spyderco temperance as a bushcraft knife

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laurens

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Apr 28, 2006
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I'm thinking of getting a spyderco temperance to use as a bushcraft knife and perhaps in the kitchen too. My main concern is the dropped handle how does it affect the knifes ability to carve for example, Does the dropped handle cause any other problems?.
 
Cliff stamp has a review of the blade I think. What might be a concern to me is the thin tip of the blade may not be able to perform certain Bushcrafting tasks. The handle might be uncomfortable or awkward for some tasks, but that's just my opinion. I'm sure others wouldn't see it that way.
 
temper i wanted to try a high flat grind im starting to find them much easier to sharpen in folders and im eagar to try a flat ground fixed blade.I have plenty of scandi ground knives and my f1 is convex.Having said that the kellem wolverine has a high sabre Grind ,does anyone know how the carbon steel in the wolverine rc 63 would comapre to the temperance 59-60 vg10 in edge holding and toughness.
 
Can't help with the comparison, but wanted to ask if that wolverine is tough to sharpen? Chip easy?

If you have a Mora, you already got the perfect bushcraft knife.:D
 
longbow50 said:
What might be a concern to me is the thin tip of the blade may not be able to perform certain Bushcrafting tasks.
Click to expand...

It doesn't have a lot of material there and VG-10, like more high carbide stainless, isn't a steel you want to be bending a lot. For perspective :



That is the tip taper of a Temperance and Roselli puukko, this puukko to be specific :



and a top shot :



The handle might be uncomfortable or awkward for some tasks ...
Click to expand...

The holes tend to be annoying, but nothing serious, sort of like that one mosquito that buzzes around your head when you try to go asleep, not the cloud that lands on you when the trout finally start biting. However for a lot of carving you are working up around the blade, often with a sideways grip on the blade and thus puts the guard into the palm, of the thumb wraps around the front of the handle, or the index finger is in the choil.

For all of these grips the Roselli handle is way superior as it lacks any square or sharp edges and you tend to be more comfortable in a wider variety of grips - though lacking security in very dynamic cutting. Now again the Temperance isn't bad in forward ergonomics like the boxy grips on Strider knives or the really pointy grip on the Reeve Green Beret, but the Roselli is improved. I would call one solid and the other exceptional/ideal.

The Temperance does however has a large increase in cutting ability and ease of sharpening due to the difference in the primary grind. The puukko also has a large secondary bevel due to user sharpening, so comparing them at the current profile is a significant advantage to the Temperance. I'll be removing this shortly and doing some work to compare them with the profiles closer to stock for each. The puukko is of course much stronger and tougher due to much more steel in the blade and an inherently tougher steel.

In general, coarse and high carbide steels like VG-10 are not ideal for wood working. Such steels are optomized for low grit edges and keeping an aggressive slicing edge on abrasive media like cardboard and carpet. You don't saw with a knife on woods and thus you want the opposite in a steel, the ability to retain a high polish. In general the scandinavian knives use much more optimal steels for such work, the Sandivk stainless steels and low alloy bandsaw / carbon steels. The HSS's are also a very good choice if you eliminate any prying/impact work.

I updated the review of the Temperance with a lot of wood working recently. It does very well for that type of knife, modern / high carbide stainless, and it is many to one more efficient over the glut of "tactical" blades. For most wood work though you would want a more neutral shaped handle not one which indexed so highly in specific grips, and a blade which is more narrow to make it easier to turn. I'd take something like a Deerhunter for most carving wood working, but the Temperance has enough chopping ability to make it more attractive for a "one knife" viewpoint.

I am working through an evaluation of the Roselli puukko currently and besides wood work will do food prep and utility work and edge holding on several media. In regards to the very high HRC on some of the carbon steels, they are actually optomized at that hardness assuming heat treated right anyway.

-Cliff
 
It works well for that type of use but no it isn't what I would ideally pick for it either. It is more of a utility/tactical, but not as extreme as most of the current market. It is unfortunate that stainless is so dominate on the north american market, especially the high carbide versions. The heavy tactical influence doesn't do much for trying to find cutting tools either.

The Wolverine looks nice, I like the idea of a differential temper but find the promotion a bit off putting. It is hard to claim that selective hardening is revolutionary in carbon steels. It is also too bad they gave such names to some of the knives. Calling a outdoor/wood craft knife the "Slasher" is kind of problematic considering some of the stupid restrictions on knives as weapons.

Thanks for the link to the review, I would not have assumed there would be problems with the knife durability wise, there certainly should not be given the amount of steel. There is certainly a lot more metal in the blade than is necessary for a cutting tool and as well the larger leuko's are made out of the exact same steel which raises concerns. This one isn't mine so I'll just keep the work light, thanks for the link.

-Cliff
 
From what I understand, the Temp. has the same profile and grind as the Manix and that thing carves like a house on fire for me. I really like that flat grind for general woodwork.

I can't comment on the steel, s30-v on the Manix and I have never had anything in VG-10.
 
Yes, they cut wood very well, most of the Spyderco's do that efficiently. The Manix is very nice for a folder for general wood work as it is heavy enough for functional chopping (boughs and small saplings) and can be used for significant prying in splitting, taking care not to load the tip.

-Cliff
 
laurens said:
temper i wanted to try a high flat grind im starting to find them much easier to sharpen in folders and im eagar to try a flat ground fixed blade.I have plenty of scandi ground knives and my f1 is convex.Having said that the kellem wolverine has a high sabre Grind ,does anyone know how the carbon steel in the wolverine rc 63 would comapre to the temperance 59-60 vg10 in edge holding and toughness.
Click to expand...

If you want to try a high flat grind, try the Doug Ritter RSK Mk3.
Is is CPM S30V and so far, I am liking it quite a bit...
 
Concerning the Temperance, I recently did some light work with it and the Roselli. No real difference in splitting ability, this was light about 50 impacts per knife, just wrist to go through the wood. It was all full of knots and no way to avoid having to cut right through them. With the Ratweiler it was only 5 impacts, full force from the shoulder.



For finer splitting again the two knives were near identical. The Ratweiler was actually behind here because you don't need the strength any more and it is just heavier and more awkward for the precision work. After this though I could notice the Temperance being less comfortable in hand. Neither it nor the Roselli are balanced properly to take impacts in the tip so the feedback is significant for both of them. However the Roselli grip fills the hand better and thus the force is better distributed.



Shaving the sticks is hard as they are full of knots and trying to power though the knots and still keep the shavings on the wood is difficult. Again no real cutting difference but the Roselli is way more comfortable in hand as the index finger in the choil of the Temperance and the hump pressed into the flesh between the thumb and index finger are less than ideal.



The wood was all wet, we had 15 mm of rain the day before so I actually shaved it all down to small pieces to make it easier to burn and of course the shavings burn much better still. Again no real difference in the knives aside from ergonomics.



To actually start the fire I used grass bundles, the bottom of the grass is wet so it was lopped off on top with the knives. I tied them together using some cord you can peel right off the side of local weeds. It is pretty weak but will easily tie the grass into little logs. The Ratweiler is faster chopping through the grass, but it is kind of dangerous to do this while you are holding onto it. Not what I would advocate but something I do.



These can be stacked and if you roll them tight won't flare up as much as when it is loose and thus you get a more sustained flame. I picked that up from Davenport.



End product :



-Cliff
 
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