What's So Special About the Southard

D

dzlvs8

Joined
Jun 13, 2013
Messages
948
I really shouldn't have to explain myself. When only going to the spyderco website to look at the specs nothing about it says $400. But I see that many people love it. My assumption is that everyone loves it because it costs a lot and people then tend to trick themselves into thinking its the greatest thing ever.

This is a two part question...
So what are the real reasons why this knife is good? Is it just the combination of the flipper, it's a spyderco, the steel, the titanium, the designer, and G10? I assume, yes?

If I am correct, than why are so many people attached to this knife over many others that have the same specs? aka, what does it for you about this knife.
 
For me it is the combination of the premium materials and how those materials are blended together. The craftsmanship is superb with beautiful lines and refinement throughout with the abscence of sharp edges or machine marks. It is probably the smoothest knife I own and everything lines up perfectly. You have to feel one to appreciate it I think. The action of the flipper is excellent due to the captive ball bearing system and for Spyderco's first flipper, they really make it look like they have done this before.
 
Well first of all, its not $400...more like $230. And secondly, get one in your hands and you'll quickly find out that it feels like it costs $400. Believe me, we arent all "tricked" into thinking its a good knife just because of tue price.
 
Firstly, the southards don't sell for $400. That is msrp. Street price is more like $240z
The main reason I wanted one was for the steel really. You say there are many other knives with similar specs, but I'm not seeing much else with cts-204p or even m390 for that matter.

The southard is an excellent knife with excellent steel. Well worth the price tag, although I sold mine because it felt a bit too small for my hand.
 
it is more of a 'gentleman's folder' to me... and I am thinking of getting some fancy carbon-fiber scales for mine...

general use, it is Military all the way... but a Southard to a nice dinner out? sounds good!
 
I owned two. I really wanted to love it, but didn't. The appeal though? Super smooth flipper, premium steel, and excellent fit and finish. At its street price of $225ish, its a good deal on a great knife.
 
dzlvs8 said:
So what are the real reasons why this knife is good?
Click to expand...

It makes people feel good to own it. That is a most excellent reason for buying a knife, and for any of us who own more than a couple knives, its the primary reason we buy knives. The Southard will not dice a cucumber or kill a cardboard box better than other sharp knives of similar size and configuration. But that's not the point. And the stuff about the Southard's design, the materials, the flipper, the whatever - that's really all about how people justify the cost. But when you distill away the knife-speak, its all about feeling good. For more on this subject, see the Chris Reeve, Busse and ZT forums. For basically any knife over maybe $125, what you are buying is the emotion of feeling good and not so much the performance. That is to say, as a general rule, a $300 knife really doesn't cut 3x better than a $100 knife, and certainly not 10x better than a $30 knife. This view is not wholly supported around here, because sometimes reality is a sour apple to swallow, but its still the truth. And I'm not dissing the Southard or any other spendy knife, and I own more than my fair share of them, but you asked a question and got an honest answer. We all like to feel good, and spendy knives give us that emotion.
 
Let me just add that having $240 in my pocket currently makes me feel better than having a Southard in my pocket, so I don't own a Southard. See how that works? We do whatever makes us feel good.
 
Well, I assumed I would have been yelled at by now.

The mid $200's does seem to justify the purchase just based on the materials alone, rather than the $400msrp. I assumed it went for $300-350. In my humble opinion its butt ugly. All I've heard from forum members is that it feels GREAAAAAAAT in the hand. As if it was something magical. This claim started my skepticism. There are A LOT of knives that feel good in the hand that are priced between $30-200.

So the materials and the fact that it is a Spyderco justify the price.

I'm still a little leary on whether or not this knife is as awesome as people say it is. I assume a lot of it has to do with it being new and it being Spydercos first flipper. It definitely can't be the barf brown color...or the pocket clip, or the slippery flipper. It seems like every post I go into has someone saying this is their favorite knife.

I of course understand what is meant by the "feel" of a knife and I "feel" like I'm just missing out on whats so great about the emotion that this knife evokes to make so many people want to buy it over a lot of other knives. Sometimes it's hard to tell without having the knife in hand, but usually you have at least a pretty good idea of whether or not you will like it before you try it. I am easily drawn towards more narrow (not-tall bladed) gentleman style knives and this thing just isn't doing it for me even 1%.

Maybe some carbon fiber scales would help.
 
nice troll job. 'I hate how it looks cause I don't like that style of knife, but I'm not bias. No, not at all.'
 
The things that tipped the scales for me was the blade steel and the size (I thought it would be too large until I saw people's comparison shots). I also wanted to try a flipper and liked the design. I'm very happy with it. The fit and finish is as close to perfect as I could expect. The spydie hole is mostly ornamental though ;) (it's usable, but not effortless)

Edit: saw your follow up post. If you don't like the design, then get something else.
 
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Well, I assumed I would have been yelled at by now.

The mid $200's does seem to justify the purchase just based on the materials alone, rather than the $400msrp. I assumed it went for $300-350. In my humble opinion its butt ugly. All I've heard from forum members is that it feels GREAAAAAAAT in the hand. As if it was something magical. This claim started my skepticism. There are A LOT of knives that feel good in the hand that are priced between $30-200.

So the materials and the fact that it is a Spyderco justify the price.

I'm still a little leary on whether or not this knife is as awesome as people say it is. I assume a lot of it has to do with it being new and it being Spydercos first flipper. It definitely can't be the barf brown color...or the pocket clip, or the slippery flipper. It seems like every post I go into has someone saying this is their favorite knife.

I of course understand what is meant by the "feel" of a knife and I "feel" like I'm just missing out on whats so great about the emotion that this knife evokes to make so many people want to buy it over a lot of other knives. Sometimes it's hard to tell without having the knife in hand, but usually you have at least a pretty good idea of whether or not you will like it before you try it. I am easily drawn towards more narrow (not-tall bladed) gentleman style knives and this thing just isn't doing it for me even 1%.

Maybe some carbon fiber scales would help.
 
I handled one up at a gun show a few months ago and was surprised at how user friendly the size was. A bit smaller than I expected but with a good sized blade as well as very light. Flipped pretty well too. I agree that the brown wasn't necessarily the best choice but I've seem some good RIT dye jobs as well as custom scales that tremendously improve the aesthetics.

Why worry about a knife you have less than 1% interest in?

What Spydies do you like?
 
There's a lot of blade for the handle, it's very ergonomic, super smooth flipper, awesome steel, fantastic fit and finish, and I like the looks of it. I did hate the clip though, swapped it out for an STR deep carry.
 
benchwarmer380 said:
I handled one up at a gun show a few months ago and was surprised at how user friendly the size was. A bit smaller than I expected but with a good sized blade as well as very light. Flipped pretty well too. I agree that the brown wasn't necessarily the best choice but I've seem some good RIT dye jobs as well as custom scales that tremendously improve the aesthetics.

Why worry about a knife you have less than 1% interest in?

What Spydies do you like?
Click to expand...

I love my PM2. It has that it factor but you could notice that from a mile away, or from looking at it on the internet. I also like a few others. The Delica, ladybug, dragonfly, and the police (but I HATE the lock backs, so I don't own any). I'm very picky about spyderco blade shapes. I haven't heard of many people REALLY liking the blade style on the southard, and blade style has a lot to do with whether or not I like a knife. In my opinion, the style looks slim, sleak, but kind tough and heavy duty, which is good. But it looks butt ugly in pics. Maybe they made the blade butt ugly in order to match the brown handles.

...Side note: wont' rit dye wear off G10 on your hand or in your pocket?
 
I asked the same question and even created a thread asking the same thing.

Then I finally just bought one (because none of the local shops carry them) and I just love the thing.
Not a tactical knife in any way. It's more of a gentlemans folder. Fits great in the hand. Great shape. Great steels. I use mine all the time to eat with. :)
 
powernoodle said:
It makes people feel good to own it. That is a most excellent reason for buying a knife, and for any of us who own more than a couple knives, its the primary reason we buy knives. The Southard will not dice a cucumber or kill a cardboard box better than other sharp knives of similar size and configuration. But that's not the point. And the stuff about the Southard's design, the materials, the flipper, the whatever - that's really all about how people justify the cost. But when you distill away the knife-speak, its all about feeling good. For more on this subject, see the Chris Reeve, Busse and ZT forums. For basically any knife over maybe $125, what you are buying is the emotion of feeling good and not so much the performance. That is to say, as a general rule, a $300 knife really doesn't cut 3x better than a $100 knife, and certainly not 10x better than a $30 knife. This view is not wholly supported around here, because sometimes reality is a sour apple to swallow, but its still the truth. And I'm not dissing the Southard or any other spendy knife, and I own more than my fair share of them, but you asked a question and got an honest answer. We all like to feel good, and spendy knives give us that emotion.
Click to expand...

I agree with this post and I want to say that there's nothing wrong with buying things to make ourselves feel good. There are people who spend countless hours researching tvs, audio equipment, cars, and tons of other things. Many people buy lots of things because it makes them feel good. If everything were about utility we wouldn't buy most of the stuff we have because it's clutter; it's unnecessary. Who REALLY needs more than 1 pocket knife? I mean really. My dad got by with a Victorinox Tourist model for over 25 years. A SAK is all most anyone needs, but we spend time on here arguing and reading about the latest and greatest. Few people will use a knife enough to actually notice the difference between steels beyond corrosion resistance.

That being said, people who are particular about knives will make a purchase based on various features. The Southard has a great blade length to handle size ratio, has a flipper (Spyderco's first), great materials and fit and finish, and it costs over $200, making it a premium knife, but nowhere near as expensive as a CRK or the like.
 
The Southard simply works, as in, it's more than the sum of its parts.

Some resist due to the price, the flipper, blade shape, brown handle, small Spydie hole, not Spydie-looking enough, etc.

Resistance is futile! Try it for a couple of days and you may agree.

The Southard single-handedly brought me back to Spydercos about 9 months ago.
 
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