How awesome is the Swick??

Surfingringo said:
My eyes were recently opened to the versatility and usefulness of the reverse S blade in the lil Matriarch. I would think that blade shape would work wonderfully with the swick platform. Just an idea...ultimately I would be fine with any blade shape they chose.
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in small blades like the Swick I typically prefer either a leaf or wharncliffe profile. The leaf is a bit more practical IMO and offers a bit more cutting edge in relation to the size of the blade.

My problem with reverse S or hawkbill is that they are harder to maintain/sharpen, which inevitably you'll have to do if it's a user.

I love the shape of the blade on my Swick 4
 
Leaf sounds great to me! I have been nothing but pleased with the Swick 4! I also think many of us have been wondering how lc200n will perform with a serrated edge so offering a few se could be a good way to get some data! Kind of a Swick-mule! :D
 
Hey Surfingringo, do you have an ARK as well? Which would you prefer between the Swick and ARK for neck carry? Either of the sheaths better than the other? Thanks buddy!
 
Wild West said:
Hey Surfingringo, do you have an ARK as well? Which would you prefer between the Swick and ARK for neck carry? Either of the sheaths better than the other? Thanks buddy!
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Hey man, I do not have an ARK. It looks to me like it might be a bit smaller and lighter than the Swick. So maybe better for everyday neck carry? Not really sure. I know for my purposes I definitely like the Swick because of the finger hole. Gives me a very secure grip out on the water and allows me to tie knots or do other tasks without setting the knife down.
 
Surfingringo said:
Hey man, I do not have an ARK. It looks to me like it might be a bit smaller and lighter than the Swick. So maybe better for everyday neck carry? Not really sure. I know for my purposes I definitely like the Swick because of the finger hole. Gives me a very secure grip out on the water and allows me to tie knots or do other tasks without setting the knife down.
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Right on, thanks for the reply. The only thing I see I might not like about carrying the ARK is the excess amount of sheath material. I'd prefer it to be the shape of the blade. Is the Swicks sheath square as well?
 
Wild West said:
Right on, thanks for the reply. The only thing I see I might not like about carrying the ARK is the excess amount of sheath material. I'd prefer it to be the shape of the blade. Is the Swicks sheath square as well?
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No, the Swick sheath is cut to the shape of the blade. I kind of prefer that to the square sheath of the ARK just because it is slimmer. I believe I remember reading that there was a purpose behind the the ARK sheath being larger and square though. Maybe to prevent the knife from twisting or spinning?

edit: See the pic I posted on page 2 of this thread. It shows the swick in its sheath in neck carry position.
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi Lance,

Yes, it's twisting that we're trying to avoid.

sal
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Hey thanks for the reply Sal!

Would you reccomend one over the other for me? It would be primarily for EDC living in Texas. I'd be using it for freshwater fishing tasks and whatever else comes up when I don't have/need my pocket carry.

Thanks!
 
Surfingringo said:
No, the Swick sheath is cut to the shape of the blade. I kind of prefer that to the square sheath of the ARK just because it is slimmer. I believe I remember reading that there was a purpose behind the the ARK sheath being larger and square though. Maybe to prevent the knife from twisting or spinning?

edit: See the pic I posted on page 2 of this thread. It shows the swick in its sheath in neck carry position.
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Good stuff man. So if I wanted to get some nice scales for the Swick, where would I go about doing that? I'm thinking either doing some basic paracord wrapped around it, or possibly doing something similar to the PPT scales.
 
Someone mentioned not wanting goo in paracord wrapping. You can avoid this by soaking your cord in resin.

As far as the ARK sheath, it looks huge in pictures, but is still quite small IRL.
18125973300_81dc8fc230_z.jpg
 
Spectre said:
Someone mentioned not wanting goo in paracord wrapping. You can avoid this by soaking your cord in resin.

As far as the ARK sheath, it looks huge in pictures, but is still quite small IRL.
18125973300_81dc8fc230_z.jpg
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Wow, thanks for posting that image. I was imagining the sheath much bigger from pics! That looks much nicer than what I had in mind.
 
And WildWest, given that you are going to be fresh water fishing I would have to recommend the Swick. The two main reasons being the much greater wear resistance of s30v and the very handy finger hole. On saltwater, s30v's advantage in edge retention is pretty much negated by edge corrosion and I probably end up doing more sharpening on the swick than I would on an H1 knife like the ARK, but on freshwater you just won't have that issue. I think either one of them will make a handy fishing knife for you though.

Edit: One other thing to consider...The ARK will probably make a better slicer. I have heard that it is fairly thin behind the edge. The Swick is thicker stock and (in my opinion) overly thick behind the edge. Makes it a little brute of a knife but not the best slicer and not the easiest to sharpen. If I had one request for a new Swick it would be that they grind it just a bit thinner.
 
Surfingringo said:
Wow, thanks for posting that image. I was imagining the sheath much bigger from pics! That looks much nicer than what I had in mind.
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No problem. The sheath does look huge in pics. :)

The ARK is only 2mm stock, extremely slicy.

John Shirley
 
Hi Gringo,

We made thinner Swicks in the past and learned that the thicker blade had ergonomic advantages.

sal
 
Surfingringo said:
I know for my purposes I definitely like the Swick because of the finger hole. Gives me a very secure grip out on the water and allows me to tie knots or do other tasks without setting the knife down.
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That is exactly my experience as well. Keeping the knife drawn and in your hand while having both hands available to do something else is what really works for me. Not having to re-sheath it every time I need two hands is huge. Also it gives you awesome traction, even with wet hands.
 
Well, this thread made me buy a Swick 4. Should be here on Wednesday. Can't wait. I love the idea of a neck knife, but just haven't found the right one. With my re-kindling interest in Spyderco I'm hoping I've found a winner. Slightly longer handle and blade, solid s30v performance, handle options. On paper it sounds perfect. Now I just have to wait and see.
 
matgarsmi said:
Well, this thread made me buy a Swick 4. Should be here on Wednesday. Can't wait. I love the idea of a neck knife, but just haven't found the right one. With my re-kindling interest in Spyderco I'm hoping I've found a winner. Slightly longer handle and blade, solid s30v performance, handle options. On paper it sounds perfect. Now I just have to wait and see.
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Congrats - I have no doubt you will love it.
 
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