Spyderco Captain and Velope pass around review

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Nov 17, 2006
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I signed up for this one to check out the Captain but fell in love with the Velope.

Captain:
This knife has intrigued me since first seeing its pictures. As much as I love the look I found it to be akward for most tasks. The handle is a bit short and makes you want to use the riccaso and front of the handle as a finger choil. The design looks as if this was the thought when they made it. The problem is that it forms a very small choil that isnt very deep and leaves your front finger centimeters from the cutting edge. I never felt safe cutting with it in such a manner and it was uncomfortable for me to try and get a full grip on the actual handle. I like recurve baldes in general but found this one to be a bit odd. The downslope of the front of the blade and the undercut recurve never seemed to present an ideal cutting surface for the things I used it for. It is a very sold well made knife and some folks may love it. It just wasnt for me.

Velope:
Despite the large depression on the top of the blade that I could never figure out a use for this knife was superb. The frame lock engaged well but could have used some texture on the inside surface to assist with disengaging it but I never had a hard time working the lock. The blade grind and a nice sharp edge made this a cutter all the way. It is not a grippy knife so I would not carry it in situations that called for it but I found the shape to be very ergonomical and the wood inserts felt and looked good. I came to think of this piece as a good sized dressy knife. It looked at home with nicer clothes but cut like a champ and wont shy away from bigger tasks. With nice lines, purposefull grinds and good steel i would recomend checking this one out for yourself.
 
I received both of these knives in the passaround two days ago. I agree with the review by Big Jim Slade. I can not get comfortable with the Captain' handle and the design seemed out of balance for my uses. I did discover an edge chip on the blade "nose" as well as a rolled edge on the rest of the knife. I worked a bit on the sharpmaker and sharpened the edge but the chip is still there. This knife also had some blade play and made me somewhat uncomfortable with the liner lock., This knife is not for me.

The Volpe is a great looking knife and the edge was mostly sharp and a couple of passes on the sharpmaker brought it up to snuff. The lockup on this one is great but it somewhat odd trying to unlock the bar. This knife felt good in the hand but I would not want to do any hard or wet work with it due to the slippery handles. This knife is not for me either but I would suggest others should check it out. This knife does have a good cutting edge.
 
Thanks for the reviews!

The Captain was not for me either, but I do like the Volpe. Though I would like the Volpe more if it were a lock back and had a simple flat ground drop point blade.
 
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