06-07-2002
First let me start out by saying that I only have a few knives and alot of them are lower end types.
The salsa is one the best knives that I have ever had a chance to use.
I have had the salsa for 6 days today and it will be time to send it on to the next person monday 06-08-2002.
My first impresion:
As I took the salsa out of it's packing I thought to my self, cool. Then I opened it for the first time and said outloud, wow!
This is the first knife I have ever opened with a thumb whole in the blade. It was very smooth opening and it made two clicking sounds as you opened it. The first click is from when the blade gets released from the closed position and the second click is when the blade locks in the opened position.
As I looked at the knife in the opened position for the first time I thought to myself that sure is a wide blade for being so short.
This is also the first knife I have held in my hand that has had aluminum handles. The handle fit my hand well. The hood on the blade was a great place to rest my thumb as I held the knife in my hand.
The Blade:
The blade is made out of AUS-8 steel. I like the steel. It seems to sharpen and hold a edge fine.
The blade length on the selsa is 2 7/16 inchs. I like shorter blades and the blade length was fine with me.
The blade was more then long anough for my daily cutting.
One thing I was not so sure about on the blade was it being so wide.
I think it looks cool being so wide for such a short blade, but does it help or hurt the way it cuts?
In having the knife for such a short time I'm still unsure what to think about the blade being so wide.
If I got one for myself I would be interested in finding out what it would cost ( or if it could be done ) to have a knife maker cut down the top of the blade just in front of the thumb hole to make it so it was not so wide.
I also like the hood they put on the blade by the thumb hole. It was a great place to rest my thumb well holding the knife after opening it..
The hood is held on by one screw and looks like it could be easly removed if for some reason you did not want it on there. I did not remove the hood.
The thumb hole in the blade worked great for me. It was a nice size and made it easy to open the blade.
One more note about the blade. It is carried tip up in the pocket. I did not think much of this at first. After I carried it for a few days I got use to the tip up in my pocket and it was not a problem.
The lock:
The lock on this knife is very solid. It is in a great position being located in the top of the handle more towards the pivit point of the blade.
The location of the lock made if very easy for me to release the lock and close the blade with one hand.
The clip:
I like the pocket clip. It works fine for me. I have read in the notes that others wrote that the clip makes it ride to high in your pocket. I did not find this to be a problem. The part of the knife that sticks up above the clip was just anough for me to grab to pull the knife out of my pocket.
I think the way the pocket clip is made out of a wire is great and looks cool.
The handle:
The handle fit my hand very well in the open and close position. This is the only reason I can see for the blade being so fat is it make the knife a nice shape to hold in the palm of your hand well it is closed.
In the close position there is one corner of the handle by the pivit end that could be rounded a bit more, but is a minor thing and it would not keep me from buying one.
Photo is of corner I'm talking about:
The handle on the pass around is green. Green is not my fovorit color and if I were to order one it would be the blue one.
I have never used a knife with aluminum handle befor. I like that the handle is made out of aluminum. It really helps in making the knife light and easy to carry daily.
Opening and closing the knife:
This was one of the best parts of the knife. The first day I had it I must have opened and closed it about 100 times, no joke.
That night my wife was getting preaty tired of hearing the clicking sounds it made as I opened and closed it.
Now remember I have not had the chance to hold many knives and compaired to my knives I have the salsa was one fine knife when it come to opening and closing it, very smooth.
Sharpening the blade:
With the blade being the shape it was and with that hood being on the blade by the thumb hole I was not sure if I would be able to use my razor edge guide to sharpen the blade.
Well razor edge guide fit the blade fine and I was able to sharpen the blade without any problems.
Would I buy one?
I'm still thinking about it. I'm know someday I will buy a spyderco knife as I can see from the salsa they are very well made knives.
Can't wait for the next spyderco to come around my way.
If the blade was not so wide I would be getting one ASAP. The wide blade was the one and only thing I did not care for all that much.
In the end all the things I do like about the salsa may just end up out weighing the one thing I did not care for about it.
The finest built knife I have ever used.
Thanks Dave for letting me use the salsa.
(cant top your review either 
