Help with Civilian info.

sniperboy · Apr 8, 2000

Hi!
Mainly a BM buff I am lost in the world of Spyderco. Hope you guys can help out.

I think lately I have been getting into hawkbilled blades and the spyderco Harpy, merlin etc., have gotten my attention.

THen I see James Keating with the civilian. It blew me away. it seems more menacing than the other spyderco hawkbill blades. I know many people have mentioned it in the past too.

I look for it on the net and it is o hard to find. is it discontinued? How many versions are therE? I know there is a g10 and a plastic handle right?

more importantly is there a plain edge version? THanks for looking. I am thinking of geting one.. it looks to be one of spyderco's more expensive models too!! WHy is that?

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<A HREF="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html
</A> If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]

MicroFanatic · Apr 8, 2000

Hey, sniperboy, you've got good tastes. The Civilian is one of my personal carriers. A superb self defense tool. Spyderco currently manufactures the Civilian in G-10 scales, although in small numbers. I have both the old version which has stainless handles with a kraton insert on the front side and has a kraton insert on the back side, but only on the clip itself. I highly recommend you get the G-10 version as it is much more low profile. It has a black clip and rides low in the pocket. The old version has somewhat a large flashy clip. Around the kraton insert it is polished and reflects much light. It is also hard to pull from the pocket due to the rubber beneath the end of the clip. Both models came with straight edge or fully serrated. Go with a fully serrated...requires more pain tolerance to ignore.

[This message has been edited by MicroFanatic (edited 04-08-2000).]

sniperboy · Apr 8, 2000

Thanks for your input microF. it was really helpful. Especially the g10 suggestion. now I am torn between the serrated and plain edge. We'll see. Salut!

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<A HREF="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html
</A> If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]

Ferret · Apr 8, 2000

...and good luck finding plain edge variants. BTW, the thing is expensive mostly because of the complex grind on the blade

Blades · Apr 8, 2000

Beck's had one a few weeks ago. www.beckscutlery.com They might have a plain edge. No telling.

Blades

Ferret · Apr 8, 2000

HEADS UP!!! (Yes that is shouting)

There's an old stylee plainedge on ebay, worth feasting the eyes at least.

jim_l_clifton · Apr 10, 2000

If you are going to carry, get the serr.
jim

stealth rhino · Apr 10, 2000

The last time I saw a plain edge available, it sold for over $300.

As far as I could tell, the plain edge is popular among two factions: The collectors like it because of its low production run, and a small contingent of photographers and artist use it to trim negatives, as well as crop and matte pictures.

For defense...no question, get the serrated.

Plus, as stated earlier, it's far meaner looking. If a knife could stop an attacker by its appearence alone, the Civilian is it (along with the knife from Cobra...good luck carrying that tho.

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"To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him."
- Shunryu Suzuki

Heyns van der Merwe · Apr 12, 2000

Sniperboy, have you seen the Spyderco Matriarch? Just perform a search in the Spyderco Forum for pictures, or EMAIL me for copies! And it's much cheaper than the Civilian too!