- Joined
- Oct 25, 2004
- Messages
- 3,178
While I really wasn't a knife guy until fairly recently, I usually had a folder clipped somewhere to me. I'm a sailor. We all have knives. It's the odd individual that I work with who doesn't have a folder (or two, or three) on their person. I'd never given the matter much thought. You buy a knife, you keep it sharp, you use it hard, and when it eventually breaks you throw it out and buy another. Such is the way of life.
Not too long ago I purchased a Manix as a replacement to a CS Voyager. There wasn't anything wrong with the Voyager, really; it was handling the abuse that I threw at it very well and while it didn't hold an edge like I wanted it took a nice edge very easily. That Voyager had replaced a similar one which had seen and done plenty but had loosened a bit in the lock. (It's now in my tacklebox and is doing well in its semiretirement.)
I wanted a big folder for plenty of usable edge. 4" is technically the legal limit for us but the instruction is a bit vague and this is normally interpreted as meaning that if the blade is longer than the width of your hand, it's a no-no. (My hands are quite large.) Additionally, enforcement varies with the command. The Manix would be legit.
I'm a low alloy guy at heart but I'd been hearing some good things about S30V and Spyderco in general...I was willing to give it a shot.
There were some teething problems. It was fairly sharp but didn't stay that way. I resharpened it and it chipped out. I resharpened it again and it's been nothing but joy since then. I don't pry out nails with it or anything like that but I use it hard and it handles it like a champ. My usual sharpening procedure is to strop it once a week or so, when it's not shaving as smoothly as it normally does. Until I'd owned a Manix I'd had no idea just how comfortable a folding knife could be in the hand - now I do. (The ergonomics were the main reason I'd attempted a few resharpenings, rather than just sending it back to Spyderco as Sal had suggested. The knife felt too right.)
Suffice it to say that I was sold.
I needed something else, though. I own one of those Japanese kitchen knives sold by Lee Valley and it's a pleasure to use. It features a very hard carbon steel core (62-63 Rc or thereabouts) with stainless laminations on the outside. It's light, it's thin, it takes a mean edge and it holds it for a long time. I wanted a folder like that. I also wanted a folder that was smaller than the Manix. A Manix is fine in uniform but it draws attention out in town. I was at a bit of a loss as to what I wanted, and then I heard about this sprint run business...
Then I got a Caly Jr in ZDP-189 and the rest, they say, is history. Sal read my mind.
Light, small, an inoffensive color (I've gotten more than a few comments from women about what a nice knife it is without their having even used it...not a bad thing, in itself), and it takes and holds a great edge. I'm not sold on stainless - yet - but these are pretty good. Real good, in fact. About the only problem that I've had with it thus far is that the gold Spyderco emblem on the clip gets mistaken for a flower at a distance and this is easily rectified with a closer inspection.
Now I'm looking at Poliwogs. I don't need one (I have two perfect folders for their respective uses) but I'm looking at one all the same. I can see Spyderco (and NGK) getting some more of my business in the future. That's the way it goes.
Great knives, Sal. Thanks for getting them to me.
Not too long ago I purchased a Manix as a replacement to a CS Voyager. There wasn't anything wrong with the Voyager, really; it was handling the abuse that I threw at it very well and while it didn't hold an edge like I wanted it took a nice edge very easily. That Voyager had replaced a similar one which had seen and done plenty but had loosened a bit in the lock. (It's now in my tacklebox and is doing well in its semiretirement.)
I wanted a big folder for plenty of usable edge. 4" is technically the legal limit for us but the instruction is a bit vague and this is normally interpreted as meaning that if the blade is longer than the width of your hand, it's a no-no. (My hands are quite large.) Additionally, enforcement varies with the command. The Manix would be legit.
I'm a low alloy guy at heart but I'd been hearing some good things about S30V and Spyderco in general...I was willing to give it a shot.
There were some teething problems. It was fairly sharp but didn't stay that way. I resharpened it and it chipped out. I resharpened it again and it's been nothing but joy since then. I don't pry out nails with it or anything like that but I use it hard and it handles it like a champ. My usual sharpening procedure is to strop it once a week or so, when it's not shaving as smoothly as it normally does. Until I'd owned a Manix I'd had no idea just how comfortable a folding knife could be in the hand - now I do. (The ergonomics were the main reason I'd attempted a few resharpenings, rather than just sending it back to Spyderco as Sal had suggested. The knife felt too right.)
Suffice it to say that I was sold.
I needed something else, though. I own one of those Japanese kitchen knives sold by Lee Valley and it's a pleasure to use. It features a very hard carbon steel core (62-63 Rc or thereabouts) with stainless laminations on the outside. It's light, it's thin, it takes a mean edge and it holds it for a long time. I wanted a folder like that. I also wanted a folder that was smaller than the Manix. A Manix is fine in uniform but it draws attention out in town. I was at a bit of a loss as to what I wanted, and then I heard about this sprint run business...
Then I got a Caly Jr in ZDP-189 and the rest, they say, is history. Sal read my mind.
Light, small, an inoffensive color (I've gotten more than a few comments from women about what a nice knife it is without their having even used it...not a bad thing, in itself), and it takes and holds a great edge. I'm not sold on stainless - yet - but these are pretty good. Real good, in fact. About the only problem that I've had with it thus far is that the gold Spyderco emblem on the clip gets mistaken for a flower at a distance and this is easily rectified with a closer inspection.
Now I'm looking at Poliwogs. I don't need one (I have two perfect folders for their respective uses) but I'm looking at one all the same. I can see Spyderco (and NGK) getting some more of my business in the future. That's the way it goes.
Great knives, Sal. Thanks for getting them to me.
