this afternoon i went to Kittery Trading Post to take back my Benchmite II, i just couldn't warm up to it, yes it was sharp, yes it had a nice, solid feel to it, but there were two things that pissed me off about it....
1; i just couldn't warm up to the Levitator lock, yes it's a novel idea, and having a pocketable knife that can lock closed, but for someone spoiled by one-handed openers, it's a real pain in the arse to have to squeeze the scale and pull the blade out, i'm spoiled by Spyderco's one-handed opening SpyderHole
2; after a week of extremely light use (primarily riding in the pocket and knifesturbating when i had an idle moment) there were a few *oxidation* spots on the back scale, i live about 15 miles inland from the beach, and we have a salt marsh on the far end of our property, *and* it's winter, which means road salt, but even with all those variables *and* a light coat of Flitz polish for protection, the handle started spotting, i know it's cosmetic, but it's still unacceptable
i returned the Benchmite, and went up to take a look at the used knives, as i was contemplating picking up that Case Trapper slippie, or maybe one of those "Bear Brothers" drop point/razorblade slippies the collector that traded in the case knives also traded in....
these knives had 2 blades in paralell, a drop-point blade, *and* a blade that looked remarkably like a razorblade, squared off point, thin, "T" shaped blade, however, none of the three (jigged bone, redbone, and mother-of-pearl) had a particularly sharp "razorblade", the razorblade felt like a gimmick, *and* the knive's opening and closing action felt cheap and "sandpapery".....
then i saw it, on the bottom row of the used cabinet....
black, G-10 handles
SpyderHole
large Bowie-style blade
"James A. Keating" signature....
Golden, Colorado U.S.A.
CPM-440V steel
$35.00
i had to check it out....
the knife had a solid heft, the heaviest folder i have encountered yet (due to it's fully nested liners), the blade was still razor-sharp (don't think it was ever used) and showed no signs of resharpening, i closed the knife, it felt solid and meaty, closing with a satisfying "click"
i thumbed open the blade, it locked with a loud, authoritative "THWACK!", an attention grabbing sound that demanded respect, it felt like i was holding a serious hunk of steel in my hands
although i didn't know it at the time, i was holding a Chinook I, i knew it *was* a discontinued model, and that made it attractive to me, i tested the blade, just a *tiny* bit of play, but you really had to force it, acceptable for a used knife, and being discontinued made it all the rarer.....
sold!
when i went online to research it, and found *new* Chinook II's retailing for $150 on the Spyderco website, i *knew* i had gotten an absolute *steal*, yes the steel in the C-1 is lower end than the C-II, but it's still a solid, razor-sharp blade, my first "Bowie-style" blade, and my first knife with full-nested liners
it's also the first Spydie i actually consider somewhat "scary-looking", sure won't be using *this* one around the sheeple....
Here's some pics;
1; i just couldn't warm up to the Levitator lock, yes it's a novel idea, and having a pocketable knife that can lock closed, but for someone spoiled by one-handed openers, it's a real pain in the arse to have to squeeze the scale and pull the blade out, i'm spoiled by Spyderco's one-handed opening SpyderHole
2; after a week of extremely light use (primarily riding in the pocket and knifesturbating when i had an idle moment) there were a few *oxidation* spots on the back scale, i live about 15 miles inland from the beach, and we have a salt marsh on the far end of our property, *and* it's winter, which means road salt, but even with all those variables *and* a light coat of Flitz polish for protection, the handle started spotting, i know it's cosmetic, but it's still unacceptable
i returned the Benchmite, and went up to take a look at the used knives, as i was contemplating picking up that Case Trapper slippie, or maybe one of those "Bear Brothers" drop point/razorblade slippies the collector that traded in the case knives also traded in....
these knives had 2 blades in paralell, a drop-point blade, *and* a blade that looked remarkably like a razorblade, squared off point, thin, "T" shaped blade, however, none of the three (jigged bone, redbone, and mother-of-pearl) had a particularly sharp "razorblade", the razorblade felt like a gimmick, *and* the knive's opening and closing action felt cheap and "sandpapery".....
then i saw it, on the bottom row of the used cabinet....
black, G-10 handles
SpyderHole
large Bowie-style blade
"James A. Keating" signature....
Golden, Colorado U.S.A.
CPM-440V steel
$35.00
i had to check it out....
the knife had a solid heft, the heaviest folder i have encountered yet (due to it's fully nested liners), the blade was still razor-sharp (don't think it was ever used) and showed no signs of resharpening, i closed the knife, it felt solid and meaty, closing with a satisfying "click"
i thumbed open the blade, it locked with a loud, authoritative "THWACK!", an attention grabbing sound that demanded respect, it felt like i was holding a serious hunk of steel in my hands
although i didn't know it at the time, i was holding a Chinook I, i knew it *was* a discontinued model, and that made it attractive to me, i tested the blade, just a *tiny* bit of play, but you really had to force it, acceptable for a used knife, and being discontinued made it all the rarer.....
sold!
when i went online to research it, and found *new* Chinook II's retailing for $150 on the Spyderco website, i *knew* i had gotten an absolute *steal*, yes the steel in the C-1 is lower end than the C-II, but it's still a solid, razor-sharp blade, my first "Bowie-style" blade, and my first knife with full-nested liners
it's also the first Spydie i actually consider somewhat "scary-looking", sure won't be using *this* one around the sheeple....
Here's some pics;
