Spyderco Gayle Bradley mini review

B

bada61265

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Oct 16, 2010
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was edc`ing my stretch the other day and came home to a package in the mailbox.

a brand new Gayle Bradley. :D
it is as nice as what ive seen reviewed lately in every respect. a few things i noticed right off that i didnt know. one, the scales are not all the way to match the edge of the liners. which is different and i think kinda cool, leaves the liners a little proud and there nicely polished inside and on the edges. awsome. i also didnt know the clip was hard black chromed with the spyder logo left in satin stainless, can see what might be the copper base plating on the edges of the logo like an outline, nice effect though not shure its by design. the liner lock has some jimping on it thats more like just thin cuts not very deep, probubly just gives it a little tooth for closing the blade but doesnt add anything to the grip. like all spyderco`s with the raised thumbrest spyderhole, its jimped very nicely and looks like the same jimping as is on the stretch or endura etc etc.. none on the choil area though. that would be my only complaint to what seems to be as perfect a knife in every way otherwise. more jimping... sound like nuttnfancy, lol but yea i would say it might be the best knife ive seen as far as execution of fit and finnish and design. talk about FFG blades all you want this is the blade shape im diggin now. the blade opens like its riding on ball bearings. theres zero play when locked, the thick ss lockbar wedges at least 90% of the way up behind the blade. maybe .010" or so not all the way, very close to perfect. someone wrote that the GB looked as if you could run it over with a truck and only hurt the truck. i think im in agreement though not laying it out on the street anytime soon;)

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i have the millie , the stretch & zdp endura but the beadley is truly the flagship of the spydie line.
dennis
 
the gb definitely has a standard of fit n finish thats a step or two above any of my others.
 
Dennis loaned me his Gayle Bradley and I got a chance to carry it a bit. I was much impressed with it.

It is an elegant knife, a real eye catcher. Very well built with a solid lock-up. Zero blade play in any direction. My only negative was that the handle puts the forefinger right next to the blade edge with not much of a lip to keep the finger off the edge. However, I did quite a bit of cutting with it and found it to provide a secure grip. I found the CPM M4 HC blade to outperform anything else I've compared as far as edge retention goes. The blade design is exceptional. It slices like nobody's business.

Congrats on the new knife!
 
^What Knarfeng dislikes is what I like best. Really good edge control. The grind is spectacular-really high and deep. I loved the Stretch with its FFG, but a FFG on the Gayle Bradley would ruin it.

I didn't like the weight, but it carries OK. The clip is really nice too. I wish it had a more structured handle (like Para or Stretch, for example.)

Oh, and M4 rocks :)
 
the handle design kinda threw me a bit at first but the more i handle it the better i like it, it works. the weight is up there compared to allot of edc blades in its size range. but that is due to the design as a hard use edc folder. the extra thick liners and beefy blade add up. this one is the new skeletonized version, from the looks inside at the scales some more materail could be removed from this. dont know if ill do it. ive drilled out a manix 2 and skelled out a tenacious and lightened it quite a bit. so theres some room for lightening i think. without loosing much strength in the handle. just dont know if i will do it, kinda like it the way it is. i wouldnt mind having some jimping added to it on the back of the blade and liners as well as in the choil area. that would make it perfection. its not something id take on myself but maybe someone does custom work would do it at a resonable cost.
 
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