My girlfriend Beth (Sandra D. on BF) and I have just returned from a trip to Golden, Colorado, where we were very generously entertained on several occaisions by Sal and the Spyderco crew. A full write-up of the trip (well, at least the cool knife parts) is in the works, but I thought I'd write up a quick review of an exciting knife which followed us home. The knife is a Spyderco Matriarch which Sal had been carrying (among many other cool things he carries for personal evaluation) for a week or so.
For those who don't know, the Matriarch is a special design requested for defensive use by South African customers. It is based on the Civilian, but has a Zytel handle and thus does not carry the whopping price-tag of its predecessor. The concept, as with the Civilian, is to allow the weilder under stress to deploy the knife quickly and use it to free themselves from an assailant to escape or gain control (the latter in an LEO weapon-retention scenario). To this end, it uses a pocket clip for easy access, a blade hole for rapid opening, and a unique blade shape that will produce substantial superficial damage no matter where a slash lands. It is not suited to thrusts, which are by nature more targetted and may be harder to use effectively in a sudden encounter with an awares attacker. The emphasis is truly on less-than-lethal wounding and escape rather than lethal stopping power.
Spyderco is a company that makes tools, not weapons, and thus marketing of the Civilian (their only exception to date, and decidedly a defensive piece) has been very circumspect. It has not appeared in any normal catalogs, has been marketed primarily to LEOs, and also carries the highest price tag in their current line (due largely to its complex grind and excellent construction, but also serving to dissuade casual purchase).
Because the Matriarch offers a similar item at a lower price, Spyderco has been very conscientiously concerned with its marketing. It was decided that Matriarchs will not be sold in the U.S. because of negative attitudes towards knives and the use of violence in self-defense, as well as the worrisome possibility that the knives might become a popular item with individuals of less scrupulous intent. Their main marketing will be in South Africa and Israel, where the need for personal defense can be very great and public attitudes on violence in such situations are more reasonable. One run of 500 Matriarchs (with gray handles instead of the standard black) will be made available to Bladeforums members very soon. Go here for details: http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum20/HTML/001162.html
Anyhow, let's get to the knife:
(Thanks to Heyns for the picture)
As you can see, the Matriarch uses the Endura handle. The knife is named after the old female elephant who leads the herd and defends the young with all her immense power. Following this theme, Spyderco designed (and even patented) a handle incorporating an elephant motif, but the tooling costs were deemed to great and the Endura handle chosen instead. Mine (more accurately Beth's, as she has taken possession of it) has the gray handle and I was delighted to note that it does say "CLIPIT MATRIARCH" on the handle shield.
The Endura continues to be the most widely sold Spyderco, so many of you will be familiar with its handle. For those who are not, it has the "2+2" arrangement typical of early Spydercos - that is to say, it has two wide finger grooves that can accomodate two fingers each in a secure saber grip. Alternately (as Beth discovered) the user can place one finger in the front groove, two on the second, and let your pinky rest on the ungrooved portion of the handle. This gives more reach and suits Beth very small hands well, though I find it a bit awkward to get my two widest fingers into the second groove. Because of the shape, the Matriarch blade does not use the last 1/4" of handle when closed and does look slightly awkward, though the edge is well-covered. The handle features the time-tested "Volcano-grip" omni-directional pattern.
The blade has the Civilian's S-curve but is slightly shorter (3 5/8" tip-to-handle) with a less extreme hook. The sample I have is fully serrated (as all production Matriarchs will be) and seems to have a slightly longer, more Civilian-like hook than that pictured above. The point is a bit less delicate than a Civilian's and drops far less from the line of grip, but still easily penetrates soft materials and delivers wicked slashes like the Civilian. A few slashes at a threatening cardboard box left gashes from 4"-12" in length with startlingly little resistance. A concern with the Civilian's shape has been the possibility of hooking into material and being pulled from the hands. I can only say that with a factory edge the Matriarch shows far less of this effect than one would imagine just by looking at it.
The blade steel is Spyderco's proprietary ATS-55. For a defensive knife I would prefer a steel that stressed toughness and flexibility rather than edge-retention, but this steel is also standard on new Civilians - c'est la vie!
The action is smooth and the hole well-placed. The lockup has very slight play when pressed from the cutting edge, but held against several sharp impacts to the spine and substantial strikes to the cutting edge. The mid-lock design can be released with one hand and works like any Spyderco, with a smooth travel for most of the distance, a slight pause before closing, and then substantial force drawing the blade firmly closed and keeping it there. It is noteworthy that the Zytel spacer should prevent the blade damage Civilians can suffer when dropped on their spine closed, forcing the blade tip into the steel spacer.
There is only one more detail, and this is the reversible black pocket clip. Like most Zytel Spydercos, this clip is steel, attaches at the lanyard hole, and may be moved to the opposite side for left-handed users. It has an attractive satin-black coating that seems quite durable.
The knife is carried tip-up. I do not feel this is optimal, as it precludes the extremely fast "drop" method of opening (where the blade hole is grasped between thumb anbd forefinger as the knife is withdrawn, a slight wrist movement opening the handle and clearing the blade for an immediate strike). On a smaller knife, tip-up carry allows the knife to be withdrawn in a firm grip with the thumb poised over the opening hole, but on a knife this large my thumb does not reach and I must adjust my grip to open it - losing precious time. Beth's situation is, of course, even worse with her very small hands. One option is to draw the knife and sling the blade open with a wrist-flick, but this still leaves the user awkwardly gripping the very butt of the handle. Beth and I have experimented with several techniques and carry positions with no satisfactory results. It's my opinion that the knife will either need a sheath system or a new tip-down clip in order to deploy as quickly as a Civilian (I intend to try the latter modification). On a knife whose use relies on rapid deployment, the time lost by tip-up carry may be a crippling problem to the design.
Overall, this knife is a very straightforward "said what it done, done what it said" piece - a Civilian blade in an Endura handle. It hasn't got quite the reach or the grip of a Civilian, but at $78.95 MSRP it is less than half the Civilian's price. That's a lot of defensive power for the buck! I do feel that those carrying it will want to invest in a sheath or clip modification, and of course spend a lot of time in practice, in order to deploy the knife quickly and effectively.
-Drew
[This message has been edited by Corduroy (edited 02 September 1999).]
For those who don't know, the Matriarch is a special design requested for defensive use by South African customers. It is based on the Civilian, but has a Zytel handle and thus does not carry the whopping price-tag of its predecessor. The concept, as with the Civilian, is to allow the weilder under stress to deploy the knife quickly and use it to free themselves from an assailant to escape or gain control (the latter in an LEO weapon-retention scenario). To this end, it uses a pocket clip for easy access, a blade hole for rapid opening, and a unique blade shape that will produce substantial superficial damage no matter where a slash lands. It is not suited to thrusts, which are by nature more targetted and may be harder to use effectively in a sudden encounter with an awares attacker. The emphasis is truly on less-than-lethal wounding and escape rather than lethal stopping power.
Spyderco is a company that makes tools, not weapons, and thus marketing of the Civilian (their only exception to date, and decidedly a defensive piece) has been very circumspect. It has not appeared in any normal catalogs, has been marketed primarily to LEOs, and also carries the highest price tag in their current line (due largely to its complex grind and excellent construction, but also serving to dissuade casual purchase).
Because the Matriarch offers a similar item at a lower price, Spyderco has been very conscientiously concerned with its marketing. It was decided that Matriarchs will not be sold in the U.S. because of negative attitudes towards knives and the use of violence in self-defense, as well as the worrisome possibility that the knives might become a popular item with individuals of less scrupulous intent. Their main marketing will be in South Africa and Israel, where the need for personal defense can be very great and public attitudes on violence in such situations are more reasonable. One run of 500 Matriarchs (with gray handles instead of the standard black) will be made available to Bladeforums members very soon. Go here for details: http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum20/HTML/001162.html
Anyhow, let's get to the knife:
(Thanks to Heyns for the picture)
As you can see, the Matriarch uses the Endura handle. The knife is named after the old female elephant who leads the herd and defends the young with all her immense power. Following this theme, Spyderco designed (and even patented) a handle incorporating an elephant motif, but the tooling costs were deemed to great and the Endura handle chosen instead. Mine (more accurately Beth's, as she has taken possession of it) has the gray handle and I was delighted to note that it does say "CLIPIT MATRIARCH" on the handle shield.
The Endura continues to be the most widely sold Spyderco, so many of you will be familiar with its handle. For those who are not, it has the "2+2" arrangement typical of early Spydercos - that is to say, it has two wide finger grooves that can accomodate two fingers each in a secure saber grip. Alternately (as Beth discovered) the user can place one finger in the front groove, two on the second, and let your pinky rest on the ungrooved portion of the handle. This gives more reach and suits Beth very small hands well, though I find it a bit awkward to get my two widest fingers into the second groove. Because of the shape, the Matriarch blade does not use the last 1/4" of handle when closed and does look slightly awkward, though the edge is well-covered. The handle features the time-tested "Volcano-grip" omni-directional pattern.
The blade has the Civilian's S-curve but is slightly shorter (3 5/8" tip-to-handle) with a less extreme hook. The sample I have is fully serrated (as all production Matriarchs will be) and seems to have a slightly longer, more Civilian-like hook than that pictured above. The point is a bit less delicate than a Civilian's and drops far less from the line of grip, but still easily penetrates soft materials and delivers wicked slashes like the Civilian. A few slashes at a threatening cardboard box left gashes from 4"-12" in length with startlingly little resistance. A concern with the Civilian's shape has been the possibility of hooking into material and being pulled from the hands. I can only say that with a factory edge the Matriarch shows far less of this effect than one would imagine just by looking at it.
The blade steel is Spyderco's proprietary ATS-55. For a defensive knife I would prefer a steel that stressed toughness and flexibility rather than edge-retention, but this steel is also standard on new Civilians - c'est la vie!
The action is smooth and the hole well-placed. The lockup has very slight play when pressed from the cutting edge, but held against several sharp impacts to the spine and substantial strikes to the cutting edge. The mid-lock design can be released with one hand and works like any Spyderco, with a smooth travel for most of the distance, a slight pause before closing, and then substantial force drawing the blade firmly closed and keeping it there. It is noteworthy that the Zytel spacer should prevent the blade damage Civilians can suffer when dropped on their spine closed, forcing the blade tip into the steel spacer.
There is only one more detail, and this is the reversible black pocket clip. Like most Zytel Spydercos, this clip is steel, attaches at the lanyard hole, and may be moved to the opposite side for left-handed users. It has an attractive satin-black coating that seems quite durable.
The knife is carried tip-up. I do not feel this is optimal, as it precludes the extremely fast "drop" method of opening (where the blade hole is grasped between thumb anbd forefinger as the knife is withdrawn, a slight wrist movement opening the handle and clearing the blade for an immediate strike). On a smaller knife, tip-up carry allows the knife to be withdrawn in a firm grip with the thumb poised over the opening hole, but on a knife this large my thumb does not reach and I must adjust my grip to open it - losing precious time. Beth's situation is, of course, even worse with her very small hands. One option is to draw the knife and sling the blade open with a wrist-flick, but this still leaves the user awkwardly gripping the very butt of the handle. Beth and I have experimented with several techniques and carry positions with no satisfactory results. It's my opinion that the knife will either need a sheath system or a new tip-down clip in order to deploy as quickly as a Civilian (I intend to try the latter modification). On a knife whose use relies on rapid deployment, the time lost by tip-up carry may be a crippling problem to the design.
Overall, this knife is a very straightforward "said what it done, done what it said" piece - a Civilian blade in an Endura handle. It hasn't got quite the reach or the grip of a Civilian, but at $78.95 MSRP it is less than half the Civilian's price. That's a lot of defensive power for the buck! I do feel that those carrying it will want to invest in a sheath or clip modification, and of course spend a lot of time in practice, in order to deploy the knife quickly and effectively.
-Drew
[This message has been edited by Corduroy (edited 02 September 1999).]
