My First Spyderco

[timsclips]

After many years of dismissing this brand in my mind, based on a name phobia, I finally bought my first Spyderco knife. A Delica with plain edge was purchased yesterday from a friendly knife dealer at a gunshow I attended. This is also my first experience with VG-10 steel. My first impression was it was very sharp out of the box, shaved the back of my hand very easily (a feat equaled by a $20 Marttinni Condor knife purchased the same day). This is supposed to be one of the new super steels that everyone on this forum likes to promote and I will have to see how much better it is on edge holding than my numerous traditional knives using 440.
So far I am liking it a lot but will see how it holds up.
By the way, my box just says Delica without the number 4, is this a different model?

 

[Skeletool]

"..This is supposed to be one of the new super steels that everyone on this forum likes to promote and I will have to see how much better it is on edge holding than my numerous traditional knives using 440...."

I'd be interested in hearing about this also; as Spyderco has evidently brought back this material for their limited production Spyderench. I don't see this material in many of their other knives and am curious to know how it compares with both your newer generation VG-10 'super steel' and the Chinese variant (8Cr13MoV) found in their Byrdrench.

Thanks and good luck with your new purchase.

 

[yablanowitz]

It's hard to say on the model, the model number hasn't changed much for years. If it is the FRN model, it will say Delica4 around the Spyderbug logo on the handle. If it is stainless handle and VG-10 steel, it is the D4, as the previous SS handle was AUS6.

I think you will like the VG-10. It sharpens easily, takes an excellent edge, and holds it well in what I call light to medium use. Of course, what I call "normal use" most folks call extreme hard use/major abuse .

 

[jaislandboy]

congrats on your first spydie timsclips :thumbup:
I score my first from a gun/knife show as well.

 

[Salamander42]

Congrats on the new Delica! If it's put together with torx screws and has nested steel liners its a D4, if it's just got pins for the blade and lock pivots then it's an earlier model. And actually I don't think they used VG-10 on anything before the D4s. . . I could be wrong though, I'm FAR from being an expert on Spyderco knives.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call VG-10 a "super steel" but I do think my VG-10 D4W holds an edge a little better than my AUS-8 Dragonfly and quite a bit better than any of my CRKT knives (which I think are all AUS-4 but I'm not positive about that).

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the Delica. There's a lot more to it than the blade steel. Let us know what you think of the ergonomics of the knife and the round hole for opening. The round hole is really what ultimately converted me into a fan of Spyderco folders. . . Thumb studs just look tacky to me now, and I never realized before how much they tended to get in the way.