spyderco handles

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davek14

Joined
May 30, 2009
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I wuz just at a gun show fondling Spyderco knives again. I still haven't purchased one but hear nothing but good about them and love a good steel as much as the next guy.

I have all the reservations I hear everyone voice, weird shape and appearance, flimsy feeling handles, etc.

To top it all off, I was at this same gun show the last time it came through town flipping open the different Spyderco models while the gee.. guy behind the counter was rattling off prices trying to make a sale and I sliced my thumb. It prolly needed a stitch or two and the fleshy part of your thumb (or finger) bleeds like a stuck pig when cut.

So's as I stood there at the crowded show with blood running down my hand asking the gee...guy if he had a band aid I kinda made the decision to make a quick getaway instead of a purchase.

Ahem, so let's talk about the handles.

I back pocket carry slipjoints usually. How would those Spyderco handles hold up to tough backpocket carry, sitting on benches, etc.?
 
You won't have any problems with the handles on Spyderco knives 'wearing out' with backpocket carry. As for choosing between the type of handle material(i.e., FRN, G10, SS, etc..), the choice is yours. I prefer the G10 myself.
 
they utilize several different handle materials but assuming you mean the fiber reinforced nylon (FRN) as it's most common, I'm guessing you sitting on it won't hurt it. What's this about weird shape though? Haven't seen that mentioned often as a negative. Some don't care for the spydie hole I guess but it's one of my favorite things and if you wear gloves often you'll understand.
 
you aren't going to break FRN under normal use. Sitting on a Spyderco with FRN handles won't harm the knife in the least. I regularly carry a Byrd folder clipped to my right back pocket. I have used it for about 2 years commercial fishing and have yet to break the knife. I have only seen photos of one FRN handled spyderco that the FRN broke. It was David Lowry's Salt I and it was run over by a Bobcat. There are other photos floating around of Tonydahose's Tasman Salt that he kept clipped to his bunker gear as a firefighter. It is rough looking but held up just fine. Don't let its light weight belie its strength. FRN keeps Spyderco knives available to us blue collar guys... it's a working man's handle material...
 
The Spydie models I have the most experience with are the Endura and Native with plastic handles and they got sat on, stepped on, and literally thrown around. I don't really care if a folder has G-10 scales instead of FRN, Zytel, or Grivory even though it seems a lot of people do - they are all tough enough.
 
Hauling said:
they utilize several different handle materials but assuming you mean the fiber reinforced nylon (FRN) as it's most common, I'm guessing you sitting on it won't hurt it. What's this about weird shape though? Haven't seen that mentioned often as a negative. Some don't care for the spydie hole I guess but it's one of my favorite things and if you wear gloves often you'll understand.
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Well, it'll be sitting, banging, leaning on sharp edges, all of which it sounds like it will hold up to.

Don't get me wrong on the shape thing and other criticisms. These are unimportant things. Everything I have read here, including this thread, tells me that the important qualities are there. I imagine that there is a Spydie in my future somewhere

Thanks.
 
davek14 said:
Well, it'll be sitting, banging, leaning on sharp edges, all of which it sounds like it will hold up to.

Don't get me wrong on the shape thing and other criticisms. These are unimportant things. Everything I have read here, including this thread, tells me that the important qualities are there. I imagine that there is a Spydie in my future somewhere

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hahaha you'll warm up to the shape, I thought they were just the ugliest thing when I first saw them, now I think the opposite. ;)
 
Those handles are much MUCH tougher than their weight seems to imply. I have done some abusive testing and I'll suggest that, unless you are a total idiot or totally negligent, you will not break one. If you do break one, you will likely have said, "I figured it'd break a lot earlier than it that!"

It takes a lot to break FRN and G-10...really.
 
Not only are they strong, they have some of the best ergos in the industry IMHO. Some of them look weird but they fit your hand like a glove.
 
I thought Spydies were a joke when I first saw them. I thought "are they trying to look like an alligator?".

Now 95 percent of my knives are Spydies.
 
I am a beefy dude. I sit on my Para 2 all the time and have had zero issues. I have also sat on my Kershaw Skyline and havent had any issues either and it is a much lower pricepoint knife. YMMV

Unklfranco
 
The only broken handle I've seen from a Spyderco knife was from a non-lined FRN (Delica 3 maybe?) that was shorn by the tread from a caterpillar.
 
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