Lady bug

Salt is H1 steel and yellow FRN; stainless is SS handles, VG10 blade. The rest are variations of FRN colour (black is most common) plus PE or SE VG10 blade. IIRC there's also purple, white and dark green.

My friend has a Ladybug and loves it. The ergos are great and it cuts well.
 
wongKI said:
Salt is H1 steel and yellow FRN; stainless is SS handles, VG10 blade. The rest are variations of FRN colour (black is most common) plus PE or SE VG10 blade. IIRC there's also purple, white and dark green.

My friend has a Ladybug and loves it. The ergos are great and it cuts well.
Click to expand...

What is the significant difference in the H1 steel, (PE or SE) VG10? I know how well the VG-10 just not so much the H1 and the comparison..

which is better the serrated edge or the plain edge on sypdercos? still learnin' folks
 
Last edited:
hung-solo said:
What is the significant difference in the H1 steel, (PE or SE) VG10? I know how well the VG-10 just not so much the H1 and the comparison..

which is better the serrated edge or the plain edge on sypdercos? still learnin' folks
Click to expand...

H1 steel's biggest plus is that it's corrosion resistant, AKA it will not rust. It's also a "work-hardening" steel which means that the more you use it and sharpen it, the harder the edge becomes (meaning longer edge retention). Because the SE has more grind time from the factory, a SE knife with H1 will have a harder edge than an H1 knife with a PE. My own experience leads me to believe that H1 is a great user steel because it takes a very sharp edge, holds it for a good period and is easy to sharpen.

VG10 is not rust-proof like H1 but it can hold a sharper edge. It can also be touched up easily and is a great EDC steel. Although acidic substances (ie. tomato juice) can create a patina on VG10, it's not a big deal. You can easily remedy that with lubricating the blade or polishing it.

If you are new to sharpening, then PE might be the choice for you. If you have the Sharpmaker, then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a SE. I touched up my Hawkbill ladybug on my Sharpmaker and it was far less difficult than I thought it was going to be.

Basically, if you want a knife that you don't have to worry about and that can be used hard, then get the SE H1 Ladybug. If you want a more discrete color, then you might want a black or foliage green ladybug. If you want to be able to sharpen it easily, then go PE.

Either way, a ladybug is a very nice purchase. You'll enjoy it. :thumbup:
 
D1omedes said:
H1 steel's biggest plus is that it's corrosion resistant, AKA it will not rust. It's also a "work-hardening" steel which means that the more you use it and sharpen it, the harder the edge becomes (meaning longer edge retention). Because the SE has more grind time from the factory, a SE knife with H1 will have a harder edge than an H1 knife with a PE. My own experience leads me to believe that H1 is a great user steel because it takes a very sharp edge, holds it for a good period and is easy to sharpen.

VG10 is not rust-proof like H1 but it can hold a sharper edge. It can also be touched up easily and is a great EDC steel. Although acidic substances (ie. tomato juice) can create a patina on VG10, it's not a big deal. You can easily remedy that with lubricating the blade or polishing it.

If you are new to sharpening, then PE might be the choice for you. If you have the Sharpmaker, then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a SE. I touched up my Hawkbill ladybug on my Sharpmaker and it was far less difficult than I thought it was going to be.

Basically, if you want a knife that you don't have to worry about and that can be used hard, then get the SE H1 Ladybug. If you want a more discrete color, then you might want a black or foliage green ladybug. If you want to be able to sharpen it easily, then go PE.

Either way, a ladybug is a very nice purchase. You'll enjoy it. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

thank you for the great info!! the only thing it just made my decision harder :D:D.. not a big fan of SE's BUT the way you said it makes me want one.

this knife will be used mainly on a key chain.. however i may get two.. one for salt so the H1 and one for my key chain which will hardly ever see water. so the VG - 10.. damn i thought i was gonna only spend 30 for one knife:grumpy:.. now 2 for 60 :D.. thanks again bubba


so why does H1 harden with use? to me that makes no sense. just curious
 
hung-solo said:
thank you for the great info!! the only thing it just made my decision harder :D:D.. not a big fan of SE's BUT the way you said it makes me want one.

this knife will be used mainly on a key chain.. however i may get two.. one for salt so the H1 and one for my key chain which will hardly ever see water. so the VG - 10.. damn i thought i was gonna only spend 30 for one knife:grumpy:.. now 2 for 60 :D.. thanks again bubba


so why does H1 harden with use? to me that makes no sense. just curious
Click to expand...

Hung, that's exactly what I did. Got a VG-10 to put on my keychain, and a Salt to carry on me around salt water, which is all the time. They are sweet little knives, with good ergonomics for such a small handle. :thumbup:
 
Get the serrated H1, it makes it seem like a larger knife due to the serrations and being in a pocket it sees sweat, water, etc so having it rust proof is a huge plus.

And here is a great article on work hardening
 
freedoom said:
it's basically made of magic.
Click to expand...

thanks for the educated response :thumbup:

Fishy, thats my plan is to buy 2 one for the salt water (for when i do go to the beach, i live about 4hrs from the beach) and the other will go on the keychain
 
anti-torsion said:
Get the serrated H1, it makes it seem like a larger knife due to the serrations and being in a pocket it sees sweat, water, etc so having it rust proof is a huge plus.

And here is a great article on work hardening
Click to expand...

thanks for the info torsion i will read up on it
 
hung-solo said:
so why does H1 harden with use? to me that makes no sense. just curious
Click to expand...

H1 is a very special kind of steel. It's similar to carbon steel, except that it uses hydrogen instead of carbon to get very good edge holding abilities, yet stay impervious to rust. This for some reason makes it harden when you sharpen it or use it hard, eventhough I'm not sure exactly how it works.

That is also why all Spyderco Salt knives are hollow ground, not flat ground, since they have to be ground on both sides at the same time in order to get an even hardening.
 
The Ladybug for it's size is a fantastic cutter because of it's ergo's, I'd also recommend a fob of some sort at the end for that extra tactile grippiness extension for your little finger, try it if you haven't makes the knife feel like it has a longer handle. I use a Photon Freedom on my PE VG10 which sees the most EDC usage, primarily cos I use a lot of convex edge fix blades and i tend to strop my knives for edge maintenance the PE takes a real wicked edge stropped. I swap it out with I want to use the my Hawkbill bug or my H1 SE. The choice of SE or PE really depends on what you see yourself cutting most, PE suits my most of my cutting needs but if you need to cut through rope and webbing like seat belts, the serrated Hawkbill is awesome.

I reckon it's one of the best cutting tools for it's size with a reliable lock back making it safer to operate, one handed deployment with the spider hole, good steel. Easily my favorite keychain knife!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top