Syderco Yojimbo or Ronin Comments?

H

highvalleyranch

Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Messages
31
Been thinking about getting one of the Sypderco
Ronin or Yojimbo knives.
What is the width (top to bottom, not thickness) of the fat part of the blade, and what is the thickness of the closed knife. These two dimensions are not given.
Do any of you have experience or comments on these?
I'm fascinated by their design.
I like the hawk bill blade concept of the harpies and civillian, but this other blade looks like a nice compromise.

The original prototype for the Yojimbo looked more like the ronin than the present one they finally produced. The blade was longer and the lines more lik the Ronin.
The newer production of the Yojimbo has a shorter blade and is not exactly like the Ronin, which I consider to have cleaner lines.
But fixed blade carry is not as easy in CA, especially in the winter where your coat might accidentally cover the sheath.
 
highvalleyranch, I would refer you to the Spyderco sub-forum, or Spyderco's own forum on their own website.

That said, I own both of these blades, but my experience with them is limited. They are both designed for essentially the same technique(s). I believe the designer of both, Mr. Michael Janich, bases much of his modality on the "defanging the snake" technique, that is, destroy your attacker's weapon hand or arm, and then beat feet ASAP. He proposes long, deep slashes to achieve this end. Both knives are very impressive in their execution of this slashing. On Spyderco's own forum, a member has conducted extensive tests on slabs of meat and measured the length and depth of the cut provided by several types of Spyderco knife. The Ronin and Yojimbo consistently provide the most spectacular results, despite their short blades.

However, if your training is more point-oriented, as in the popular pikal style, these knives are inappropriate.

Personally, I'm convinced that use of the knife in self-defense would most often be in response to an ambush. This would demand a knife that is at hand and in hand immediately. Practice has taught me that almost any folder, whatever the quality of manufacture, is handicapped by the process of opening the blade.

EXCEPT a "waved" folder. With minimal training, a waved folder is virtually as fast as a fixed blade in presentation. Your locality probably precludes legal concealed carry of a fixed blade. So, in my view, you are left with a "waved" folder as a defensive blade. If we are to set aside the debate about the viability of slashing, "defanging," your opponent, as opposed to stabbing the crap out of him in a reverse grip, we still have the problem of immediate presentation. Get something waved.

I have seen Yojimbos "waved" by the individual owner with a Dremel tool. I haven't done it to my Yojimbo, but I have done it to an Endura, and a Delica. This was before Spyderco began selling "waved"-at-the-factory models. If you feel that Mr. Janich's designs and techniques would be right for you, by all means, get a Yojimbo, and "wave" it for instant deployment when it is drawn. You don't want to fumble for a thumb-hole when you're reacting to a cretin who has lunged at you from a dark hiding place.

Additionally, I would get that Yojimbo soon. Rumors are that it is soon to be discontinued. And get some other knife for utilitarian purposes. The Yojimbo's tip is fragile, and should be preserved for cutting something or someone that is about to hurt you. Good luck. Whatever you get, do some serious training before you rely on it down some mean street.
 
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