Spyderco P'kal

stabman

stabman

Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
21,367
Just wondering if the handle has metal liners and what material they are. Also, the site mentions the ball bearing lock has a plastic cover; does that mean the part your thumb pulls back is made of plastic? Is it made with phosphor bronze washers, and what is the general impression of this knife? Is it really worth $200?
 
Yes
Yes
Yes
Fantastic
If you like pikal methods, yes, but you can find it for less from reliable dealers as well as on the secondary market.

:D

-j
 
I've ordered the P'kal, but I'd still be interested in other people's impression of it.
 
There are a couple of good reviews here on it (I can't seem to find them right now).

It's really the only purpose-built pikal blade. Combined with the Wave, it's really quite an astonishing piece.

I'm not terribly confident in its capacity as a utility knife, but that's more because I don't like hawkbills for my EDC utilities.

-j
 
Stabman, I am kind of out of it due to lack of sleep, but I will tell you that the pikal folder is one purpose specific blade, that shines! I would also steer you to the designers dvd set to get a better idea of the methodology. If you need an all around utility blade for everyday mundane usage.....then grab another model to take care of those things. Spyderco hit another home run with this model!:thumbup:
 
I had one for a short while (Traded it off) and I was impressed with it. Construction and execution of design was superb. It's a great combination of many technologies - the new breed of the ball lock, wire clip, removable wave etc.

I think it would do well as a utility knife. If you're going to be whittling a long time there are more ergonomic knives, and if you need to clean and skin animals or use your EDC as a back-up kitchen knife you might want something with some belly instead, but otherwise it'd be great for opening cardboard boxes and other mundane chores.
 
All sounding good. I figured it was a bit purpose specific, and wouldn't do everyday chores quite as well as my other knives, but mostly I just have to open some boxes, letters, and remove coffee lid tabs that are stubborn and won't come off, so it should do.

So far it all sounds favourable though, so I'll be be doing the sleepless nights thing for a few days till it comes in. Kinda like Christmas in October.
 
Opening boxes and letters, yes.

Removing coffee lids... no.

I, um, would very much not do that with mine... unless I misunderstood what you were suggesting.

-j
 
biogon said:
Opening boxes and letters, yes.

Removing coffee lids... no.

I, um, would very much not do that with mine... unless I misunderstood what you were suggesting.

-j
Click to expand...


With coffee lids, at least from Tim Hortons, sometimes the little tab just won't stay down and flips in your face when you drink. You CAN just rip the tab off, but I don't like the ragged edge, so I cut that tab off when it won't behave.

It's one of the more common uses I've had for my EDC knives, and hasn't freaked anyone out yet, even at University where I'm surrounded by girls(University is 60% female now:thumbup:).

The knife tip usually doesn't end up in the coffee, so it's okay.
 
OHHHHHH.

I thought you meant prying open the lids of those big metal tins of coffee beans.

My goodness. Sorry about that!

Heh, yeah, I think that would be perfectly good use for the p'kal. It also seems to look "cute" to people. (Well, the people that have seen it so far.) Why a blunt tanto looks scary and a stabby hawkbill looks cute, I don't know and don't understand.

Or perhaps I may have just dated myself, since most coffee these days comes preground in those little mylar packages. ;)

-j
 
biogon said:
Oh, here are the two posts that I was thinking of:

(I guess the search function started working again... it's always been a little sketchy for me.)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=483028&highlight="p'kal"

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=476178&highlight=p'kal

-j
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links. The more I read the happier I am with having ordered it.

And yes, prying would likely be a terrible idea(especially with a cool looking, expensive knife).
 
If you ordered it from the US I hope you'll get them to tighten the pivot as it's easy to flip open. Last thing you need is losing a $160 blade to Customs.
 
goke said:
If you ordered it from the US I hope you'll get them to tighten the pivot as it's easy to flip open. Last thing you need is losing a $160 blade to Customs.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's why I ordered Canadian side(Warriors and Wonders). Probably cost about the same as if I ordered stateside and had to pay duty.
 
My user/carry P'kal just got in (it was 7 days in Priority mail... sigh)... what about yours??? :p

-j
 
biogon said:
My user/carry P'kal just got in (it was 7 days in Priority mail... sigh)... what about yours??? :p

-j
Click to expand...

Supposed to arrive Thursday(2 days with Xpresspost, would be here tomorrow but for Thanksgiving on Monday). It's going to be real hard to sleep tomorrow night.:)
 
My P'kal showed up today. It's pretty cool, but the plastic over the ball-bearing lock is kinda ugly; anyone know what type of plastic it is?

Also holds nice for reverse grip edge out, so it's not quite as limited in application as it could be. Also okay for regular hold edge up.

All in all a pretty good knife, but I was a bit more impressed with the Endura 4 Wave or the Police as far as value for the money goes.

Still the high point of my day though.:)
 
Yeah, I posed a question a bit back about this:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=476096&highlight=p'kal+plastic

FGEU on this is a little scary given that there's nothing between your thumb and the edge.

But then again, I don't know anything about FGEU, so there might be a good reason for that.

As for multirole use, I definitely agree that the D4 and the Mini Manix are a lot more bang for the buck. (Personally, I was never a Police fan.)

But for cutting-edge technology (caged BBL, removable Wave), sheer penetration power, and specific purpose, I still like the P'kal.

RGEI or RGEO thrusts and jabs are scarily strong.

-j
 
I tried shopping at RGEI once, but they were only selling stab wounds and wouldn't let me get away if I got too close.
 
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