I got in on the passaround of the Persian and I posted my comments in the Passaround Forum. But for everyone's delight, I copied and pasted it below too. Anyone else want a linerless, bolsterless Micarta version with a tip-down clip?
Thanks again to Sal and company and also to Dave H for setting all of this up. I really appreciate this and others that I showed it to were impressed that Spyderco supports opportunities like this.
Well, I've been using it all week and the best thing I can say is that my fiance wants one. I got her a first run Calypso Jr. Lwt. a few months ago and she uses it and loves it. When I handed her the Persian on Tuesday to look at, she loved it even more. Then she proceeded to show her roommate and tell her why she loved it. It was interesting to see, because she rarely does that. Other reactions have all been positive, but usually not that enthusiastic.
On getting it in the mail, my initial thought was that it's a nice knife. The blade is superb in both shape and angle to the handle. The handle itself is very ergonomic and sits very steadily in the handle due to the full stainless liners and bolsters. It makes the relatively light blade feel even lighter. Lockup is good, as is closing spring pressure. The edge was excellent and it really slices well. The handle edges were very nicely radiused, much more than is generally seen on knives these days. However, I don't care for tip-up clips, I would prefer a tapped right liner for tip-down carry, but that is really just a personal preference. The only other gripe I had originally was that the inside edges of the handle liners were still very square, I would like to see the edges broken on them.
In the past, I've just played with the pass-around knives and not really put them to use. I've carried this one with me since I got it. It literally replaced my Military all this week and did everything under the sun. It was used at work to open boxesto cut plastic, rubber, cardboard and wood. It was also used in the kitchen in food preparation, bumping aside my Spyderco Santoku for nearly all of the kitchen chores. I wanted to really get a good feel for it.
In a nutshell it's a great everyday knife. It didn't fail at anything and was really fairly good at most things. The weight of the handle is nice when you're using it, but I would prefer a bolsterless Micarta slab construction for everyday use. It would make it a lot lighter, but that would take away some of the excellent balance characteristics that it has. It would also take away some of the elegance of the design, because the bolsters really do look sharp (no pun intended). It really is a beauty of a knife and it cuts great.
My dream version would be a tip-down model with linerless Micarta slab construction and some very fine thumb grooves on the thumb ramp. Weight would be reduced by about 1.5-2 ounces which would make it a bit nicer for daily carry. But the handle and blade shape would stay exactly the same, which is a testament to the good, solid design of Ed Schempp.
Will I buy one? Probably, but it'll be my fiance's (soon to be wife) heavy duty knife. For hunting chores, I have a Moran TP and for daily carry, I have a Military and Lil' Temperance as well as a few others. Will I be sad to see it go? Heck yeah, it's a nice knife and it fills the need for a good solid knife. If Spyderco made my dream version, I'd defintitely get it and it would probably be my daily carry. But they don't...yet. (I'm hoping.)
For someone who wanted one knife to handle it all, the Persian is a definite contender. It's a heavy duty knife to compare with the Military, SERE, BM 806, BM 710 and many others. It's advantages lie in it's blade shape, handle ergonomics and blade to handle angle. It's only disadvantage (to me) is that it's a bit heavy and tip-up clip.
Thanks again to Sal and company and also to Dave H for setting all of this up. I really appreciate this and others that I showed it to were impressed that Spyderco supports opportunities like this.
Well, I've been using it all week and the best thing I can say is that my fiance wants one. I got her a first run Calypso Jr. Lwt. a few months ago and she uses it and loves it. When I handed her the Persian on Tuesday to look at, she loved it even more. Then she proceeded to show her roommate and tell her why she loved it. It was interesting to see, because she rarely does that. Other reactions have all been positive, but usually not that enthusiastic.
On getting it in the mail, my initial thought was that it's a nice knife. The blade is superb in both shape and angle to the handle. The handle itself is very ergonomic and sits very steadily in the handle due to the full stainless liners and bolsters. It makes the relatively light blade feel even lighter. Lockup is good, as is closing spring pressure. The edge was excellent and it really slices well. The handle edges were very nicely radiused, much more than is generally seen on knives these days. However, I don't care for tip-up clips, I would prefer a tapped right liner for tip-down carry, but that is really just a personal preference. The only other gripe I had originally was that the inside edges of the handle liners were still very square, I would like to see the edges broken on them.
In the past, I've just played with the pass-around knives and not really put them to use. I've carried this one with me since I got it. It literally replaced my Military all this week and did everything under the sun. It was used at work to open boxesto cut plastic, rubber, cardboard and wood. It was also used in the kitchen in food preparation, bumping aside my Spyderco Santoku for nearly all of the kitchen chores. I wanted to really get a good feel for it.
In a nutshell it's a great everyday knife. It didn't fail at anything and was really fairly good at most things. The weight of the handle is nice when you're using it, but I would prefer a bolsterless Micarta slab construction for everyday use. It would make it a lot lighter, but that would take away some of the excellent balance characteristics that it has. It would also take away some of the elegance of the design, because the bolsters really do look sharp (no pun intended). It really is a beauty of a knife and it cuts great.
My dream version would be a tip-down model with linerless Micarta slab construction and some very fine thumb grooves on the thumb ramp. Weight would be reduced by about 1.5-2 ounces which would make it a bit nicer for daily carry. But the handle and blade shape would stay exactly the same, which is a testament to the good, solid design of Ed Schempp.
Will I buy one? Probably, but it'll be my fiance's (soon to be wife) heavy duty knife. For hunting chores, I have a Moran TP and for daily carry, I have a Military and Lil' Temperance as well as a few others. Will I be sad to see it go? Heck yeah, it's a nice knife and it fills the need for a good solid knife. If Spyderco made my dream version, I'd defintitely get it and it would probably be my daily carry. But they don't...yet. (I'm hoping.)
For someone who wanted one knife to handle it all, the Persian is a definite contender. It's a heavy duty knife to compare with the Military, SERE, BM 806, BM 710 and many others. It's advantages lie in it's blade shape, handle ergonomics and blade to handle angle. It's only disadvantage (to me) is that it's a bit heavy and tip-up clip.