Review Spydiechef-1 Year Test

[Havels]

Hi everyone. This is gonna be a long post, but I think some of you might be interested in my test.

I was an avid knife collector for a while until finally, I decided out of the blue to become a 1 knife guy. It was rough, as you may imagine. Out of all my knives, 4 were contending for the pick: my large Inkosi, Slysz Bowie, Boos Blades Smoke, and the Spydiechef. In the end, I decided on the Spydiechef. It really grew on me, so I sold the rest, cried some more, and moved on.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9mc3ai5qqz12q84/Photo Feb 07, 10 21 31 AM.jpg?dl=0

I decided to test this knife in a number of ways. But the main thing I wanted to find out was how durable is the titanium Reeve integral lock. Everyone always express concerns about titanium on steel. And even though I’ve never heard of a Sabenza having lock problems because of wear, everyone is all crazy in lockbar inserts and over travel stops and such.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2u41h9hwon4nub/Photo Feb 07, 9 47 28 AM.jpg?dl=0

So for the main attraction. For a straight year now, I have been deploying my Spydiechef. I have no measurement of the actual times I’ve done it. But I can tell you, on every drive to work (30 mins round trip) I have been flicking this knife open and close constantly. It’s like my fidget toy while I drive. Imagine that one knife, 5 times a week, 30mins per day. That’s a lot of deployments. And that’s not including playing with it at home. I thumb flicked, I wrist flicked, I spydie flicked, I rolled the blade out, I did it all.

The lock bar face is cabidized or carburized. Not sure which one but spyderco did treat it. I used no graphite or sharpie to prevent lockstick. I can tell you that after the lockstick went away when it was first bought, it never came back.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxhupq4i1nufblt/Photo Feb 07, 9 52 56 AM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l21cmvrkyi4215g/Photo Feb 07, 9 53 36 AM.jpg?dl=0

As you can see, the lock bar shows significant wear clearly where it interfaces with the blade. However this has not affected the knife in anyway at all from what I can tell. There is zero lock rock, no side to side play, and still perfectly centered. What’s even more surprising is that the position of the lock has not moved at all despite the wear it has taken. The knife came new with 80-90% lock up, and that’s where the lock up still is. And being as thin as this lock bar is, I never pushed it too far over to compromise the tension, and I did not baby the knife.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dzsso7pnbt6tg9e/Photo Feb 07, 10 15 47 AM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/15hllk999icu69a/Photo Feb 07, 10 15 55 AM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/em8o7089ra2texq/Photo Feb 07, 10 16 14 AM.jpg?dl=0

So after a year of flicking this knife a gazillion times, you couldn’t even tell. It could be that spyderco did an amazing job engineering this, could be that the titanium on steel RIL is not a problem in terms of the durability of the lock, or could be that 20 years down the line it will wear enough to be compromising.

LC200N steel is an amazing steel. I decided to sharpen my Spydiechef with a 17 degree bevel per side and a 20 degree micro bevel, mirror polished, and this thing sliced like a demon. And the steel can handle that steeper angle very well. I would rank this steel slightly above S35VN in my experience. And with it being rust proof, it can’t be beat.

As you can see here, the stop pin created a mark or groove where it hits the blade both at the back of the tang and also the bottom when it’s closed. None of this has compromised the knife in anyway, at least not yet.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p0p9o8qvq7cu4zj/Photo Feb 07, 9 50 12 AM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3vvspiu3veo3v3l/Photo Feb 07, 9 50 33 AM.jpg?dl=0

The stop pin and pivot are actually in really good condition, no surprises there.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxal91yrq3y2y4a/Photo Feb 07, 9 58 03 AM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jsirfnd679ukt7d/Photo Feb 07, 9 57 52 AM.jpg?dl=0

The bronze washers are also look good.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/23bl8e7tqngilq3/Photo Feb 07, 9 58 34 AM.jpg?dl=0

Now for the detent cut out. Not sure if you can see this well, but at the edge of the hole where the detent ball hops in and out, there is a very shallow ramp that has formed. I’m unsure if overtime, more wear there would affect this knife’s detent, but as of now, I cannot tell if there is any negative impact.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mbhmom4c9csr1qa/Photo Feb 07, 9 59 35 AM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ph38o1iwze0qv5g/Photo Feb 07, 9 54 07 AM.jpg?dl=0

The knife handle feels much more slippery than when it was new. Probably due to just wear overtime being in contact with my hands constantly causing it to smooth out. I wish this knife got the type of features that the slysz bowie got, like the stonewashed polished blade, contoured scales, crowned blade, ect.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uztv1ogklo54kh0/Photo Feb 07, 10 16 51 AM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cwiwxezuwoklzwt/Photo Feb 07, 10 17 41 AM.jpg?dl=0

Something really disappointing, and a disadvantage to having the wire clip is that it creates marks where the clip contacts the scale. The wire clip wiggles, so it has wiggled in these tracks on the scale. Not pleasant sight to be honest.

I’m really impressed by the Spydiechef and I think I made the right choice for choosing it as my one and only knife. From now and onward, I think I will continue to test this knife to see how long it takes to wear out that lockbar. Besides, I’ve done this so long in my commutes that it feels wrong not to have it flicking there in my right hand while I drive.

If you’ve made it to the end of this long post, I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. And if even one person found this interesting and learned anything from this, this it was worth it.

 

[Rusty_shackelford]

Heck of a first post.
Thanks for the write up.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

Great post.

 

[NJBillK]

Thanks for the post, this just reinforces my belief that I need a Spydiechef.

 

[f1addict]

Great post.

 

[Leftytwogunz]

Thanks for the interesting write up with the pictures. Welcome to the forum.

 

[tmcowling23]

I'm just glad to find out I'm not the only one that constantly flips a knife open and closed while driving lol

 

[Danke42]

Yeah it is a very nice knife that is much better in hand than the pictures let on and has gotten much more daily carry and use than I expected.

I do cut a lot of food with it for prep and the blade is very easy to keep sharp with a sharpmaker. I always give pause when looking at a super steel because if I can't maintain it myself then that's a real black mark in my books.

 

[DJC72]

Great post and thanks for your time. A few random thoughts....Lc200N is the best kept secret in the knife world. I am surprised more knife companies don’t use it more in folders. It’s edge retention is on par with S35vn or better as you stated and rust will never be a problem.

Should a lock bar be properly treated no steel insert is needed. While they are a nice addition, many feel as if they are this huge upgrade. Spyderco makes a wonderful RIL and I wish they would add more to their line up.

 

[DelialFallen]

Great post. That’s a very gutsy thing to try!

Keep us posted.

 

[Officer's Match]

Welcome, and mega-thanks for this excellent post/thread. Much of interest to me. I too wish for a SB-ized SpydieChef - radiused and "stone-polished" scales. As for the detent track in the tang, I suspect that "mating" of the ball and tang will promote a long life for the detent ball since the contact area is now more spread out. I have had flattened detent bearings on Spydies before, the most recent being on a Southard (also Taichung produced).

 

[RipD]

Excellent post. I always like reading how and why somebody chooses one knife over another, what works for them and what doesn't. I helps us all consider what we want and let's us see how they perform long term. I'm too often sucked in by how an knife looks only to be disappointed by the feel when I get it.

I'm very sure I need to get my hands on a Spydie Chef. I believe all the reviews about the quality of the Slysz. Despite not being able to find one, it's a little too large for me to EDC. Hoping Spydie makes a slightly smaller knife with contoured Ti scales in the future.

 

[BD_01]

Another ‘thank you’ for this post and the macro photography. The detent wear looks more than I expected, but perhaps it’s less pronounced in person. Regardless, your post confirms my desire to pick up a SpydieChef. It seems like it would be an excellent fishing knife for a guy that enjoys premium cutlery.

A few questions: how abrupt/sharp is the blade spine and Spydie hole?

 

[Danke42]

The bevel and hole feel like 90s. If I flick my finger across I can feel the sharp transition.

Never caused an issue in use so no sharp burr.

 

[kniferbro]

I found similar results when I was carrying my Slysz Bowie (almost exclusively for around a year). The lockbar initially wore, then all movement stopped.

FYI, the lock bar is carburized, which is a heat treating process, as opposed to being carbidized which involves using a carbidizer to deposit a layer of carbide on a substrate. CRK also carburizes their titanium RILs, and is why you rarely hear of a CRK wearing out the lock bar.

 

[NorseVet]

Thanks a lot for the review. I carry the Spydiechef a great deal since I live right next to the ocean.

Knowing it can take the use gives me a lot of confidence in a knife I enjoy a lot.

 

[NJBillK]

I'm just glad to find out I'm not the only one that constantly flips a knife open and closed while driving lol

I have a few times, but I always end up thinking that I don't want a Very sharp knife bouncing around the interior of my car in, if I happen to get into an accident.