Spyderco Persistence, initial observations

[cutter17]

This knife arrived today along with a ZT0200KW, and a Leatherman Serac2 LED flashlight. All three items are now my edc's for the forseeable future. So back to the Persistence. This is my first Spyderco in a l- o- n- g while, as my last was a Rookie from when they were originaly offered! Nothing against Spyderco as the ones I've had were excellent knives. Out of the box, the Persistence was not as sharp as I thought it should be, but 30 seconds on the Sharpmaker took care of that! The fit and finish is really excellent. I also like the thicker liners, I believe .065" thick, as they add a more solid feel to the knife and no amount of gripping could cause any flex in the handle. I really like the blade shape and the FFG as this will help the knife to do the jobs I need a knife for. The blade grinds are really well done and symmetrical, ending in a well defined tip. From what I have seen so far I am tickled pink with my decision to try one out, and look forward to putting it to everyday use. I may just end up getting big bro, the Tenacious! Last but not least, this is as well made a knife as I have seen from China, which just says that China can build as good a knife as a manufactorer wants and I can tell that Sal and company have top of the heap expectations for their China made products. Oh yeah, you can't beat the price. You get a LOT of knife for the cost, and I dare say that if country of origin were not on the blade this would be assumed to be a Golden, Colorado produced knife! Job well done Spyderco!!! Forgot to say that the lockup is excellent with the liner fully engaging the blade tang and being flush on the left hand side leaving plenty of room for wear.

 

[pagey1973]

You get a LOT of knife for the cost, and I dare say that if country of origin were not on the blade this would be assumed to be a Golden, Colorado produced knife!

That about sums up my feelings about the tenacious also.

I'm waiting for the next size up from the tenacious.........

I think it will out sell both!

Just my 2 cents

 

[cutter17]

Only been 3 days, but I have put the Persistence to good use. Now remember that much of my daily use is paper, and an odd pencil sharpening here in the office, but I did use it to break down a 1/2 dozen medium sized cardboard boxes, and it did an excellent job. As I said above, I have removed the pocket clip so this knife lies at the bottom of my front left side pocket, and it rides well there as it is a flat knife. It has enough weight to give it a solid feel in the hand, and it is still perfectly aligned when closed, and the liner lock is still locking up at the same spot as it did when it arrived. Now I know it has only been 3 days, but it has seen MULTIPLE openings in that time, easy ones, and some hard ones, yet lockup spot remains the same.

I'm really impressed with this knife. If China can produce this good a knife for Spyderco, and at an excellent price, there should be no reason why these manufacturer's can't do it with other Chinese produced knives. I know that there will still still be cheap made knives as there is a market for those, but anything above that has the possibility of building the repetation of the Chinese cutlery industry, if the people producing are interested in that.

 

[D1omedes]

I too have a Persistence and am very satisfied with my purchase.

The knife is a great value for its price point and I would strongly recommend it. My only gripe is the opening. Because it is made in China, the washers are very thin and rough. I still can't get the fast opening that I would like but I think I will disassemble the knife, clean it out and sand down the washers a bit.

All in all, the Persistence is a wicked knife for a great price. Anyone on a budget shouldn't think twice before picking one up.

 

[mlanghornes]

+1 to everything said

I just got mine, since I needed a smaller companion to my Tenacious. I'm really impressed with this little guy, and look forward to putting it through it's paces. Just about perfect for EDC, IMHO.

 

[cutter17]

I too have a Persistence and am very satisfied with my purchase.

The knife is a great value for its price point and I would strongly recommend it. My only gripe is the opening. Because it is made in China, the washers are very thin and rough. I still can't get the fast opening that I would like but I think I will disassemble the knife, clean it out and sand down the washers a bit.

All in all, the Persistence is a wicked knife for a great price. Anyone on a budget shouldn't think twice before picking one up.

When I took mine apart, did so to clean out the pivot and replace lube with miltec1, I found that there were three paper thin washers on each side. I don't think it will be possible to sand them as they might disappear!! I simply wiped them with a soft clean cloth, relubed with miltec1, and reassembled. It is now very smooth to open.

 

[D1omedes]

When I took mine apart, did so to clean out the pivot and replace lube with miltec1, I found that there were three paper thin washers on each side. I don't think it will be possible to sand them as they might disappear!! I simply wiped them with a soft clean cloth, relubed with miltec1, and reassembled. It is now very smooth to open.

See, I thought they were a few thin washers but I wasn't sure. Why wouldn't they just have one solid washer on either side? Too expensive to manufacture?

Well, thanks for the head up. I guess I'll keep the sandpaper away and just clean/lube up the parts.

I know BLUNTRUTH4U on youtube took out the washers on his Tenacious completely. It opened wicked fast but I don't know if that causes the blade to scratch the liners or not.