Lionspy came today

rickdarris2004 said:
Just got mine today and all is Perfect. One thing I notice about this one though is the removal from the pocket. This is one of the hardest knives to take out of your pants. That little clip has some serious tension. I would imagine that a small lanyard or something to grab on to would alleviate the issue. Anybody else find it hard to pull from the pocket?
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Ditto..much easier with a lanyard
 
Yup, pretty difficult to pull out of the pocket. Then again it is clipped in my left pocket so I have the grip of the G10 making things worse.
 
rickdarris2004 said:
Just got mine today and all is Perfect. One thing I notice about this one though is the removal from the pocket. This is one of the hardest knives to take out of your pants. That little clip has some serious tension. I would imagine that a small lanyard or something to grab on to would alleviate the issue. Anybody else find it hard to pull from the pocket?
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I was having trouble as well until I found a good way to grab it. The trouble came from not really knowing what to pull on. This way works perfect for me:

I grip the G10 with my thumb, and I place my index finger on the very top of the clip where is bulges out the most. I've found that I can grip like that with more than enough force to pull it from the pocket, yet it doesn't put any more retaining force on the clip. Works great for me. :)
 
LionSteel makes what they make, considering its for Spyderco. I think it is up to Spyderco to do their own QC and tune them up if necessary.

It just reflects on what little QC spyderco does, for an expensive knife like this I expect perfection, not here you go, it might take a little cleaning and prepping and tuning by the user before its perfect.
 
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I'm glad you like it as I love my LionSpy but expecting perfection from a production knife is a bit much. I'm not defending Spyderco but it is more of a general rule if anything.
 
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"Perfect" or "perfection" may be hard to achieve and not reasonable to expect in less than a custom knife.
First we would have to agree on what we mean by "perfect". Would probably vary from user to user.
Without a fairly precise definition, it's use becomes pretty pointless.

I do expect any knife in the price range of the LionSpy do be without any visible defects or noticeable problems in basic function. IMHO, that is relatively easy to achieve by any company with basic QC standards.

Actually, I expect knives considerably less expensive to meet the same standard. Anything less tells me the manufacturer does not care about me or the products they are producing.

With 40+ Spyderco's, ranging from a Cara Cara to a LionSpy, every one has met that standard and I expect nothing less from Spyderco.
 
Well mine came in today and I'm pretty impress with it....It's near perfect!!!! Amazing knife!!!!!
 
CrimsonTideShooter said:
I'm afraid all of the (unwarranted) negative hype surrounding this knife is ringing louder in the ears than the positive. There was one guy who had real, unexaggerated problems with his LionSpy. He had a reason to be concerned. Yet, out of his control, people started repeating that story and becoming hyper critical of the knife.

I have two. Are they perfect in every way? Nope, but show me a production knife (at any price) that is. I hope all of the BS surrounding this knife goes away and people start to see it for what it is.
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CTS,
Well said... that is the clearest thing anyone has said to date. Cut and paste this comment when the "hype" shows up.
 
Ya I have been told that I am OCD, we call it "attention to detail" now to be nicer.

When I see an air gap between G-10 and Ti, not smooth machining on the inside of the Ti and crud inside the handle on a new expensive knife it shows me that someone was slipping on the assembly line. Those are my personal nit picks.

Don't get me wrong, overall and after cleaning the knife is very rugged and durable, even if I don't use the roto-lock I love having it turn into a fixed blade knife at the flip of a switch. Its very close to perfect, I just expect no visual flaws.

Functionally I have now issues. It a great work horse.
 
CrimsonTideShooter said:
I definitely feel like the QC is slipping. Golden's QC, at least. The Japanese/Chinese/Taiwan models have been consistently great for me. I live near a HUGE knife store, so I get to handle multiples of pretty much every model Spyderco makes. I am sad to say that I have noticed the same trend. The Golden models just aren't as well made as the foreign ones.

I really, really hate to say that, but I promised myself I'd never be blinded by fanboyism. I actually made a thread on this very subject a long time ago, and I had many people agreeing with me. It doesn't seem like much has changed since then though.

I've noticed two trends in the past few months: Benchmade's QC is improving greatly, and Spyderco's QC is slipping. (again, the Golden models) I sincerely hope it changes. I really do. Spyderco is definitely my top production knife brand overall, so I'd really hate to quit buying the USA made models because it turned into a crap shoot.
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I come to this thread late, but I agree with your observations. The Taiwan models are definitely more consistent in terms of quality than Golden ones. This does not mean that the Golden models are crap, but that you are likely to come across fit and finish issues more often.

Your remark that Benchmade is improving greatly is also true. Benchmade knives in the past have more quality issues than Spyderco, one of them being the sharpness of their knives out of the box. It seems that Benchmade management has finally started to look at the issues much more seriously and their knives produced in the last few months especially have much improved. I may start buying their knives again after a long hiatus.
 
CrimsonTideShooter said:
I was having trouble as well until I found a good way to grab it. The trouble came from not really knowing what to pull on. This way works perfect for me:

I grip the G10 with my thumb, and I place my index finger on the very top of the clip where is bulges out the most. I've found that I can grip like that with more than enough force to pull it from the pocket, yet it doesn't put any more retaining force on the clip. Works great for me. :)
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+1 to this method. I was having the same experience and this method solved the probkem immediately.
 
I am selfishly hoping the second run will be made with some of the first run complaints in mind. I have a pre-order in on the second run. I do wonder how long it will take to come in though. Having held an SR-1 and a LionSpy proto last year, I am definitely happy with my decision.
 
John,

I was in the knife emporium just south of Birmingham of which you spoke today. I looked over several LionSpy examples, HESTs (folder & fb), and ZT-0560/561s - even A-B-ed them with my user ZT-0551. One could nitpick the LionSpys - even make the argument that the same price would get you a CRK small Sebbie, and you'd have nothing to nitpick over. Of course, they aren't the same knives, either! I don't know how useful the RotoBlock is - or the Hinderer stop. My much abused older BM 630 Skirmish has seen a lot of use - and still locks up at 40% engagement - like new - no play - years later - and that's a 'healthy' blade. Sure, the LionSpys edge grinds were a tad inconsistent - but sharp - and serviceable. Benchmade has certainly experienced that - as has Boker's premium Solingen-made knives. Fit and finish? They were in quite decent shape for production - even big buck knife - examples. Sure, my CRK folders - all both of them, a small plain S35VN Sebbie and a StarTac Umnumzaan - are the finest 'production' folders I've ever seen or handled - and that includes a friends nice SR1. The LionSpys I fondled were fine, if a bit overpriced. My biggest fault with the LionSpy is the Spydie hole... did someone scale the drawings a bit too big, or is it a big toe deployment hole? Seriously. At least they used a great steel - ElMax is top drawer.

I have to say I have finally seen the dog-ugliest Spyderco today...a 'dodo' with an orange handle! I bet they sell like hotcakes. I felt myself drawn to the S35VN/G10 Native 5.... again... I may go back for one - it's affordable. Bet I pick up that dodo again... and, yeah the LionSpy, too. I'll have some stronger readers on - so I can nitpick... I am sorry some folks have had problems with them.

Stainz

PS We are really lucky to have this store - what a knife collection!
 
I dont agree with the excuse all production knives have issues, none of my Crk knives my Hogue folders ,y Strider sj75 or any production Hinderers ive seen have had the issues my Lionspy or Yojimbo 2 had. My Spyderco ppt was a 120 dollar knife and it was near perfect
 
Is the LionSpy considered a Mid-tech knife like Strider, CRK and such? If so, that comparison above would be legit.
 
I can't bring myself to buy one - I have enough issues with my HEST as it is. At the price point that it's at, I'd much rather just get a CRK or ZT.
 
capid1 said:
Is the LionSpy considered a Mid-tech knife like Strider, CRK and such? If so, that comparison above would be legit.
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Perhaps not..but considering the price of the lionspy, fit n finish/tolerances should be near perfect and spot on. Take for instance kershaws Speedform, volt, and tilt..all were/are pretty much in the same price range. As far as I know, those knives were near perfect..even blems were hard to distinguish why they were marked as blems. My point is, if you're gonna price a knife at that level, these minor issues should be sorted out.

Not to bash on spyderco..I'll buy whatever they put out if I like it enough, regardless of the price. To me, it's a whole lot easier to justify the price if I can be sure that the knife I'm getting wont have issues, minor or not
 
I can understand and appreciate the analogy to Kershaws limited run knives but they haven't done one that was built overseas by another maker. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me.

Edit: I may sound protective of Spyderco's QA as every knife I've handled from them was perfect or very close to it. Then again my experience is not as vast as others.
 
I don't think the location of where it was built, or if it was outsourced to another maker, should be a factor..quality control is quality control..and to my knowledge, the lionspy qc was done in golden, co.

Again, I'm not bashing...I just tend to get a little more critical of minor flaws as price value goes up.
 
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I know you are not :) It sucks that some came out perfect and some escaped QC with flaws. Damn shame since it's a great knife but some will be reluctant to drop the cash on it due to the QC issues.
 
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