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Good point! Just think if we had invested in Para2's. I'm kidding.:foot:
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What's up with the Spyderco Southard?
- Thread starter ShepardCC
- Start date
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- Feb 3, 2004
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- 7,119
The flip side, of course, is that if the Southard had been made in the USA, it would have been far more expensive than it currently is. And then there's the question of whether the fit and finish would have been any better had it been made in the USA. I mean, could it have been any better than "fantastic"?
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with my Southard. I'll never sell it. I wouldn't have bought it if it was assisted. I can't stand how assisted knives feel. You can't choose to open them slowly and quietly. Also, springs break.
About the whole "not USA made" thing, I couldn't care less. The fit and finish on this knife is BETTER than the knives out of Golden. Spyderco is a US company, so get over it guys. The money is all coming back home. You should buy anything from Spyderco, because it's a good company. Buying their foreign made knives only makes them stronger.
About the whole "not USA made" thing, I couldn't care less. The fit and finish on this knife is BETTER than the knives out of Golden. Spyderco is a US company, so get over it guys. The money is all coming back home. You should buy anything from Spyderco, because it's a good company. Buying their foreign made knives only makes them stronger.
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Gary W. Graley
“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Mar 2, 1999
- Messages
- 27,787
Well by now the OP might have his answer, but, I'll chime in too
Short story, when the Southard's just came out, I held off on getting one, lack of funds has that affect on my spending, I don't buy unless I have the plan on paying it off straight away, just a safer strategy for me to live with. But the time came when I did have the funds, most places were out of stock, located one, had it shipped out, also had a couple other knives inbound at the same time, here's a tip, try just buying one at at time
but back to the tale, the Southard arrived, I was a bit put off with how thick the spine was also mine didn't seem to flip as well as I "thought" it should and the edge wasn't as keen as I like them to be, that plus the Spyderco Resilience that came in a few days earlier with it's thinner edge and thinner stock easily out sliced the one in my hand. Add to the fact that my job was just flipped upside down I was in a very very blue funk so I had extreme buyers remorse and found any and all nitpicks to not keep the Southard so I contacted the folks I got it from and they would take it back but only would refund the price and not the shipping so I lost out twice on shipping, so I put her back in the mail the very day she arrived. I knew I could probably get the edge where she needed to be but if that didn't work with the thick spine I'd not be able to return it after sharpening it.
NOW time goes by, funds slowly build back up again and I start seeing the youtube vids, one from Russia I think and one in the USA both showing it slicing the heck out of cardboard easlily, didn't notice any binding happening with the knife, so I figured I'd giver her a go again, my other favourite Shoppe had them back in stock and they shipped out pronto. and WOW, this one flipped nicer, might just be I'm in a better mood now too, and the edge was pretty good, sharp, but not as keen a cutter as I liked so onto the Edge pro and now she's very nice and excellent cutter. SO very glad to have given her a second chance.
Some have remarked about comparing to the Sebenza, I can see that, this has the RIL but also where you grip with your finger tips it has very secure textured G10, best of both worlds. Lock up is very solid, flipping very smooth, also if you have thin fingers, mine barely qualifies but I can just get my finger tip in the spydy hole on the lock bar side and flip it open with my index finger, but the flipper is really the way to go. I did take the clip off and rounded down the very tip, no need for a sharp point there and also radiused the edges around the clip as well as rounding off the tip of the clip a little bit. You'd not notice the difference unless you had one sitting next to it to compare.
I also very lightly sanded the G10 sharp edges around the area of the guard, those are pretty crisp, doesn't hurt to make them just a little more comfy.
And as most others have agreed, this is one heck of a knife, a lot of money, but, I can't build one for that price myself, at least I know it wouldn't come out as nice haha.
so it gets a G2 thumbs up :thumbup:, while the steel has held it's edge, I've not put it through a lot of material yet, but I am expecting it to be very good!
G2
edited to add, I guess it wasn't that short a story after all
Short story, when the Southard's just came out, I held off on getting one, lack of funds has that affect on my spending, I don't buy unless I have the plan on paying it off straight away, just a safer strategy for me to live with. But the time came when I did have the funds, most places were out of stock, located one, had it shipped out, also had a couple other knives inbound at the same time, here's a tip, try just buying one at at time
but back to the tale, the Southard arrived, I was a bit put off with how thick the spine was also mine didn't seem to flip as well as I "thought" it should and the edge wasn't as keen as I like them to be, that plus the Spyderco Resilience that came in a few days earlier with it's thinner edge and thinner stock easily out sliced the one in my hand. Add to the fact that my job was just flipped upside down I was in a very very blue funk so I had extreme buyers remorse and found any and all nitpicks to not keep the Southard so I contacted the folks I got it from and they would take it back but only would refund the price and not the shipping so I lost out twice on shipping, so I put her back in the mail the very day she arrived. I knew I could probably get the edge where she needed to be but if that didn't work with the thick spine I'd not be able to return it after sharpening it.NOW time goes by, funds slowly build back up again and I start seeing the youtube vids, one from Russia I think and one in the USA both showing it slicing the heck out of cardboard easlily, didn't notice any binding happening with the knife, so I figured I'd giver her a go again, my other favourite Shoppe had them back in stock and they shipped out pronto. and WOW, this one flipped nicer, might just be I'm in a better mood now too, and the edge was pretty good, sharp, but not as keen a cutter as I liked so onto the Edge pro and now she's very nice and excellent cutter. SO very glad to have given her a second chance.
Some have remarked about comparing to the Sebenza, I can see that, this has the RIL but also where you grip with your finger tips it has very secure textured G10, best of both worlds. Lock up is very solid, flipping very smooth, also if you have thin fingers, mine barely qualifies but I can just get my finger tip in the spydy hole on the lock bar side and flip it open with my index finger, but the flipper is really the way to go. I did take the clip off and rounded down the very tip, no need for a sharp point there and also radiused the edges around the clip as well as rounding off the tip of the clip a little bit. You'd not notice the difference unless you had one sitting next to it to compare.
I also very lightly sanded the G10 sharp edges around the area of the guard, those are pretty crisp, doesn't hurt to make them just a little more comfy.
And as most others have agreed, this is one heck of a knife, a lot of money, but, I can't build one for that price myself, at least I know it wouldn't come out as nice haha.
so it gets a G2 thumbs up :thumbup:, while the steel has held it's edge, I've not put it through a lot of material yet, but I am expecting it to be very good!
G2
edited to add, I guess it wasn't that short a story after all
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2012
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- 1,143
If the Southard was assisted, I wouldn't have bought it. Assisted knives have a cheap feel about them.