Spyderco User

Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
340
Over the years I've had probably 8 different Spydies, everything from a Cricket and Dragon Fly to a Shabaria. Everytime I end up selling/trading them cuz they just don't fill a niche for me. The closest I've come to finding one that I like was the SS Police, but still never ended up keeping one for very long. Right now I carry and use a Strider RC, Mayo Dr. Death, SMF, MT Vector, WH auto lancett and a Draper Cowgirl, but would sorta like to give Spyderco another shot. There's no limit as to what I can carry even at work and whatever knife it is, there's no telling what it'll have to cut. Anything from string/rope, branches, plastic and cardboard to dead animals. Instead of hitting or missing on my own, I figured I'd come here and get some more experienced suggestions...
 
Manix for heavy duty chores, if you can put up with it being wide and heavy in the pocket. It cuts great, and you will need to do something really stupid to ever hurt it. My personal EDC user right now is an R2. It's light, thin, and cuts like hell with it's flat ground 3.5" blade. It isn't nearly as strong as the Manix, but it disappears from thought in your pocket and it's cutting ability makes it a joy to use.
 
I like the Native I. I had one and traded it and ended up buying a replacement. This one was not ground properly on one side. I had to re-profile it on the Sharpmaker (a pain). Now it is back to normal. It opens easily with one hand and has a strong convenient blade shape. I have tried all of the Natives and this one has the best blade, thickness and ease of opening for me.
Jim
 
Its obviously been a quite awhile since I've looked at Spydies, I can't believe the new (at least to me) models they've put out. Went to New Graham and it looks like I'll have 3 new ones to try out soon. Hopefully I'll have a keeper or two (or three) out of them. I'll let everyone know my impressions of them after I get 'em.

By the way, I'm ordering a Spur, Spyker and a Mini Persian.
 
I would get a waved Endura before any of the others listed - if it is a user. I may consider the mini Manix.
 
You only waited an hour to get opinions from the forumites... I'd have waited longer. You might have had some valuable input on the models you were considering. It's not like ordering them now, on a labor day Sunday, would get them sooner had you waited until tomorrow evening, or even tuesday morning...

I too, would have selected different models than the ones you did. Not sure of your tastes, but you did say you were lookling for a daily use/carry knife?

I'd have voted for a mini or full sized Manix. If size/weight were issues, I'd vote for a Native. I use this every day at work, and find it reliable and count on it for LE use. Best of luck....
 
The reason I avoided the Manix is that I've pretty much got that covered with the Striders (RC & SMF). Yes I should've waited a bit longer (probably, quite a bit longer) but was so impressed with what I saw that I went into a minor buying frenzy...Plus I wanted to try something completely different than the types of models that I've previously tried, so hopefully the models I've selected will fit my parameters.
 
I'd recommend a Calypso Jr in ZDP-189 if you can find one, otherwise a Delica 4 with a plain edge blade works well.
 
Blade Junky said:
By the way, I'm ordering a Spur, Spyker and a Mini Persian.

Those are great knives. I have trouble bringing myself to use my Spyker much. It just looks too great! I'm sure you'll love them. As are the recommendations you got here. Ultimately, the choice for EDC is very personal and most of us are on a non-ending quest. I treat it as a process :rolleyes: Right now I alternate between two ZDP models (I LOVE the edge I get with that steel) the Caly Jr and the D4. Those are my cutters but there's usually a Mili or a Chinook II somewhere nearby, should I need it (even a Micarta Baby Goddard on the keychain).

And as to the rec you wait for more advice, why wait? If you read about something you didn't order, just buy another one;) If you order today, they will all get there at the same time!

Enjoy your new knives,

Ken
 
The only reason I mentioned waiting... Well, was he ASKED for our advice, then immediately went and ordered three knives anyway. Not that people don't have the right to do what we want, but then why ask us, lol... Seemed silly. Especially with it being a holiday weekend and the fact it would take the same amount of time to ship, even if he'd waited a day or two.

Anyway... Enjoy the new knives.
 
"Spur, Spyker and a Mini Persian."

Those are stange choices but everyone has different tastes.

It looks like you got two medium sized knives and one full sized (Spyker). I had the Spyker and it is a good knife that cuts well with the recurve blade. It was not my style however.

If I were going to get three that were sort of like the ones you got, I would have chosen different models.
Instead of the Spyker, I would have got a CF Military (about the same price).
Instead of the Mini Persian, I would have got the R-2 (a little cheaper)
Instead of the Spur, I would have got the Delica 4. (cheaper as well).

You could have saved yourself some money and got what I think are better knives. That being said, the knife you chose are all well made, they are just not my style. If you like that style, the knives I like may not be as good for you.

In any case, you really can't get a bad Spyderco very often. You may run across one that you really don't like but you are not going to find three that you hate all at once.
 
I've never hated any of the Spyderco's that I've had, I just never carried them and they always disappeared in a trade. The reason for the Spyker is that I've always liked Kershaws (although, like Spydies, they always end up getting traded) and figured a collab like this was worth checking out. Although I'm pretty sure that after trying it I'll probably trade it. The two I'm really interested in as far as a usable keeper are the Spur and the Persian. Hopefully one of the two will fit in, size wise and usability wise, between my WH and Mayo. For my own personal taste I despise FRN, no matter how practical it is. I prefer some weight to a knife, but not really to fond of straight SS handles either, so hopefully the Spur will be a good compromise. And yes I debated about the R2 and had it on my list till I found out how much my total was, which is probably where it would've been worth waiting a bit before ordering.
 
You can't really go wrong with a Delica or Endura 4, depending on your blade length needs.

I've already used mine for everything from cutting rubber hose for my motorcycle, to cutting raw steak/chicken when cooking, to prying open paint cans (yes I know, not recommended, but I use my knives).

VG10 is still holding an edge and doesn't really need to be cleaned up yet. Even after using the knife to cut food on a ceramic plate, which is usually a no-no.
 
Military would have been my recommendation.
Or, a Flat Iron Folder (anybody else have one of those?) :cool:
 
Got 'em this evening. I'm suitably impressed with several of them and slightly disapointed in one of them. I'm really impressed with the Chinook (a last minute deal) and the Mini Persian, the Spur is about what I expected (still a good knife though) and I'm slightly disapointed in the Spyker. The Spyker has great ergo's with the extremely comfortable handle, but just sorta feels cheap (maybe a bit too light, but I'm not sure if thats it or not). Out of these four the Persian will definitely get some carry time, maybe the Chinook will too, the other two will probably be trade fodder. Overall I'm impressed with the new selections. They're well made, comfortable to use (haven't had too much use yet, but I'm working on it) and they're more than reasonably priced. I'm not a total Spyderco convert but I'm definitely starting to change my attitude.
 
For me there is only one real true do it all knife :)

I would have recommended the Delica 3/SE:thumbup:
 
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