Ray Mear's Wolfspyder

[MarthaStewart]

I received mine yesterday, May 5th here in Colorado.

It is a stout knife but much smaller than I was expecting. It would be great in the role of a companion knife to a fixed blade.

 

[Nemo]

This little buddy is slicing (push cutting) in some dry sausage with incredible ease.
The same way the Pekka Tuominen Pukko does.
Almost like the nilakka. ☺️

The ergos are amazing.
Been using the knife on wood and a part of the clip there is no hot spot.
Really, this knife is well thought.
The action is smooth and precise.
The handle is an anchor in your hand.
Really happy with mine. ☺️

 

[Nemo]

Anyone has been confronted to the edge maintenance of his Wolfspyder yet?
How S30v reacts.
On what medium: Ceramic, Waterston, diamonds?

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[sparky2016]

Thanks demoncase, nemo and others. Fun to see. The comparison shot with other knives is especially useful. Cheers.

 

[Lycosa]

I like it but I just got a Lil Temp Rhino on a trade. I'm all set.
rolf

 

[average gimp]

​...For you Colonial types who might not be familiar with Ray- he's the more sensible and original version of Bear Grylls, much more in the Les Stroud mould.

You mean that survival doesn't really mean having to jump into frozen lakes or drink your own urine? Seriously, cool knife. Out of my budget, but well worth drooling over. I'd just be hesitant about actually using a knife that expensive, but that's my hang-up.

 

[Nemo]

Been whittling some hard dry walnut piece of wood. Full of knots...

The Nilakka is my favorite knife for that kind of work and it performs nicely, better than my convexed cpm cruwear millie and the same as the Pukko.
Now the Wolfy was cutting deeply and aggressively. It made some kind of grinding noises when it pushes cuts into the dry fibers of wood.
I was really impressed by the cutting power of the short blade.
The knots were so hard that my Pukko got its edge warped. It has happen on my ZDP Rockstead too. Thin factory grind need some sharpening to be stable.

But zero damage on the Wolfspyder. It also kept it's sharpness through and through.
I'm not a fan of its sharp square edges on the back of the blade as it hurts my left hand thumb.
I won't use it to start a fire anyway so I'm planning to round them a bit. My sore thumb is asking for that.
On the other side, the ergos are just phenomenal. Thanks to that the knife is screaming to be used hard.
I should be able to go in the forest this week end and try it on fresh wood.
Oh, and zero play in any direction. The lock also didn't hurt my hand like the Paramilitary used to.


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[grownstar]

Thanks for all the pics and info! I actually thought it would be a much bigger knife.

Still looks very capable!

 

[Nemo]

Today I have tried my plastic bottle butt challenge.
It did not get through as easy as a ffg.... But it was able to.
Very solid feel when forcing on it.


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[J D Wijbenga]

Thanks for the update Nemo! I was curious about the bottle test...seems like a good result for this grind. Have you stropped or sharpened the edge? Fascinating knife

 

[Nemo]

Thanks for the update Nemo! I was curious about the bottle test...seems like a good result for this grind. Have you stropped or sharpened the edge? Fascinating knife

Still on the factory edge.
But some leather stropping and some elbow oil for getting it to razor sharp. A very hungry edge. . . ☺️
Not the best tool in my box for that test for pure geometry reasons.
The Bush crafter in O1 could not go easier through the plastic.

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[J D Wijbenga]

Excellent quality edge! Thanks for the update!

 

[StuntDouble]

Nemo,

So, do you think it's a well rounded design for EDC, or is more specialized (bushcraft, woodworking, etc..)?

 

[Spey]

Does this "Scandi" have a secondary grind at the cutting edge?

Regards,

 

[r.g.o.mueller]

Does this "Scandi" have a secondary grind at the cutting edge?

Regards,

Yes. And I'd guess S30V would chip too easily without it.
I once profiled my Sage 1 to 30 deg. and it chipped like crazy.

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[CapitalizedLiving]

This is all very interesting, as EnZo has had success with full scandi (no secondary bevel) grinds in both S30V and D2 on their Birk folder. I understand why the Nilakka had issues - it was incredibly think behind the edge with its full height grind, so a zero bevel was simply a bad choice for that design. The WolfSpyder seems like it could handle a zero ground bevel without the same problems.

 

[Spey]

Anyone measure the primary bevel angle on the WolfSpyder, and care to share (I am assuming it's close to ~12dps and possibly enough to support a true scandi)?

EDIT:
As a point of reference;
my Niliakka primary bevel measures 9.5°inc (just under 5dps), and
my Bushcraft-uk in O1 measures 12dps.

Regards,

 

[rover]

Great review!

I've been interested in this one and it looks like a very useful EDC. I dig the small size/serious use concept.

Do you guys know if these have been released yet?

 

[Spey]

Yes. And I'd guess S30V would chip too easily without it.
I once profiled my Sage 1 to 30 deg. and it chipped like crazy.

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I have 2 Millies and 2 PM2 (each s30v) that I run at 15dps (30°inc). By the second sharpening (at 15dps) chipping is not a problem (assume this to be related to getting to a depth beyond the belt ground edge).

I run/sharpen to a fine grit, as I believe this helps to stabilize the edge further and in my experience better for push cutting wood, etc. (other knives and blade steels I finish to varying levels down to 220 grit depending on specific application). Finished edge sharpness on s30v knives mentioned above minimally whittle thin hair, typically tree-tops.

From this perspective, it's my opinion that s30v can support a 30°inc cutting edge (for this knife I am referencing use in/on wood) provided that during the sharpening process you are cutting through the carbides vs. dislodging them.

Regards,

 

[Spartan00]

I need this is cpm m4 or 10v, true scandi edge ,if they don't sell I'll buy them all eventually...lol