Spyderco Ladybug, Dragonfly and Endura...

K

kbog

Joined
Apr 11, 2004
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540
Had a chance to handle all three of these today. First time I have ever handled a Spyderco. Let me begin this by saying that I am NOT judging the whole company based on these knives!

The lady bug imprssed me right away. It is SO small and SO light. The blade felt solid and had a very positive locking detent when both opened and shut. I noticed a small amount of lateral play in the blade, bu a knife this small will not see duties that would make this an issue. It did not have a liner, but the handle seems sturdy. I would have bought it right there if I didn't know that I could get it cheaper online!

The Dragonfly and Endura seemed like they simply stepped up in size. As the sizes got bigger, my liking dropped dramatically. The dragonfly had quite a bit of lateral play when opened (maybe because it was a demo?). In fact you could see the handle "bowing" when pressure was applied. I'm not talking about a lot of pressure as I was able to do this with 2 fingers rather easily. Turned me off quickly. The blade opened smoothy however, and had a great shape to it. It seemed very functional, but I just didn't trust it...

The Endura was big. Much bigger than I pictured. The blade was very hard to open one handed. It was not smooth at all. When open, it too had quite a bit of play in it, though not as much as the Dragonfly.

All of these folders had a nice lockback system that seemed to work well. They all had a very positive snap into place as I opened them.

All in all, the Ladybug would be the only one of the three that I would buy.

I am not giving up on Spyderco however and look forward to testing some of their higher end models.
 
The Delica and Endura are the bread and butter for Spyderco. My Calypsos and Centofante III has zero play! (they were only $40 each)
 
I don’t think that the knives that you saw are typical. I have probably purchased 10 Spyderco lockbacks over the years (including an Endura), and all open smoothly with no discernable blade play.


The Ladybug passaround that I checked out had a tiny bit of blade play, but not enough to be noticeable in normal use or affect the security of the lock.






- Frank
 
You might be right about these being atypical of Spyderco. Still, it left a sour taste. I have another dealer in area (I was about 1 hour from home when I found that first dealer) and I will check them out again.

It was a Dragonfly though, not a Delica.
 
Hi Kbog. Sorry for your disappointment. As mentioned, quality issues have not come up much with the models mentioned.

With more than a million pieces out in the field, I think you would be hard pressed to find a better performing FRN lockback, but I'm biased.

Perhaps you will get an opportunity to inpect more Spyderco knives in the future with a more favorable response..

sal
 
Hey Sal, thanks for responding.

I am looking forward to checking out some more of your products. Currently, I own your sharpmaker and love it.

Glad to hear that the products are doing well for you. I am not down on Spyderco by any means. I am still toying with buying the ladybug too...
 
kbog-

you really should get the ladybug. i've had one for years and it's a great companion. you'll love it!

todd
 
frank k said:
I don’t think that the knives that you saw are typical. I have probably purchased 10 Spyderco lockbacks over the years (including an Endura), and all open smoothly with no discernable blade play.








- Frank
Click to expand...

I have purchased 6 spyderco in the last 2 years, (endura I and II, délica stainless, matriarch, merlin, délica II) they havent blade play and all open smoothly as say frank.
 
For the past few years I've kept a red-handled Ladybug on my keyring and the action is still very strong with no blade play in any direction. However, I have handled some Spydercos that did have some play in the locked position, though not excessive. But with any knife from any company, I prefer to handle then buy rather than buy sight unseen. There's still ways to get them cheaper than MSRP, even if it's not quite as cheap as online shopping.

The Endura (and Delica) are, IMO, the best FRN (Zytel) handled lockback work knives bar none. How comfortable you feel one-hand opening the Endura will greatly depend on hand size; same with the Police model. Although my hands are relatively small, I have no trouble one-handing the Police, Endura or Military, so practice must play a role, too.

Jim
 
I have owned numerous Spyderco's and never had one with blade play... Talk about bad luck finding 3 at once!! :eek: That is certainly not typical Spyderco. They have great QC normaly...

My Dad has had a Ladybug on his keyring for quite a few years now (7?) and it works like new.

I have owned a Delica (the smaller Endura) and it had zero play and opened very smooth.

As for the Dragonfly I have never handled or owned one, so no comment there.

I think if you get some other samples you will love them.
-Kevin
 
Kbog, if you like the Ladybug you should also check out the Jester, I havefour of them and I find it a little easier to operate than my Ladybugs, it's a slightly different shape than the Ladybug but is the same size and weight in FRN.
I also have the stainless Jester and it weighs a little more,but is still a fine knife. I have also carried and abused a dragonfly ,sorry Sal, and have nothing but praise for it as well. Icollect knives and currently have over 400 of them factory as well as cutsom pieces and have never had any complaints with Spydercos,their quality has always been outstanding.
Didn't mean to ramble on, just my two cents worth.
Have fun and good luck in search for a new knife.
Skip Fryling aka The Pa Knifeguy
 
I've handled a FRN Delica that had some horizontal blade play, but this knife gave new definition to the word "used".
 
I have seen some Spyderco models that I liked very much since I posted this originally. The Delica I handled was quite nice.

I ended up buying a griptilian however. I liked the lock mechanism and overall feel of the knife. I would have liked a less plasticy handle, but the blade and lock were enough to persuade me to purchase it anyhow. It has been a great knife for me so far.

hanks for all the input though folks. I know a spydie is still in my future!
 
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