Spyderco Gayle Bradley

04/21/2010 by Rodney

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

Solid, beautiful knife. The CPM-M4 steel would be overkill on a smaller , lighter knife. Can be carried tip up or down, lefty or righty. This has the strength of a fixed blade with the convenience and coolness of a folder. It would be a sin not to put this knife to some hard use. The only downside is that you may become as addicted to large folders as I have become thanks to this knife.

Benchmade 710 McHenry and Williams

04/18/2010 by loonybin

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I purchased my 710SBT in 1999 when they were first introduced. It has the original ATS-34 steel blade with the BT2 coating. The coating wasn't the most durable, although Benchmade said the teflon permeated the metal, so it would still protect even when the black was rubbed off.

Pros: The 3.9" blade size is great when you're camping. The ATS-34 steel was good for edge retention and great for resharpening (just like 154CM). I can't speak to the current D2 steel, as I don't have a 710 in that steel. The handle fills my hand well, but I don't have large hands. It's an Axis lock, so there's no blade play and lock-up is rock solid.

Cons: The G10 can be a little slick when it gets wet, and could use a more aggressive pattern. The rest is more personal preference. I've come to dislike recurve blades, as I am using a convex sharpening technique, and the 710 could stand to have a typical belly in this regard. YMMV, however.

Bradley Cutlery Mayhem

04/18/2010 by M2HSSR

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

This is the Sebenza of the Balisong world. This Bali EDC's like no other. The curved handles make a drean to use. The blade shape is the same as an Alias. It uses the Benchmade spring latch, so it is easy to unlock. The pivots use phospher bronze washer so it is smooth and tight. Mine flips with almost no play and is near silent. These are not a great trick or aerial Bali. These are the best PRODUCTION EDC bali made IMHO.

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Spyderco Para Military

04/18/2010 by viper

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Th best knife on the world.

Zero Tolerance 0200

04/17/2010 by Bill Kight

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

The ZT 0200 was my first high quality knife. I have to admit that I was unsure what to expect from the ZT line, having owned Spyderco and Kershaws predominately.

The 0200 has exceded my expectations in all aspects.

Build quality is superb, the blade came centered and extremely sharp out of the box. This is one of a few knives I own that the liners actually perfectly match the outline of the G-10 handles. The machining of the G-10 is extremely detailed and provides a very comfortable and grippy surface.

The actual design of the knife with the pivot that can be adjusted with a simple box or open end wrench is one of the factors that sold me on the design. This makes for a very easy field strip and clean. Coupled with an open back make cleaning out the knife a very simple afair, just turn on the water and dry, no need to work around a backspacer. The pillar sculpted spacers give a feeling of elegance to a large massive knife.

I have found the blade design to be useful for many EDC chores. I like a blade with a recurve, this blade has a great belly that cuts extremely well.

The thumb studs are placed well for easy opening, but I always use the flipper, just the slightest amount of wrist action is required. Lockup is strong with a very satisfying clunk when locked. No blade play in any direction has been noted.

This knife along with my 0301 have filled my needs for a extremely high quality folder. I feel that these knives are a true steal in the market and should be considered as both EDC capable as well as a hard use knife.

Spyderco Manix

04/16/2010 by Dangerouscold

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

My first Spyderco, I purchased this knife more than 4 years ago. It was the first knife I got that wasn't coated black with a tanto point (ashamed).

Build Quality: Every feature on this knife is ideal for me. It has a perfectly sized, thick S30V blade in a sturdy backlock. The blade is a long, leaf shape that is flat ground to a very sharp edge. The point is sturdy, but still useable. The G10 slabs and steel liners inspire confidence.

Ergonomics: I've got medium sized hands for a male, and this knife, although it may look huge, fits me perfectly. It conjures the image of a future spyderco endeavor, where you send in an imprint of your hand around a clay model, and they customize a handle shape for you. It's that good.

Value: Considering it's the greatest back lock, nay, knife I've ever handled. Just buy one. I got it while in production, so expect to pay double that price. Still worth it.

Overall: Get it. An anecdote to testify. I carried this everywhere for two years, the worst thing that happened was one clip screw coming loose. Camping, 60 mile treks, road trips, even went through the wash unharmed. Once I shipped it to L.A. while visiting a friend. We planned to drive all over the southwest. On our way to denver, in the desert outside of green river, Utah, my friend's honda slammed into a truck tire tread at 95 mph. We could hear dragging and immediately pulled over. I assessed damage, pulled out a razor sharp Manix and proceeded to cut the 1/2 inch thick plastic material that was hanging down under the hood like a snowplow. The knife was banged into metal parts, rocks and cut through this easily.

Not 5 hours before this event, when I fished the knife out of my checked luggage, my friend remarked, "wow, that's a really nice knife, but what would you need that for?"

I wouldn't think of carrying anything else if I could only have one blade.

Spyderco ATR

04/16/2010 by Dangerouscold

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

My girl got me an ATR. I called it my "white whale". This review is for the SS handle, VG10 steel model.

Build Quality: Absolutely flawless. The knife screams quality with every aspect. Great blade shape, sharp hollow grind. The lock deserves it's own paragraph on this knife;

The lock: It's a compression lock using the entire scale of the knife. Basically a frame lock working in reverse, making the only way this knife could fail is shearing a thick stainless steel scale. The knife has no room for wear- It just snaps into perfect lockup, every time, and always will. Even the famed paramilitary has a similar lock, but only using a liner, about half the thickness of this steel I-beam locking in place.

Ergonomics: I think the knife fits in the hand very, very well. The only complaints I hear are about the stainless steel handle (which if you don't like, don't buy this), and the clip. The clip is a strange, tight, small clip found on the lil' temp as well. It is the only reason I'm docking a point from this knife.

Value: Docked a point here, because after market prices on these things is crazy. I've seen a titanium handled, S30V version go for close to $350. The SS model can go for $150. Worth every penny, but that's a whole lot of pennies.

Overall: If you want a sharp, easy to re-sharpen, hard use, Fort-Knox-Locked, interesting, practically custom feat of knife engineering (it won an award in Blade the year it came out), buy it. If you only like backlocks and clip blades w/ G10 handles, skip it. It would be better off in a user's hands anyway.

Spyderco ATR

04/16/2010 by ReallyPissedOff

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Self Defense
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

First and foremost, this knife, asides from being super sly and sexy, is incredibly expensive. Of course, that is because it is discontinued & now a collectors item. How much it will set you back? I've seen it for approx. $300 for the ti version. The review I'll be doing will be in regards to the ti handle & s30v blade version.

I would categorized this knife in the self-defense/tactical category. Primarily, this is due to the heavily jimped hood (not blade ramp) of the blade and the nice finger choil that prevents forward ingression of the fingers. Secondaly because the upper edge of the blade is ground down, it makes it an excellent piercer. Thirdly, it's got reach ~ at about 3.75" blade. Fourthly, it has milled out holes in the handle, providing grip and allowing you to switch between grips readily by gripping the holes to swing the blade.

The materials are excellent. Need I say more about s30v & titaniium? Also, this has the very rare & STRONG compression lock (better than framelock IMHO). Although it's not as easy to disengage as a framelock, it more than makes up for it in strength. In fact, because of the very nature of the lock, if you're left-handed, it will feel incredibly nice for you.

All in all, this is a beast of a blade - albeit at quite the premium nowadays (2010).

Spyderco Civilian

04/16/2010 by ForealBoreal

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Other
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I paid 150 for this knife brand new.

Its mainly a collection piece. I can't wait until they have a sprint run of the matriarch so I will buy 2. One for carry and one for collection.

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Spyderco Atlantic Salt

04/16/2010 by ForealBoreal

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

I use the knife as a rescue tool for white water kayaking. I paddle tidal rapids a lot and the H1 is great. The only downfall of the knife is the rivet that holds the blade. I could see it causing problems down the road. Though mine is working great.

Really nice knife

Spyderco Manix 2

04/16/2010 by AlexB

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

This is not a review of the standard Manix 2, but rather, the Blue G10 S30V Manix 2 Sprint Run.

The fit and finish of this knife is very good. Lock up is tight, no movement in any direction. However, the blade is slightly offcenter in the closed position, but this is no big deal for me.

The ergonomics of this knife is near perfect for me. Eric put a lot of thought into the design of the knife and it clearly pays off. Choking up on the knife gives exceptional control. The CBBL, so some people, is difficult to manipulate one handed in the position that it's at, but I find it very easy to use.

The blade is a FFG CPM S30V. Not mush to say about it. It is a great slicer and takes a very fine edge. The only problem I have with it is that it is a PITA to sharpen, but anyone who has hand sharpened S30V will tell you the same thing.

Overall, this is one of my favorite knives I have ever owned. The ergos are simply amazing, it is not too big for carry, and the Blue G10 scales look beautiful. I like that they drilled out the liners inside to reduce a significant amount of weight. I would purchase this knife again, if I had the opportunity.

Kershaw Ener-G

04/16/2010 by jthomas

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Well, I thought I'd post a few thoughts on my other knife purchase from last week... a Kershaw Ener-G II. I know there has been a review on here in the recent past, but I won't let that deter me.

The knife is a G10 linerlock flipper with a 3.5" blade of 13C26. The flipper is not part of the blade, but rather a mechanical thing somewhat akin to the OD1 and OD2 knives. This is perhaps my first Kershaw that came, IMHO, too stiff. It took considerable wrist flick to get the blade open with the flipper... but a slight adjustment to the pivot and the action was as smooth as the OD knives... and just as fast. Even with the pivot tweak, the blade has no play, open or closed. The lockup is perfect with the liner lock engaging the blade a tad more than it's own width, but with plenty of room for wear. The blade is perfectly centered. The fit and finish, except as noted below, is very good.

This is the first blem I've purchased where I immediately spotted the problem (i think). I am not a fan of serrations, except for the Kershaw half-moon serrations. I don't mind them at all. Well, on this knife the serrations are cut too far into the blade. The cutting edge of the serrations is somewhat North of the rest of the edge. I don't know if it makes any practical difference really, but it bugs my sense of asthetics. Otherwise, the grind is good and the blade, as always, shaving sharp, even the serrations.

The handle has a full swell to it where it sits in the palm of your hand, which I like. Other than a little jimping on the spine of the blade for your thumb, there is nothing else to assist your grip. There is a little jimping on the liner lock, but it doesn't engage my finger in any meaningful way. I've become a fan of jimping, and flippers that act as guards, and this knife has neither... maybe my only gripe.

It is a biggish knife, the clip mounts TU or TD, with the TD option resulting in a lower ride in the pocket. No thumbstuds or other adornment, very small lanyard hole in the tail.

I carried this one around a quite a bit and like it. It is 4.9 ounces, and sports a 3.5" blade, but carries like a lighter, smaller knife. Not necessarily hard use IMHO, but a good EDC. I'm going to purchase another PE and give the blem to my daughter... thumbs up on this one.