Spartan knives

bones555

bones555

Joined
Mar 8, 2012
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710
I've been looking at Spartan knives but can't find anything on them in the forums. Has anyone had any experience with their knives? They look great but I'd like some feedback before I shell out $300+. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
I am a dealer for them. They are very well made with excellent grinds. They have a very nice molle sheath with a kydex liner. The kydex is lined with felt so the knife does not rattle in the sheath and is silent. Their kydex sheaths are done by Okuden which are about the best. The knives are lighter and better balenced than you might think, they are a very quick what i would call "a live fighter". The steel is S35VN and comes with a black PVD-DLC or FDE(Tan) ZRN coating which seems very durable. They are not huge heavy camp type knives. Most of their blades are between 5" and 6". This blade length is preffered by allot of the spec ops guys so they can mount them in front of the safariland 6004 holster or on their armor. They tell me that anything longer is like drawing a sword and slow to get into action. Hope this helps.
 
I have a few Spartan blades and like them quite a bit. I'm a pretty light weight user so none of my knives get pushed really hard. I have to admit, I think they are beautiful knives and they are functional. They are very well made and hold up well for the around the camp tasks I use them for. Precision grind lines with nice edges out of the box. The Harsey collaboration models have 3-D machined handle slabs (I think that's what they call them) that fit the hand (at least my hand) very comfortably. The Enyo and Phobos make great little neck knives. Their other models with the flatter handle slabs are comfortable and fit my hand well also. It really depends on what you want the knife for. If you can match a Spartan model/blade template/grind to what you need, I think you'll very happy with it. From what I've seen, they seem to sell well. The Spartan Harsey model one was (I don't think it's being made anymore?) a great large knife. The Horkos is similar to the model one but with flat handle scales. The Spartan Harsey hunter/camp knife is a bit more utilitarian in shape that I think a lot of people will like. The new Spartan Harsey model two seems like a smaller version (and maybe more practical) of the model one and yes I want one. The owners communicate well. I've asked questions by email a couple of times and have always received a response well within 24 hours. On the one occasion I called checking on a limited edition I had a pleasant conversation with one of the owners and found him to be straight forward and honest. Don't know if my blabbering helps you at all but in a nutshell, I think they have well designed shapes using good materials with good quality control - a great company overall. Mike
 
I use a Spartan Harsey Model 1 as my EDC (Essential Damned Camping) Knife when I'm out in the field. A good strong blade that can take a beatin' (though pricey) and will keep on tickin'. The first thing that I noticed when I got one in my hands was how light and balanced it was. The Model 1 was really comfortable in hand.

You can see this particular knife getting put through its paces on the Dominica Episode (season 1 Ep 10) of Man, Woman Wild.

The Spartan Harsey Model 2 is essentially the same blade design, though the blade edge is slightly shorter and its a bit cheaper than the Model 1. The other spartan blade models like the Horkos, Ares, etc are decent knives too.

You wont go wrong with a Spartan Blade.
 
They are local to me and I have heard nothing but good things about there fixed blades...
 
They are designed - by military guys for military guys - to be strong light & fast. The only qualm I would have is that the thin-handled knives are meant for quick as-needed utility/SD use, rather than extended camp use, so the thin handles might be a little uncomfortable during extended use in a camp situation.
 
I get bored often when I make purchases sooooo they responded well to this

269519_200148443367554_100001171989260_512085_8058099_n.jpg


I only bought a beanie and a bead but they did good on the delivery
 
corwise said:
^^^^LMAO

You do get bored easily don't you.
Click to expand...

I asked the people I bought my triple action from to walk in a procession around the room chanting the monks chant from monty python and lay it in a bed of napkins in the box before mailing. Opened box. A bunch of napkins and box was in it lol
I just like making the sellers day more interesting. It makes their jobs better and I get a good product
 
I would describe the scales on the Harsey knives as more 2.5D machined as the shaping appears to consist mostly of routing/chamfering the edges of the scales, but they do appear to be an improvement.
Mike157 said:
I have a few Spartan blades and like them quite a bit. I'm a pretty light weight user so none of my knives get pushed really hard. I have to admit, I think they are beautiful knives and they are functional. They are very well made and hold up well for the around the camp tasks I use them for. Precision grind lines with nice edges out of the box. The Harsey collaboration models have 3-D machined handle slabs (I think that's what they call them) that fit the hand (at least my hand) very comfortably. The Enyo and Phobos make great little neck knives. Their other models with the flatter handle slabs are comfortable and fit my hand well also. It really depends on what you want the knife for. If you can match a Spartan model/blade template/grind to what you need, I think you'll very happy with it. From what I've seen, they seem to sell well. The Spartan Harsey model one was (I don't think it's being made anymore?) a great large knife. The Horkos is similar to the model one but with flat handle scales. The Spartan Harsey hunter/camp knife is a bit more utilitarian in shape that I think a lot of people will like. The new Spartan Harsey model two seems like a smaller version (and maybe more practical) of the model one and yes I want one. The owners communicate well. I've asked questions by email a couple of times and have always received a response well within 24 hours. On the one occasion I called checking on a limited edition I had a pleasant conversation with one of the owners and found him to be straight forward and honest. Don't know if my blabbering helps you at all but in a nutshell, I think they have well designed shapes using good materials with good quality control - a great company overall. Mike
Click to expand...
 
I have an Enyo that I love very much and carry it in my pocket every day. I collect custom knives that never see any use but endless fondling, so the only knife I have that I do use is the Enyo and it handles all my needs as an urban EDC- and work-knife both in field an around the office as a LEO.

The blade is nice and thick but in order for it to do a better job at slicing I reprofiled the edge to a full flat grind. It took a couple of days with it being s35v and done by free hand on a stone and all, but it was well worth it now I think. It slices like a dream, holds and edge well and when it does need a touch-up, I can get it hair-popping with just a couple of strokes on a ceramic rod.

The coating does wear off with time, but personally I think it wears in a way that make the knife look cool and weathered as opposed to in a cheap and flaky way. The accompanying kydex sheath is made by Okuden and is the nicest, thickest kydex I've personally seen. It can be mounted for MOLLE or on the included waistband-strap or ball-link chain. I've stripped it of all this and just carry it with the kydex and lanyard on in my pocket. All in all I'm very happy about the knife and will certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a neck knife/smaller fixed pocket knife.

If I had to point out a weakness of the Enyo it would be that it's ergonomics in the reverse grip leaves a lot to be desired. The skeletonized handle feels a bit awkward and the thumb struggles to find a comfortable resting spot.


That's as far as my personal experience with Spartan Blades goes. As for the larger blades, you better ask somebody else who knows more about those than I do.


All the best, -Thor
 
I've met and talked at length with the two men that own and operate Spartan Blades, Mark Carey and Curtis Iovito.

They are both retired U. S. Army Special Forces Soldiers, the group with which I served although from completely different periods of service.

They are both very nice, straight-forward men.

I see they are planning to attend The Blade Show this year. I look forward to chatting with them again.

I do not own any of their knives; I've been out of that line of work for forty-three years and I do not camp. I collect old traditionals.

However, I certainly appreciate their designs and the evident workmanship of the knives I found as I inspected them and as detailed in this discussion thread.

If I ever felt I needed a defensive blade, I'd not hesitate to purchase an appropriate knife from them.
 
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