Agreed. Don't need one, but I wouldn't mind having one.
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Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
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Mantra
- Thread starter John13
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2015
- Messages
- 156
Great comparison photos. Thanks guys!
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2015
- Messages
- 652
hey John, I just got a Positron, and a Mantra should touch down in a couple days. I'll make sure to post comparison pics.
Wow...that's a beauty
I've handled the Domino, Dice, Mantra, and Positron. The Dice, to me, is sub-par as a flipper. I think it has the same action as the Domino but not tuned for a smaller blade, so I found it a lot easier to misfire. The Positron and Mantra are both absolutely wonderful flippers, but I found the Mantra to be a bit better. I also found it to be better overall, but the Positron is a fantastic little knife. I'd still rather have the Mantra though.
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2011
- Messages
- 1,648
Just got mine today. I've been waiting for something like this for a long time. Basically it's a Sage 2 shaped like a Delica with a flipper. As far as build quality goes, it's typical Taichung Taiwan Spyderco quality. There really isn't anything to criticize, lockup, centering, out-of-the-box sharpness, FnF, it's all superb. This review is short because I can't think of anything to say about it other than... it's perfect. Or damn near perfect.
Instead I'll just mention some subtle things that really surprised me. I don't know if you all noticed it, but the finish on the titanium is slightly stonewashed. It definitely has a subtle tumbled or distressed look to it. It is not just a flat plain sand blast like you'd find on a Sage 2 or a Sebenza, but it's not a full-on "nuked" finish like the Domino has. Another thing I noticed is the grind lines on the blade and blade tang are not parallel. They're angled on the blade, but straight towards the tip on the tang. It catches the light differently and creates a nice contrast. I've never seen that before on a Spyderco.
The only thing I can nitpick on is my lock was a bit sticky. It was actually pretty bad. Bad enough that I knew it would have taken forever to break in and go away on it's own. But I took the knife apart, gently filed the steel lock-face insert so it interfaces with the tang more evenly, and now it's perfect, 100% no sick. Lockup didn't even move. It's perfect at 50%. BTW if you want to take it apart, I recommend using a soldering iron to heat up the fasteners to soften the Loctite. The screws were REALLY tight. Much tighter than I've ever seen before on a Spyderco. Serviceability is really important to me, and once you deal with the excessive amounts of Loctite, it's a piece of cake to take apart and put back together. There's no slop or play on any other parts as they're fit together. All the hardware is the same; beefy T8 torx and I love that more than I can say.
Compared with the Domino it definitely feels like a smaller knife even though the blade length and cutting edge are longer. The handles are thinner and lighter. It's bigger than the Positron but again, it's much thinner (the Positron is chunky little knife) so it feels smaller in the pocket. The tip is delicate, but visually similar to the Positron, Domino, and Caly 3.5. It is not a stout as the tip on a Delica or Paramilitary II, but it's not ridiculously delicate like a Kershaw Leek. I don't have much experience with M4, I hear it's a mother to resharpen. I like the look of forced patinas, and I love the way the forced patina on my Superblue Caly3.5 came out, so I might go that route. So far this is a keeper for sure!
Instead I'll just mention some subtle things that really surprised me. I don't know if you all noticed it, but the finish on the titanium is slightly stonewashed. It definitely has a subtle tumbled or distressed look to it. It is not just a flat plain sand blast like you'd find on a Sage 2 or a Sebenza, but it's not a full-on "nuked" finish like the Domino has. Another thing I noticed is the grind lines on the blade and blade tang are not parallel. They're angled on the blade, but straight towards the tip on the tang. It catches the light differently and creates a nice contrast. I've never seen that before on a Spyderco.
The only thing I can nitpick on is my lock was a bit sticky. It was actually pretty bad. Bad enough that I knew it would have taken forever to break in and go away on it's own. But I took the knife apart, gently filed the steel lock-face insert so it interfaces with the tang more evenly, and now it's perfect, 100% no sick. Lockup didn't even move. It's perfect at 50%. BTW if you want to take it apart, I recommend using a soldering iron to heat up the fasteners to soften the Loctite. The screws were REALLY tight. Much tighter than I've ever seen before on a Spyderco. Serviceability is really important to me, and once you deal with the excessive amounts of Loctite, it's a piece of cake to take apart and put back together. There's no slop or play on any other parts as they're fit together. All the hardware is the same; beefy T8 torx and I love that more than I can say.
Compared with the Domino it definitely feels like a smaller knife even though the blade length and cutting edge are longer. The handles are thinner and lighter. It's bigger than the Positron but again, it's much thinner (the Positron is chunky little knife) so it feels smaller in the pocket. The tip is delicate, but visually similar to the Positron, Domino, and Caly 3.5. It is not a stout as the tip on a Delica or Paramilitary II, but it's not ridiculously delicate like a Kershaw Leek. I don't have much experience with M4, I hear it's a mother to resharpen. I like the look of forced patinas, and I love the way the forced patina on my Superblue Caly3.5 came out, so I might go that route. So far this is a keeper for sure!
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2011
- Messages
- 1,648
The lockbar on the Mantra is actually quite heavy on mine. As a result there is alot of side load on the blade from the detent ball. So the flipping action is good but not phenomenal. It does have a medium strength detent so I rarely get a misfire. No problem with it at all. Between the 3, the Positron probably flips the best, but not by much. The positron also takes more of a push button style motion rather than a light-switch style motion to flip. The surface that the detent ball slides across on the Positron is more polished than it is on the Domino or the Mantra. The Mantra and Domino both flip about the same in my opinion. But all in all, all three are roughly the same. Really good but I've seen better.
The gold standard of ball bearing flippers in my collection is my Tim Galyean Pro Series small JYD Midtech. That thing is unbelievable. My ZT0808 comes 2nd. The Positron is a more distant 3rd, and the Mantra and Domino are tied for 4th.
The gold standard of ball bearing flippers in my collection is my Tim Galyean Pro Series small JYD Midtech. That thing is unbelievable. My ZT0808 comes 2nd. The Positron is a more distant 3rd, and the Mantra and Domino are tied for 4th.
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2009
- Messages
- 271
I just got my mantra in today and i freaking love it! it easily flips out without any wrist flick (my spyderco positron needed a tiny wrist flick or a really solid flick on the flipper) The mantra flips open perfect with just a normal pressure press of the flipper. I also like that it doesnt have any jimping on the flipper tab. ive never had a need for it and it just starts to hurt my flipper finger after a while. I actually have a callus from flipping my southard tolk its jimping is sharp and it has a strong detent which needs a lot of pressure to overcome and flip the blade open. I can see wanting jimping on a "tactical" folder where the user might be wearing gloves but in that situation a fixed blade would be the better choice anyways.
the mantra also opens perfectly using the thumb hole either slowly or with a flick of the thumb.
my only complaints are i wish it was a little bit bigger. i would like it to have around a 3.4" blade. I can fit all my fingers on the handle but just barely, so an extra 1/4" on the blade and handle would be perfect. I am crossing my fingers they come out with an XL version like they did with the manix.
well overall its a great knife. you get lots of features in a reasonably priced knife.
-titanium scales
-hardened steel insert on the lock bar
-CPM-m4 steel (which is just an awesome steel, it is one of my favorites. I really like "tool steels" for my blades when possible. you just have to be aware of the possibility of corrosion)
-Spyderco's great customer service
i think you will be very happy with the mantra. I know i am. its going to be my "gentleman's knife" and for situations that require a small light knife (compared to my southard tolk and ZT0801)
I cant wait to see how people will pimp these knives out. the plain titanium scales leave us with lots of options of customization. I would love to see some designs machined or engraved into the scales with two tone anodizing. The scales arent skeletonized on the inside, which means we can do some type of inlays. carbon fiber would look awesome
the mantra also opens perfectly using the thumb hole either slowly or with a flick of the thumb.
my only complaints are i wish it was a little bit bigger. i would like it to have around a 3.4" blade. I can fit all my fingers on the handle but just barely, so an extra 1/4" on the blade and handle would be perfect. I am crossing my fingers they come out with an XL version like they did with the manix.
well overall its a great knife. you get lots of features in a reasonably priced knife.
-titanium scales
-hardened steel insert on the lock bar
-CPM-m4 steel (which is just an awesome steel, it is one of my favorites. I really like "tool steels" for my blades when possible. you just have to be aware of the possibility of corrosion)
-Spyderco's great customer service
i think you will be very happy with the mantra. I know i am. its going to be my "gentleman's knife" and for situations that require a small light knife (compared to my southard tolk and ZT0801)
I cant wait to see how people will pimp these knives out. the plain titanium scales leave us with lots of options of customization. I would love to see some designs machined or engraved into the scales with two tone anodizing. The scales arent skeletonized on the inside, which means we can do some type of inlays. carbon fiber would look awesome