, but did not want to leave the Southard home when I wore those jeans and carried it anyway. Never bothered me, slips in and out easily, but stays where I want it. A lot of people dislike the clip (me included), but it functions well. If it were as wide as some more typical Spyderco's plus as thick as it is it may become uncomfortable.
 
jill jackson said:
It really carries well compared to other frame-locks with blades as close in size. In fact it's handle is very compact for it's blade length. You have to directly compare it side by side to see just how much blade it really has, it seems like a much smaller knife to me until I do that.
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Thats funny, I noticed the exact same thing. I took it out of the box and thought, "man thats pretty small". Then I took out my 0560 and compared and really there seems to be only the smallest amount more length of edge on the 0560. It seems a lot of thought was put into putting as much knife into the smallest amount of space with the southard.
 
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