Skeletonized Liners - one mans 2 cents

B

Bushman5

Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
9,833
and that 2 cents is:

NO THANKS! I dont like em. The weight savings is insignificant, in fact i PREFER heavier folders.

but my main beef with em is:

they sure pack up quickly with crap and crud. :grumpy:

nope, bring back full frame liners, not this drilled out crap. In fact, seeing drilled out liners just reminds me of the early 90's when mountain bikers drilled out everything to save a gram or two. It was gaudy then and it is gaudy now. I will give credit: at least there is no anodized purple spydercos....(although i would secretly buy one i think...)

my 2 cents, your milage might vary. This post is not criticism of the design or Spyderco, just my thoughts. I REALLLY like the knife in any case!

good day. :cool:

EDIT: !!!!!!!!!!!! even my new large Manix in SV30 with forest green G10 has freaking drilled out liner/frame.......... BOO-urns! :D
 
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Yeah, I'd like full sheets of metal as liners as well. But maybe it saves steel to make them skeletonized?
 
I do not think that the saving in drilling the steel out will be cost but weight. Unless they recycle the steel then it's fine but normally fabricators will charge more for skeletonised parts instead of full parts (referring to my machine components, not knives) since there is more work involved. Unlike my country, cost of material is expensive and workmanship is cheap but in the US or other developed countries, the workmanship is very expensive.

I personally like my spacers full. A few extra grammes ain't gonna tire me out. I own 2 Spyderco Cara Caras and one has full liners and another has skeleton liners. I prefer my full liners, they feel more solid and yes it has less stuff trapped in the holes :)

I too wish my Manix and my other Spydies (especially my Manix since it's my tough knife) has full liners and maybe a little thicker. My Manix's liners are thinner than my Cara Cara's!
 
I actually wish more knives had no liners at all. Something like a Military though I understand it needs to be more beefy but why does something lightweight like a Caly 3 need steel liners?
 
Well, my Manix and Mini-Manix sit in their respective boxes, while at least one Military rides in my pocket every day. The Manix and Mini have been discontinued, and the Military is still in production and getting Sprint runs pretty regularly. Maybe I'm not the only one who prefers light knives. ;) If I wanted to carry a brick with a blade, I'd still be lugging my Lakota around.

I don't think you will see many more unlined knives from Spyderco, though. People seem to want to put the clip in the spot that suits them best, and steel liners are the only reliable way to hold threads over the long haul. So I'll settle for having the steel for the threads, but cut out where it isn't needed for strength to keep the weight down to something I'll carry.

If you like the extra weight, want more strength and have a problem with dirt and such getting into those holes, I respectfully suggest you consider a fixed blade.
 
Yeah, the skelly liners are a dumb idea.

On the Manix especially, its a tank folder.
It doesn't need to be gunked up.
 
mongomondo said:
I actually wish more knives had no liners at all. Something like a Military though I understand it needs to be more beefy but why does something lightweight like a Caly 3 need steel liners?
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I totally agree...
in fact, my s30v g10 millie on which I have removed the plastic backspacer has actually less side to side flex than the FRN endura 4
that being said, I also like the full undrilled liners of the FG g10 endura 4...
 
Might be nice to see the holes in the liners being filled with matching "posts" molded onto the FRN handles. Should only require drilling out the handle molds on the liner side. Weight gain would be negligible while attaining a slightly stronger handle.
 
^ i like that idea!

as for the post that sugessted i get a fixed blade. Thanks, but i have plenty already. I like folders too.....I just dont like early 90's mountain bike tech weenie holes in my liners, is all....
 
All I know is I have beat the hell out of a E4, and it took everything! I can see your beef, but think why not have em'...... The holes have nothing to do with performance, and do save weight.

I could care less either way, but I do like that spyderco cares enough to drill them. It would be cheaper to make with out them, but Spyderco does not skimp.


Yes when I raced BMX my frame had holes in it, my bars were cut down, my seat post was bottomed out and cut off..... My grips had the thumb thingys cut off. I took the stickers off, made my break cable as small as it could be, had a hollow pin chain, filled off every other tooth on the drive gear and drilled a ton of holes in it. Well... You get the idea :D
 
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brj said:
I totally agree...
in fact, my s30v g10 millie on which I have removed the plastic backspacer has actually less side to side flex than the FRN endura 4
that being said, I also like the full undrilled liners of the FG g10 endura 4...
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My FG g10 endura has skelontonized liners.
 
To each his own. Personally, while I like the rigidity dual liners provides, I do prefer them to be skeletonized. May just be my imagination, but anything that moves the balance point forward is gets a thumbs up from me.
 
Dan Barnes said:
To each his own. Personally, while I like the rigidity dual liners provides, I do prefer them to be skeletonized. May just be my imagination, but anything that moves the balance point forward is gets a thumbs up from me.
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Thumbs up from me too and it's not your imagination :)

I use folders because I carry my knives in my pocket. A fixed blade of equal cutting length is too long. I do get stuff collecting in the holes of my skeleton liners. I do not like to take apart my manix every time there is a particularly gooey gunk I cannot fish out clean enough.

I ended up using my full liners Cara Cara instead of the skeletonised liners version because of this. Torx screws should not be screwed-unscrewed-viceversa too much in case the screw-heads get damaged or the threads get worn.

My full liner Cara has less flex than the skeletonised one and when i'm cutting hard I grip hard and I kinda like the firmer feeling. Weight foward is nice but for my folders I don't swing them around too much and the forward centre of gravity benifits are too miniscule to notice in day to day use...

(I decide to put all my reasoning since it's 1 in the morning where I live now and I can't follow up as well as I like. Interesting topic :))
 
I personally appreciate the savings in weight. My average knife tasks don't cause dirt to pile up in the holes, so I can't comment on the OP's complaint. All in all, I like the skeletonized liners.
 
Kaizen1 said:
I personally appreciate the savings in weight. My average knife tasks don't cause dirt to pile up in the holes, so I can't comment on the OP's complaint. All in all, I like the skeletonized liners.
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Same. Although I wouldn't mind them to be undrilled, but it doesn't bug me that they are.
 
I prefer linerless, but skeletonized or solid liners don't make a difference to me. They're rigid enough either way, and the difference in weight isn't like night and day.
 
seriously, the weight "savings" (what like a 1/2 gram if that???) is so small its MOOT! Throw a dime in your pocket from the change you get at the store and BAM, no more weight savings.....

its a MOOT point, trying to save weight.

dont get me wrong i like the Manix (i got a large one, apparently a Sprint run too...). Its the holes though that bug me. They are the reason i have held off on buying a Super karambit from emerson, i just DONT like the holes on the handle/scales 9except the one on the end , that actually is usefull......
 
Bushman5 said:
seriously, the weight "savings" (what like a 1/2 gram if that???) is so small its MOOT! Throw a dime in your pocket from the change you get at the store and BAM, no more weight savings.....

its a MOOT point, trying to save weight.
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Just because it makes no difference to you, it doesn't mean it that everyone should agree with you. Why is it so difficult to imagine that different people may look at things differently? Also, at what point do things in your pocket become "heavy"? This is a very subjective thing.
 
I've been carrying my g-10 Delica for a few months now. I've cut everything from standard city boy boxes and mail to shrubbery. I have noticed no decline in function due to skeletonized liners but do appreciate the lighter weight.

I do believe the weight reductions were do to many end users making that request.

There always is the struggle between those that prefer "heft" vs. "ease of carry". It is akin to tip up vs tip down; 9mm vs. .45; Glock vs everybody; and Ford vs Chevy.

There is no perfect knife weight that will satisfy everyone just like every other detail of a knife; which is why there are so many models to choose from.
 
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