Ive had this knife since 7/29/09. Ive EDCed it every day since but offer this review only as my initial impressions.
The knife is beautiful. Many have called it a dressy knife and see why they think so. However, I dont think of it as a dress up knife. IMO one should never have a knife clipped to a suit pocket. When wearing a suit, whatever knife I have must be totally within my pocket, at which point it doesnt matter if it is CF or FRN since no one sees it. However, I do have to battle with myself so as not to regard the knife incapable of hard and dirty work. Lets face it, CF scales arent necessary for the utility of the knife they are really just for show. But I like them. The knife has a nice heft to it. It isnt too heavy but isnt too light either. Although I love FRN for its light weight and strength, I always think plastic knife when I use one (love the Caly Jr.). This knife kind of straddles the fence between too light and too heavy. A good compromise in my book.
The blade design is useful and really allows you to choke up on the knife. The choil is great and the jimping ensures an even better grip. Nutnfancy criticized the knife for not having jimping on the spine. I can see where that would be useful but I dont think it is necessary and prefer the knife without. VG10 is a fantastic steel youll hear no complaints from me. The knife arrived with a great edge. I could improve it but it is as good you can get from a factory, in my experience. The blade is almost perfectly centered, if that is important to you.
The CF is smooth. Some say too smooth. Not me. I love the texture. As noted above, the knifes design allows for a very good grip so a rough pattern is not necessary. All edges on the CF are smoothed (melted) and very pleasant. The Spyderhole is sharp, as it should be IMO. That shows precision machining. File yours down if you dont like it. The clip carries well, especially with the knife being as thin as it is. That was a big selling point to me. I like thin knives that ride unnoticed in the pocket. It appears the screws are anchored in the CF only, not in the liners. I have not had a problem with this but worry about long term usage. I doubt it will be an issue; I dont have anything else with screws anchored in CF to serve as a benchmark. The knife is tapped for 4 way carry and has a lanyard hole.
Gripes: I have two. First, the action is not smooth. I think either the lock bar or the end of the blade needed a little more polishing. With the lock depressed, the action is butter smooth. None of my other Spydies have this problem and none cost this much. Second, one of the liners has the minor crack which was previously discussed on the forum. I believe Sal identified an issue in the manufacturing process. It probably isnt significant and surely wont affect performance, but at this price, quite honestly, it shouldnt be there.
Nutnfancy said this was a low value knife. I wont go that far, but I will say it isnt a high value knife such as the Sage or some other offerings from Spyderco (esp. FRN models and Tenacious) and other makers. I believe Spyderco operates on fixed margins so I dont think they have needlessly inflated the price of the knife, but nevertheless at this price I would like the F&F to be a little better. It is a great knife at a fair price, but not a great value. The FRN model will be a better value, Im sure.
Bottom line: Despite the negatives mentioned above, this has taken second place in my favorite knives list behind my Buck Mayo TNT. I like the knife A LOT and look forward to using it for many years to come.
The knife is beautiful. Many have called it a dressy knife and see why they think so. However, I dont think of it as a dress up knife. IMO one should never have a knife clipped to a suit pocket. When wearing a suit, whatever knife I have must be totally within my pocket, at which point it doesnt matter if it is CF or FRN since no one sees it. However, I do have to battle with myself so as not to regard the knife incapable of hard and dirty work. Lets face it, CF scales arent necessary for the utility of the knife they are really just for show. But I like them. The knife has a nice heft to it. It isnt too heavy but isnt too light either. Although I love FRN for its light weight and strength, I always think plastic knife when I use one (love the Caly Jr.). This knife kind of straddles the fence between too light and too heavy. A good compromise in my book.
The blade design is useful and really allows you to choke up on the knife. The choil is great and the jimping ensures an even better grip. Nutnfancy criticized the knife for not having jimping on the spine. I can see where that would be useful but I dont think it is necessary and prefer the knife without. VG10 is a fantastic steel youll hear no complaints from me. The knife arrived with a great edge. I could improve it but it is as good you can get from a factory, in my experience. The blade is almost perfectly centered, if that is important to you.
The CF is smooth. Some say too smooth. Not me. I love the texture. As noted above, the knifes design allows for a very good grip so a rough pattern is not necessary. All edges on the CF are smoothed (melted) and very pleasant. The Spyderhole is sharp, as it should be IMO. That shows precision machining. File yours down if you dont like it. The clip carries well, especially with the knife being as thin as it is. That was a big selling point to me. I like thin knives that ride unnoticed in the pocket. It appears the screws are anchored in the CF only, not in the liners. I have not had a problem with this but worry about long term usage. I doubt it will be an issue; I dont have anything else with screws anchored in CF to serve as a benchmark. The knife is tapped for 4 way carry and has a lanyard hole.
Gripes: I have two. First, the action is not smooth. I think either the lock bar or the end of the blade needed a little more polishing. With the lock depressed, the action is butter smooth. None of my other Spydies have this problem and none cost this much. Second, one of the liners has the minor crack which was previously discussed on the forum. I believe Sal identified an issue in the manufacturing process. It probably isnt significant and surely wont affect performance, but at this price, quite honestly, it shouldnt be there.
Nutnfancy said this was a low value knife. I wont go that far, but I will say it isnt a high value knife such as the Sage or some other offerings from Spyderco (esp. FRN models and Tenacious) and other makers. I believe Spyderco operates on fixed margins so I dont think they have needlessly inflated the price of the knife, but nevertheless at this price I would like the F&F to be a little better. It is a great knife at a fair price, but not a great value. The FRN model will be a better value, Im sure.
Bottom line: Despite the negatives mentioned above, this has taken second place in my favorite knives list behind my Buck Mayo TNT. I like the knife A LOT and look forward to using it for many years to come.
