Ordered First Spyderco - A Tenacious

W

Wallbright

Joined
Jan 1, 2012
Messages
197
I am fairly new to the knife hobby so I have begun looking at purchasing the 'budget' knives from different big name companies to see what I like in a knife. For Spyderco I chose the Tenacious. I know it isn't made in the US but it comes highly rated on the internet and seems to be a damn good EDC, which is what I am mainly looking for right now.

Do you feel that the Tenacious is a good entry level knife to the Spyderco line? If not then what knife would be? (Sub $40 or so)
 
By all means, it is an excellent knife. I have been buying spydercos for 20 yrs and this knife is one of my favorites. Plan on buying more when they make an upgraded tenacious with better steel and better G-10, and yes it is coming.

You done good.
 
PC87 said:
You done good.
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Yep! :thumbup:

Welcome to the wide & wonderful world of Spyderco, Wallbright! I don't have a Tenacious but I do have a Persistence that I like very much. It was my first Spydie and now I have over a dozen... :o Kind of a 'gateway drug' :D
 
+1 to the gateway drug thing - you will buy more. If you're looking for a slight upgrade in a smaller knife, check out the Cat - it's like a mini-Sage. There are about 20 or so other options out there for not too much cash.
 
The Tenacious has replaced my battered and bruised CRKT M16-14z as my work knife EDC and it's fantastic. There are many great blades for under $40, but the Tenacious resides within a unique class of knives that offer tremendous value and performance for very little money. The materials, fit & finish, cutting edge, and durability are only barely matched by a select few competitors within the same price range.

For me, the Tenacious still comes out ahead; Spyderco's round opening hole means the knife is a snap to open with gloves (which I wear all day). Despite the thinness of the blade and its excellent slicing ability, it's still very strong and I have no fear of a broken tip or chipped edge. The pocket clip surpasses even some of Spyderco's more expensive offerings and slides in and out of my pocket with ease (another plus at work).

Great way to dip your toes in the shallow end of the Spyderco pool. Once you're acclimated, I'm sure you'll wade out further.
 
I own fifteen Spyderco's and the Tenacious holds its own with the more expensive models. The steel isn't the best Spyderco offers, but it's not bad by any means. The knife's ergonomics and usability are superb. It's not the end all be all of Spydercos, but it's a tremendous value priced knife. You'll love it.
 
Thank you all very much for the feedback. It looks like I made the right decision. I am very excited as it should be here Thursday.
 
Congrats on the purchase. I started my Spyderco adventure with a Tenacious as well, and quickly added an Endura 4 XDP, Pacific Salt H1 and Military digi-cam S30V. I was EDCing the Endura for a while, then one day recently I dug out the Tenacious and started flipping it and was reminded just how freakin' comfortable and easy to use that knife is. Next I pulled out the Military and if just felt all wrong. Great knife but not 'right' in the way the Tenacious is for me. So I sold the Military and will be getting at least one more Tenacious, most likely the new black blade version very soon.
 
Well I got it today and it is grinding when I open it. There is no play in the blade though so that is a plus. I am thinking it just needs some oil so I will try that when I get home and hopefully that fixes the issue. I also noticed that the blade is not centered when closed. Is this normal for the cheaper knives?

Other than that I really love it. It is larger than I expected though. What is the next step down? I might order one of those as well.
 
I've got mine in my pocket right now. I love the feel of it, it's become my go to beater knife. My normal EDC is the Sage 2 that I'm still babying a bit because its the nicest knife I've every had by far. I got the sage because I was very impressed by Spyderco with the Tenacious.
 
Wallbright said:
Well I got it today and it is grinding when I open it. There is no play in the blade though so that is a plus. I am thinking it just needs some oil so I will try that when I get home and hopefully that fixes the issue. I also noticed that the blade is not centered when closed. Is this normal for the cheaper knives?

Other than that I really love it. It is larger than I expected though. What is the next step down? I might order one of those as well.
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The persistence is the next step down from the tenacious. Blade centering can be a problem on some overseas knives. When I picked mine up at a gun show he had several, and out of the 3 one had the off centered blade, I grabbed one that was perfect. Sal posted that they are testing a new tenacious with better steel and G-10. Still will be made over seas but will be better quality and the price wont go up but maybe around 15$.

Cant wait for those to come out, going to buy several of those.
 
Wallbright said:
Well I got it today and it is grinding when I open it. There is no play in the blade though so that is a plus. I am thinking it just needs some oil so I will try that when I get home and hopefully that fixes the issue. I also noticed that the blade is not centered when closed. Is this normal for the cheaper knives?

Other than that I really love it. It is larger than I expected though. What is the next step down? I might order one of those as well.
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If you've got the torx bits (good ones - the Chinese made Spydercos tend to have extremely stuck screws), then you can take it apart and check the washers. I got a Persistence for my dad for Christmas a year or so ago and mine was grinding. Took it apart and found that a tiny little sliver of copper (or phosphorus-bronze?) had been shaved off of the washers and was in there making things a little rough.

Took it out, cleaned it, lubed it with Lucas Assembly Lube (for engines) and it's been great every since.

Keep in mind that taking the knife apart technically voids Spyderco's Warranty (and if you strip a screw, you're pretty much on your own).



You can correct an out-of-center blade as well by following these steps:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/918247-Recenter-the-blade(framelock-linerlock)
 
Hey Wallbright! Congrats on your new Spydie! As others have mentioned, try making your screw adjustments to get the deployment action you want; if you still have an off-centred blade, try gently bending the entire frame when the blade is closed. My Persistence still has a bit of a lean, but it doesn't rub on the liners and works perfectly.

Good luck and enjoy your new folder!
 
Thanks fellas! I used a few drops of mineral oil and the grinding stopped. I guess it had just been sitting on the shelf for too long? Idk but it doesn't grind anymore and opens flawlessly. I went to the link above and followed the directions and the blade centering is much better. It isn't perfect but it doesn't grind on the side anymore. I am afraid to mess with it too much as I don't want the screws to strip (knock on wood) so I will just leave it how it is unless it poses a problem. It kind of looks like the before picture now from the thread linked above. Should I leave it how it is or should I try taking it apart? I don't want to mess it up.

Thank you all very much.
 
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Wallbright said:
Thanks fellas! I used a few drops of mineral oil and the grinding stopped. I guess it had just been sitting on the shelf for too long? Idk but it doesn't grind anymore and opens flawlessly. I went to the link above and followed the directions and the blade centering is much better. It isn't perfect but it doesn't grind on the side anymore. I am afraid to mess with it too much as I don't want the screws to strip (knock on wood) so I will just leave it how it is unless it poses a problem. It kind of looks like the before picture now from the thread linked above. Should I leave it how it is or should I try taking it apart? I don't want to mess it up.

Thank you all very much.
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You don't have to take it apart, but you can try the above procedure again or even add the step (after you've shimmed the blade to one side) of putting pressure on the liners in opposite directions - basically pushing one liner towards the pivot-side, and the other one towards the bottom of the handle (making sure to push "up" towards the pivot on the liner that you want the blade to lean towards and "down" towards the bottom on the liner that you want the blade to lean away from) while you tighten the screws - if that makes any sense at all.

I've taken some pretty out-of-center blades and got them very much perfect.
 
EZ Bake said:
You don't have to take it apart, but you can try the above procedure again or even add the step (after you've shimmed the blade to one side) of putting pressure on the liners in opposite directions - basically pushing one liner towards the pivot-side, and the other one towards the bottom of the handle (making sure to push "up" towards the pivot on the liner that you want the blade to lean towards and "down" towards the bottom on the liner that you want the blade to lean away from) while you tighten the screws - if that makes any sense at all.

I've taken some pretty out-of-center blades and got them very much perfect.
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I'm not quite sure what you mean? Here is a picture of the knife. Do you think I should adjust it or just leave it?

P1020446.jpg
 
Wallbright said:
I'm not quite sure what you mean? Here is a picture of the knife. Do you think I should adjust it or just leave it?

P1020446.jpg
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That's up to you man. If it bothers you, you always have the option of sending it back in. If you're a do-it-your-selfer, you could try to adjust it again (again, if it bothers you - if it's not touching the liner and you're ok with it, then I'd leave it).

What I'm trying to articulate (and not very well) is that you can put pressure as if you were trying to slide both the scale and liner on the left-side (my left as I look at the above picture) up, while at the same time putting pressure as if you were trying to slide the right-side scale/liner down (again - my right in the above pic). Now when I say "pressure" I don't mean man-handle it to the point of trying to break a lug-nut loose, but you want to apply good firm pressure while tightening the stand-offs (I usually start from the bottom up).

If the stand-off screws are loose, this will push any slack in the stand-off holes and pivot-hole over enough to angle the blade towards the left-side scale. If you've shimmed the blade towards the left-side scale as well, then slowly tighten the standoffs (while applying pressure as described above) and it should move the blade quite a ways over.

Oh, and your pocket-clip is upside down :)
 
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