- Joined
- Feb 19, 2019
- Messages
- 182
I have long regarded Spyderco knives to be horrendously ugly, due primarily to the hump added to most of their blades to allow for the thumbhole. As a trained scientist and one who fully subscribes to the Anglo-American Enlightenment, I respect empiricism (as I must), and cannot ignore that Spyderco knives have many fans willing to pay premium prices for their products. Thus, to see for myself whether the acclaim for the Spyderco brand is grounded in reality or is just another example of argumentum ad populum run amok (like the Glockaholic phenomenon), I broke down and ordered a couple of knives.
My two selection criteria were 1) no fugly hump on the blade spine, and 2) no commodity blade steel. I identified three candidates, the Native 5, the Chaparral, and the Lil' Native. I pulled the trigger on the latter two. I wanted the Chaparral Lightweight, because I like FRN scales; but, I could find none in stock, so I opted for the Raffir Noble scales. (If I had waited a day or two, plenty of Lightweights could have been found.). I chose the compression lock for the Lil' Native, to avoid getting two lockbacks and to try a new-for-me lock.
The knives arrived a couple days ago. With regard to the Chaparral, the scales are gorgeous, but they are smooth. As I had learned from a review or comment, the smooth scales can mean less than secure pocket retention. On the other hand, the knife clips into a pocket and extracts with ease. The scales preclude the knife being used hard, so I will relegate it to gentleman's carry, which means it won't see much use.
I sliced up an apple with the Chaparral and was pleasantly surprised at how well it did the job. It is clearly my best slicer, something I was hoping its thin blade might excel at. With the back lock I haven't been able to flick the blade open yet. I may be putting pressure on the locking mechanism. The absence of a detent seems to not be conducive to flicking. Is flicking lockbacks not doable, or am I doing something wrong?
Some reviewers have griped about the lock release being so narrow as to be painful to use, but I find that to be nonsense. I've found a few of my knives don't live up to what seem to be consensus opinions, both good and bad, of knife reviewers. I suspect many knife reviewers just feed off one another to establish a faux consensus devoid of serious empiricism; i.e., incestual opinion abounds. I think many reviews are published without even bothering to break in a knife -- presumably there is a premium placed on being first to publish rather than publishing a quality empirical review.
As to the Lil' Native, the first thing I noticed was the scales. The textured G-10 affords a great grip, which I appreciate because of my peripheral neuropathy. The grippiness of the scales makes pocketing and unpocketing the knife somewhat of a challenge, but once pocketed it's not coming out unless I take it out with something of a tussle. The little blade (small enough for an adult to lawfully carry in Chicago) tackled an apple just fine, but a day after the Chaparral shined at the task, it wasn't anything to write home about.
The Lil' Native's blade flicked out nicely with minimal break in after lubricating the pivot. I even middle-finger flicked it twice just before writing this. This will be a great EDC knife.
Bottom line: I will be obtaining more Spydercos, as long as they do not have a spine tumor. And, I will be looking for other slicey knives with thin blades.
My two selection criteria were 1) no fugly hump on the blade spine, and 2) no commodity blade steel. I identified three candidates, the Native 5, the Chaparral, and the Lil' Native. I pulled the trigger on the latter two. I wanted the Chaparral Lightweight, because I like FRN scales; but, I could find none in stock, so I opted for the Raffir Noble scales. (If I had waited a day or two, plenty of Lightweights could have been found.). I chose the compression lock for the Lil' Native, to avoid getting two lockbacks and to try a new-for-me lock.
The knives arrived a couple days ago. With regard to the Chaparral, the scales are gorgeous, but they are smooth. As I had learned from a review or comment, the smooth scales can mean less than secure pocket retention. On the other hand, the knife clips into a pocket and extracts with ease. The scales preclude the knife being used hard, so I will relegate it to gentleman's carry, which means it won't see much use.
I sliced up an apple with the Chaparral and was pleasantly surprised at how well it did the job. It is clearly my best slicer, something I was hoping its thin blade might excel at. With the back lock I haven't been able to flick the blade open yet. I may be putting pressure on the locking mechanism. The absence of a detent seems to not be conducive to flicking. Is flicking lockbacks not doable, or am I doing something wrong?
Some reviewers have griped about the lock release being so narrow as to be painful to use, but I find that to be nonsense. I've found a few of my knives don't live up to what seem to be consensus opinions, both good and bad, of knife reviewers. I suspect many knife reviewers just feed off one another to establish a faux consensus devoid of serious empiricism; i.e., incestual opinion abounds. I think many reviews are published without even bothering to break in a knife -- presumably there is a premium placed on being first to publish rather than publishing a quality empirical review.
As to the Lil' Native, the first thing I noticed was the scales. The textured G-10 affords a great grip, which I appreciate because of my peripheral neuropathy. The grippiness of the scales makes pocketing and unpocketing the knife somewhat of a challenge, but once pocketed it's not coming out unless I take it out with something of a tussle. The little blade (small enough for an adult to lawfully carry in Chicago) tackled an apple just fine, but a day after the Chaparral shined at the task, it wasn't anything to write home about.
The Lil' Native's blade flicked out nicely with minimal break in after lubricating the pivot. I even middle-finger flicked it twice just before writing this. This will be a great EDC knife.
Bottom line: I will be obtaining more Spydercos, as long as they do not have a spine tumor. And, I will be looking for other slicey knives with thin blades.
K2, Hundred Pacer, etc.
