Stretch 2

C

c00per

Joined
May 13, 2007
Messages
391
Hi everybody,

I've been thinking long and hard about the stretch 2, with the carbon fiber and ZDP blade. Even though my birthday is aproaching and a certain young lady has offered to help with about half of the bill, as I am just a poor student its still an awful lot of money. About a hundred bucks would buy me alot of food!

I feel like I need that extra bit of convincing:). I'd love to hear how you all like the knife, I havent seen it discussed on these forums much lately. So does anybody here EDC the knife (Silly question, probably!)? Is there anything you do not like about it?

Thanks you guys and girls,
Matt.
 
Since it arrived in November, I've been alternating between mine and my STR customized VG-10 Stretch. The Stretch II holds its edge longer, but it also takes considerably longer to sharpen. The CF feels grippier than the Lignum Vitae, but I prefer look of wood over that of plastic, and besides the Stretch handle shape pretty well locks it in place in my hand anyway. I'm not a real fan of either "high end plastics" or "high end monochromatic steels", but I still carry the darn thing, that says a lot for it. And, even though my "master plan" calls for replacing its blade with one of Odin's Eye Damasteel and chucking the CF scales in favor of wood or stag between steel bolsters, if I had to live out my life with just two "off the shelf" Spyderco knives, the Stretch II would be one of them, that says even more for it.

Paul
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My Personal Website - - - - - - A Beginners Guide to Spyderco Collecting - - - - - - Kiwimania
Dead horses beaten, sacred cows tipped, chimeras hunted when time permits.
Spyderco Collector # 043 - - WTC # 1458 - 1504 - 1508 - Never Forget, Never Forgive!
It's easy to grin when your ship comes in and good fortune and fame are your lot, but the man worthwhile is the man who can smile with his shorts twsited up in a knot. - Morey Amsterdam
 
It sounds like a winner. I have a question about the ZDP steel, would I be able to sharpen on my shapton ceramic benchstones okay? Or would I be better off with diamonds?
 
The ceramics should work okay, but I've been using diamonds for almost all my sharpening for a long time, so I KNOW they will work. I was trying to maintain the edge on my Stretch II with just the Sharpmaker for as long as possible. As I suspected, that lasted until the first time it actually got dull, and after a brief effort with the Sharpmaker, it went on the diamonds, too.

I like the knife a lot. The grind is thin enough to make sharpening pretty easy (at least compared to my stock ZDP Endura), the whole knife is thin enough to ride easily in the pocket, weight is light enough that it doesn't pull your pants down, yet it feels substantial in hand. It's a good candidate for the "if you could have only one" Spyderco.
 
yablanowitz said:
It's a good candidate for the "if you could have only one" Spyderco.
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Thats good news because unless I can find a way to make a little extra on the side, its looking like I'm probably going to be in this situation for a little while:p.
I have an old diamond stone that should be fine for sharpening, its just not as fine as I would like.

Let me ask another question, I know its a good candidate, but would you rather have any other spydie if you could only have just one? What are you guys' personal favourites?
 
c00per said:
Thats good news because unless I can find a way to make a little extra on the side, its looking like I'm probably going to be in this situation for a little while:p.
I have an old diamond stone that should be fine for sharpening, its just not as fine as I would like.

Let me ask another question, I know its a good candidate, but would you rather have any other spydie if you could only have just one? What are you guys' personal favourites?
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I'll play :) I can't choose one but i'd pick from Stretch2, R2, Military BG42/S30V, PacificSalt or Endura4 VG10 ... all in plainedge ;)
 
If I had to live with two "off the rack" knives, it would be a CF Stretch and a Jigged Bone Kiwi, if I had to choose between them, much as I love my Kiwis, the Stretch is just too much more versatile not to pick it.

Couple shots of it...

cf_stretch_right_large.jpg


cf_stretch_closed_large.jpg

Paul
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My Personal Website - - - - - - A Beginners Guide to Spyderco Collecting - - - - - - Kiwimania
Dead horses beaten, sacred cows tipped, chimeras hunted when time permits.
Spyderco Collector # 043 - - WTC # 1458 - 1504 - 1508 - Never Forget, Never Forgive!
It's easy to grin when your ship comes in and good fortune and fame are your lot, but the man worthwhile is the man who can smile with his shorts twsited up in a knot. - Morey Amsterdam
 
Awesome, thanks alot, you just caused me to spend a couple hundred bucks today:mad::p!

Really though, thanks for all your help,

Matt.

BTW, nice pictures Paul!
 
Because the cost is a challenge at this point in your life, I think you'd be better off with something cheaper. A ton of the cost in the Stretch is for the carbon fiber handle. I don't think you get a lot of bang for your buck with CF, and a lot of people would prefer micarta or G10 or Ti or FRN.

It's hard to offer advice because you didn't say what you really need a knife for. ZDP 189 is a great steel, but you might not notice a lot of difference from other premium steels unless you really know knives.

If you need a big knife, you might look at the Military in S30V or the Paramilitary, also in S30V. If you need ZDP 189, you might consider the Calypso Jr in ZDP 189. It's a little smaller (2 7/8 blade) and has FRN handles. It's a laminate ZDP 189, versus the solid Stretch's ZDP 189, but I don't know any advantage to the solid. I like laminated blades. But best of all, it costs only $66, which leaves you money for a Sharpmaker, which you will want, and books and such which you need. Here's a link for the Caly Jr
http://www.knifeworks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=8958

EDIT: Your post came up while I was writing my now moot advice. You'll love the Stretch. Awesome knife. But for others who might still like the Caly Jr in ZDP:

DSC00923.jpg
 
c00per said:
What are you guys' personal favourites?
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It seems there is something I can really appreciate in most Spyderco knives, but right now I'm pretty chuffed with the D'Allaro. A real strong knife...good working blade shape and length, lovely feeling 3D grip ergos, super solid lockup...and such a smoooooth action. It's big...and wide, but it just feels so good in the hand, and works so well, I would have made a special pocket for it anyways. :)
 
Yeah, my girlfriend has the calypso junior with G10 and VG-10, I cant have the same knife as her:o. I also dont really like the FRN for some reason, just the feel and aesthetics are generally unappealing.
I'm all set for ceramic sharpening stones too. I also figure that I probably wont be happy untill I get the one that I want most, I figure if I get a different knife I'll only be looking at the stretch untill I can get it! I have some stuff I can sell and Kate (My girlfriend) is gona buy about half for my birthday (she wants to buy it all, but I wont let her!) thats coming up so its fine really I dont really buy much else appart from food and school books which are surprisingly cheep this semester.
 
I'm pretty chuffed with the D'Allaro.
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The D'allaro looks awesome, I'd love to try out a ball lock someday. I just wanted a full flat grind and something non-FRN.
 
I have the answer to all your Knife dreams, Go down to your local U.S Army Recruiting Center ask for the Big sign in Bonus! In some cases it is over $20,000.00

RickJ
 
I have a stretch II. It is a beautiful knife. I just don't have it in me to dirty it though so it has been sitting on my shelf with my other beauty queens :p I have it up for trade atm, but I do plan on buying 2 in the future (one to use one to look at :D )
 
RickJ said:
I have the answer to all your Knife dreams, Go down to your local U.S Army Recruiting Center ask for the Big sign in Bonus! In some cases it is over $20,000.00

RickJ
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Ouchie, dude asks about a knife and next thing he knows; he is dodging snipers in the Afghan mountains. :p
 
Does the Stretch II have full metal liners? If so, does that make it stronger than the CF Military?
 
Luckily, I've never had a problem with taking a beautiful mint condition knife out of its box and using it hard. As Sal said, to let it die in its box is to lose 75% of what they put into it. Only by putting it to use can you find the true beauty of a Spyderco knife.

I've never been one to play the "you can have only one" game, but my C44P&S Dyad would be picked over the Stretch. That way I don't have to choose which edge I want to carry, I have both to deal with tasks they are suited to.
 
Twindog said:
Does the Stretch II have full metal liners? If so, does that make it stronger than the CF Military?
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They are skeletonized to reduce weight. The blade is thinner and the CF scales are thinner than the Military. As for which is stronger, what are you going to do, use it for a crowbar? Either is plenty strong enough for anything suited to a knife.
 
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