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- Aug 27, 2004
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- 12,955
Not too long ago I acquired one of the new Spyderco Viele 2 (pronounced Vee Lee) folding knives.
This knife is perhaps one of the smoothest opening knives I've seen in a mass produced commercial knife. This knife is also surely one of the nicer offerings from Spyderco at this time. Usually you only see this kind of silky smoothness with high end customs.
The Blade steel of the Viele 2 is VG10. I have seen no mention from any of the dealers or from Spyderco as to the Rockwell hardness of the blade. I can only assume it is 58-60 like most of the competition. Whatever the hardness of the blade is it came hair popping sharp right out of the box. It has a plain edge which I believe is all that is offered on this particular knife. The blade has a very nice hollow grind to it and the Spyder hole is 11mm compared to the 14mm most Spyderco users are used to. Fortunately the silky smoothness when opening this knife blade allows the smaller hole to work just fine.
The knife is 3 and 7/8" closed, 6 and 3/4" open and sports a 2 and 7/8" blade. Overall it is just a bit smaller than the Viele 1.
Lock up on this knife is secure and solid.
My first impressions of this knife when I first opened it were that it was quite hefty. It is a bit more stout than most of the other Spydercos in my collection. Just a tad thicker also.
I must admit I was a bit disappointed personally that for the price of this knife it did not come with a tip up carry feature along with the tip down for the pocket clip. As it comes out of the box it has a tip down pocket clip mounted directly behind the adjustment screw for the pivot pin.
As a result of this clip placement the pocket clip must be removed to adjust the pivot pin tightness. On a scale of ten with ten being the highest I count this as a minus one. The clip could have been designed so the pivot could be adjusted by a simple access hole large enough for a phillips head screw driver to get through. They almost got that part right. You can get a smaller than needed phillips head into the existing hole in the clip but the motion of tightening or losening causes the side of the screwdriver to ding up the black finish on the clip. There is a hole already there in the pocket clip but it is off center and not large enough. As a result, if you wish to tighten or loosen the pivot pin without dinging the finish on the clip, the clip has to be removed, but on the bright side at least the Viele 2 has an adjustable pivot pin unlike it's predecessor.
I immediately took the G10 scale off of my knife after removing the pocket clip, two allen head set screws and pivot pin. Then I installed a small piece of titanium by inlaying it into the back side of the G10 handle scale to place my own handmade stainless steel pocket clip on the scale securely in a tip up fashion like I am used to with my Spyderco Delica. (See picture) Once I drilled and threaded the holes through both the G10 scale and the titanium inlay I had my own modification complete to fit the knife to my personal tastes. I am now in the process of finding some button head screws to fit the holes in the scale from the original pocket clip to give the knife a more esthetic look.
In my book and/or score this lack of an available tip up carry feature is another minus 1 bringing my new folder to an 8 on a scale of 10. In my opinion this could and should have been done at the factory. Especially when you consider that many of the less expensive Spyderco knives incorporate this feature already. Tip up or tip down carry option should be a given on the high end folders from everymaker in this buyers opinion but that is another story.
After using the knife and carrying it I became very aware that the G10 scale on the pocket clip side of the knife is very 'tacky'. It provides excellent grip for the fingers. The problem is that this tackyness plays against you by making it sometimes difficult to slide the knife back into you pocket to clip it back on after using it. The G10 scale wants to grab the inner lining of the pocket and at times it requires two hands to slide the knife back down. Not always, but sometimes. It can be tricky to get it to seat all the way down with one hand though mostly due to the tacky grip of the G10.
In reverse of this G10 tackyness, the Micarta side of the knife on the non clip side is very slick and smooth. In fact it is downright slippery. It provides very little help in the way of grip or tackyness when trying to extract the knife from your pocket although it is negotiable. The original clip that comes with the knife is quite stout and strong. It grabs the pocket very good so this slipperyness can be a problem if you need the knife out quickly and use the pocket clip that comes on the knife. This is especially true if your hands are wet or sweaty.
In this users opinion Spyderco and Mr. Viele put the scales on backwards for optimum use. It seems to me that the smooth slippery micarta scale should be on the pocket clip side to aid in making the knife slide right into place when putting it back on the pocket after use. It also seems to me to make better sense to put the nice tacky G10 scale on the non clip side or the 'thumb' side for easy sure grip extraction of the folder when you want to pull it off the pocket. Minus 1 here also on my score card.
So my rating of this folder is a score of 7 out of 10. Not bad but it could be better with a few simple changes in the clip design and the handle scale placement.
Overall I think Spyderco has a hit here even if my score brings it down three points. You do get a fine 'custom' level knife in a commercial package for a decent price. The knife fits the hand quite well and the thumb grooves on the back of the blade allow for sure grip there once the blade is out and opened in the using position.
Even still I'd like to see an option for tip up or tip down carry on future knives and I really think the scales should be swapped to make it far easier to clip on and extract from the pocket. The pivot pin adjustment is minor but could have been incorportated into the design with a little bit more thought put into it before production began.
Anyway, that is my take on it after getting to know it.
for better pictures check here http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=SP97BMP
This knife is perhaps one of the smoothest opening knives I've seen in a mass produced commercial knife. This knife is also surely one of the nicer offerings from Spyderco at this time. Usually you only see this kind of silky smoothness with high end customs.
The Blade steel of the Viele 2 is VG10. I have seen no mention from any of the dealers or from Spyderco as to the Rockwell hardness of the blade. I can only assume it is 58-60 like most of the competition. Whatever the hardness of the blade is it came hair popping sharp right out of the box. It has a plain edge which I believe is all that is offered on this particular knife. The blade has a very nice hollow grind to it and the Spyder hole is 11mm compared to the 14mm most Spyderco users are used to. Fortunately the silky smoothness when opening this knife blade allows the smaller hole to work just fine.
The knife is 3 and 7/8" closed, 6 and 3/4" open and sports a 2 and 7/8" blade. Overall it is just a bit smaller than the Viele 1.
Lock up on this knife is secure and solid.
My first impressions of this knife when I first opened it were that it was quite hefty. It is a bit more stout than most of the other Spydercos in my collection. Just a tad thicker also.
I must admit I was a bit disappointed personally that for the price of this knife it did not come with a tip up carry feature along with the tip down for the pocket clip. As it comes out of the box it has a tip down pocket clip mounted directly behind the adjustment screw for the pivot pin.
As a result of this clip placement the pocket clip must be removed to adjust the pivot pin tightness. On a scale of ten with ten being the highest I count this as a minus one. The clip could have been designed so the pivot could be adjusted by a simple access hole large enough for a phillips head screw driver to get through. They almost got that part right. You can get a smaller than needed phillips head into the existing hole in the clip but the motion of tightening or losening causes the side of the screwdriver to ding up the black finish on the clip. There is a hole already there in the pocket clip but it is off center and not large enough. As a result, if you wish to tighten or loosen the pivot pin without dinging the finish on the clip, the clip has to be removed, but on the bright side at least the Viele 2 has an adjustable pivot pin unlike it's predecessor.
I immediately took the G10 scale off of my knife after removing the pocket clip, two allen head set screws and pivot pin. Then I installed a small piece of titanium by inlaying it into the back side of the G10 handle scale to place my own handmade stainless steel pocket clip on the scale securely in a tip up fashion like I am used to with my Spyderco Delica. (See picture) Once I drilled and threaded the holes through both the G10 scale and the titanium inlay I had my own modification complete to fit the knife to my personal tastes. I am now in the process of finding some button head screws to fit the holes in the scale from the original pocket clip to give the knife a more esthetic look.
In my book and/or score this lack of an available tip up carry feature is another minus 1 bringing my new folder to an 8 on a scale of 10. In my opinion this could and should have been done at the factory. Especially when you consider that many of the less expensive Spyderco knives incorporate this feature already. Tip up or tip down carry option should be a given on the high end folders from everymaker in this buyers opinion but that is another story.
After using the knife and carrying it I became very aware that the G10 scale on the pocket clip side of the knife is very 'tacky'. It provides excellent grip for the fingers. The problem is that this tackyness plays against you by making it sometimes difficult to slide the knife back into you pocket to clip it back on after using it. The G10 scale wants to grab the inner lining of the pocket and at times it requires two hands to slide the knife back down. Not always, but sometimes. It can be tricky to get it to seat all the way down with one hand though mostly due to the tacky grip of the G10.
In reverse of this G10 tackyness, the Micarta side of the knife on the non clip side is very slick and smooth. In fact it is downright slippery. It provides very little help in the way of grip or tackyness when trying to extract the knife from your pocket although it is negotiable. The original clip that comes with the knife is quite stout and strong. It grabs the pocket very good so this slipperyness can be a problem if you need the knife out quickly and use the pocket clip that comes on the knife. This is especially true if your hands are wet or sweaty.
In this users opinion Spyderco and Mr. Viele put the scales on backwards for optimum use. It seems to me that the smooth slippery micarta scale should be on the pocket clip side to aid in making the knife slide right into place when putting it back on the pocket after use. It also seems to me to make better sense to put the nice tacky G10 scale on the non clip side or the 'thumb' side for easy sure grip extraction of the folder when you want to pull it off the pocket. Minus 1 here also on my score card.
So my rating of this folder is a score of 7 out of 10. Not bad but it could be better with a few simple changes in the clip design and the handle scale placement.
Overall I think Spyderco has a hit here even if my score brings it down three points. You do get a fine 'custom' level knife in a commercial package for a decent price. The knife fits the hand quite well and the thumb grooves on the back of the blade allow for sure grip there once the blade is out and opened in the using position.
Even still I'd like to see an option for tip up or tip down carry on future knives and I really think the scales should be swapped to make it far easier to clip on and extract from the pocket. The pivot pin adjustment is minor but could have been incorportated into the design with a little bit more thought put into it before production began.
Anyway, that is my take on it after getting to know it.
for better pictures check here http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=SP97BMP
