Persistence and Tenacious

H

Hesparus

Joined
Oct 31, 2004
Messages
1,442
I got both of these knives for christmas and wanted to give some thoughts on them. The tenacious is partially serrated and the persistence is plain edge. I haven't had a serrated spyderco since my GIN1 native that I got over 10 years ago and wanted to give it another shot.
The good:
These both lock up TIGHT. There is a great sound when they lock open and there isn't the slightest bit of blade motion in any direction. They also have a good, audible click when they close all the way. Opening and closing is really smooth.
The fit and finish is at least as good as my other spydercos. The inside of the spyder hole is sanded smooth, unlike my delica and enduras, which seem just to have the marks from the cutting laser.
There is really a lot of blade on these. Although the persistence has a shorter blade overall than my delica 4, it has a longer cutting edge, and the blade is thicker and wider (the persistence is also slightly shorter when closed). Both the persistence and the tenacious are a handful and the blades are very beefy. I really like this with the full flat grind, and makes them feel a lot like the original manix (which I never got to own). That said, these are not too heavy to carry around, due in part to the skeletonized liners.
I like the overall design of these a lot: the aesthetics are very nice, with clean lines, and the knives are very comfortable to hold in a variety of positions. The blades fit the handle very well both when open and when closed.

The bad:
I just personally don't like G10. I think it's way too grippy on my pocket, which makes it really hard to draw. I think I'll replace at least the clip side with micarta or something.
The spyder hole on the persistence is covered just a little bit by the lock and the scale on the side that I'll be opening it from (I'm left-handed). This is also an issue with my native II, so I'm used to it, but it's still a little bit of a PITA.
The clip is stiffer and tighter than on my other knives. Combined with the grippy G10, these things just don't want to let go of my pocket. I like security, but I also like to get my knife out when I want.
When closing, the ricasso doesn't extend away from the handle as much as on my other spydercos. This means that, when closing the tenacious, the blade sometimes bites the nail of my index finger (remember, I'm a lefty). This isn't a problem on the persistence.

Other thoughts:
I notice that the handle on the persistence is longer above the pivot than it is on the tenacious. I wonder why that is.
These didn't come out of the box quite as sharp as my other spydercos. This is neither a good thing nor a bad thing — I don't tend to like a razor-edge on my knives anyway, and these will accept a toothier edge just fine. I have had experience with this steel on the Byrd line and I have been very happy with it.

Overall, I think these knives would be great for any type of use. I can't imagine better knives for the money.

- Chris
 
Good review! I just got a Tenacious for christmas, and I love it. I just have one question about it though, maybe you can answer me. There's a divot on the liner lock, which seems to be a stop point for the blade when it's opening and closing, at about 90% open (does that make sense?). Any idea why it's there?
 
My Persistence pocket clip is so tight that it almost takes to hands to slide into the pocket. One hand to lift the clip and another to slide it down. My Tenacious clip is just fine.
 
Viovius -
I see what you mean about opening. There's a bead on the lock that makes contact with the blade, which creates less friction when opening and closing. When the blade is nearly open, the blade slips off this bead and makes contact with the liner for the first time and creates more friction. When closing, the blade first makes contact with the liner for just a second until it slides onto the bead. Such is the case with all liner locks. I've never thought of this as creating a problem, because there is only ever a tiny amount of contact between the blade and liner and it's only for a second. Despite this, I actually find that liner locks open and lock open more reliably than back locks — occasionally I will flick open or use the wave on my D4W or E4W (or other lock backs) to have the blade open all the way but the lock will not engage. This has never happened to me with a liner lock, nor have I ever had a problem with the blade not opening all the way.
So in a nutshell, I do see what you're talking about but I have never experienced a problem associated with it.

- Chris
 
Veovius said:
Good review! I just got a Tenacious for christmas, and I love it. I just have one question about it though, maybe you can answer me. There's a divot on the liner lock, which seems to be a stop point for the blade when it's opening and closing, at about 90% open (does that make sense?). Any idea why it's there?
Click to expand...

I think its a sort of safety-stop, so when you close the knifeblade one-handed it wont swing down on your finger. I dont have my tenacious on me, its in the basement with the rest of my work-gear, but i do remember it.

But i could be wrong...never stopped to think about it.
 
the clip on my Tenacious was also way too tight when I first got it. I wedged a thick leather belt in the clip and let it sit overnight and it loosened up perfectly.
 
goodeyesniper said:
the clip on my Tenacious was also way too tight when I first got it. I wedged a thick leather belt in the clip and let it sit overnight and it loosened up perfectly.
Click to expand...

Pleasing all is challenging. Easier to loosen than to tighten. That's how I loosen mine. I wedge it with something incrementally until I get to the amount of "tighteness" I prefer.

sal
 
Wow, I didn't even think of the bead in that manner, that makes total sense now that I think of it! I can see how it would reduce friction, and wear relatively evenly as well. I'm also using it as a stopping point before I move my thumb out of the way and close it by using my index finger on the thumb ramp to slam it shut.

My belt clip on the Tenacious is also very tight, I will try the leather belt trick tonight. Thanks again!
 
Found this a great little review. I had tried Spyderco before, a FRN Endura, and found the knife did not suit me. I was always interested in the Tenacious, but did not know if it or the Persistance would suit me better, so ordered a new Persistance and got a good used deal on a Tenacious.

The Tenacious I got already, and am WAY happier than with the Endura. Better feel, action, blade shape, size, overall just like it a lot more. Can't wait for the Persistance to see how it stacks up.

Thanks for the review.
 
I found that the G10 and tight pocket clip was an issue also but I ended up getting 400 grit sand paper and sanding down the G10 on where the pocket clip meets the G10. This worked really well.
 
straightpuke said:
I found that the G10 and tight pocket clip was an issue also but I ended up getting 400 grit sand paper and sanding down the G10 on where the pocket clip meets the G10. This worked really well.
Click to expand...

what I do is, slide the sandpaper under the clip, adbrasive side toward G-10. This hollows out right under the clip and makes it a little more loose also.
 
I tried sanding down the g10 under the clip and it smoothed it out really well. Thanks for that tip. Now I'm working on loosening the clip a bit, too.
I will also point out to anyone who is thinking about doing this that the dust produced from grinding or sanding g10 is extremely dangerous to your lungs. Use a respirator even when sanding by hand or, at the very least, wet down your surfaces so the dust will be trapped in the water.
The other day I also discovered another problem with my tenacious. When squeezed (by my pocket, for example), the tip of the blade makes contact with the spacer that is farthest from the pivot. This has left a little ding in the edge that I'll need to grind out. I'll try removing this spacer and grinding on it until it stops making contact with the edge.

- Chris
 
Some side by side pictures to compare;

Spyderco001.jpg

Spyderco002.jpg

Spyderco003.jpg

Spyderco004.jpg

Spyderco005.jpg
 
Got 3 Persistence knives for Holiday gifts to give. Everyone was very pleased. I am sure they thought I spent more than I did for their knife. I prefer these less expensive Spyderco's to the Byrd line myself. I hope we see more of these knives offered. It is not a Sage or Calypso but you get a good Spyderco design with the nice ergo's for not very much money. It is a great way to introduce someone to Spyderco knives.
 
Is the G10 of the same texture as non-Chinese Spydercos, for example the Police 3? I've held a Police 3 before, and I remember it being a lot more grippy than the Tenacious, although I could be wrong.
 
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