Spyderco for a Leftie

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Komitadjie

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May 31, 2011
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Hey, how many of you other lefties out there carry a Spyderco?

I'm starting a rather casual search for my first Spyderco, I've been a Benchmade guy for a number of years, but I'm just curious enough to want to poke around a bit. Obvious requirements would be for a clip that can be easily reversed, and preferably a lock that can be actuated one-handed with the LEFT hand. That's what brought me to the Benchmade originally, the AXIS lock they use.

Throwing out some general ideas as a starting place for reccomendations, the perfect knife would ideally be in the 3" blade length range, thin enough in body for comfortable in-the-pocket carry in an office environment, and would mostly be used in light-to-moderate duty use. Occasional wood work, opening packages, cutting small cord and breaking down boxes. I have heavier and more appropriate tools for batonning down timber, skinning a musk ox, entrenching my position, etc. I'm a respectably decent sharpener with good equipment, so I'm not particularly worried if it's difficult to sharpen or needs a high polish to wear well, I can accomplish that.

Ones that immediately seemed to pop out as good contenders were the Caly 3 and the Sage. How about your favourite blades? Let's hear some suggestions for the new guy! :)
 
I'd have to go with no on the Sage. Had a Sage 2 for a while, and fondled a Sage 1. While the lock is definitely doable in the left hand, the contours of the cutout on the Sage 2 made me a little nervous. Besides, in my mind I can't justify paying over $100 for a right-handed knife.

I love the Caly 3 though. Fits my hand wonderfully, and the ZDP-189 version cuts for a long time.

Give the Sage 3 a look too. The bolt lock looks to be ambidextrous as well.
 
Spydercos are the only thing I ever carry anymore. Sage 3 would work, but if you like thin, the Caly 3 would be just about the perfect fit for you.
 
So, I've got two votes for the Cali so far. Any other suggestions beyond those two? They're just the first ones that seemed to pop right to my attention with regard to the general criteria I am looking for.
 
Delica would work, if you're ok with FRN. If 3" limit is not a legal issue, the Caly 3.5 gives you half an inch more blade without adding much closed length. Stretch is another compact 3.5" bladed model, and my all time favorite EDC. In a slightly smaller package, the Chaparral is due out in the next few months and is a really nice gent's knife. All of them are midlocks, so they work equally well right or left handed.
 
I find the sage 1 pretty easy to use left handed, so that would be my vote. It's too big for your office carry requirement, but they make a lefty version of the Military that I carry around the house and on weekends sometimes.
 
Check out the Stretch 2 and even better if it is in ZDP 189. The Para 2 also works left handed.
 
The 3" is a general suggestion of size, there is no legal limit here. I generally wear slacks, and I just want something small enough that I can clip it to the pocket without looking like I've got a bayonet shoved into my pocket. For reference, my current daily carry is a Benchmade Kulgera, which is 4 3/8" closed, with a 3 5/8" blade. It's very slim, though, so it carries well and is entirely suitable for my requirements. Honestly, the only reason I'm looking for another folder is because I enjoy knives, I really have no requirement that the Kulgera does not fill nicely. I've heard good things about Spyderco, and I'd like to give one a try.

I did not know that there's a lefty military out there, the only ones I've spotted so far are right-hand-only, with no possibility of reversing the clip. That probably wouldn't be ideal for my EDC at work, but it'd certainly be a nice knife! I'll look at the Cali 3.5 as well, is that a VG-10 blade, then? From reading around here, it looks like VG-10 isn't a bad steel at all. How does it stack up to the S30V I have now? As I mentioned earlier, ease of sharpening isn't all that big of a deal, the S30V gives me no trouble at all, so I doubt that many steels would.

Let's toss one more requirement in there too: I want a fine edge, not serrated or partially-serrated. I know that's probably heretical given the reputation of the spyder-edge, but serrations best for cutting rope, webbing and things like that. I don't commonly need to cut rope.

Are there any particularly recommended places to look for Spydercos that tend to have a good selection? I was poking around on Ebay, but the number of fakes floating around there have me a bit worried. Most of my usual go-to places for knives don't carry spyderco, or have only a very limited selection.
 
I left you a visitor message. You might also look around the exchange forum here on Bladeforums. I picked up a left handed Military about a month or two ago.
 
I got myself a lefty military off a big website. Just do a search and it'll pop right up. The model code is C36GLE. This by far my favorite knife of my whole collection so far.

Here's a pic of it.

254103_176126925774756_100001323498153_404681_6657472_n.jpg


I'd look into a paramilitary 2 also. I hear that the compression lock is very lefty friendly. Also the manix 2 with the ball-bearing lock. My other Spyderco that I have is a Tenacious. While that is a liner-lock, the clip is easily adjustable with a T-6 torx screwdriver.
 
Hey, thanks Cynic, I'll check 'em out! I'll have to go take a look in the exchange, I haven't been down there as yet.
 
Well, after the input from you fellows here, my first Spyderco is on the way! I ended up choosing a Caly 3 with the carbon fibre scales. I looked into the mili a fair bit too, but it's just too large for my EDC, I think. If I was going to have THAT much bulk in my pocket, I'd just carry one of my Bark Rivers. Plus, the Caly is an excuse to try out another blade steel, my EDC is already S30V. :D
 
I'm not left handed, but my top recommendations for ambidextrous Spyderco knives I use are:
Caly 3 and/or 3.5 (both are incredible IMO, get tons of use)
Stretch 2 (ditto)
Sage 3 (great EDC, I like the bolt lock)
Manix 2 (I prefer the FFG sprints, you can nab one for about $150 on ebay, regular hollow ground is great too though)
Delica/Endura FFG (good intro to Spyderco, good price)
Persian 2 (large or small version)
Police 3 if you want something very large

PS-Congrats on the Caly 3! It's one of my very favorite knives in production today or, ever produced for that matter. I have a feeling you will enjoy the ZDP :D it is quite a bit better in edge holding than S30V. I forgot about the left-handed Military, it's really cool that they produce that, and if I were a southpaw I would pick one up for sure, it is an awesome heavy-duty work/outdoors knife (I have it in orange and a brown G-10 one pre-ordered). If I were left-handed, I'd be kind of bummed that they don't produce lefty versions of more of their Liner, Frame and Comp. locks, but like I said it's cool that they produce one at all.
 
When I got into knives, I assumed I'd always be a Benchmade guy due to the inherently lefty-friendly AXIS lock. However, by this point, I've sold all but one of my Benchmades and rarely even carry my remaining yellow Mini Grip. It's a great knife, but I just end up carrying my Spydercos almost all of the time that I'm not carrying a small fixed blade.

My EDC rotation includes a lefty Military, various Ladybugs, a Caly 3 CF, and a kraton Stretch, but I almost always just grab the Stretch ZDP. I've had and sold even lefty Sebenzas, but keep coming back to Spyderco backlocks.

I too have a hard time paying more than a few bucks for a righty knife. Other lefties cope. Unfortunately, this precludes many fine offerings by Kershaw, Al Mar, and other popular brands.
 
That's actually what got me STARTED on good quality knives, my first Grip turned me on to the fact that there might actually BE a folding knife out there that was halfway decent to use with my left hand. I had that knife for several years until I *thought* I lost it, at which point I upgraded to the Kulgera that is my EDC right now. The S30V sure makes a difference from the 440C. As it turns out, my Grip was only as lost as a pants pocket I forgot to check at the bottom of the basket, and turned up after a good laundering a week or so later. Of course.

I really need another high-quality blade like I need a hole in the head, my 930 fills every requirement I can think of wanting a folder for, but that's ENTIRELY beside the point. :D I'll have to see how well I like a back-lock after spending so long with the AXIS, getting the hang of one-handed closing might take a while. I really wish more companies offered leftie or ambi designs!
 
Komitadjie said:
Well, after the input from you fellows here, my first Spyderco is on the way! I ended up choosing a Caly 3 with the carbon fibre scales. I looked into the mili a fair bit too, but it's just too large for my EDC, I think. If I was going to have THAT much bulk in my pocket, I'd just carry one of my Bark Rivers. Plus, the Caly is an excuse to try out another blade steel, my EDC is already S30V. :D
Click to expand...

Cool! Let us know what you think of it when you get it.
 
Well, it showed up in the evening mail today!

I have to say, on first impression I was somewhat under-awed. The fit was adequate, although the edges of the CF scales looked like the edge break had been done with about 80-grit sandpaper, and there was no edge break at ALL in the recess for the back lock, just a sharp edge on the outside of the scales. The action was also quite stiff and rather gritty, nowhere near as smooth as my Kulgera's. The blade was quite reasonably sharp and beautifully ground, with a very consistent bevel from side to side. I've heard of some people having issues with the jimping being improperly placed, but it was right where it is supposed to be on mine, and is quite sharp and well-defined.

It took about an hour, all told, to get the new knife to just the way I wanted it. I used some 400 grit wet-or-dry to smooth out the rather rough edge breaks that were on it from the factory, and put a matching radius into the cutouts in the scales for the back lock. A drop of CLP went a long ways toward smoothing out the action, although it's still moderately gritty. I suspect that will go away with some break-in time. Reversed the clip, and tossed it on the EdgePro for some extra sharp-and-shiny. I maintained the factory edge angle, but polished the edge down to 8K. Looks absolutely gorgeous now, and that edge is something to behold. I think I'm going to like this ZDP steel, it sharpened quite smoothly for a supersteel, and took an edge that's really tremendous. I'll have to EDC it for a while before I can make any real decisions about how well I like it, but my first impressions were not too bad. Little rough, compared to the way my $180 Kulgera looked and fitted out of the box, but that's not really a fair shake for the $103 Spyderco. So far, I'm quite pleased with my new toy, just have to see how well it serves in day-to-day use!

And just because it'd be wrong NOT to, picture!

caly1q.png
 
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