Spyderco Rock Lobster

[Gary W. Graley]

Spyderco Rock Lobster, a nice collaboration between Spyderco and Jens Anso, while it is unassuming, this knife pack quite a wallop in the cutting department, soft gradual curve of the blade’s edge allows for excellent slicing and the point, although being at the end of a sheepsfoot blade still has a nice keen point that still punctures well.

This knife is, to me, like a Big brother to the newly released smaller slippit called The Pingo, also one that Jens contributed in it's design along with Jesper Voxnaes.

Not sure of how the name came about, I'm sure there's a story in there somewhere..

Nested linerlock keeps the overall thickness to the bare minimum, rides well in the pocket due to the thin size.

The G10 scales on the very inside edges needed some rounding off as they were a bit crisp to the touch. I did sand down the one curve portion slighty, the radius just after the main opening for the lock bar area, I’d soften that curve more but right now it doesn’t bother that much, if I were doing more heavy cutting for prolong periods, I might look at that again.

The VG10 blade keeps it’s edge pretty well, would have loved it to be CMP3v but, ya can’t have everything
Blade detent is solid, lockup is also very good. Overall it’s a solid performer and one I hope to be edc’ing for a while…time will tell though.

Here are some quick shots with my phone, so pardon the images but you can get the idea from them.

This is on the ‘Discontinued’ list right now, but there are some that can be found if you persevere.

Thanks Spyderco and Jens, nice work!
G2

edited to add a few images comparing the two knives, which I carry both as they do compliment each other nicely

G2

 

[J D Wijbenga]

Nice review and pictures, thanks Gary!

If I am not mistaken the name Pingo is the nickname of the Danish crown prince.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks, it's the Rock Lobster that I do not know its history as to why it was picked for that knife
Appreciate the input on the Pingo as some may not have known how it came to be named
G2

 

[PropThePolecat]

Some more bonus info about the Pingo...the danish crown prince got his nickname, Pingo, while serving in the danish navy's spec-ops unit. During a exercise, his drysuit suffered a puncture, thus flooding it with water. As he climbed onto land with a suit filled with water, his unit thought he walked like a penguin, thus giving him the nickname Pingo.

 

[kinjo28]

Now I have to know. I'm on the case

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Hah, there's always a back story going on

Update, I was cutting/whittling into some hard wood, handled like a champ, cut deep, no problems, very secure when cutting, no worry of the knife slipping in the hand/twisting in the grip, all in all very nice. The edge is still factory edge, as while I do like putting my own edge on, unless it really requires it, I do like to wait until it becomes necessary, for a couple of reasons.

1. One less thing I have to do RIGHT NOW
2. Extends the life of the blade, as more sharpenings remove more metal, so on and so forth
3. Gives me something to do later on, when it's dull

Now the Pingo, while it was sharp, didn't slice as well as I'd like, so that particular knife I did sharpen right away and it made a very good difference in cutting/slicing ability so for those of you with a Pingo and not finding it cutting as well as you think it should, sharpen that rascal up and give it a go, the steel on that is the N690Co and seems to keep it's edge well, it also takes an extremely sharp edge too!

G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Sharpened it up today....hehe did very very nice
G2

 

[J D Wijbenga]

VG10 is some good stuff! Can you tell something about how you like the Pingo and Rocklobster in daily practice. Subjectively, how well do they cut and handle?

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Indeed, well, as you would guess, the Rock Lobster, being the larger of the two is reached when there are cuts that are needed that require a longer blade, such as cutting some thick foam, which I had to do last night when I was packing up a stone that I just sold, the foam was too thick for the priority mail box, so I was able to slice down through the material easily with that knife. But, I also was whittling with some hard wood, I wanted to see how well the thin handle would hold up under some moderately heavy pressure, and it wasn't a problem at all, kept it's grip in my hand due to the flat sides, they help prevent any rotation while you are gripping the handle. The edge, of course, cut well with it's newly acquired edge pro edge

The Pingo, when I reach for that, it usually rides in my back left side pants pocket, handy to retrieve there, the wire clip does very well, plus being back there it hasn't been caught on anything. The cutting chores for that are for small detail type work, both knives can be gripped up tight on the blade as well as the handle, being flat ground and having a wide blade, they are easily held in a variety of grip positions, the RL I've also choked up on the blade to make very closeup type cuts at times too.

I've not had them really long enough to give any solid feed back on steel material, as they are not the same steel in them, but, they both took extremely sharp edges and both cleanly sliced toilet paper, funny that when I first tried the RL against the toilet paper it sliced down so easily and cleanly, I could not repress a big smile. I was just glad my wife was not watching as she would have laughed out loud at a grown man being so happy to cut toilet paper into narrow strips, and she might have made a few phone calls to get me fitted for a particular style of jacket, the straight kind and maybe even a reservation to a rubber room later that night

G2

 

[J D Wijbenga]

Thanks for the extensive review! It is good to hear they take such great edges. The LR, though a unique and interesting design, is to big for me. But the little Pingo is getting more and more interesting. The first time I held it at the Amsterdam meet I was not convinced but perhaps it needs a second look. I used to have a Spyderco Squeak, also made by Fox, and liked the edge grind but the handle did not work for me. The Pingo might be the right package...

Ah yes, the super slice smile Non knife nuts would not understand. It comes with the knife addiction and there is no known cure ;-)

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Exactly so, there is no known cure, my family has long since ceased to be amused when I say "I think THIS is THE knife" they have even stopped rolling their eyes, just sort of ignore me completely. as they should I'm sure!

The RL is large, no doubt, while here in the states you could probably get away using such a knife since the tip is more utility type, but even so, it is a large knife!

The Pingo is worth a second look, there was a thread where a fellow did a very nice mod, well, a complete refurbishment of the handle, removing the FRN and replaced with textured orange G10, tumbled the blade and back bar, rounding both nicely, that would be nice if Spyderco would come out with a variant like that!

It reminded me of the old adage of 'My Grandfather's Axe'
My dad replaced the handled and I replaced the blade...hehe...

G2

 

[J D Wijbenga]

To much fun to try different kinds of knives

I have seen the thread on the Orange Pingo. Very nice job! I have also seen some replacement scales made by a German company that looked quite stylish. I think Sal posted that they are thinking about different color handles. Seems to be this little blade s doing well! Usually the only thin I change about a knife is the edge. I like them thin and slicy :-D

JD

 

[Gary W. Graley]

If Spyderco were to offer the Pingo with upscaled scales, that's just fun to say eh?, I would most likely double dip on this one for sure.

While the blade is not thin by any means, it is flat ground but has some beef behind the bevel, my edge pro allowed me to create a very nice cutting profile and now it is a joy to use, in fact, today is Pingo day in the G2 house, it'll be my main carry for the day, just because
G2