- Joined
- Dec 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,500
Introduction
I've actually had my own Lil' Temperance for about a year now. This particular one came around in a "twofer" passaround with it's big, fixed-blade brother, the Temperance, which is the one I really wanted to get my mitts on. (See my review of the Temperance elsewhere.) The Lil' Temp has been discontinued, although you can find one in stock if you look around a bit. Still, it's an interesting knife in it's own right, and deserves a review.
The folding Lil' Temperance and fixed-blade Temperance were both released in 2001; they were apparently intended to complement each other, although outside of the leaf-shaped, flat-gound blades, they have little in common.
(Top to bottom: Spyderco Temperance, Spyderco Lil' Temperance.)
First Impressions
Compared to the more commonly-seen FRN-handled Spyderco knives, the Lil' Temperance is a lil' tank. It's short, but thick and wide, with the thickest blade stock (4mm) that Spyderco uses, and a handle of thick G10 slabs with nested steel liners. Even the lock is beefy: the Lil' Temp was one of the first knives to use Spyderco's innovative Compression Lock, which is designed to be even stronger and more secure than their excellent "front locks" and liner locks.
A Closer Look
Length closed: 4.5"
Overall Length: 7.4"
Blade Length: 3"
Blade Steel: CPM S30V
(Top to bottom: Spyderco Endura, Spyderco Lil' Temperance, Spyderco Delica)
(Top to bottom: Spyderco Endura, Spyderco Lil' Temperance, Spyderco Delica)
The clip is adjustable for tip-up or tip-down carry, but right-hand only. The clip is formed from sheet steel as usual, but of unusual shape, with folded-down sides that form a long arc; it makes for a good grip on the pocket, but the inside edges at the top are rather sharp, and on mine, tended to tear up the edges of my pockets very quickly. (Spyderco now puts this same clip on their new ATR.) On the plus side, the rounded outside edges are very comfortable when gripping the knife hard.
While the Lil' Temperance is big and thick, it folds into a fairly compact package, but unfortunately, there are corners galore. (Unlike the Manix, which when folded, is nicely curved all around.) The cusp above the Spyder Hole is big and fairly sharp; the rear tip of the handle can dig in uncomfortably; but the tip of the thumb ramp is positively brutal! I carried it a couple days, tip up, and that @#$%^&* tip poked me more than once, in places I don't like getting poked!
(Top to bottom: Spyderco Endura, Spyderco Lil' Temperance, Spyderco Delica)
The compression lock provides a positive detent, but after that, the blade swings smoothly open, until the lock snaps firmly into place. The Spyder Hole is large, but partly covered by the handle when closed, as in the Native; together with the thick handle, it could be a little tricky to open if you have large thumbs or limited thumb movement.
For those not familiar with the Compression Lock, let me explain. It's operated much like a liner lock, but it's located at the top of the handle, not the bottom. However, instead of the end of the lock bar blocking a corner of the blade tang, the end of the Compression lockbar wedges in between the blade tang and the stop pin. Since the force required to buckle that short bit of lock bar is an order of magnitude more than to buckle or slip a long liner lock bar, it's tons stronger than a liner lock. In Spyderco's testing, the only way it'll fail is by shearing the pivot pin or stop pin, or by breaking the blade tang!
Once open, the Lil' Temp provides a hand-filling grip. There's a large finger choil, large enough for two fingers in fact, plus two smaller finger grooves. There's no forward choil for "choking up", but that's not really necessary on a 3" blade like this. That thumb ramp in the handle may be uncomfortable in the pocket, but when open, matches the curve of the blade's thumb ramp exactly, providing one of the widest, smoothest thumb ramps I've seen on a folding knife.
The lower (finger) edge of the handle slabs have a large bevel, providing some comfort; the top (palm) edges have a slight radius, leaving a wide area to bear down on. Oddly, while most of the handle has a very grippy, sand-blasted G10 finish, the finger-grip area is milled down to a smooth finish, with a trio of shallow dimples to provide a little extra traction. If Spyderco would've sand-blasted the handle after milling, it would be an extremely secure gripping surface, but as it is, that smooth G10 gets a tad slippery when wet. Overall, though it might look a bit awkward, it's actually a very well designed grip. It feels good in every grip I tried: hammer, saber, reverse, side; only pikal felt at all awkward. If only the milled area wasn't so slick...
In Use
I didn't get a chance to really wring it out on a variety of materials, but I did manage to cut up some cardboard and veggies with it. It performed much like the last full-flat-ground Spydie I reviewed, the Manix: slices well, but tends to bind up a bit in thick corrugated. But, even moreso than the Manix, you can bring a lot of force to bear on that wide, rounded thumb ramp, and just power through the tough stuff.
Throughout my (admittedly limited) testing, the handle was quite comfortable. The only hot spots I felt were the very top of the thumb ramp on the blade, which is rather sharp, and the right side of the grip just in front of the pocket clip, at the recess for mounting the pocket clip tip-down.
Conclusion
As I mentioned, the Lil' Temperance has been discontinued, so I suppose it didn't sell all that well. Sad, since while it's not exactly sexy, it's a good hard-use folder.
Keep in mind, too, that Spyderco has since come out with another folder that actually more resembles a folding version of the Temperance: the Manix, released just last year. If you look at the Temperance and Manix side by side, the resemblance is hard to miss. (Again, see my Temperance review.)
Pros: Sturdy, tough, strong, did I mention sturdy? Good ergonomics in the hand, good cutting performance in most materials.
Cons: Big and heavy for EDC in dress slacks, can be uncomfortable in thace pocket, clip eats pocket edges for lunch, blade rather short for some hard uses.
So, is it right for you? I can think of one situation where it might be ideal: where you want a Manix, but need a 3" blade due to local legal restrictions.
Seriously, there's a reason why Spyderco replaced the Lil' Temperance with the Manix. If you want a tough-as-nails hard-use Spyderco with a great ergo grip shape and a full-flat-ground leaf-shaped blade, you want a Manix.
I've actually had my own Lil' Temperance for about a year now. This particular one came around in a "twofer" passaround with it's big, fixed-blade brother, the Temperance, which is the one I really wanted to get my mitts on. (See my review of the Temperance elsewhere.) The Lil' Temp has been discontinued, although you can find one in stock if you look around a bit. Still, it's an interesting knife in it's own right, and deserves a review.
The folding Lil' Temperance and fixed-blade Temperance were both released in 2001; they were apparently intended to complement each other, although outside of the leaf-shaped, flat-gound blades, they have little in common.
(Top to bottom: Spyderco Temperance, Spyderco Lil' Temperance.)
First Impressions
Moderation? Yeah, right. This is one excessively tough knife!
Compared to the more commonly-seen FRN-handled Spyderco knives, the Lil' Temperance is a lil' tank. It's short, but thick and wide, with the thickest blade stock (4mm) that Spyderco uses, and a handle of thick G10 slabs with nested steel liners. Even the lock is beefy: the Lil' Temp was one of the first knives to use Spyderco's innovative Compression Lock, which is designed to be even stronger and more secure than their excellent "front locks" and liner locks.
A Closer Look
Length closed: 4.5"
Overall Length: 7.4"
Blade Length: 3"
Blade Steel: CPM S30V
(Top to bottom: Spyderco Endura, Spyderco Lil' Temperance, Spyderco Delica)
(Top to bottom: Spyderco Endura, Spyderco Lil' Temperance, Spyderco Delica)
The clip is adjustable for tip-up or tip-down carry, but right-hand only. The clip is formed from sheet steel as usual, but of unusual shape, with folded-down sides that form a long arc; it makes for a good grip on the pocket, but the inside edges at the top are rather sharp, and on mine, tended to tear up the edges of my pockets very quickly. (Spyderco now puts this same clip on their new ATR.) On the plus side, the rounded outside edges are very comfortable when gripping the knife hard.
While the Lil' Temperance is big and thick, it folds into a fairly compact package, but unfortunately, there are corners galore. (Unlike the Manix, which when folded, is nicely curved all around.) The cusp above the Spyder Hole is big and fairly sharp; the rear tip of the handle can dig in uncomfortably; but the tip of the thumb ramp is positively brutal! I carried it a couple days, tip up, and that @#$%^&* tip poked me more than once, in places I don't like getting poked!
(Top to bottom: Spyderco Endura, Spyderco Lil' Temperance, Spyderco Delica)
The compression lock provides a positive detent, but after that, the blade swings smoothly open, until the lock snaps firmly into place. The Spyder Hole is large, but partly covered by the handle when closed, as in the Native; together with the thick handle, it could be a little tricky to open if you have large thumbs or limited thumb movement.
For those not familiar with the Compression Lock, let me explain. It's operated much like a liner lock, but it's located at the top of the handle, not the bottom. However, instead of the end of the lock bar blocking a corner of the blade tang, the end of the Compression lockbar wedges in between the blade tang and the stop pin. Since the force required to buckle that short bit of lock bar is an order of magnitude more than to buckle or slip a long liner lock bar, it's tons stronger than a liner lock. In Spyderco's testing, the only way it'll fail is by shearing the pivot pin or stop pin, or by breaking the blade tang!
Once open, the Lil' Temp provides a hand-filling grip. There's a large finger choil, large enough for two fingers in fact, plus two smaller finger grooves. There's no forward choil for "choking up", but that's not really necessary on a 3" blade like this. That thumb ramp in the handle may be uncomfortable in the pocket, but when open, matches the curve of the blade's thumb ramp exactly, providing one of the widest, smoothest thumb ramps I've seen on a folding knife.
The lower (finger) edge of the handle slabs have a large bevel, providing some comfort; the top (palm) edges have a slight radius, leaving a wide area to bear down on. Oddly, while most of the handle has a very grippy, sand-blasted G10 finish, the finger-grip area is milled down to a smooth finish, with a trio of shallow dimples to provide a little extra traction. If Spyderco would've sand-blasted the handle after milling, it would be an extremely secure gripping surface, but as it is, that smooth G10 gets a tad slippery when wet. Overall, though it might look a bit awkward, it's actually a very well designed grip. It feels good in every grip I tried: hammer, saber, reverse, side; only pikal felt at all awkward. If only the milled area wasn't so slick...
In Use
I didn't get a chance to really wring it out on a variety of materials, but I did manage to cut up some cardboard and veggies with it. It performed much like the last full-flat-ground Spydie I reviewed, the Manix: slices well, but tends to bind up a bit in thick corrugated. But, even moreso than the Manix, you can bring a lot of force to bear on that wide, rounded thumb ramp, and just power through the tough stuff.
Throughout my (admittedly limited) testing, the handle was quite comfortable. The only hot spots I felt were the very top of the thumb ramp on the blade, which is rather sharp, and the right side of the grip just in front of the pocket clip, at the recess for mounting the pocket clip tip-down.
Conclusion
As I mentioned, the Lil' Temperance has been discontinued, so I suppose it didn't sell all that well. Sad, since while it's not exactly sexy, it's a good hard-use folder.
Keep in mind, too, that Spyderco has since come out with another folder that actually more resembles a folding version of the Temperance: the Manix, released just last year. If you look at the Temperance and Manix side by side, the resemblance is hard to miss. (Again, see my Temperance review.)
Pros: Sturdy, tough, strong, did I mention sturdy? Good ergonomics in the hand, good cutting performance in most materials.
Cons: Big and heavy for EDC in dress slacks, can be uncomfortable in thace pocket, clip eats pocket edges for lunch, blade rather short for some hard uses.
So, is it right for you? I can think of one situation where it might be ideal: where you want a Manix, but need a 3" blade due to local legal restrictions.
Seriously, there's a reason why Spyderco replaced the Lil' Temperance with the Manix. If you want a tough-as-nails hard-use Spyderco with a great ergo grip shape and a full-flat-ground leaf-shaped blade, you want a Manix.
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