Rock Lobster

I have a RL. I like it quite a bit.

Pros and cons are subjective. What I like someone else may hate.

What I like - Color, size, blade shape, lock type.

What I don't like - Price, mainly.

The blade is VG-10 which I like, but the price was well over what I paid for my Gayle Bradley, which had M4 steel and nice handle materials, so the extra expense isn't justified, IMO.

But the pivot is nice and smooth, the handle is comfortable and secure, the blade is a nice shape for general cutting purposes, and thin enough for decent slicing. It also has a very unique look, which appeals to me.

Andy
 
I agree ^^

I dont have one but i probably wouldve picked one up if it weren't for the price being a bit high
 
I've wanted one of these since the first time I heard of them. The price has kept me away so far. I'll eventually get one though.
 
Assuming you are speaking of the Spyderco version and not the Anso custom, a good part of the high price is due to the nested liners. That's what Jens wanted, so that's how Spyderco built it.

Quite frankly, I think it has the ergonomics of a brick wrapped with barbed wire. It didn't even make it all the way through my usual two week trial carry period. But then, neither did the Gayle Bradley.
 
yablanowitz said:
Assuming you are speaking of the Spyderco version and not the Anso custom, a good part of the high price is due to the nested liners. That's what Jens wanted, so that's how Spyderco built it.

Quite frankly, I think it has the ergonomics of a brick wrapped with barbed wire. It didn't even make it all the way through my usual two week trial carry period. But then, neither did the Gayle Bradley.
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:eek: What's wrong with you!? Those are my two favorite Spydies! :confused: :p

Andy
 
I work in building maintenance, and I use my knives hard. The proud liners on the GB literally left bruises on my fingers after a session of cutting hard materials. The RL never got a chance to. Between the blade shape, the blade angle, the sharp corners on the handle and the overall handle shape, I couldn't even stand to use it. It might be okay for a kitchen knife, but I don't do much cooking.
 
I like my Rock Lobster, but the handle isn't the most comfortable one, in fact the corner of the wide opening for the lock should have been more rounded for comfort. The size of this cutout is also awkwardly between ok for 2 or for 3 fingers.
If you are interested, I discuss it in more detail in my video review.
 
yablanowitz said:
I work in building maintenance, and I use my knives hard. The proud liners on the GB literally left bruises on my fingers after a session of cutting hard materials. The RL never got a chance to. Between the blade shape, the blade angle, the sharp corners on the handle and the overall handle shape, I couldn't even stand to use it. It might be okay for a kitchen knife, but I don't do much cooking.
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Have you tried it with gloves?
 
yablanowitz said:
I work in building maintenance, and I use my knives hard. The proud liners on the GB literally left bruises on my fingers after a session of cutting hard materials. The RL never got a chance to. Between the blade shape, the blade angle, the sharp corners on the handle and the overall handle shape, I couldn't even stand to use it. It might be okay for a kitchen knife, but I don't do much cooking.
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Admittedly, it does have a very thin handle, and the G10 is a bit abrasive. But I'm a sucker for sheep's foot blades, and it's a nice big knife. :) Spyderco should make more bigger folders!

Andy
 
Dr Heelhook said:
Have you tried it with gloves?
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Why? If I have to stop what I'm doing and pull on a pair of gloves to keep a knife handle from chewing up my hand, it is not a knife I want to use. Being usable with gloves and requiring gloves to use are very different things to me.

Andrew Colglazier said:
Admittedly, it does have a very thin handle, and the G10 is a bit abrasive. But I'm a sucker for sheep's foot blades, and it's a nice big knife. :) Spyderco should make more bigger folders!

Andy
Click to expand...

Sheepsfoot blades have their uses, and I like them for some things. Maybe I'm just getting too old, but to me sheepsfoot blades have a straight edge. The RL has enough belly to move the point away from where I expect it to be on a sheepsfoot, making it rather awkward to use where I would normally employ a straight-edged knife. At the same time, it doesn't have as much belly as I like on a curved blade. The nested liners prevent me from grinding off the offending corners that ruin the handle ergonomics for hands my size. But it does look cool.

I'm sure it is the ideal knife for something. I just have no clue what that something might be.
 
It's actually really good for utility tasks barring splinter picking, I would be confident in saying it could do 95% of tasks. Just not a stabby knife is all.
 
The Rock Lobster is in my weekly EDC rotation, and it's probably one of my favorite Spyderco collaborations to date. It has a nice FFG sheepsfoot-style blade - it's capable to accommodate to a lot of my EDC tasks, and is a little easier to sharpen than, say, a recurved blade.

The lockup is pretty solid, and I like the sound when the linerlock engages the blade tang. I also dig it's looks both in the open and closed position.

Only real negative, like Dagon mentioned is the cutout for your fingers, it could benefit with either some rounding, or enlarging. I hope if Spyderco ever makes a sprint run of the Rock Lobster we'd get a ZDP-189 blade and maybe with a titanium framelock. :D
 
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