Spyderco Matriarch - Got one? How do you like it? Pros/cons?

DansGunBlog

DansGunBlog

Joined
Jul 23, 2014
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Hi guys!

I'm considering one of these...

Got a Tasman salt and find it surprisingly handy and useful, and this seems to be the only viable "new" option a little larger.

So... do you have one? how do you like it?

Pros and cons?

Thanks!
 
Thought you were looking for a working hawkbill??
The Matriarch is an aesthetically pleasing piece but it is a bit... stabby (for lack of a better description).
More of a personal defense design rather than utility IMO.
 
LOL I was looking for something that doesn't exist... what I really want is a Hawkbill Military H1. :-)

But in the spirit of chasing what's currently out there and can be purchased new... the Matriarch "seems" interesting, even though I'd discounted it at first.

Dan
 
I have one and I used to love It. I only carried it for self defense reasons so I never used it, but I loved the wave feature. I no longer carry it and have it for sale in the Sale Forum
 
I wouldn't buy that for an edc, but I would carry it to defend me or my families life, and if I was carring it to defend me or my families life you wouldn't find me dulling it on cutting cardboard only to pull it out in a life or death situation only to find out I forgot to sharpen it. To a untrained person it's an excellent choice for self defense, no skill needed just start slashing and you'll hit something and when you do it's not pretty, iwas googling pictures of a civilian and accidentally came across pictures of whom a civilian was used on on and the injuries they sustained. Well just leave it at that.
 
Bl4des said:
I wouldn't buy that for an edc, but I would carry it to defend me or my families life, and if I was carring it to defend me or my families life you wouldn't find me dulling it on cutting cardboard only to pull it out in a life or death situation only to find out I forgot to sharpen it. To a untrained person it's an excellent choice for self defense, no skill needed just start slashing and you'll hit something and when you do it's not pretty, iwas googling pictures of a civilian and accidentally came across pictures of whom a civilian was used on on and the injuries they sustained. Well just leave it at that.
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Do you own and use a Matriarch or Matriarch 2?
 
I have all three versions of the Matriarch 2 and I love them. IWB carry they disappear. Fierce cutters and perfectly fine for any job a hawkbill could do. No tip issues. Learn to sharpen and enjoy.
 
Have owned the PE Matriarch sprint, Lil Matriarch, and a few of the Emerson Matriarch 2s. Not as widely practical as most Spyderco designs but I imagine it would be very effective in nasty situations. Luckily I have never found out and don't plan to!
 
I really like mine. It's very hard to appreciate until you get to put the blade shape on someone. It behaves a little differently than a hawkbill. Very effective blade shape, makes for a mean cutter. Having a trainer helped to realize its potential.

 
I use one of my waved matriarchs as a pruner and it excels. All the talk of it not being suitable for EDC is nonsense.
 
I think it would do just fine as an EDC, but I am not a fan of that style blade shape. I EDC'd a 5.11 kerambit for a long time. It works, but isn't ideal for knife tasks for me.
 
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Another option, if you like the Tasman, would be to keep an eye on the secondary market for a Spyderhawk. Either the VG-10 version, or the Tasman's "big brother", the H-1 Spyderhawk Salt.

Spyderhawk%20Compare.JPG
 
I have 3 of the Matriarchs, two VG-10 SE and one VG-10 PE Brown handle. Personally I've always preferred the Matriarch vastly more than it's big Brother The Civilian. To me it's one of the few models that Spyderco has that truly excels with an FRN handle. I love G-10 handles which is what most of the Civilian models have>> but to me the Civilian is just a bit too big for my hand. I think it is a great SD folder for a guy with a relatively large hand>> Even Mike Sastre a great Brother on this Forum who is a big fan of SD blades has stated that he prefers the Matriarch over the Civilian>> which actually kind of surprised me when I first seen him post it.

I've often thought about how the Matriarch would be with a G-10 handle but it does great with an FRN handle. There are a couple of guys here on the Forum who have stated that they used Reverse S blades as EDC folders in the past three months or so>> which sort of surprised me in a way. And again we're seeing more guys who are using SD blades for gardening and landscaping work which is another interesting development that has unfolded here in the past year or so.

Whether or not you should buy one?? I guess you just need to figure what you would need to use an EDC folder for.
 
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