eljay
05-08-2006, 04:42 PM
For my first impressions of the knife see this thread
http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20703 which also has some close-up shots. I was hoping for a picture update but it didn't work out (I was going to shoot it with a model just for fun; I'm a photographer).
I've been using this as my EDC for about a month now, and here are some thoughts.
*After use and I think two clean/lube cycles the knife is very smooth now to open and shut, but still takes a fair amount of effort (if it's just a bit open it springs shut with surprising force). Because of where my hand naturally is on the knife I don't get a ton of leverage. 95% of the time this isn't a big deal, but once with wet hands I did get it half open and have my thumb slip out of the hole and it slammed shut which was rather startling. This is the first time I've had this happen with a Spyderco knife. Again, I believe the hole should be bigger. I would not want to depend on deploying this knife quickly in an emergency and I think it's something of a safety issue although I was not harmed. If I sort of "choke up" on the handle it opens easier but then I have to shift my hand back down for use... something I don't do with any of my other knives.
*Sharpening has not been much of an issue. I just use the corners of a Sharpmaker. At 30 degrees it was hitting far up on the shoulders. After a couple of weeks I got out the diamond rods and reprofiled the edge to 30 degrees. This made it much nicer for some uses (I push cut a fair amount and it seems easier to do that at 30 degrees, or maybe it's just me).
*I mostly used it on paper/cardboard (I cut a lot of cardboard to size to add some rigidity those flat rate priority mail envelopes) but occasional other uses included cutting up some garden hose (went through it shockingly
well) and sawing off a short branch from one of the cherry trees in my yard that threatened to poke out the eye of anybody getting out of a car parked on the street. Performance ranged from "fine" to "wow" depending on the activity.
*One thing I do quite often is open packages of 8x10s. Basically they're shrink wrapped onto cardboard and I usually open these by very lightly cutting an X on the cardboard side with the tip of the blade. The first time I did this with the Kris nothing happened. I was stunned frankly. I tried it again and it worked fine. I've had this happen again since - basically given the angle between the blade and the handle you have to hold your hand just a bit unnaturally to do an action that most of my Spydercos excel at. Not a huge deal, just odd.
*I haven't had too many odd looks or whatever using it in front of other people... at least no more so than any knife. One person recognized it as a Spyderco and pulled out his Pacific Salt. That's about it.
*It's by far the nicest knife I have to carry in-pocket. The clip holds it on securely but the surface doesn't catch on anything so it's very easy to get out. Despite its weight it's very comfortable.
So in conclusion I think it's a reasonable EDC. Like all knives it has its pros and cons but if you're thinking it's just a novelty - it's not. It's a very useful tool.
http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20703 which also has some close-up shots. I was hoping for a picture update but it didn't work out (I was going to shoot it with a model just for fun; I'm a photographer).
I've been using this as my EDC for about a month now, and here are some thoughts.
*After use and I think two clean/lube cycles the knife is very smooth now to open and shut, but still takes a fair amount of effort (if it's just a bit open it springs shut with surprising force). Because of where my hand naturally is on the knife I don't get a ton of leverage. 95% of the time this isn't a big deal, but once with wet hands I did get it half open and have my thumb slip out of the hole and it slammed shut which was rather startling. This is the first time I've had this happen with a Spyderco knife. Again, I believe the hole should be bigger. I would not want to depend on deploying this knife quickly in an emergency and I think it's something of a safety issue although I was not harmed. If I sort of "choke up" on the handle it opens easier but then I have to shift my hand back down for use... something I don't do with any of my other knives.
*Sharpening has not been much of an issue. I just use the corners of a Sharpmaker. At 30 degrees it was hitting far up on the shoulders. After a couple of weeks I got out the diamond rods and reprofiled the edge to 30 degrees. This made it much nicer for some uses (I push cut a fair amount and it seems easier to do that at 30 degrees, or maybe it's just me).
*I mostly used it on paper/cardboard (I cut a lot of cardboard to size to add some rigidity those flat rate priority mail envelopes) but occasional other uses included cutting up some garden hose (went through it shockingly
well) and sawing off a short branch from one of the cherry trees in my yard that threatened to poke out the eye of anybody getting out of a car parked on the street. Performance ranged from "fine" to "wow" depending on the activity.
*One thing I do quite often is open packages of 8x10s. Basically they're shrink wrapped onto cardboard and I usually open these by very lightly cutting an X on the cardboard side with the tip of the blade. The first time I did this with the Kris nothing happened. I was stunned frankly. I tried it again and it worked fine. I've had this happen again since - basically given the angle between the blade and the handle you have to hold your hand just a bit unnaturally to do an action that most of my Spydercos excel at. Not a huge deal, just odd.
*I haven't had too many odd looks or whatever using it in front of other people... at least no more so than any knife. One person recognized it as a Spyderco and pulled out his Pacific Salt. That's about it.
*It's by far the nicest knife I have to carry in-pocket. The clip holds it on securely but the surface doesn't catch on anything so it's very easy to get out. Despite its weight it's very comfortable.
So in conclusion I think it's a reasonable EDC. Like all knives it has its pros and cons but if you're thinking it's just a novelty - it's not. It's a very useful tool.