I just bought my first Spyderco blade. I have an assorted collection of mostly vintage 'old timers' along with a mix of assisted openers that I collected while searching for the perfect one and settled on the Kershaw Leek quite a few years back. So-as an introduction-that would be my most favored blade to date though I am just starting to explore the world of high-end knives. The Leek was more or less a lucky accident as I didn't really know the brand at the time. So after watching many youtube reviews of the MANY fanatical Spyderco fans I decided the Ambitious was the perfect entry model for the brand before I dove into the higher end models such as the Superleaf(my preferred style) or the Para, Tenacious, or even the Delectico.
To start I should say I have been WILDLY impressed with the OTHER 'value' knife I just purchased online-The Kershaw Crown 3160. I have read some reviews that point out a few build and qc issues but I must have hit the lottery because my $14 Crown has a near perfect build and along with its natural beauty, warm Micarta scales and lightning fast blade it could easily fool many into believing this was a much higher-end knife. So-this has been my edc for the past month and it is what I had immediately to compare the arriving Ambitious to.
Out of the box-It was mostly everything I expected. The g-10 was slightly underwhelming as I am still over-impressed with the Crowns micarta scales which-as a professional woodworker-feel and look a lot like ebony. But the g-10 is 10x better (imo) then the glass fiber scales which I absolutely can not stand-no matter HOW much I read about how great, strong, light they are. I'm in the camp that thinks those glass/fiber scales feel cheap. So the g-10 is nicely textured and feels substantial enough and I am thinking I should have bought the blue model as I have no colour in my collection.
The problem was the blade. While I have to say this is HANDS DOWN (! wow!) the sharpest blade out-of-the-box I ever purchased there was friction which prevented the blade from opening without a full effort from closed to lock-up. Most guys would have stopped there and sent it back for an exchange but I guess I'm not most guys because I decided to explore. I couldnt accept that my first exposure to this brand that so many seem so fanatical about was so problematic. I instinctively backed the tension screw off but that didn't help. I flicked the blade thinking it would loosen up but it didn't. Then I probably voided the warranty by breaking out the torx and it wasn't exactly a simple breakdown. The lanyard hole has a collar sleeve that prevents an easy separation. However I figured the problem lay in the pivot and I checked the washers and cleaned them and lubed them up. Reassembled and the improvement was minimal. So now I am starting to accept the disappointment of having to pack a new purchase up and send it off. But as a fanatical collector of many other 'guy stuff' I can get pretty damn obsessive and I decided to break it down one last time and check to see if the washers had a sequence to assembly. I was also still in that funny state of denial that comes about when a product you expected so much from fails to deliver. After the 2nd try I noticed a very slight improvement and contacted both the dealer and Spyderco. I readied the knife for return and went to bed. In the morning I found I had a different knife. While I can't say the blade was FLYING out it was now flicking out with some speed and authority into a crisp lock-up. So- based on this first experiance with the brand my few 'Spyderco' questions would be:
A) Was I foolish in exploring the problem and should I have just accepted immediately this knife was not up to Spyderco specs and returned it?
B) I had read one other post about a guy who had a similar problem and solved it so is this kind of thing not all that uncommon in the 'value' line?
C) How fast is the typical Ambitious (Persistence, Tenacious, etc) blade opening? Considering I am comparing this (fairly or not) to a $14 Kershaw Crown which does literally fly open my Ambition now opens quickly and precisely but not lighting fast. I can live with this if it is considered normal for the model line. But if most Ambitious blades also 'fly' out I should probably accept the truth.
D) I am sure my dealer would take the knife back but he has no more and the blue model which I like a lot is $19 more. So I am not eager to return for a refund as I want the Ambitious to keep but not if its a lemon. Considering the problem is abating and seems to be getting better the more I obsessively flick-should I stick with it or accept its performing below par? (after all-its just a knife and I maintain all my knives after they have been used and beaten on. Maybe I should I just consider this an 'early' service...or am I kidding myself?)
thanks. sorry my first post was so long. I suppose its important since I am ready to explore one or two more purchases of higher-end knives and don't want an improper impression of Spyderco.
p.s.-it just occurred to me that my Ambitious had four(4) washers-2 on each side which I assume is normal?
To start I should say I have been WILDLY impressed with the OTHER 'value' knife I just purchased online-The Kershaw Crown 3160. I have read some reviews that point out a few build and qc issues but I must have hit the lottery because my $14 Crown has a near perfect build and along with its natural beauty, warm Micarta scales and lightning fast blade it could easily fool many into believing this was a much higher-end knife. So-this has been my edc for the past month and it is what I had immediately to compare the arriving Ambitious to.
Out of the box-It was mostly everything I expected. The g-10 was slightly underwhelming as I am still over-impressed with the Crowns micarta scales which-as a professional woodworker-feel and look a lot like ebony. But the g-10 is 10x better (imo) then the glass fiber scales which I absolutely can not stand-no matter HOW much I read about how great, strong, light they are. I'm in the camp that thinks those glass/fiber scales feel cheap. So the g-10 is nicely textured and feels substantial enough and I am thinking I should have bought the blue model as I have no colour in my collection.
The problem was the blade. While I have to say this is HANDS DOWN (! wow!) the sharpest blade out-of-the-box I ever purchased there was friction which prevented the blade from opening without a full effort from closed to lock-up. Most guys would have stopped there and sent it back for an exchange but I guess I'm not most guys because I decided to explore. I couldnt accept that my first exposure to this brand that so many seem so fanatical about was so problematic. I instinctively backed the tension screw off but that didn't help. I flicked the blade thinking it would loosen up but it didn't. Then I probably voided the warranty by breaking out the torx and it wasn't exactly a simple breakdown. The lanyard hole has a collar sleeve that prevents an easy separation. However I figured the problem lay in the pivot and I checked the washers and cleaned them and lubed them up. Reassembled and the improvement was minimal. So now I am starting to accept the disappointment of having to pack a new purchase up and send it off. But as a fanatical collector of many other 'guy stuff' I can get pretty damn obsessive and I decided to break it down one last time and check to see if the washers had a sequence to assembly. I was also still in that funny state of denial that comes about when a product you expected so much from fails to deliver. After the 2nd try I noticed a very slight improvement and contacted both the dealer and Spyderco. I readied the knife for return and went to bed. In the morning I found I had a different knife. While I can't say the blade was FLYING out it was now flicking out with some speed and authority into a crisp lock-up. So- based on this first experiance with the brand my few 'Spyderco' questions would be:
A) Was I foolish in exploring the problem and should I have just accepted immediately this knife was not up to Spyderco specs and returned it?
B) I had read one other post about a guy who had a similar problem and solved it so is this kind of thing not all that uncommon in the 'value' line?
C) How fast is the typical Ambitious (Persistence, Tenacious, etc) blade opening? Considering I am comparing this (fairly or not) to a $14 Kershaw Crown which does literally fly open my Ambition now opens quickly and precisely but not lighting fast. I can live with this if it is considered normal for the model line. But if most Ambitious blades also 'fly' out I should probably accept the truth.
D) I am sure my dealer would take the knife back but he has no more and the blue model which I like a lot is $19 more. So I am not eager to return for a refund as I want the Ambitious to keep but not if its a lemon. Considering the problem is abating and seems to be getting better the more I obsessively flick-should I stick with it or accept its performing below par? (after all-its just a knife and I maintain all my knives after they have been used and beaten on. Maybe I should I just consider this an 'early' service...or am I kidding myself?)
thanks. sorry my first post was so long. I suppose its important since I am ready to explore one or two more purchases of higher-end knives and don't want an improper impression of Spyderco.
p.s.-it just occurred to me that my Ambitious had four(4) washers-2 on each side which I assume is normal?
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there's also a place that has it for $99 *cough**unde*r***couugh*lin*edcough
