- Joined
- Sep 15, 2013
- Messages
- 5,648
Hello everybody. After reviewing the Pacific Salt the other day, and having used it daily during almost a year, I decided to do the opposite thing and give you a "first impressions" on another Salt, this time being the Spyderco ARK. Before I start, I apologize for my possible spelling and writing mistakes, have in mind English is quite a new thing to me.
The ARK: beautiful, lightweight, sleek...really comfortable to use and secure in the hand. It is the absoutely lightest and easiest to carry neck knife I've had (and I've had quite a few). The sheath is unobtrusive, flat and doesn't spin or move around do to its sheet-like design. It holds the ARK securely (I jumped quite a few times with it, without the knife moving at all) and won't scratch or irritate your skin. It doesn't rattle and weighs nothing. You will forget the knife is there. Really.
The pattern in the FRN scales provide a lot of traction and I don't feel like losing the knife even underwater or in wet conditions. The knife is probaby full tang, but the tang is not visible under the scales. The FRN handle doesn't flex and it ain't flimsy like some of the Salt folders' handles.
Now, my favorite aspect of the ARK: the steel and the blade itself. It's a small, ultra thin blade, but tough and it really doesn't seem fragile (I can only bend the very very tip with my fingers). The shape is excellent for draw cuts and slicing small objects (cherry tomatoes, soft plastic tubing...). It comes literally scalpel sharp (shaves with ease), and the finger choil allows absolute control over the cutting edge and precision cuts.
With H1 steel, you can use the ARK as a diving, kitchen and water knife without any chance of ending with a rusted knife. 100% rustproof.
It performs quite well as a small kitchen implement. Acid onions and peppers will not be able to damage this steel, ever. It slices and dices effortlessly, and you can just clean it with a small towel or leave it there until you're done cutting your food and then rinse it with water. It will look like new. It's fun to use in food prep tasks.
Now, the not-so good things: First of all, the grind on my knife was uneven. It's really hard to appreciate, but the first 1/3rd of the knife is badly ground and improperly shaped. It affects its aesthetics, something that frankly bothers me. Secondly, edge retention is quite poor, not to say it is almost non-existent. Even my other Salt knives don't have such problem holding an edge (and I don't mean serrated H1, I mean PE Salts). After cutting one single onion and three peppers, it wouldn't shave anymore. And it would hardly cut thin paper like it did.
But I think this has an explanation and it's the sheath itself. I unsheated the ARK about 40-50 times, careful not to damage the edge or the plastic by wrong placement (I already experienced that with the Caspian Salt, so I wdid my best not to repeat that problem) when re-sheating. I stgrongly believe the act of drawing the knife dulled the blade this much. So, if you unsheath this knife a lot (which isn't supposed to happen due to its original purpose) you'll eventually end with a small, cute butter knife.
Haven't tried to resharpen it yet, but I'll experiment with it a bit more before doing a full review.
Thanks for your attention, and for being such a great community. Feel free to comment, ask and critique!
The ARK: beautiful, lightweight, sleek...really comfortable to use and secure in the hand. It is the absoutely lightest and easiest to carry neck knife I've had (and I've had quite a few). The sheath is unobtrusive, flat and doesn't spin or move around do to its sheet-like design. It holds the ARK securely (I jumped quite a few times with it, without the knife moving at all) and won't scratch or irritate your skin. It doesn't rattle and weighs nothing. You will forget the knife is there. Really.
The pattern in the FRN scales provide a lot of traction and I don't feel like losing the knife even underwater or in wet conditions. The knife is probaby full tang, but the tang is not visible under the scales. The FRN handle doesn't flex and it ain't flimsy like some of the Salt folders' handles.
Now, my favorite aspect of the ARK: the steel and the blade itself. It's a small, ultra thin blade, but tough and it really doesn't seem fragile (I can only bend the very very tip with my fingers). The shape is excellent for draw cuts and slicing small objects (cherry tomatoes, soft plastic tubing...). It comes literally scalpel sharp (shaves with ease), and the finger choil allows absolute control over the cutting edge and precision cuts.
With H1 steel, you can use the ARK as a diving, kitchen and water knife without any chance of ending with a rusted knife. 100% rustproof.
It performs quite well as a small kitchen implement. Acid onions and peppers will not be able to damage this steel, ever. It slices and dices effortlessly, and you can just clean it with a small towel or leave it there until you're done cutting your food and then rinse it with water. It will look like new. It's fun to use in food prep tasks.
Now, the not-so good things: First of all, the grind on my knife was uneven. It's really hard to appreciate, but the first 1/3rd of the knife is badly ground and improperly shaped. It affects its aesthetics, something that frankly bothers me. Secondly, edge retention is quite poor, not to say it is almost non-existent. Even my other Salt knives don't have such problem holding an edge (and I don't mean serrated H1, I mean PE Salts). After cutting one single onion and three peppers, it wouldn't shave anymore. And it would hardly cut thin paper like it did.
But I think this has an explanation and it's the sheath itself. I unsheated the ARK about 40-50 times, careful not to damage the edge or the plastic by wrong placement (I already experienced that with the Caspian Salt, so I wdid my best not to repeat that problem) when re-sheating. I stgrongly believe the act of drawing the knife dulled the blade this much. So, if you unsheath this knife a lot (which isn't supposed to happen due to its original purpose) you'll eventually end with a small, cute butter knife.
Haven't tried to resharpen it yet, but I'll experiment with it a bit more before doing a full review.
Thanks for your attention, and for being such a great community. Feel free to comment, ask and critique!
