My take on the Southard

Yo Mama

Yo Mama

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2011
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6,249
Just got in the Southard from Spyderco! It is my first decently expensive blade, and so far it's worth every cent. I have wanted one ever since they came out but they were out of my price range. So I did something very rare for me, ........I saved my money!

F & F is perfect, lock up at about 50 percent, no rocking and rolling, and just the action of the flipper is amazing.

I have noticed 2 things that many others have noted as minuses, but I think are a benefit to the design of the knife. First is the aggressive "sandpaper" like g10 used for the scales. Yes it is extremely grippy, which to me makes for a secure removal from your pocket. The knife literally feels like it's stuck to your hand the moment you put your fingers on it.

The second issue many have is the pocket clip. I see nothing wrong with the different coloring finish set on top of the gray titanium, to me it makes the knife just pop. In terms of it's functionality, I feel it secures the blade in the pocket, and also allows for an easy deployment.

Ok, on to the pics:

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Spyderco knocked out of the park with this blade. I'm so glad I finally got one, it's been a grail for me.
 
I like my Southard as well. I've had it since they first came out. Easy to take apart for maintenance too. To make it easier to carry in the office, I took off the original clip and have it dangling from a suspension clip that it shares with my para 2 (I attach it to the lanyard hole).
 
I love the Southard but hate the scratchy tan G-10 (super functional, don't get me wrong, just wears on pockets too quickly) and pointy clip. You can always dress one up in different clothes if you end up wanting to do away with the G-10. The knife comes out pretty spiffy went customized, IMO. Here is an old shot of some of mine (yes, I do have issues):

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Congrats on the Southard. My favorite Spyderco. The texture of the G-10 bothered me so I sanded it down. Then, the looks bothered me so I got a LSCF scale. Clip doesn't bother me. I like my Black Southard as is for both the looks and the milder texture on the G-10.
 
RamZar said:
I like my Black Southard as is for both the looks and the milder texture on the G-10.
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Agreed, the black version is easier on the eyes than the normal version, but both are great.

That said, the black version looks great dressed up. I'm carrying my black one with my current favorite scale for it today, fine mesh black C-Tek (IMO, looks and feels great).
 
evilgreg said:
Agreed, the black version is easier on the eyes than the normal version, but both are great.

That said, the black version looks great dressed up. I'm carrying my black one with my current favorite scale for it today, fine mesh black C-Tek (IMO, looks and feels great).
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How you tease us with verbiage and no visuals. :)
 
RamZar said:
How you tease us with verbiage and no visuals. :)
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Because I haven't had time to shoot it properly yet. It's tough to photograph because it looks black a lot of the time, but reflective others (the wire makes it reflective). So far I can only share a quick and dirty snapshot from my kitchen counter just now:

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Hopefully that give you the general idea while I'm working on better photos. ;)
 
evilgreg said:
So far I can only share a quick and dirty snapshot from my kitchen counter just now:
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Your quick and dirty snapshot is better than any of my tripod set with a lighting studio shots with a background of unicorns.

That scale really suits that Southard. Well done. :)
 
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Mayenard said:
Your quick and dirty snapshot is better than any of my tripod set with a lighting studio shot with a background of unicorns.
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Don't sell your unicorn background short, that's always impressive even if it does require more setup ;)

Mayenard said:
That scale really suits that Southard. Well done. :)
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I can't take any credit, beyond picking the material. BF user spketch did the work, and it's amazing as always.
 
spketch does do some great work from what I have seen. Just out of curiosity, how many Southards do you have evilreg?

Back on topic, you likely won't be disappointed with the Southard OP. I have had mine for about a year and I love it more now than the day I bought it. :)
 
I don't really like Southards, but that scale looks pretty cool. :thumbup:
 
It's a great knife. I enjoyed the time I had with mine. At the end of the day, I wasn't a big fan of the hollow grind on it.
 
I hate the look of the Southard and after seeing a few issues its one of the few Taichung spydies I actually would not buy. That scale however, well that just looks riddiculously good.
 
Yep. The Southard seems to elicit a real "love it or hate it" response. I love mine, especially with the Ivory Snake Juma scale spketch made for it. (It looks a lot like evilgreg's example in post #6.) I also like Greg's fine mesh black C-Tek scale.

One thing you have to admit. The Southard really dresses up nicely.
 
evilgreg said:
Because I haven't had time to shoot it properly yet. It's tough to photograph because it looks black a lot of the time, but reflective others (the wire makes it reflective). So far I can only share a quick and dirty snapshot from my kitchen counter just now:

Hopefully that give you the general idea while I'm working on better photos. ;)
Click to expand...

Well done. Both the picture and the scale. Looks groovy and sinister at the same time.
 
I definitely agree. It is one of my favorite designs by far, especially dressed up. I have a stonewashed model with a beautiful red shred carbon fiber scale courtesy of ShepardCC. That fine mesh C-tek may warrant another one in the future for me!
 
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