billygoat78
Gold Member
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2009
- Messages
- 768
First off, apologies if this is in the wrong place. I've never started a thread of this sort, and I've had a few frosty beverages. Mods, feel free to place this in the right place. .
Who has some love for the Spyderco Kapara??!!
For me, it was love at first sight. I've been a spyderco lover since the late 80's. I'm a knife maker, lover, collector, enthusiast. I currently own, on last count, roughly 80 spyderco folders, almost all of which see regular use. By now, frankly, I'm probably up in the mid 90s or even very low 100s. I've owned well over 200. Please don't take this as a braggart statement, I only mean to show that I know what I'm talking about. As for the number of knives, I'm single (that helps), I'm a metallurgist, and I'm 40ish years old. . I've been fascinated with knives since I was 5, and can't possibly guess how many I've held, or owned, or loved.
To get to the point, in my opinion, the Spyderco Kapara might well be one of the best (if not THE best) knife spyderco has ever made. And for that matter, possibly also the best EDC folder (barring only the bg42 small regular CRK, of which I own 2, and the NICA tanto versions of) ever made. Period. That's huge.
I have a medium hand size, perhaps to others it doesn't fit quite as well, but to me, this is the perfect handle. It fits, literally, perfect. Delica and others are great, but this one is PERFECT, in my opinion. I've never seen quite as neutral or comfy of a handle, from anyone, ever. And it's rounded too. Finally, a rounded handle, not just slabs. And while I love the handle shape, I'm sick to death of carbon fiber. Sure, it has it's uses, but in terms of knife handles, g10, micarta, and literally 10s of other things are just as good if not better. It's light and stiff, I know (again, being a Materials Science Engineering guy). . on plane wings, yes, it has huge advantages. As knife scales, it's frankly not needed, and in my opinion way over-used and overly expensive. Still, it works and looks great (here) and given the price I don't mean to complain. The steel, s30v, is stellar. I have no problems there. I might have slightly preferred zdp or 3v, and those 2 only, at slightly higher cost. I have absolutely no problems with s30v, it kicks ass.
The handle is also smooth (not coarse g10 like most, over which I have to apply my special tape), which saves pocket wear. It has a wire clip, one of my favorite clips ever (Though honestly I'd still like to see, and would prefer, an 'S' shaped clip, that doesn't stick out from the handle for so long, like on the CRKs or others). It has a blade far exceeding a PM2 in length, while still having a similar handle length, and in my opinion, a much better shape. It also has one of the best choils I've seen. If you're a folder person, you'll understand that pretty much every folder has a roughly 1 inch 'dead space.' This is is necessary so that it can fold into the handle, yet still have a structurally sound lock-up, leave room for a pivot, and so on. The Kapara has, I feel, the best use of that 'dead space' ever.
The Kapara also has one of the best-shaped, longest, most capable, and most useful blades in a folder of this size. It also has a tiny butt. Which makes pocket access far better than that of a PM2 (it has a giant, huge, lanyard hole. who uses these???! and super fat butt-end). It's not alone there. Ditch the lanyard hole, and the huge fat ass, trim all that. I have other things in my pocket i need to access, keys and phones and blah blah. I don't understand why people still make these huge-butted tip up knives!?. Why should any knife take up half my hand room??!. It's unwanted and unnecessary. The Kapara is very friendly on that note. Cheers and thank god.
To digress though, the Kapara is there when you need it, it's almost unnoticeable when you don't. It has great lock-up, provided by one of the greatest locks in history. It has a super comfy handle that won't tear your pocket up. The opening hole is very accessible without it being "pocket-catching," meaning it won't open, 70% of the way, sometimes, unexpectedly (grrrrr, i hate that. . cough cough emerson wave and cold steel 'opening plates,' and dual thumb studs on some).
And before you new, younger, new-to-knives folk get started (no disrespect). . No, I don't want a flipper. No, i don't 'flick open' my knifes. I want to know they're open. I can open a knife in a realistic, fail-safe way, 100% open every time, just as fast, or faster, than you flicker folk. And I don't have to guess if it's open or not, nor spend 30 seconds placing my thumb just right. A flipper tab would ruin this, and many other models. I quite loathe the "flipper," and "flicker" trends that have been going on lately and dislike even having to comment on this suggestion.
In the end, and maybe I've chatted a bit much, but I'd love to hear your thoughts, all of you, on the Kapara. I think it might be, literally, the best knife Spyderco has ever made. It might also be one of the best EDC folders ever. I don't take either of those statements lightly at all.
Who has some love for the Spyderco Kapara??!!
For me, it was love at first sight. I've been a spyderco lover since the late 80's. I'm a knife maker, lover, collector, enthusiast. I currently own, on last count, roughly 80 spyderco folders, almost all of which see regular use. By now, frankly, I'm probably up in the mid 90s or even very low 100s. I've owned well over 200. Please don't take this as a braggart statement, I only mean to show that I know what I'm talking about. As for the number of knives, I'm single (that helps), I'm a metallurgist, and I'm 40ish years old. . I've been fascinated with knives since I was 5, and can't possibly guess how many I've held, or owned, or loved.
To get to the point, in my opinion, the Spyderco Kapara might well be one of the best (if not THE best) knife spyderco has ever made. And for that matter, possibly also the best EDC folder (barring only the bg42 small regular CRK, of which I own 2, and the NICA tanto versions of) ever made. Period. That's huge.
I have a medium hand size, perhaps to others it doesn't fit quite as well, but to me, this is the perfect handle. It fits, literally, perfect. Delica and others are great, but this one is PERFECT, in my opinion. I've never seen quite as neutral or comfy of a handle, from anyone, ever. And it's rounded too. Finally, a rounded handle, not just slabs. And while I love the handle shape, I'm sick to death of carbon fiber. Sure, it has it's uses, but in terms of knife handles, g10, micarta, and literally 10s of other things are just as good if not better. It's light and stiff, I know (again, being a Materials Science Engineering guy). . on plane wings, yes, it has huge advantages. As knife scales, it's frankly not needed, and in my opinion way over-used and overly expensive. Still, it works and looks great (here) and given the price I don't mean to complain. The steel, s30v, is stellar. I have no problems there. I might have slightly preferred zdp or 3v, and those 2 only, at slightly higher cost. I have absolutely no problems with s30v, it kicks ass.
The handle is also smooth (not coarse g10 like most, over which I have to apply my special tape), which saves pocket wear. It has a wire clip, one of my favorite clips ever (Though honestly I'd still like to see, and would prefer, an 'S' shaped clip, that doesn't stick out from the handle for so long, like on the CRKs or others). It has a blade far exceeding a PM2 in length, while still having a similar handle length, and in my opinion, a much better shape. It also has one of the best choils I've seen. If you're a folder person, you'll understand that pretty much every folder has a roughly 1 inch 'dead space.' This is is necessary so that it can fold into the handle, yet still have a structurally sound lock-up, leave room for a pivot, and so on. The Kapara has, I feel, the best use of that 'dead space' ever.
The Kapara also has one of the best-shaped, longest, most capable, and most useful blades in a folder of this size. It also has a tiny butt. Which makes pocket access far better than that of a PM2 (it has a giant, huge, lanyard hole. who uses these???! and super fat butt-end). It's not alone there. Ditch the lanyard hole, and the huge fat ass, trim all that. I have other things in my pocket i need to access, keys and phones and blah blah. I don't understand why people still make these huge-butted tip up knives!?. Why should any knife take up half my hand room??!. It's unwanted and unnecessary. The Kapara is very friendly on that note. Cheers and thank god.
To digress though, the Kapara is there when you need it, it's almost unnoticeable when you don't. It has great lock-up, provided by one of the greatest locks in history. It has a super comfy handle that won't tear your pocket up. The opening hole is very accessible without it being "pocket-catching," meaning it won't open, 70% of the way, sometimes, unexpectedly (grrrrr, i hate that. . cough cough emerson wave and cold steel 'opening plates,' and dual thumb studs on some).
And before you new, younger, new-to-knives folk get started (no disrespect). . No, I don't want a flipper. No, i don't 'flick open' my knifes. I want to know they're open. I can open a knife in a realistic, fail-safe way, 100% open every time, just as fast, or faster, than you flicker folk. And I don't have to guess if it's open or not, nor spend 30 seconds placing my thumb just right. A flipper tab would ruin this, and many other models. I quite loathe the "flipper," and "flicker" trends that have been going on lately and dislike even having to comment on this suggestion.
In the end, and maybe I've chatted a bit much, but I'd love to hear your thoughts, all of you, on the Kapara. I think it might be, literally, the best knife Spyderco has ever made. It might also be one of the best EDC folders ever. I don't take either of those statements lightly at all.
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