Not enough love for the Gayle Bradley 2
- Thread starter timbo813
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I had the Gayle Bradley 2 on my wishlist for months, ended up stumbling onto this thread, and finally decided it was time to buy it. I received it only a couple days ago, but it's already beaten out my Native 5 as my favorite Spyderco. What an awesome knife! Has the feel of a working knife with that solid lockup and excellent blade grind. I was looking for something a bit bigger than the Native and had tried the PM2, only to be mildly disappointed with the cutting edge to handle ratio. The PM2 is a nice knife. I like the compression lock, but that's about all I liked about it. This Gayle Bradley 2 on the other hand is just so much more practical and nicer looking. Loving it!
The GB2 is like a combination of some of my favorite knives. Opens pretty much as smoothly as my Sebenza, feels as solid and trustworthy as my ZT 562, and is as appealing to my eye as my WE 615. The more neutral handle feels so much more comfortable than the PM2 when using it to cut for long periods. And man, that hollow grind with a very thin edge bites into wood like a hungry beaver. The way the hole is on the blade lets me get my thumb further up on the blade for more controlled slicing. It even carries very well in the pocket with the slender profile and clip positioning. Still has that bit of a hump from the hole in the blade, but no where near the pocket hog like the PM2. My only gripes were with the proud liners making access to the lock bar a bit tricky (by design, I know), the clip ramp being a bit shallow, and the sharpening choil being just a little too small (causing a tiny recurve at the beginning of the blade edge). The first 2 gripes were easily resolved with a little bending and grinding, and I'll be addressing that choil soon enough also. Even despite those minor gripes this is going to be a regular carry for me for a while.
The GB2 is like a combination of some of my favorite knives. Opens pretty much as smoothly as my Sebenza, feels as solid and trustworthy as my ZT 562, and is as appealing to my eye as my WE 615. The more neutral handle feels so much more comfortable than the PM2 when using it to cut for long periods. And man, that hollow grind with a very thin edge bites into wood like a hungry beaver. The way the hole is on the blade lets me get my thumb further up on the blade for more controlled slicing. It even carries very well in the pocket with the slender profile and clip positioning. Still has that bit of a hump from the hole in the blade, but no where near the pocket hog like the PM2. My only gripes were with the proud liners making access to the lock bar a bit tricky (by design, I know), the clip ramp being a bit shallow, and the sharpening choil being just a little too small (causing a tiny recurve at the beginning of the blade edge). The first 2 gripes were easily resolved with a little bending and grinding, and I'll be addressing that choil soon enough also. Even despite those minor gripes this is going to be a regular carry for me for a while.
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Reviving this thread instead of starting a new one....
Just received my GB2 today and I am completely blown away. I looked over every millimetre of this knife trying to find even a tiny imperfection and it is perfect in every way. What an amazing knife. The ergonomics are also perfect for me. It has some heft to it, but not overly heavy.
The fit and finish is perfect. The blade Centering is perfect. The drop point is perfect. The hollow grind is perfect. The edge is perfect. The CF scales are cut perfectly. The opening of this knife is the smoothest I have ever seen. The blade is hair splitting sharp out of the box.
The only negative is that I agree with many others that the lock is a pain in the ass. It IS a hard knife to close.
This is the most expensive knife I have bought to date and I don’t see a reason for me to spend more on a knife (yeah, I know... famous last words!) as this one is just perfect IMO.
Super impressed with my first Spyderco Taiwanese knife!
Just received my GB2 today and I am completely blown away. I looked over every millimetre of this knife trying to find even a tiny imperfection and it is perfect in every way. What an amazing knife. The ergonomics are also perfect for me. It has some heft to it, but not overly heavy.
The fit and finish is perfect. The blade Centering is perfect. The drop point is perfect. The hollow grind is perfect. The edge is perfect. The CF scales are cut perfectly. The opening of this knife is the smoothest I have ever seen. The blade is hair splitting sharp out of the box.
The only negative is that I agree with many others that the lock is a pain in the ass. It IS a hard knife to close.
This is the most expensive knife I have bought to date and I don’t see a reason for me to spend more on a knife (yeah, I know... famous last words!) as this one is just perfect IMO.
Super impressed with my first Spyderco Taiwanese knife!
abbazaba
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Try pushing down into the lock bar with your thumb as much as you are pushing it to the side to get some meat in there. I find it very easy to operate. It really is a knife everyone should own.
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Great advice.
Luckily I am a bass player. Slapping those Red Hot Chili Pepper songs all these years is definately helping with opening this knife.
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Make it a compression lock, skeletonize the liners more (ref. manix 2 S110V) and im sold. also wouldnt mind a different steel.
Or an axis lock! My problem with liner locks is that I’m so used to the speed and ease of the axis and compression locks that I have to slow down and pay more attention or I cut the crap out of thumb.
Mine also had some lock stick when I first got it but it is gone now. I was seriously considering grinding out the lock release area to allow better access to release the lock but I waited to see if the lock stick would go away.
It seemed to help a lot when I took a pencil (mechanical pencil didn't work as well as an old fashioned #2) and put lead/graphite on the part of the blade where the lock bar makes contact. I did that a few times and it would unlock easier for a while and then start sticking again. After doing that a few times the lock stick totally went away. Now I don't have a callous and the blade unlocks easily.
About 60 seconds on the dremel and the closing the lock difficulty is gone forever, seriously made the knife a joy to open and close. Just grind that proud part of the steel liner that lets you access the lock bar until it's almost flush with the CF scales - perfection.
uxo2
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Sure thing, did this the day i received mine, one of the nicest knives to fondle on the couch now. I just did it quick and nasty, i still need to go over it with some fine sandpaper and make it all rounded and pretty like the rest of the scales, but it's a user and it's neat enough for now.
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Got my GB2 a week ago, fit and finish is impeccable, grinds are almost perfect, very symmetric, but I do have a slight recurve on the edge, had the choil been just a mm or two longer I think they would have been able to make the edge perfectly straight (and easier to sharpen on a benchstone). The lock isn't too bad for me, of course it's a long way from the ease of a axis lock for example, but still not bad. Apart from the (unintentional) recurve on the edge the only negative I have with the knife is how tight the clip is, or rather, the very small flare on the end of the tip, that makes it quite hard to insert over the pocket edge on my 5.11 pants. I have to use my fingers to bend out the clip to get it over the pocket edge.
But over all I like it a lot and looking forward to getting to know M4.
But over all I like it a lot and looking forward to getting to know M4.
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A compression lock GB2 would be just about the most perfect knife ever made IMO.
- Compression lock
- Real CF scales
- Possibly a small choil
Oh my. I'd buy at least 5 of them. Literally.