Spyderco PPT Review

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Spyderco PPT Review - Part 1

Introduction

I received a Spyderco PPT for review through the BladeForums pass around here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=751733. The PPT is a collaborative design by Fred Perrin, Philippe Perotti and Sacha Thiel. It is an innovative design and steps away from the typical Spyderco mode in three ways: 1) thick and grippy "corrugated" G10 scales, 2) a combination frame-lock/liner-lock, and 3) a low-rider clip. The MSRP is $229.95 and our favorite online retailers sell it for about $150.

Size & Weight

The PPT is slightly bigger than a Delica or Sage, but twice as heavy, as shown here. For a mid-sized knife, it is really heavy:

Fit & Finish

The PPT is imported from Taichung, Taiwan. The manufacturing details are well rendered with rounded edges on the G10 and even grinds on the flat ground blade. The blade is centered and the action is smooth. As has been reported by other pass around members, it came to me with side-to-side and up-and-down blade play.

I took the the stone-washed finish clip and liners to be titanium, but have since learned that they are steel. The lock side-slab is significantly thicker than the non-locking side. Both liners are skeletonized to reduce weight, but the knife still weighs more than a Strider SNG.

The curved low rider clip is reversible but tip-up only. One torx screw holds the unpainted steel clip in place, which might seem potentially unsecure to some. As shown below, the knife disappears in your pocket. It is a little harder to get out of the pocket than a military, for example, but some grip lines milled in the clip help a little. The add-on lanyard helps, too, but seems to defeat the purpose of a low rider clip when it is hanging out of your pocket for easier access.

 

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Spyderco Perrin Review - Part 2

Blade & Handle

The PPT's blade is ground from S30V steel in a modified Wharncliff profile that reminds me of a Spyderco Yojimbo with a top swedge. The spine has plenty of jimping for grip. The bottom of the blade near the pivot has a kind of a half-choil with no jimping at all. The curved handle is thicker than almost any Spyderco folder and the deep grooves in the black G10 provides ample gripping surface. Visually it looks like a Boker Haddock or maybe a Benchmade Bone Collector. The PPT's handle is a partially open-backed design and assembled with torx screws. I didn't take it apart to view the pivot, but the pivot screws seem a little smaller than I would have expected in such a robust knife.

The PPT's lock design is unique in my experience. It is a steel frame lock (or Reeve Integral Lock, as Spyderco calls it) with a G10 slab overlaid and a cut-out milled in the G10 for unlocking the blade. You could call it a really thick liner lock. This sample has some some side-to-side and up-and-down blade movement when locked.

Ergonomics & Cutting Performance

I found action on the PPT to be smooth. It is easy to flick open with my thumb and just as easy to close. I'm right-handed, but it seems pretty lefty-friendly. It is the heaviest Spyderco I've handled other than the Phoenix and carries in the pocket like a Zero Tolerance 0200. You never forget it's there. The curved handle fits my XL hand very well and very comfortably. So far, I've only used it to cut razor thin tomato slices, but I'll check back to report after a week of carry.

Initial Conclusions

I was excited when the PPT was announced. I own many Spyderco knives, but this one has some innovative design features and enough non Spyderco touches to make it interesting. That excitement was tempered a bit when I read some of the reviews from my fellow forumites, but my own conclusion is that it is a great knife - possible QC issues aside. If I had to sum it up in one description, I'd say it is the Spyderco version of a Strider -- heavy duty, overbuilt, and a little clunky.

Thanks to Spyderco, Frank K., and BladeForums for letting me borrow the PPT.

 

[Nemo]

Thank you !
Great reviews ! Great pictures ! Nice comparaison !! Way to go !!
I'm planning to review it also later this month.

Cheers
Nemo

 

[Heiheit]

Great review, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Fyi, the clip and liners are actually stainless.

 

[frank k]

Thanks for another great review!

 

[Planterz]

If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't my knife, I would disassembled it and bent the lockbar over - that probably would have fixed the lockup issues.

 

[felix7]

Thanks for this outstanding review about an outstanding knife
The PPT is in my wishlist, so I found this review extremely useful, I am a little worried for the up-down play in the lock (side to side is probably an easy fix, just tighten the pivot & blue loctite it), it is not the first review that points out this problem about the PPT (youtube rev also mentioned this problem), I hope that it's not a frequent problem in the model, also because the lock is one of the more interesting caratteristic of the knife (also the awesome design, but that is "normal" for Perrin creations).
I will probably buy one PPT in December, hoping to not see any up-down play in the lock.

 

[frank k]

Thanks for this outstanding review about an outstanding knife
The PPT is in my wishlist, so I found this review extremely useful, I am a little worried for the up-down play in the lock (side to side is probably an easy fix, just tighten the pivot & blue loctite it), it is not the first review that points out this problem about the PPT (youtube rev also mentioned this problem), I hope that it's not a frequent problem in the model, also because the lock is one of the more interesting caratteristic of the knife (also the awesome design, but that is "normal" for Perrin creations).
I will probably buy one PPT in December, hoping to not see any up-down play in the lock.

If (?) this is the youtube vid, you are thinking of it's the same knife:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSGNyHWdmVw

 

[lava_lamp]

...it is not the first review that points out this problem about the PPT (youtube rev also mentioned this problem)...

I think the reviews are all from the same pass around and the same knife. In any event, I'm 100% sure that Spyderco would resolve the issue if and when the knife is sent back.

 

[felix7]

Good to hear that it is the same knife