Taichung Spydercos (the Domino)

jrblucky7

jrblucky7

Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
169
Just received my Domino earlier this morning. All in all I would have to say that this knife will be a Triple A+ for everyday carry. And in my world of edc that doesn't include using my folder to cut down a thigh sized pine tree or defending myself from a hoard of attackers. I have a fixed blade and a pistol for those chores. But on to the meat of the topic... I have read and heard people say that the price tag on the new Domino is too high for a knife not made in the US. I am like alot of others and mostly buy only knives made here but the fact is that this Taiwanese made Domino is built as good as if not better than anyother US made knife that I have ever owned. In fact I have some even pricier US knives that don't feel and look half as solid as my Domino. Out of the box this knife is absolutely perfect fit and finish wise. Sure there might be one or two design elements that I would like to have tweaked but this is a production knife and not a commissioned one-off custom. The action of the knife is absolutely as good as ANY flipper I have ever owned which includes some expensive US pieces and for my taste, the detent could not be finer tuned. When it comes to the lock up of course it's solid in all directions and best of all there is 0 stickiness thanks to the flawlessly executed stainless insert. To sum up my thoughts I guess I could say, if this knife were made in Golden, Colorado it would not be of a higher quality than what it currently is. Dead center, dead solid and spyderco sharp.... I wish I could say this about a few other knives that I own.
 
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At last count I have 14 Taichung Spydies, and they are ALL winners. I'd love to see all of Spyderco's product manufactured here in the US, but I certainly can't fault the quality of the knives that come from overseas plants.
 
At the risk of being burned at the nationalist stake, I have to admit I wouldn't mind if all Spyderco knives were made in Taichung--IMO, my Taichung knives are superior in construction quality to my Golden knives.
 
I feel time will tell if the Domino and other Taiwan produced Spyderco's are built better and will last longer than USA produced products such as the ZT and BM.I wont make any conjecture until many years pass and I am sure it is a mighty fine knife,but I think I will wait for the ZT 0770CF.I am sure Spyderco would not have released this knife if it was not an import, but other company's seem to keep churning out flippers domestically at a similar or lower price point.I have considered buying a Domino myself as I really like the design and I hope you all enjoy your knives.
 
Someones needs to do a quick comparison with the southard. Not because they are all that similar but it would be interesting for the southard owners to see how it stacked up.

Just got my southard in the mail today lol.
 
evilgreg said:
At the risk of being burned at the nationalist stake, I have to admit I wouldn't mind if all Spyderco knives were made in Taichung--IMO, my Taichung knives are superior in construction quality to my Golden knives.
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No burning here!
 
MEJ said:
Someones needs to do a quick comparison with the southard. Not because they are all that similar but it would be interesting for the southard owners to see how it stacked up.

Just got my southard in the mail today lol.
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I compared mine to my Domino over in this thread yesterday, with a set of comparison photos included. IMO Southard > Domino, and not by a particularly close margin. YMMV, of course. If you always wanted a slightly larger Sage with a flipper, this is it . . .
 
As a red-blooded, free-market capitalist I have absolutely zero problem with the product being made in Taiwan. As a consumer it's my duty to purchase the product with highest quality to cost ratio. This drives competition. In my opinion, this is the most American thing to do. Sure it would be nice to have some of the knives say "Golden Colorado" on them, but I really don't care that much. I care more about the build quality, materials used, and ultimately cost than blindly being all "hurpa durrrrrrrrr made in 'merka only, durrrrr". And my Taichung produced Chaparral is absolutely top of the line quality wise, as are all the other Taichung produced Spydies I have fiddled with.
 
Does anyone have a picture of the domino next to the Native 5 for comparison.They seem to be close to the same specs to my eyeballing.
Thanks,
salmonkiller
 
salmonkiller said:
Does anyone have a picture of the domino next to the Native 5 for comparison.They seem to be close to the same specs to my eyeballing.
Thanks,
salmonkiller
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Here are Domino, Native5 and Caly3 together.

9529d2a5-c9cd-484c-aa39-a6d45f419789_zpsbfc84677.jpg
 
Thanks for the review, I wonder when someone will make a new scale for it? I would have to put a new scale on it.
 
evilgreg said:
I compared mine to my Domino over in this thread yesterday, with a set of comparison photos included. IMO Southard > Domino, and not by a particularly close margin. YMMV, of course. If you always wanted a slightly larger Sage with a flipper, this is it . . .
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Oh sweet... thanks for that.
 
Im sure there will be alot of people that prefer the Sothard over the Domino but I chose to purchaae the Domino because there really aren't many or any flippers available with blade shape/design of the Domino. Either way you really can't knock either the Southard or the Domino for poor Taiwanese quality.
 
I tried my PM2 lowrider clip (STR) and it won't fit. Domino looks to have the two side holes about one millimeter wider than the PM2.
 
The thing that gets me about all the hub hub about taiwan spydercos is about price. Everyone keeps saying that they are excellent fit and finish yet they should be cheaper? And why is that? Because CRKT is made in taiwan and cheaper? That to me is a crock of steaming horse dung as I have NEVER in my life seen a CRKT that would live up to the fit and finish of a taichung spyderco. And I can say that only because I own a number of CRKT bearing flippers and while I like them plenty they arent exceptional in the fit and finish category. Not to mention you dont get the kind of materials in a CRKT or even a SOG that you will get with a spyderco. Once you take out all those excuses the last leg an anti Taichung "knife it all" has to stand on is that the Taiwan spydercos should be cheaper because labor costs are cheaper in Taiwan and therefore the savings should be passed on to the consumer. To that I have to ask what real facts they have to back a statement like that up. And just how much they think the savings is? Sure labor might be cheaper but that is only a small slice of a much bigger pie. Its not like these knives are using chinese or japanese sourced budget steels. All the materials are sourced here and then shipped to golden and from golden to taiwan. That all cost money. I think the bottom line is that anyone who has a stigma towards the taichung knives should keep it shut unless they have had first hand experience. Because sitting behind a keyboard spouting what you think you know is completely different from what you have experienced. If you havent handled one of these knives then there is no way you can have an appreciation for one of them. I know, I was there. I made a huge stink over the southard and its price. Why? because its a $399 msrp taiwan knife. But it only took 10 minutes with it to realize my money was well spent. And I would never have known it unless I bought it.



MEJ said:
Someones needs to do a quick comparison with the southard. Not because they are all that similar but it would be interesting for the southard owners to see how it stacked up.

Just got my southard in the mail today lol.
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I got my domino today. From a fit and finish point of view the knives are both exceptional with neither one being better than the other. The real issue comparing the two though is that they are apples to oranges. The Domino is classic spyderco through and through and very much a classic spydie with a flipper, bearings and steel lockbar insert. The southard is a completely different beast. The ONLY think spyderco about that thing is the hole in the blade. I think they are both exceptional knives and love them both. But IMHO even though I prefer the southard aesthetics I think the domino would be a better EDC blade and would be much more versatile. Other peoples mileage may vary with that statement.
 
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nickites said:
I tried my PM2 lowrider clip (STR) and it won't fit. Domino looks to have the two side holes about one millimeter wider than the PM2.
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no good! Has anyone called Spyderco to see if any of the clips from other models are interchangeable with the Domino?
 
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