My first spyderco

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nick_30

Joined
Aug 21, 2011
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So, I think I am finally ready to take the plunge and get my first Spidey. After having own almost exclusively Benchmade in zero tolerance with roughly the same blade shapes and overall build and shape, I'm wanting to venture into a different style knife.

What I'm looking for is something that I can test my abilities of sharpening that will perform outstandingly at slicing.
I would like it to be CPM M4, which I know there are not that many of them, but I'm just not sure which Spyderco has the best slicing abilities. As far as it stands right now the military Blade HQ exclusive is about the only one I see that is in M4 that isn't over $200.
I am open to suggestions and this will not be a hard used knife, I always carry two knives on me at all times, one with a course slicing Edge for hard use, and one with a super refined mirror polished Edge for push cutting applications and that one gets babied
 
Military and Gayle Bradley 2 come to my mind. The GB2 is the only M4 I’ve personally owned but I can only imagine a Millie with M4 would be killer.
 
I believe the Mantras are also m4. If you can get a Gayle Bradley those are truly awesome knives.
 
The mantra is an awesome knife, and one that I think is underrated. You could probably snag a jade pm2 in m4 off the exchange as well.

One thing to note is that my pm2 in m4 is 60.5 rockwell c and patinas easily. My mantra was at 63 if I remember correctly. Never had a speck of rust on it. The mantra was thinner, but the edge was quite obtuse near the tip. Your results may vary.
 
I believe the M4 Manix 2 comes out next week for $135 on bladehq. The original Gayle Bradley is a helluva knife. They are still pretty easy to find even tho they are discoed. The Manix is a real good deal too though
 
The only M4 knife I own is a Spyderco Manix 2 which is a positively fantastic knife but it's an out-of-production BBS exclusive so good luck finding one. :(
 
I often find myself wondering why there are so many spydercos out there. I am not a fan of it's look when open but that's personal preference. I have to assume it's a very functional knife or is it the quality of parts and build quality? Is it the hole in the blade? Can someone fill me in on why their knives are so well liked? Especially the pm2 and the m2, I see them all over the forum. I may also have to hop on and give one of them a go. Thanks in advance
 
Once you start with Spyderco you will probably not look at BM the same way, again. It was that way for me and many others. BM was our gateway to Spyderco.
 
If you are after slicers over 3" blade, I would suggest Gayle Bradley2, Stretch, or Spydiechef.
They are either hollow ground or flat ground from thin stock.
Of course, Delica would probably outperform them, though.

I don't think PM2 and Manix2 are good slicers, while they are good solid knives.
 
OhLeever said:
I often find myself wondering why there are so many spydercos out there. I am not a fan of it's look when open but that's personal preference. I have to assume it's a very functional knife or is it the quality of parts and build quality? Is it the hole in the blade? Can someone fill me in on why their knives are so well liked? Especially the pm2 and the m2, I see them all over the forum. I may also have to hop on and give one of them a go. Thanks in advance
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I was the same way, didn’t understand spyderco. I finally gave them a try. The endura changed my knife life. Spydercos are designed to cut and slice very well. The hole is for me the best opening methods for a folder I have ever used besides the Emerson wave.
 
Would m4 be the best for a super keen edge, trying to get close to hht5 level. I have obtained hht4 in some of the zt's I have which is a pretty thick blade, so the skills are there, I've read m4 is really good at highly refined and polished edges. Thinking a 13-15dps?
 
It was pretty much between m4 and zdp-189, 189 kinda scares me a bit thought because of what I've read about sharpening and micro chipping
 
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nick_30 said:
Would m4 be the best for a super keen edge, trying to get close to hht5 level. I have obtained hht4 in some of the zt's I have which is a pretty thick blade, so the skills are there, I've read m4 is really good at highly refined and polished edges. Thinking a 13-15dps?
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I’ve never gotten my knives THAT sharp. But if you want ultimate sharpness I don’t know if m4 would be my top pick. I’d try to find something in superblue or hap40 or maybe rwl34. I’ve heard good things about the latter two and I have a stretch in superblue which gets scary sharp really easily.
 
OhLeever said:
I often find myself wondering why there are so many spydercos out there. I am not a fan of it's look when open but that's personal preference. I have to assume it's a very functional knife or is it the quality of parts and build quality? Is it the hole in the blade? Can someone fill me in on why their knives are so well liked? Especially the pm2 and the m2, I see them all over the forum. I may also have to hop on and give one of them a go. Thanks in advance
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That’s a very good question, I will echo 115italian. I did not understand it either, and finally just decided to trust the forum, and I bought a Delica. I came to realize that every design element is based around function first. The thing cut like a demon, and still does.

You don’t have it to understand it before you buy it. Just buy one on the exchange, used. Let it sink or swim on its own merit. If it converts you, you will understand. If it fails to meet expectations, post it for sale again on the exchange and get your money back out of it. This is a low risk high reward proposition.
 
I was the opposite. The PM2 was my gateway to Benchmade. Every once in awhile I pick up a Spyderco for the collection (Stretch, Millie), but they usually end up in the drawer. The Spyderco's that I have are great knives, though. I think it really depends on what you expect in a knife and how you use your knife.
 
nick_30 said:
Anyone know of any other good slicers in hap40 or rwl34?
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Pretty much all Hap40 sprint runs would be good slicers. The Delica and Stretch come to mind first, though. RWL.. Well that may be a bit tougher to find. I know the flash batch Lil' Nikka(spelling way off on that) was running that steel. And I bet that thing slices like a Mongol.
 
That nikkila(yea, spelling) is a bit to small.
Would like something in the 2.75-3.5" range
Kinda leaning towards the caly 3 because it is available, but the price is pretty steep. Would like to stay under 150.00
 
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