Disappointed with first Spyderco

[autoxer]

I've gotta back Patrick up here. Like I said I've had screws completely fall out between waking up and clocking out. I'm talking 20-30 openings on a Military.

I've had it happen with lockbacks, comp locks, liner locks, etc. Big knives, small knives, etc.

I can fix it with thread locker but it's still a bit annoying to deal with. I have had multiple times I've gotten a brand new knife with a perfectly adjusted pivot,and after opening and closing it ~5 times while inspecting it, horizontal play developed.

It's inconsistent for me. Sometimes the same model will do it with one example but not another.

I can further back it up and say I've had this same problem too, specifically with a H1 Salt 2 SE purchased from an authorized Spyderco retailer. The knife literally started coming apart in my hand unexpectedly during my first day carrying it.

I put some blue loc tite on the pivot screw, adjusted it to my liking, and let it sit for 24 hours. It has been perfect ever since and has needed no further adjustment. I saw no signs of thread locker ever being on the screw when I removed it. I also don't think this was a knife that someone returned.

I will say, with that knife being my second Spyderco, this put a bad taste in my mouth for a bit. I'm over it now and trust that the knife is very reliable. But if this happened out in the field, or when I needed to rely on the knife, it would have been really terrible.

[autoxer]

Oh and for the OP, I also think you might want to check out the Salt 2 instead, as others have suggested. After resolving the issue of my loose pivot screw using blue thread locker, I've grown to love that knife. I am a climber, mountain biker, and lightweight hiker/backpacker, and the knife fits that bill perfectly in my opinion.

[ZrowsN1s]

I've got 2 H-1 Dragonflys (and 4 other Dragonflys).

To be clear, I have not had the problems that you are having with them. My Dragonfly experience has been a positive one. But I have with other knives. I have a set of high quality Wiha Torx drivers, loctite, 90% rubbing alchohol, qtips, knife pivot lube, a can of compressed air, and a Spyderco Sharpmaker to maintain my knives. I realize most people dont have this, and things like screws that back themselves out are a problem.

We're all sort of repeating ourselves here, so I will just say that, the holes are sharp for a reason, but I usually smooth mine out a little. The handles are lightweight, but FRN (fiberglass reinforced nylon) is NOT plastic. It is very tough stuff. I own around 40 Spydercos, I've only had 2 that weren't razor sharp out of the box. For something that will be around water and saltwater there is nothing like H-1. I have an H-1 Spyderco Tasman that I've left in my shower for the last few months as an experiment, not even a hint of rust.

[eventhorizon]

I've got 2 H-1 Dragonflys (and 4 other Dragonflys).

To be clear, I have not had the problems that you are having with them. My Dragonfly experience has been a positive one. But I have with other knives. I have a set of high quality Wiha Torx drivers, loctite, 90% rubbing alchohol, qtips, knife pivot lube, a can of compressed air, and a Spyderco Sharpmaker to maintain my knives. I realize most people dont have this, and things like screws that back themselves out are a problem.

We're all sort of repeating ourselves here, so I will just say that, the holes are sharp for a reason, but I usually smooth mine out a little. The handles are lightweight, but FRN (fiberglass reinforced nylon) is NOT plastic. It is very tough stuff. I own around 40 Spydercos, I've only had 2 that weren't razor sharp out of the box. For something that will be around water and saltwater there is nothing like H-1. I have an H-1 Spyderco Tasman that I've left in my shower for the last few months as an experiment, not even a hint of rust.

Well, of course it's plastic, but it's plastic reinforced with glass fibres. Still mainly plastic

[Matus]

Seems like most of the problems you are experiencing can (and will) be fixed. Just one note from me I would rather have screws on a new knife coming loose and have to loctite them myself (use BLU loctite stick, RED loctite may prove to be too strong if you ever want to loosen that screw), rather then not be able to take a knife apart because the maker was too fond of thread locker.

[eventhorizon]

I think the problem here is expectations on the one hand (first Spyderco) and experience on the other (Spyderco fans).

When you are not what we consider a "knife guy" (which in most cases means you're kind of a steel nerd and a knife collector to a certain extent), but you want to purchase a knife as a reliable user and you spend a considerable amount of money (3-figure MRSP) because you keep hearing about that Spyderco quality and then what you get is a knife that feels plasticy, isn't sharp and keeps coming loose, and then Spyderco fans tell you well of course you need to fix the looseness with Locktite and of course you need to sharpen it and of course it's very strong plastic, then I would just feel punked... I mean, seriously?

When you buy a knife (or any product for that matter) of a company that is praised for its quality, you do not want to have to sharpen it to be sharp... you don't not want to have to fix defects when you take the product out of the box at all.

When I started to get into Spyderco knives, I was disappointed every single time I bought one because every single time it wasn't as sharp as expected, not as centered as expected, not as high-value feeling as expected.
But I grew into that whole knife tinkerer thing because every single time I loved the design and every single time I sensed the well-thought-out functionality of the knife.

So I guess we as "knife people", as "Spyderco fans" even, have come to accept that we have to tinker our knives to make them what we expect, because usually they don't come perfect out of the box, and with experience we adapted our expectations. Spyderco provides a strong basis and with just a little DIY tweaking, you can get where your personal nigh perfect knife is sitting.


I'm a guitar guy and it's similar with all my Gibson guitars... they never come perfect, you always have to tinker, sometimes a lot, but when done right, they can be almost perfect.

[Evil D]

All I'm gonna say is, you've compared a Benchmade that has an MSRP of $275 to a Spyderco with an MSRP of $107 and you're disappointed. Seems like unrealistic expectations. You can't spend beer money and expect champagne. For what it's worth the Dfly Salt is some dang good beer.

[Oceansidepatrick]

So I didn't have time to get on here and respond to everyone, and still don't have time. I'm going to send it back and try a salt 2. I know everyone loves H1 in serrated but I enjoy sharpening my knives and filing serrations just doesn't bring the same sense of satisfaction. If I have no problems with this knife, I'll get serrated for the boat. I've seen everyone's recommendation of lc200n, but after my own research, i think H1 is the ideal steel for me. I value ease of sharpening more than a long lasting working edge and I'd rather touch a knife up regularly and quickly. Is the salt 2 the next size up from a dragonfly 2 as far as H1 goes?

[Kevinim82]

Yes the salt 2 is the next size up from the dragonfly.

Remember the many recommendations through an authorized dealer.

[TkoK83Spy]

So I didn't have time to get on here and respond to everyone, and still don't have time. I'm going to send it back and try a salt 2. I know everyone loves H1 in serrated but I enjoy sharpening my knives and filing serrations just doesn't bring the same sense of satisfaction. If I have no problems with this knife, I'll get serrated for the boat. I've seen everyone's recommendation of lc200n, but after my own research, i think H1 is the ideal steel for me. I value ease of sharpening more than a long lasting working edge and I'd rather touch a knife up regularly and quickly. Is the salt 2 the next size up from a dragonfly 2 as far as H1 goes?

If you're going to be frequently touching up, you might as well just get the serrated version. All you really need is one Sharpmaker rod ($14 or so) and touch it up quickly whenever needed. Very easy to do. Some great threads on this forum on sharpening serrated edges.

[Matus]

LC200N is actually easy to sharpen ...

Yes, the Salt 2 (as it is 95% based on Delica) is the next step up in size from the Dragonfly.

[vivi]

So I didn't have time to get on here and respond to everyone, and still don't have time. I'm going to send it back and try a salt 2. I know everyone loves H1 in serrated but I enjoy sharpening my knives and filing serrations just doesn't bring the same sense of satisfaction. If I have no problems with this knife, I'll get serrated for the boat. I've seen everyone's recommendation of lc200n, but after my own research, i think H1 is the ideal steel for me. I value ease of sharpening more than a long lasting working edge and I'd rather touch a knife up regularly and quickly. Is the salt 2 the next size up from a dragonfly 2 as far as H1 goes?

Good to hear you're willing to give them another shot.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84544

That has some good tips for sharpening serrated knives.

[DSH007]

Welcome to the forum Patrick!

A few thoughts - though it seems I'm just parroting other members here at this point..

I don't have the DF Salt, but I do have a couple other Salt models.. my first was the Salt 2 H1 SE. Like you, I remember being put off by the sharp thumbhole at first. I had an "ah-ha!" moment though the first time I brought the knife in the water and my wrinkly, wet thumb was able to open it without issue every time. IMO, sharper is better for the Salt knives. If it's too aggressive for you though, as others have mentioned, a few passes with a ceramic file will knock down the edges some.

The screw thing.. it is unfortunate and a bit of a PITA, but it happens sometimes. I wouldn't say the issue is normal or usual for Spyderco, but it has happened to me with some small level of frequency.. especially among the Seki offerings, I've noticed. I have had screws back out on me on a number of knives across many brands over the years (the most flagrant offender that I can recall is my BM 940). Loctite is your friend here.. it has resolved the issue for me in every instance.

FRN looks and feels how it looks and feels.. interpretation of this is subjective. Some would (and certainly do) describe it as "cheap." Regardless, FRN performs extremely well as a handle material, especially in the environments you want to use it in. Put the knife to work, you'll see..

Also - to highlight some of the issues others have mentioned with amazon - you are now admitting to returning a knife that you have carried, adjusted, filed-down, AND sharpened. Ethical ramifications of this aside.. I would bet all the money I have that this knife gets placed back into amazon's sales rotation, re-sold, and sent out to the next poor b@stard who doesn't know any better.. who knows, maybe next week he'll join the forum to complain about his DF Salt with the over-tightened pivot and really dull thumbhole opener?! Thank you for this fantastic reminder of why I will not buy knives from amazon! :p

Anyways.. this is getting ranty.. I hope the Salt 2 works out better for you. Invest in a bottle of loctite and you should be good to go! :)

[James Y]

Welcome to the forum Patrick!

A few thoughts - though it seems I'm just parroting other members here at this point..

I don't have the DF Salt, but I do have a couple other Salt models.. my first was the Salt 2 H1 SE. Like you, I remember being put off by the sharp thumbhole at first. I had an "ah-ha!" moment though the first time I brought the knife in the water and my wrinkly, wet thumb was able to open it without issue every time. IMO, sharper is better for the Salt knives. If it's too aggressive for you though, as others have mentioned, a few passes with a ceramic file will knock down the edges some.

The screw thing.. it is unfortunate and a bit of a PITA, but it happens sometimes. I wouldn't say the issue is normal or usual for Spyderco, but it has happened to me with some small level of frequency.. especially among the Seki offerings, I've noticed. I have had screws back out on me on a number of knives across many brands over the years (the most flagrant offender that I can recall is my BM 940). Loctite is your friend here.. it has resolved the issue for me in every instance.

FRN looks and feels how it looks and feels.. interpretation of this is subjective. Some would (and certainly do) describe it as "cheap." Regardless, FRN performs extremely well as a handle material, especially in the environments you want to use it in. Put the knife to work, you'll see..

Also - to highlight some of the issues others have mentioned with amazon - you are now admitting to returning a knife that you have carried, adjusted, filed-down, AND sharpened. Ethical ramifications of this aside.. I would bet all the money I have that this knife gets placed back into amazon's sales rotation, re-sold, and sent out to the next poor b@stard who doesn't know any better.. who knows, maybe next week he'll join the forum to complain about his DF Salt with the over-tightened pivot and really dull thumbhole opener?! Thank you for this fantastic reminder of why I will not buy knives from amazon! :p

Anyways.. this is getting ranty.. I hope the Salt 2 works out better for you. Invest in a bottle of loctite and you should be good to go! :)

Well said, Rick.

Jim

[aaronkb]

So I guess we as "knife people", as "Spyderco fans" even, have come to accept that we have to tinker our knives to make them what we expect, because usually they don't come perfect out of the box, and with experience we adapted our expectations. Spyderco provides a strong basis and with just a little DIY tweaking, you can get where your personal nigh perfect knife is sitting.

I’d add to this that it’s not just a Spyderco thing... I have a few Benchmade knives that I love, but it’s even more the case with them in my opinion. I had a buddy who ordered a $250 Benchmade as his first expensive knife and it came with awful QC, it would barely open and close... but he loved it once I tinkered with it (and it really was a great knife, I’m not here to knock Benchmade).

[Sharp Guy]

Not saying the OP's Dragonfly Salt is, or isn't, a fake but that is one model that's counterfeited. Do a internet search for "Spyderco Dragonfly Salt fake". There's all kinds of information on the fake ones. If I bought it from Amazon I'd be suspicious that somebody bought a real one and then returned it with a fake in the box. How many times have we heard about that happening?

[metaphoricalsimile]

So I didn't have time to get on here and respond to everyone, and still don't have time. I'm going to send it back and try a salt 2. I know everyone loves H1 in serrated but I enjoy sharpening my knives and filing serrations just doesn't bring the same sense of satisfaction. If I have no problems with this knife, I'll get serrated for the boat. I've seen everyone's recommendation of lc200n, but after my own research, i think H1 is the ideal steel for me. I value ease of sharpening more than a long lasting working edge and I'd rather touch a knife up regularly and quickly. Is the salt 2 the next size up from a dragonfly 2 as far as H1 goes?

Sharpening serrated edges correctly does not require filing the individual serrations. In fact they cut much better once you knock the spikyness of the teeth down substantially (I know I know yet another thing that has to be fixed out of the box :D )

LC200N is also extremely easy to sharpen and touch up FWIW.

[cabfrank]

I would bet it is a fake. I thought that instantly when I read the first post. Also, I think the Salt 1 or 2 is an excellent choice.

[Oceansidepatrick]

I think the problem here is expectations on the one hand (first Spyderco) and experience on the other (Spyderco fans).

When you are not what we consider a "knife guy" (which in most cases means you're kind of a steel nerd and a knife collector to a certain extent), but you want to purchase a knife as a reliable user and you spend a considerable amount of money (3-figure MRSP) because you keep hearing about that Spyderco quality and then what you get is a knife that feels plasticy, isn't sharp and keeps coming loose, and then Spyderco fans tell you well of course you need to fix the looseness with Locktite and of course you need to sharpen it and of course it's very strong plastic, then I would just feel punked... I mean, seriously?

When you buy a knife (or any product for that matter) of a company that is praised for its quality, you do not want to have to sharpen it to be sharp... you don't not want to have to fix defects when you take the product out of the box at all.

When I started to get into Spyderco knives, I was disappointed every single time I bought one because every single time it wasn't as sharp as expected, not as centered as expected, not as high-value feeling as expected.
But I grew into that whole knife tinkerer thing because every single time I loved the design and every single time I sensed the well-thought-out functionality of the knife.

So I guess we as "knife people", as "Spyderco fans" even, have come to accept that we have to tinker our knives to make them what we expect, because usually they don't come perfect out of the box, and with experience we adapted our expectations. Spyderco provides a strong basis and with just a little DIY tweaking, you can get where your personal nigh perfect knife is sitting.


I'm a guitar guy and it's similar with all my Gibson guitars... they never come perfect, you always have to tinker, sometimes a lot, but when done right, they can be almost perfect.

Dude thank you for backing me up! I'm pretty surprised by all the " you should have known that you'd have to put some loctite on it and file down the unfinished edges" responses.

I do appreciate the design and well thought out functionality.

The hole being sharp was not a deal breaker for me, I just expected it to not be so sharp that it would rip at callouses. I agree that I can just hit it with a ceramic rod, and going forward, I will assume that's part of the deal with spyderco. I've bought several Tojiro kitchen knives and know that they have a sharp back corner, that needs to be filed a bit.

To the person who said FRN is not plastic, I don't know what to say...it's literally in the name. Fiberglass reinforced nylon. It is nylon with fiberglass in it.

I'll admit that you all are right though, that it is the best material for what I want and need in a knife handle, and the grip is actually really good, ergonomics even better. The person I quoted got it- it just didn't feel as high value as I expected. I think having a slightly bigger handle in the salt 2 will help with this.

The only comparison I made to the benchmade was about how sharp it was out of the box. But price wise, I would say this knife is even more expensive, proportionally, to the $275 benchmade. I agree that this knife was likely bought and returned, and not as sharp as a brand new spyderco would be, but are you saying that I shouldn't expect a $106 msrp (even though i paid 75) H1 spyderco to be as sharp, brand new, as a well used benchmade in 154cm? What if it was a $275 spyderco in H1? Or a mini bugout that's 10 years old? Does it matter how much the knife was, if the steel quality is the same or better? Are you saying smaller spydercos within the same series are less sharp because they're more affordable?

I am willing to give spyderco another shot, and yeah, I'll send this one back to spyderco instead of amazon. I'm going to get a salt 2 but I saw a review where a guy points out that the hole is bigger in the leaf shaped blades than in the wharncliffe, and the thumbrest is more vertical/pronounced. Can anyone give me a reason to get one vs the other? And ugh, I am going to go with full serrated H1. I know people want me to do lc200n but corrosion resistance is more important to me. If I love this knife, I promise my next one will be a plain edge salt in lc200n.

I'm even going to buy a sharpmaker, after using whetstones my entire life. So there you go, Spyderpeople!

[cabfrank]

No ugh at all. I am confident you will love a H1 fully serrated Salt. I love mine in PE and in SE. I think you would be very happy with both.