Spyderco Southard "Insane Flipper"

TinyDog

TinyDog

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2015
Messages
1,162
All,

I recently picked up the Southard not only because of its good reviews but its interesting size. It falls between a small and large blade by length but has a frame size typical of most smaller EDC's. Massive Cutting edge. All that was enough but I have to speak to something else here......

I have recently picked up, have and sold plenty of flippers and of the like flippers via thumb stud. All very nice! But are you kidding me! Sypderco's first flipper. This is what a flipper should be. A lot of manufacturers could learn something here. Not only does it work, but one could hang a quarter off the tip and I bet still flip it vertically. And I have saved the best for last. The flipper itself has the nicest and well thought out design I have ever seen or felt.

For those of us that own one I would be willing to bet you feel the same...

True Perfection, My hats Off to Spyderco and Mr. Southard, someone did a lot of homework here..... Great job!
 
The Southard is a special knife for sure :thumbup:. Great design and fantastic build quality (another example of Taichung quality). Thanks to the hollow grind you can sharpen it to an incredibly fine edge despite the blade thickness.

I have 4 Spyderco flippers and they are all exceptionally well done. The Rubicon has the best flipping action of them all but it has what I consider some design draw-backs compared to the Southard, Dice, and Domino (such as too fat in the pocket). The Dice and Domino are ergonomically brilliant and well thought out designs in general. But the Southard for me hits a sweet spot in terms of size, shape and build quality.

The only thing that is less than perfect for me is the pocket clip. It looks fine to me, but the tip is turned up and pointed just enough that it tends to scrape things I bump with my hip...like my leather steering wheel :grumpy:.

MMx0Fweh.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
 
Last edited:
TinyDog said:
All,

I recently picked up the Southard not only because of its good reviews but its interesting size. It falls between a small and large blade by length but has a frame size typical of most smaller EDC's. Massive Cutting edge. All that was enough but I have to speak to something else here......

I have recently picked up, have and sold plenty of flippers and of the like flippers via thumb stud. All very nice! But are you kidding me! Sypderco's first flipper. This is what a flipper should be. A lot of manufacturers could learn something here. Not only does it work, but one could hang a quarter off the tip and I bet still flip it vertically. And I have saved the best for last. The flipper itself has the nicest and well thought out design I have ever seen or felt.

For those of us that own one I would be willing to bet you feel the same...

True Perfection, My hats Off to Spyderco and Mr. Southard, someone did a lot of homework here..... Great job!
Click to expand...

I love Spyderco's, and I'm glad you enjoy it. Unfortunately, I feel the direct opposite. I sold mine a few days after getting it.

However, I've considered giving it a second chance, its been a year since I owned one.

The knife has a massive following here, with many people putting custom scales on their's. Good luck with it!
 
I sold mine too, and didn't keep it for very long, I really wanted to like it, but the handle was too thick that it felt short in-hand. I also didn't like the different thicknesses of both sides. I do like the customized ones that have been shortened.
 
Ive gotten to handle a Southard. It was VERY nice and a hell of a flipper but the knife is to thick for me to want to EDC. Ive got 2 ZT 0801's. The standard titanium original version flips fast and easily, the blackwashed 0801 fires like a rifle shot and is the fastest flipper I have ever seen yet its action does not seem forced in any way. Give it no wrist at all just pull/push the flipper tab and it fires all the way into lockup faster than even my Benchmade 2550. Still the Southard is indeed very nice. I have been reading though from time to time on Spydercos FB page about Southard buyers ending up unboxing Southards that have detent balls that are stuck and dont move? Idk...your Southard sounds very much the beast though
 
My bud FlatBlackCapo let me borrow his for awhile. It was a VERY nice knife. It felt decent in hand, and it flipped nicely. However, it didn't flip anywhere near as well as my ZT 0801, or 0562 do. The Southard is a neat design for sure, but I am not sure I'll buy one.
 
I am kind of a Spyderco junkie, but I've been really on the fence about the Southard. I think it is mainly the price that bugs me, but I guess I'm not all that excited about the design. I have a several of the Kershaw/ZT Hinderer flippers and maybe I'm just burned out on flippers. It seems like there have been a bunch of these FSOT on the forums lately, and that concerns me that the knife isn't living up to people's expectations. I'm sure I'll fall to the temptation to try one out sooner or later, though. :)
 
I think my next buy will be either the Southard or Emerson Journeyman. Only thing that makes me think twice on the spydie is I'm not into hollow grinds.
 
Hertz, Awesome pics, (2) bathing beauties there..... rpn, if you can forgive the hollow grind you will not be disappointed with the knife itself, IMO Please go to a retailer and feel one in hand...

Tiny D
 
It's a great knife, unfortunately I got a bit of a lemon when I traded for mine a year ago. Then again the previous owner might have screwed it up. I'm glad yours works well, how strong is your detent btw TinyDog?
 
I've had several Southards and sold them. Never carried one, but I really like them. I picked up a new black one that I will keep, just because it is such a nice design. I have been carrying a Southard AVO for several months, just because I like the Spyderco Southard so much. The AVO is a bit more "graceful" and works well with my casual EDC needs.
 
The Spyderco Southard is my favorite flipper. I tend to prefer thumb opening a blade to flipping open a blade. Also I m a steel junkie. Love the f and f of the knife and the size, but for some reason, I don t often edc it.
 
I don't usually like flippers, but Spyderco definitely does them right. Welcome to the club!
 
gosuto said:
It's a great knife, unfortunately I got a bit of a lemon when I traded for mine a year ago. Then again the previous owner might have screwed it up. I'm glad yours works well, how strong is your detent btw TinyDog?
Click to expand...

gosuto, The detent is perfect to me. It is not overly strong or weak. I stink at flipping but I can flip it with the spydie hole too
 
Well, this thread tempted me past my breaking point. I decided to pick one up and try it out. Should be here in a couple of days.
 
I didn't like anything about the Southard. It just didn't "speak" to me.....that is until I owned one. Now the only thing that I think can be improved upon is easier access to Spydie hole from lock side. I like everything else about the knife.
 
Just received new attire for the Southard from CuScaDi. Fell in love with this knife all over...

U4KCxEI.jpg


wvHeith.jpg


ztANno5.jpg


NFTrAOW.jpg


Awesome job by Luke @CuScaDi.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top