Hey all, I know these knives are super common and you've all probably heard more than enough (and/or more than you want to hear!) about these knives. But I got them a while ago, and I'm excited, so I thought I'd post a review, and also compare the two.
To give you some background, the knife that I had been carrying and using before these two was a kabar folder. It was nice and usable for what it was, but it doesn't compare to the quality of these knives. In general, I'm really really happy about this purchase.
Blade
The steel on these two blades are fairly comparable, with the Spyderco using 8Cr13MOV and the Kershaw with the Sandvik 13C26. Both knives came shaving sharp out of the box, and push cutting paper was easy. The edge retention on both knives are roughly the same, and both are better than my kabar, which had DIN 1.4116. I don't use knives under wet conditions, so I couldn't say anything about corrosion resistance. The shapes of both knives are very usable, both are FFG, and the curvature of the blades makes cutting easy. The cutting edges of both knives are actually about the same size, despite the kershaw officially being 3.75 inches and the Spyderco being 3 3/8. Since the kershaw has a small choil on the blade, they probably measured the entire exposed blade, not just the sharpened edge. It looks like the blade stock on the Tenacious is thicker, so I feel like it may be a tougher knife.
Ergonomics
Both handle shapes are comfortable. The Spyderco handle is nice and grippy, because the G10 is nicely textured. The clip is firm but not too stiff, and holds well in the pocket. I've been carrying both of these knives tip down, because I have no need for "quick deployment" or anything else tacticool, really, and I find that tip down carry gives me the most comfortable grip on the knife. The Spyderco does have a purposeful thumb ramp and jimping, but I think that if I were using the knife hard enough to warrant its necessity, I would probably be using a fixed blade.
The Cyclone is very nice in the hand. The aluminum handles are smooth, but the shape of the knife gives grip. I do find that the liner lock on the cyclone is far more difficult to operate since there is not a cutout on the top scale like there is on the Spyderco, that's a feature I like.
Lock + Opening
This is my first spyderco, and to be honest, I didn't used to like the spyderhole. Just looking at it, I didn't think that it would be good for ease of opening. Well consider me a convert. The spyderhole is an amazingly simple and functional design. The phosphor bronze bushings make it very easy to flick out. But also, the hole lets the blade be opened smoothly and slowly, good for the sheeple. I also just like the general look of this knife. The gleaming steel liners are just sexy. The liner lock on the Tenacious looks sturdy, and pretty much all of the liner makes contact with the edge of the blade. I don't know what it would take for this lock to fail, and I don't intend to find out. I treat locks like safety mechanisms anyway. The lock has a tiny hint of horizontal play, but I'm not bothered since it's an easy fix. I don't like how on the Tenacious, there is a small space between the liner and the G10 scales, because it allows the leaf spring to be pushed pass the rest of the steel liner. I mean, I see why they did it, but I don't like it, because I don't want the possibility of hyper extending the spring. I don't think it'll be a problem though. The blade doesn't sit quite center in the handle when it's closed, but that's reasonable, with the force of the leaf spring pushing on the blade.
The Kershaw Cyclone has the speedsafe mechanism, and so it opens quickly and easily, with the flipper or with the thumb stud. The cyclone does look like it also has the phosphor bronze bushings, not that it matters since it's assisted. I can feel, however, that it's not as smoothly sliding as the spyderco when I close it. The liner lock is fine, and engages almost fully. There is no play at all in the blade. The blade is also off center in the handle, but it's a bit weird, because it's off center TOWARDS the leaf spring, in the direction you wouldn't expect it to be. In any case, the lockup on this knife is good, and it comes out fast.
Comments
When I got both of these knives, I definitely thought I'd be playing with the Cyclone more. The speedsafe is super cool, and I do love it. The Cyclone opens with an authoritative and metallic clunk, and it feels excellent. But to be honest, I find myself handling and just playing with my Tenacious a lot more. Both are nice EDC options for me, and in that role, they generally just open things and other day to day tasks. The only other application, I'd say, for these knives is for the summer, when I hike and backpack a lot. In that role, I'd probably take the Tenacious along, since it's lighter and doesn't have that complexity of the speedsafe mechanism. Speaking of lightness, I realize that the Cyclone is pretty heavy. It doesn't usually bother me, since I'm not carrying that many things on my person on a daily basis. Anyway, good knife, fun to play with, happy with my purchase. The end.
But actually,
THE CURSE OF THE TENACIOUS
So, you guys know how both cutlerylover and nutnfancy got cut by their knives? After watching those, I was just like, haha, sucks for you. I figured I might get cut one time or another, it just comes with the territory of playing with knives. But seriously, I got cut on the FIRST DAY of having the tenacious. Just my luck right?
To give you some background, the knife that I had been carrying and using before these two was a kabar folder. It was nice and usable for what it was, but it doesn't compare to the quality of these knives. In general, I'm really really happy about this purchase.
Blade
The steel on these two blades are fairly comparable, with the Spyderco using 8Cr13MOV and the Kershaw with the Sandvik 13C26. Both knives came shaving sharp out of the box, and push cutting paper was easy. The edge retention on both knives are roughly the same, and both are better than my kabar, which had DIN 1.4116. I don't use knives under wet conditions, so I couldn't say anything about corrosion resistance. The shapes of both knives are very usable, both are FFG, and the curvature of the blades makes cutting easy. The cutting edges of both knives are actually about the same size, despite the kershaw officially being 3.75 inches and the Spyderco being 3 3/8. Since the kershaw has a small choil on the blade, they probably measured the entire exposed blade, not just the sharpened edge. It looks like the blade stock on the Tenacious is thicker, so I feel like it may be a tougher knife.
Ergonomics
Both handle shapes are comfortable. The Spyderco handle is nice and grippy, because the G10 is nicely textured. The clip is firm but not too stiff, and holds well in the pocket. I've been carrying both of these knives tip down, because I have no need for "quick deployment" or anything else tacticool, really, and I find that tip down carry gives me the most comfortable grip on the knife. The Spyderco does have a purposeful thumb ramp and jimping, but I think that if I were using the knife hard enough to warrant its necessity, I would probably be using a fixed blade.
The Cyclone is very nice in the hand. The aluminum handles are smooth, but the shape of the knife gives grip. I do find that the liner lock on the cyclone is far more difficult to operate since there is not a cutout on the top scale like there is on the Spyderco, that's a feature I like.
Lock + Opening
This is my first spyderco, and to be honest, I didn't used to like the spyderhole. Just looking at it, I didn't think that it would be good for ease of opening. Well consider me a convert. The spyderhole is an amazingly simple and functional design. The phosphor bronze bushings make it very easy to flick out. But also, the hole lets the blade be opened smoothly and slowly, good for the sheeple. I also just like the general look of this knife. The gleaming steel liners are just sexy. The liner lock on the Tenacious looks sturdy, and pretty much all of the liner makes contact with the edge of the blade. I don't know what it would take for this lock to fail, and I don't intend to find out. I treat locks like safety mechanisms anyway. The lock has a tiny hint of horizontal play, but I'm not bothered since it's an easy fix. I don't like how on the Tenacious, there is a small space between the liner and the G10 scales, because it allows the leaf spring to be pushed pass the rest of the steel liner. I mean, I see why they did it, but I don't like it, because I don't want the possibility of hyper extending the spring. I don't think it'll be a problem though. The blade doesn't sit quite center in the handle when it's closed, but that's reasonable, with the force of the leaf spring pushing on the blade.
The Kershaw Cyclone has the speedsafe mechanism, and so it opens quickly and easily, with the flipper or with the thumb stud. The cyclone does look like it also has the phosphor bronze bushings, not that it matters since it's assisted. I can feel, however, that it's not as smoothly sliding as the spyderco when I close it. The liner lock is fine, and engages almost fully. There is no play at all in the blade. The blade is also off center in the handle, but it's a bit weird, because it's off center TOWARDS the leaf spring, in the direction you wouldn't expect it to be. In any case, the lockup on this knife is good, and it comes out fast.
Comments
When I got both of these knives, I definitely thought I'd be playing with the Cyclone more. The speedsafe is super cool, and I do love it. The Cyclone opens with an authoritative and metallic clunk, and it feels excellent. But to be honest, I find myself handling and just playing with my Tenacious a lot more. Both are nice EDC options for me, and in that role, they generally just open things and other day to day tasks. The only other application, I'd say, for these knives is for the summer, when I hike and backpack a lot. In that role, I'd probably take the Tenacious along, since it's lighter and doesn't have that complexity of the speedsafe mechanism. Speaking of lightness, I realize that the Cyclone is pretty heavy. It doesn't usually bother me, since I'm not carrying that many things on my person on a daily basis. Anyway, good knife, fun to play with, happy with my purchase. The end.
But actually,
THE CURSE OF THE TENACIOUS
So, you guys know how both cutlerylover and nutnfancy got cut by their knives? After watching those, I was just like, haha, sucks for you. I figured I might get cut one time or another, it just comes with the territory of playing with knives. But seriously, I got cut on the FIRST DAY of having the tenacious. Just my luck right?
