-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Spyderco Rescue 93mm passaround - SIGNUP
- Thread starter DaveH
- Start date
A few observations in no particular order:
I generally prefer knives that are thick where I hold them. I assume this is due in part to past problems I have had with grip strength related to repetitive motion injury. I just takes less effort to hang onto something that is well rounded and large. So, imagine my first impression when I held this skinny knife in my hand. So off to work I go and, knowing it was going to be long days where I just go home, shower and sleep, and go back to work, I decided to take it with me. This is the first knife that carried comfortably clipped to the front pocket of my blue jeans.
Why playing with it at work, I managed to drop it as I pulled from pocket in a stairwell at work. It didn't fall that far, maybe 5 feet but it landed smack dab on end. Silly me, I thought I would find it chipped or cracked. An aluminum-handled knife would have the characteristic dimples from dirt and pebbles on the ground. Much to my surprise, when I looked at the point where I thought it hit, I saw nothing so, figured I was mistaken about which end it landed on. There is not a mark on it I can identify from this little episode.
Due to the amount of stuff I carry in and on my pockets (pager, Baton lite, too many keys, etc.), I found myself placing the Rescue clipped to my front left pocket (back pockets are a no no as I seem to constantly hook the pocket clips on everything imaginable - bending them or worse, knocking the knife out of my pocket in places unknown
). That being said, it really carried comfortably resting about my wallet and beside my Leatherman SuperTool opposite my pager. No binding or jabbing when I sat down or walked. This definitely something I would not have spent money on because of my past person preference for thicker handled pocket knives.
The pocket clip itself works very well. It is easily reversible. Now, if it could only be mounted for tip down carry
. Those personal preferences again.
Now onto the cutting. While I didn't have any seatbelts handy, the local ACE Hardware had a good selection of ropes. I have avoided serrated blades for a long time now because most of them just didn't work well when I tried them. They usually hung up easily and, just plain didn't cut well. That is definitely not the case with the Rescue. I cut manila, sisal, poly and, that slick nylon loose weave stuff. The coarse poly rope cut surprising cleanly - severing almost all strands and pulling very few leaving a pretty clean cut. The manila and sisal ropes sawed cleanly through producing a very clean edge. That loose weave slick nylon rope didn't hang up at all ! Normally, I use a plain edge on it that is not polished. Again this knife went right through cleanly and efficiently.
The finger cutout in the spine and the plain edge tip provides enough edge for normal cutting of banding material, cardboard boxes and tape, paper, aluminum cans, etc. A very good compromise. Usually, there isn't enough serrated blade to be very effective at cutting so; you compromise the plain edge portion of the knife. This one is just the opposite - lots of serrated edge and just enough plain edge to work well. Now, it isn't going to win the cream cheese or peanut butter spreading awards at home or work but, that's not really what it was designed for either.
The general blade shape and overall design is very good. The sheep foot blunt point, combined with the shiny finish (no Black blade here) and, the blue handles make it more "sheeple" friendly at work. No, you aren't going to get through security checkpoints but, short of that, most people (or sheeple) aren't going to see this as a weapon. Having RESCUE 93mm on the blade certainly doesn't hurt either
Since this knife is going to see any back pressure on the blade, I would not be concerned with it as a liner lock but, really much prefer the lock back format. The cutout in the lock bar is well thought out and goes to show the attention to detail lavished on this knife.
Overall fit and finish on this knife is EXCELLANT considering its price point. I almost think of it as the Sebenza of cheap knives.
I would really like to see a glass breaker option added to this knife. A small spike that sticks out on the tip end, maybe attached to or though the pocket clip screw, would be the only value added option I could see other then a personal preference to add the option of putting the pocket clip on the other end of the knife. I know, we are hard to please aren't we. Fantastic knife at a bargain basement price point and, I complain about the lack of a glass breaker and the reversible pocket clip not being a tip up and top down option. 
I generally prefer knives that are thick where I hold them. I assume this is due in part to past problems I have had with grip strength related to repetitive motion injury. I just takes less effort to hang onto something that is well rounded and large. So, imagine my first impression when I held this skinny knife in my hand. So off to work I go and, knowing it was going to be long days where I just go home, shower and sleep, and go back to work, I decided to take it with me. This is the first knife that carried comfortably clipped to the front pocket of my blue jeans.
Why playing with it at work, I managed to drop it as I pulled from pocket in a stairwell at work. It didn't fall that far, maybe 5 feet but it landed smack dab on end. Silly me, I thought I would find it chipped or cracked. An aluminum-handled knife would have the characteristic dimples from dirt and pebbles on the ground. Much to my surprise, when I looked at the point where I thought it hit, I saw nothing so, figured I was mistaken about which end it landed on. There is not a mark on it I can identify from this little episode.
Due to the amount of stuff I carry in and on my pockets (pager, Baton lite, too many keys, etc.), I found myself placing the Rescue clipped to my front left pocket (back pockets are a no no as I seem to constantly hook the pocket clips on everything imaginable - bending them or worse, knocking the knife out of my pocket in places unknown
). That being said, it really carried comfortably resting about my wallet and beside my Leatherman SuperTool opposite my pager. No binding or jabbing when I sat down or walked. This definitely something I would not have spent money on because of my past person preference for thicker handled pocket knives.The pocket clip itself works very well. It is easily reversible. Now, if it could only be mounted for tip down carry
. Those personal preferences again.Now onto the cutting. While I didn't have any seatbelts handy, the local ACE Hardware had a good selection of ropes. I have avoided serrated blades for a long time now because most of them just didn't work well when I tried them. They usually hung up easily and, just plain didn't cut well. That is definitely not the case with the Rescue. I cut manila, sisal, poly and, that slick nylon loose weave stuff. The coarse poly rope cut surprising cleanly - severing almost all strands and pulling very few leaving a pretty clean cut. The manila and sisal ropes sawed cleanly through producing a very clean edge. That loose weave slick nylon rope didn't hang up at all
! Normally, I use a plain edge on it that is not polished. Again this knife went right through cleanly and efficiently.The finger cutout in the spine and the plain edge tip provides enough edge for normal cutting of banding material, cardboard boxes and tape, paper, aluminum cans, etc. A very good compromise. Usually, there isn't enough serrated blade to be very effective at cutting so; you compromise the plain edge portion of the knife. This one is just the opposite - lots of serrated edge and just enough plain edge to work well. Now, it isn't going to win the cream cheese or peanut butter spreading awards at home or work but, that's not really what it was designed for either.
The general blade shape and overall design is very good. The sheep foot blunt point, combined with the shiny finish (no Black blade here) and, the blue handles make it more "sheeple" friendly at work. No, you aren't going to get through security checkpoints but, short of that, most people (or sheeple) aren't going to see this as a weapon. Having RESCUE 93mm on the blade certainly doesn't hurt either
Since this knife is going to see any back pressure on the blade, I would not be concerned with it as a liner lock but, really much prefer the lock back format. The cutout in the lock bar is well thought out and goes to show the attention to detail lavished on this knife.
Overall fit and finish on this knife is EXCELLANT considering its price point. I almost think of it as the
Sebenza of cheap knives.I would really like to see a glass breaker option added to this knife. A small spike that sticks out on the tip end, maybe attached to or though the pocket clip screw, would be the only value added option I could see other then a personal preference to add the option of putting the pocket clip on the other end of the knife. I know
, we are hard to please aren't we. Fantastic knife at a bargain basement price point and, I complain about the lack of a glass breaker and the reversible pocket clip not being a tip up and top down option. 
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2002
- Messages
- 2,845
I'll be checking the mail!
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2002
- Messages
- 2,845
Yup - showed up safe and sound yesterday. I have a PO Box, but the Post Office is too small to loose anything in. Not too many people get packages out here anyway.
First Impressions:
The knife is WIDE. With the finger cutout on the blade, the tip of the blade is almost as wide as the hole, and the blade doesn't really hide in the handle, so it looks huge all folded up.
The hole is big, which I like, and the thumb grooves on the back of the blade are well cut and very secure. Overall fit and finish are good, even though it's been through 7 other hands. Lockup is solid, with a good snap. Handle fits tightly. There may be a little bit of blade play (fractions of a millimeter), but it seems to be more the result of parts flexing than poor fit. The "Rescue 93mm" engraving on the blade is nice and sharp.
The handle is a slightly darker blue than I expected. It looks shiny and slick, but seems secure in the hand. I'm not sure I like the fit of the handle - not unpleasant, but not perfect either. I'll have to use it more to get a better feel for that. The finger choil at the base of the blade really needs to be larger. My fingers aren't large, but it feels like my index finger could easily slip forward onto the serrations. It might be okay for delicate, carefully controlled work, where you're not putting much force on the blade, but I wouldn't want to use it in slippery situations, or when lots of pressure was required.
The edge is very thin, and slices well on the straight portion. I cut up some vegetables last night, and it just glided through everything.
First impression - I was planning on buying one, and probably will unless serious deficiencies show up during testing. So the money's in the bank (spyderco's, not mine)
More testing to come. I'll be comparing it to an old FRN Serrated Endura, and a newer FRN Delica. Then out in the mail Monday.
First Impressions:
The knife is WIDE. With the finger cutout on the blade, the tip of the blade is almost as wide as the hole, and the blade doesn't really hide in the handle, so it looks huge all folded up.
The hole is big, which I like, and the thumb grooves on the back of the blade are well cut and very secure. Overall fit and finish are good, even though it's been through 7 other hands. Lockup is solid, with a good snap. Handle fits tightly. There may be a little bit of blade play (fractions of a millimeter), but it seems to be more the result of parts flexing than poor fit. The "Rescue 93mm" engraving on the blade is nice and sharp.
The handle is a slightly darker blue than I expected. It looks shiny and slick, but seems secure in the hand. I'm not sure I like the fit of the handle - not unpleasant, but not perfect either. I'll have to use it more to get a better feel for that. The finger choil at the base of the blade really needs to be larger. My fingers aren't large, but it feels like my index finger could easily slip forward onto the serrations. It might be okay for delicate, carefully controlled work, where you're not putting much force on the blade, but I wouldn't want to use it in slippery situations, or when lots of pressure was required.
The edge is very thin, and slices well on the straight portion. I cut up some vegetables last night, and it just glided through everything.
First impression - I was planning on buying one, and probably will unless serious deficiencies show up during testing. So the money's in the bank (spyderco's, not mine
)More testing to come. I'll be comparing it to an old FRN Serrated Endura, and a newer FRN Delica. Then out in the mail Monday.
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2002
- Messages
- 2,845
It's been a crazy week, but the knife was mailed on Monday. It should be at its next destination now, or very soon.
Some notes on cutting performance:
The serrations are much deeper and more aggressive than on my old Endura. They really bite in. I cut up some cardboard and a few plastic milk jugs (LDPE), and the serrations really grabbed the material and started a cut. The plain-edged tip is really thin, and slices beautifully. It actually seemed to do more of the cutting than the serrations. I expect that this would be different on cloth, rope, or other fibrous materials. The only drawback here is that the blunted tip wouldn't really make an accident victim much safer. I can see why Spyderco went with a completely blunt tip on the Assist (a somewhat similar paramedic/rescue style knife, see the Spyderco forum for more info). Also, it makes me see the logic of 50/50 blade styles.
Carry was good - the width of the blade didn't cause any problems. The big hole made deployment really easy. The handle was functional - the curves didn't really match my hand, but it wasn't really a problem to use. Not perfect, but it works. The finger choil and other options for choking up on the blade really work well. Excellent blade control for fine work.
Overall, I think the Rescue would make an excellent general utility knife. I honestly don't think it will find wide use from EMTs, paramedics, and the like - simply because an $8 pair of heavy duty scissors will handle the same jobs that the Rescue 93mm will handle as far as victim extraction and treatment. I have a few very minor quibbles that wouldn't be solved short of dumb luck with another production knife or $300+ for a custom. Definitely a knife that I'll buy and put in utility rotation.
Some notes on cutting performance:
The serrations are much deeper and more aggressive than on my old Endura. They really bite in. I cut up some cardboard and a few plastic milk jugs (LDPE), and the serrations really grabbed the material and started a cut. The plain-edged tip is really thin, and slices beautifully. It actually seemed to do more of the cutting than the serrations. I expect that this would be different on cloth, rope, or other fibrous materials. The only drawback here is that the blunted tip wouldn't really make an accident victim much safer. I can see why Spyderco went with a completely blunt tip on the Assist (a somewhat similar paramedic/rescue style knife, see the Spyderco forum for more info). Also, it makes me see the logic of 50/50 blade styles.
Carry was good - the width of the blade didn't cause any problems. The big hole made deployment really easy. The handle was functional - the curves didn't really match my hand, but it wasn't really a problem to use. Not perfect, but it works. The finger choil and other options for choking up on the blade really work well. Excellent blade control for fine work.
Overall, I think the Rescue would make an excellent general utility knife. I honestly don't think it will find wide use from EMTs, paramedics, and the like - simply because an $8 pair of heavy duty scissors will handle the same jobs that the Rescue 93mm will handle as far as victim extraction and treatment. I have a few very minor quibbles that wouldn't be solved short of dumb luck with another production knife or $300+ for a custom. Definitely a knife that I'll buy and put in utility rotation.
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2002
- Messages
- 5,868
I received the knife today. It got delayed for 2 days b/c I moved and neglected to get any e-mail out in time with my new address. Luckily they forwarded my mail. I apologize for the delay, I am glad I am last on the list. I will use it over the course of the next few days and send her home. Thanks for the opportunity DaveH
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2002
- Messages
- 5,868
OK I have had the knife for a few days now. I really haven't gotten much chance to use it much. I would consider this a speicality knife. Not really an EDC. Mainly b/c of the full serration. The knife is extremely light, has a great lockup, and Spyderco has the best serrations in the business. I was really curious about this knife b/c I found out this is what my brother carries at work (Works Offshore) and he is far from a knife knut, or at least I thought so. I was shooked to find out he carried a Spyderco. This knife has been threw 10 people now in this passaround and I think it could still pass for NIB. So it has held up well. Thank you for the oppertunity to check this knife out and it will be heading home this afternoon. DaveH, I will forward you the confirmation numbers when I return from the Post Office. Thanks again. 