Spyderco C-111 Captain model: Ideal purposes?

J

JD Spydo

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Nov 20, 2004
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One of the most unique Spyderco models ever is without a doubt the C-111 Captain model designed by Jason Breeden. It's also one of the most wanted for a Sprint run of all the discontinued models. As far as unique designs it's one of my personal favorites and I find it to be very interesting from many standpoints. This year I was fortunate enough to reaquire a Captain and I'm really enjoying it the second time around.

I've used the Captain model to skin a deer with in the past and I thought it was a great blade for skinning. Albeit I kind of doubt if that's what the designer had solely intended it for. It may have been one of his intended uses but I bet there were other uses for the C-111 Captain that Mr. Breeden had in mind for this most unique of blade designs.

I know that there are many of you here that own the Captain and I'm wondering what you all have found that the Captain model is ideal for? I'm sure that it has other ideal uses other than a skinning knife but I rarely ever hear any of you all talk about it. So please all you Captain owners and fans tell us what you find the Spyderco Captain model to be really good at. I'm thinking that it's probably really good for many fishing and marine uses. But please share with us what you use your Captain model for.
 
Of all the people that bought the C-111 Captain model there is NOBODY that has ever used it? I just can't believe that nobody has ever used their Captain model. Because at least half the knives sold get used I'm fairly certain of that.

I thought that the Captain was a highly coveted Spyderco model to own>> well at least when you go to buy one they ain't cheap.

C'mon!!! someone here has used the Captain model??? OK if not I'll just delete the thread. And I should be able to buy me another Captain for .15 cents on the dollar.
 
I don't own a Captain, so my opinion isn't worth much. To me, this is one of those knives that has gone outside standard design parameters just to be different. In other words, different just to be different. I don't really dig that.

But in theory, the pseudo-hawkbill shape of the main edge might be good for pull cuts on rope or other materials that are trying to get away from you. Though serrations would be better on rope. You see hawkbills where people work with plants or other fiberous material, where the hawkbill shape helps "grab" the material as you pull the knife toward you. But again, a serrated edge may be preferable for plants and fiberous material.

That chisel looking nose is billed as usable for skinning or horizontal cuts, though it looks like you might do light scraping with it too.

I could see a guy using this knife in the right circumstances. I'm just not into the kinds of things this knife apparently was designed for, though again it almost seems to be different just to stand out from the crowd. I guess there is a reason its discontinued. JMO.
 
Huge fan of that model
I'd say, it would make an excellent skinner and in fact, that is what i'd use it for, had I one.
 
powernoodle said:
I don't own a Captain, so my opinion isn't worth much. To me, this is one of those knives that has gone outside standard design parameters just to be different. In other words, different just to be different. I don't really dig that.

But in theory, the pseudo-hawkbill shape of the main edge might be good for pull cuts on rope or other materials that are trying to get away from you. Though serrations would be better on rope. You see hawkbills where people work with plants or other fiberous material, where the hawkbill shape helps "grab" the material as you pull the knife toward you. But again, a serrated edge may be preferable for plants and fiberous material.

That chisel looking nose is billed as usable for skinning or horizontal cuts, though it looks like you might do light scraping with it too.

I could see a guy using this knife in the right circumstances. I'm just not into the kinds of things this knife apparently was designed for, though again it almost seems to be different just to stand out from the crowd. I guess there is a reason its discontinued. JMO.
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No "Powernoodle" your opinion is valued here on the Spyderco sub-forum. And I agree with most of what you just said. Now I don't think that Mr. Breeden designed the Captain just to be different or unorthadox at all. I do think that he had certain intentions for it when he laid out that design. And I know there are people that carry the Captain because I've talked to them in the past.

But it seems that little is known about the designer's intentions when he gave birth to the Captain model. I would have to say you're right on about the "pull cutting" but I don't think it stops there. I've even wondered if it would make a good Carpenter's or Woodworker's knife? I'm fairly certain that it would be good for someone in the commercial fishing trade or any number of seafaring jobs.

No I don't think the design was just to be different anymore than I think that of Hawkbill designs. When I got my very first Hawkbill back in the early 2000s I thought at first it was nothing but a novelty knife but now that I've learned how many cutting jobs that Hawkbills are good for I always now have one on me as a companion blade. Now that I use a Hawkbill on a regular basis I find jobs they are good for all the time.

Being it is a good skinning knife I'm wondering if it would be good for more food preparation jobs? I do think that it would be great for SD but I hope I never have to find out.

There are uses for the Captain or it wouldn't be as popular as it is.
 
Can't say I own a Captain or ever will. It's an interesting looking blade, but for $100 there's a lot on my list in front of it. My personal favorite blade for cleaning a deer or filleting fish is still a Buck 110.
 
richardtran said:
@blade14 I wish it were only $100.
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I haven't looked at Fleabay for a while and I usually don't buy knives there much anymore anyway. But I've heard that even a used Spyderco C-111 Captain goes for over $150>> is that true? So maybe one NIB would be around $200 or so?

That seems awful high for a knife that nobody uses. Because I really don't think anyone does use a Spyderco Captain. I've never had this bad of luck on a thread on this forum like I have this one.

This is just really strange beyond belief>> Here you have a knife that's deemed a collector's piece but yet nobody uses it? And if they do own it they don't use it apparently?

I sure had a really hard time finding me another Captain model>> high in demand but there is seemingly no use for it? This is just beyond anything I've ever seen on this great forum with a great bunch of guys and gals. I still have to believe that there's at least one or two people out there that use the C-111 Captain model for something?
 
BladeScout said:
Great for SD - how so?

Not disagreeing, merely curious.
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Well I can tell you this>> I've gotten mine extremely sharp and it slashes cardboard like few other knives I've ever used with the exception of a couple of fixed blades I like. With the double hollow grind it's like a convex straight razor with the belly protruding the way it does. As sharp as that VG-10 blade gets when you really fine tune it I think it's slashing ability is terrific from what I've discovered.

I'm not saying it's the best SD knife at all. I'm not a martial arts expert by any means. But I do know a wickedly sharp knife when I use one and that Captain can get really sharp when you work on it.
 
I've had a leather-worker try to buy one off me once, I guess he wanted to use it to cut leather. But, he wanted a used one at a lower price and I didn't have that.
 
jill jackson said:
I've had a leather-worker try to buy one off me once, I guess he wanted to use it to cut leather. But, he wanted a used one at a lower price and I didn't have that.
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That's interesting Jill because I'm kind of at the beginner stage of leatherworking myself and I can see how that type of blade would be advantageous for cutting leather in a straight line and a making a clean, controlled cut. It's interesting because even though few people are chiming in on this thread I still feel there are specialized uses for this Captain model that you don't hear much about.

I'm still curious as to what Jason Breeden had in mind when he designed it. The old saying is "Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention" which would tell me that Mr. Breeden may have had a job he needed a knife like that for.

I was hoping this forum would pull some people out in the open to share what they use the blade for. I do hope that someday Spyderco will make a serrated version of that model because I will personally have a lot of uses for a serrated Captain model.
 
Per "But it seems that little is known about the designer's intentions when he gave birth to the Captain model. " There was an article about the knife in one of the knife rags, most likely Blade or Tactical Knives. Maybe someone with a good set of the magazines can help you. You could always contact the designer. IIRC it's called the Captain because of some type of nautical use.
 
Here's part of a blurb I found out in the wilds of the internet:

All eyes were on knife designer Jason Breeden’s knives at a recent knife show; drawn to his folder with a blade shape unlike anything knife enthusiasts had seen before. The lower half of the blade was curved like a Hawkbill blade but its bulb-like tip was perched on top the curved portion, almost like a head on a neck. When someone asked the designer he replied, “My designs are born from need I’ve experienced. I live in the Appalachian Mountains and am regularly outdoors or in water. A recurve blade has cutting advantages in water but I also wanted a strong tip for outdoor applications.”

Spyderco included a Round Hole resulting in the Spyderco/Jason Breeden Captain. The blade’s unusual shape creates two opposing cutting angles, one curving inward, one out. The inward curve holds what you’re cutting in contact with the sharp edge, ideal for downward pulling cuts and for cutting rope and line. The outward curved cutting edge bulges out at the blade’s tip for close-in controlled cutting- a motion used when skinning, whittling and slicing horizontally in a wrist sweeping motion.

Hope this helps,
/j.r.
 
dustyzz said:
Here's part of a blurb I found out in the wilds of the internet:

All eyes were on knife designer Jason Breeden’s knives at a recent knife show; drawn to his folder with a blade shape unlike anything knife enthusiasts had seen before. The lower half of the blade was curved like a Hawkbill blade but its bulb-like tip was perched on top the curved portion, almost like a head on a neck. When someone asked the designer he replied, “My designs are born from need I’ve experienced. I live in the Appalachian Mountains and am regularly outdoors or in water. A recurve blade has cutting advantages in water but I also wanted a strong tip for outdoor applications.”

Spyderco included a Round Hole resulting in the Spyderco/Jason Breeden Captain. The blade’s unusual shape creates two opposing cutting angles, one curving inward, one out. The inward curve holds what you’re cutting in contact with the sharp edge, ideal for downward pulling cuts and for cutting rope and line. The outward curved cutting edge bulges out at the blade’s tip for close-in controlled cutting- a motion used when skinning, whittling and slicing horizontally in a wrist sweeping motion.

Hope this helps,
/j.r.
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Well thank you "Dustyzz":) I thought I was up on a lot of that information but I sure missed out on that one somewhere down the line :o

It makes perfect sense when you read it and think about what he wrote there. I thought that somewhere along the line there was some kind of cutting chore that necessitated a blade of that shape. And I'm sure Mr. Breeden has also field dressed many critters himself with his awesome creation. I would just love to have one of Mr. Breeden's custom made Captains and preferably serrated. Oh I like the plain edged version too but a serrated Captain would truly be like a Crocidile of a knife>> a chainsaw with a G-10 handle that is.

If Hawkbills obviously work better serrated it just makes sense that a design like the Captain would also work better serrated. The Spyderedge is so utilitarian in what all it's capable of>> you just have to always wonder why many of these other great Spyderco models aren't made with a Spyderedged option?
 
blade14 said:
There just aren't that many of us who like serrations :cool:
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With all due respect "blade14" I sort of beg to differ with you on that one>> Because Spyderco does sell a lot of serrated, "Spyderedged" blades. Whether it be in kitchen cutlery, the H-1 Salt Series or even on most of their specialty knives like their Hawkbills for instance.

You make it sound like I'm 1 out of 1000>> and that just isn't the case at all. Oh I won't argue for a nanosecond that plain edged Spyders are at the top of the sales charts. But Spyderco pretty much re-defined serrations by making them much better than anyone else's. And the following that they do have for the Spyderedge is a very constant and dedicated one at that.

And don't lose sight of the fact that the original Captain design from what I was told by many>> was originally made with a serrated blade.

So please folks even if you don't like serrated edges your own self don't throw the baby out with a premium batch of bathwater by any means. Because the Spyderedged blade pretty much put our favorite knife company on the map so to speak.

Because if you would happen to want or even need a premium, high quality serrated blade where would you go other than Spyderco?
 
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