I have never been speechless about a new knife until today

ibute21

ibute21

Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
1,655
I recently purchased a Gayle Bradley with some birthday money because I had found an awesome deal on it. But, I had my reservations about the knife, for I'm not a big frame lock or liner lock fan and also the country of origin had me wary of its quality. But let me tell you, when I got this knife today, I was absolutely speechless about it. The fit and finish are outstanding and in my honest opinion rival that of Kershaws. The blade was hair popping sharp and the carbon fiber scales are smooth with a slight grip to it, which I really like. The liner lock is extremely beefy and it rivals the thickness of my Kershaw Shallot. It's practically a frame lock. The ergonomics fit my hand perfectly. And if CPM M4 is all what people say it is, I think I have found my holy grail of production knives. Spyderco has a hit a home run with this one and I'll most certainly be purchasing more of their knives from Taiwan because this workmanship is just incredible.

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The country of manufacture should not determine you decision. If the quality control is enforced from a company like Spyderco or Benchmade, that's what is important.
 
ibute21 said:
I'll most certainly be purchasing more of their knives from Taiwan because this workmanship is just incredible.
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I wouldn't recommend buying Taiwanese based on this knife. The Gayle Bradley is made by a certain Taiwanese manufacturer that Spyderco has contracted, which is exceptionally good for any country. Other Taiwanese knives, even by Spyderco (S, Salsa, Cat), aren't built to the same quality standards. The only other knife manufactured by the same Taiwanese factory I know of is the Spyderco Sage, which also features top notch build.

Glad to hear you like the GB, I've been eyeing it myself. Mind sharing where you got it from?
 
funny how you say this rivals the quality of kershaws, for the most part I figured spyderco's were better quality and some kershaws rivaled them. But enjoy your new knife it looks great!
 
No doubt about it this knife punches well above it's class in quality and how luxurious it feels.
I bought one off a forum member without having actually done a hands on and it blew me away as well.
Nice to see they're back in the stores again and would love to see a mini Brad version.
 
Congrats on you purchase of one of the finest folders designed and made today! That feeling of quality and purpose comes back every time you hold it.
 
Thanks guys! Yeah, I prefer to have my knives made in the U.S. or Japan but this quality knife has shown that other countries can put out just as a quality product as those countries.

And for those asking about where I purchased it, YCS had the lowest price I could find anywhere. They also got it to me within 4 days. I'll definitely be doing business with them again.
 
i've had the bradley for several months now. i also have the millie , stretch, police & many enduras. i think the bradley is a well kept secret. after comparing them to the rest of the spydies i really believe this knife is the flagship of the entire spydie production. mine is with an engineer friend being used in some cutting tests. it has already been proven to outcut the stretch zdp189.
dennis
 
Tsujigiri said:
The only other knife manufactured by the same Taiwanese factory I know of is the Spyderco Sage, which also features top notch build.
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Yep -- I have both the Sage1 and Sage 2, and both are very high quality for their respective price points.

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Nice looking knife. Those sages have a nice look too.
Damn... I think I need a second job to keep pace with my appetite for knives. I have three coming in the mail, a list of 20 more I want and I just might bump that list up one or two right this second.
Enjoy the knife! Good buy.
 
00max00 said:
:eek: I have no idea when did Kershaw become the industry standard?
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Subtle, aren't ya.

In my limited experience, every Kershaw I have owned has had insanely good fit and finish. Benchmade and Spyderco are tied for second. I have small gaps here and there on most of my Spydies that I have owned and same with Benchmade. This Gayle Bradley is the best finished Spyderco I've owned yet.

YMMV

And I just probably took the troll's bait.
 
spyderco liner locks are awesome.

btw is the new batch of spyderco bradleys out now?? i have seen a bunch available on ebay as of late at decent prices.
 
Where did you get it. I jumped on the train late, and cant find it in stock anywhere
 
I've recently had a chance to handle the Gayle Bradley a fair bit as Dennis Strickland loaned me one to use for edge retention testing. I found it to be a very well built knife with a wonderful solid feel to it. I personally don't quite feel comfortable with the handle because I don't feel comfortable with so little between my forefinger and the blade edge. But that is purely a matter of personal taste. My grip seemed stable during my cutting tests.

The CPM M4 is about as good at edge retention as anything I've tested. It holds an edge significantly better than ZDP-189. I measured the blade hardness at 62 HRC.
 
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