The Salsa seems to have a slightly rounded tip, likely from the use of the 204, and the handle is showing signs of wear. Edges of the clip side had already stripped some of the green anodizing and on the opposit side, there are two spots that the anodizing had also been stripped, because the clip had been switched to left hand carry.
When it was received, the blade drops when unlocked, which is something that I like. The integrated choil and the ones on the hanlde makes the knife fit like a glove, I dare say even the Native that I've just received back from Spyderco. The blade had scratch marks, presumably from previous testing, but the edge is still very nice. It's stilll hair shaving, and cuts smoother than the Native. It seems that the Native have more of a "saw" or microserration finish, while the AUS8 on this blade have a much smoother finish. I've cut so far paper, cardboard, bread and an orange.
Bread: It somehow would cut quite a bit, and then it would tear, while the Native would cut just fine. However, one must consider the fact that my Native is just out of the box and have only been use very lightly. The Salsa went through paper better, partly because of the smoother edge and partly because of the full flat grind. 32 piece of paper (I just folded it 5 times and the Salsa went through better than the Native. The cardboard is no contest for the Salsa, it slices them very well, and pierce better than the Native. The Salsa have a thinner stock and that helped, while the Native - although having a swedge-, the cardboard caught on to the round hole more. I suppose the Spyderhole on the Native isn't rounded as well in comparison to the Salsa. With the orange, I basically make cuts so that I could peel it, and it seems that the integrated choil would get in the way when you make the cut so that uncut orange peel gets in the way of the choil. In comparison, the Native suffered no problem.
The Salsa's compression lock is quite well done; however, because it has already been through many different hands, it was quite loose and have a front and back play (the general direction that the blade opens). Also because the pivot is already quite loose, it also have a faint side to side play. I've adjusted it so that the side-to-side play disappears, but it no longer drops when unlocked. As stated, the anodizing have been stripping off after use, and it doesn't make a good appearance.
In contrary to many of the opinions, it actually doesn't feel that wide to me - only a tad wider than my Merlin and much less scarier - and it doesn't weight that much. It's only a tad heavier than the Native or Endura and I hardly feel it.
For such a performance, I'm quite convince that it would be a great piece, but just like every other comment about anodizing here, I don't like it that much and if I do get around to own a Salsa, it would likely be the Ti version.
PS: blade retention is great, it's fairly hard to flick it open and I'm sure that it would pass a cop's search if I do come around to be searched, and it should be quite a bit people friendly, the leaf shape is rather benign, and no false edge. I'm indifferent with the presence of the cobra hood. It's kinda nice to have the extra surface for the thumb, but it doesn't really aid opening because of its oversized Spyderhole. The oversized thumbhole is great, and good for gloved/wet hands (except for the anodizing I suppose). And the blade is very stain resistant, no staining after leaving orange juice (from the peeling test) and no staining. Great utility knife.
Question: Anyone know how to change the clip. I understand the construction, and after the removal of the barrel "bolt", there's a ring that surrounds the barrel bolt (visible when you look between the handle slabs or down the hole where the barrel bolt should be. It seems that I should move it out of the way, but how?
