Some questions about my new Stretch

[darthbator]

Hello from a spyderco newb :) I recently (maybe about 2 months ago) ordered myself a Stretch CE for daily carry. Unlike many other people here I'm not really a knife collector, I keep my knives for utility use (hence the CE) and god forbid for self defense (I've been a martial artist specialising in bladed arts for quiite some time now, so a good blade can almost be like a personal saftey blanket :) ).

All in all I LOVE my stretch, I can easily say it's the most amazing looking knife I have ever owned, with one of the finest edges I have ever even seen in a folding blade. But I had some questions about overall maitenance and possible "tweaking" that could be done with this knife.

First off within the first month of use I began to see a great amount of damage to the kraton inserts on this knife, now I expected to wear away the cool looking pattern on the clip side with my repetative speed drawing exercises/daily use however something about the way I draw my knives is causing the kraton at the top of the blade to "peel" away from the knife at the corners. This is hardly a problem (more of an annoyance really), I was wondering what kind of bonding element I should use to stick that stuff back down (super glue, rubber cement etc etc). Anyone else here happen to replace the kraton on the stretch? I was thinking of just taking it out and replacing it with skateboard grip tape on the side of the blade that is prone to peeling (away from the clip) but I just wanted to get some opinions on how replacement with alternate materials worked for other people (or if anyone has tried).

Secondly, I noticed that I'm not able to draw my spyderco as quickly as my other folders, now this could be a personal failing but it seems like the blade is a little "stiff" on deployment even after I have done my best to "work it in". Is there a generally recommended kind of lubricant that might make the blade a little smoother on the open? I have used various oil based lubes in the past (on other knives) but have been kinda disapointed as the wet oil is a magnet for the infamous pants dust =P I was also wondering if this could be due to dust build up in my pocket (is there something I don't know? Does dust accumulate in the opening pivot of the stretch more quickly then in other blades I have owned perhpas? Maybe I'm not cleaning it often enough?).

Third (and lastly) this knife has easily the most amazing blade finish I have ever seen, it's like a mirror :) Of course my oily hands are great at ruining that. I was wondering what I should use to clean the blade or if the oils of my hand would have any adverse effect on the VG-10 steel of the blade if I just let them sit there. (BTW one of my friends has an older VG-10 delica that has a similar finish is this a spyderco trademark or is that just the way this particular steel looks? It's absolutely beautiful).

Thanks in advance for the advice :)

[delicrazy]

heya, and welcome to the forums!
i'll start off by saying that i dont have a stretch, so i can't really offer much help with the inserts, other than i'm a big fan of normal superglue for things like this :D . for the blade action, try a good cleaning with warm soapy water, and then justa little bit of lube. my personal favorite is rem oil, because its cheap, available at your local walmart, and it is pretty effective. i know some people here like more specialized stuff, like miltec-1 or white lightning, all available online. I will say however, that rem oil has always worked fine for me :) . enjoy your new knife, and i have a sneaking suspision it wont be your last spyderco..

[darthbator]

Superglue sounds like a plan I'll slap some in there this morning so I can get that insert to stay down :D As far as water is concerned, I was thinking about giving it a good cleaning but I am a little paranoid of water on my blade, I landed some rust on the 440A steel of my kershaw storm due to water exposure. White lightning sounds like a great idea I was trying to stay away from wet lubricants since they attract grime like a magnet. I'm sure this isn't going to be my last spyder I'm already slobbering over the Chinook I'm sure I'll be ordering one as soon as my tax return comes in :) I think that might take over as my EDC knife.