Temperance

[LoneStar]

I was extremely lucky today. I got my hands on three black blade VG-10 Temperances. Up to this point I had only seen the knife with a polished blade?? Does anyone know the info on these awesome knives?.... how many were made, in what year, etc? Thanks,
-Jeff

[WhiteWillie]

Congratulations Lone Star and greetings from muggy Houston. I had ordered a knife just like yours only to find out the retailers site was out of date.

[redhawk44p]

these awesome knives-Jeff

You are right they are awesome. I have 2 of them.

Sal designed them when he found cougar tracks on his property during his walk. He wanted a knife that would serve to give him a fighting chance if a cougar jumped him during one of his walks.

If you swing a Temp at something the way it cuts will convince you that he succeeded.

More reading-

Originally Posted by The General
As Sal is away at the moment, if no one minds and with the greatest respect I will try and answer your question after discussing this for a little while with Sal.

I don't remember how the conversation started, but I think it was as a result of my mentioning to Sal how well my numbered Temperance did at a recient Hammer in at Doc Price's. We were performing cutting tests on various materials, but most importantly wet matting as used to test Katana blades and the like. The matting must have been 8" thick at the very least, perhaps even 10" thick. The Temperance went a long way through the matting and surprised everyone! Eyes were wide at how well it performed. To be honest I used the knife as a joke to see what it could do. I did not have high expectations, but it really shocked me how deeply it bit and how massive the cutting power was when it cut through the matting. Two hits severed the matting. Thats highly impressive, when you consider the other blades were all 10" or longer.

Sal nodded his head and began by asking me what knife I would want on me if I were jumped by a Mountain Lion. You see he explained they have them where he lives and Gail confirmed a very close sighting of tracks right by their bedroom window! So the danger from such a creature is very very real. I thought about it for a moment and decided my HI Kukrhi would be the knife I would want. Sal asked what my reasons were for this choice and I reasoned that is was sharp (I have a reputation for getting a great edge you could say!), had a good reach and its weight and efficiant cutting shape made for a devistating tool if you really needed a knife to take on a lion. Sal nodded at this as said these were valid points, however... he pointed out that that while the Kukrhi was capable of a devistating if not out right fatal first chopping blow, (even a full sized bear could not take a full power hit to the skull from this blade) the mountain lion tries to get in very close to you awfully fast. In fact chances are very high he will hit you from behind, you will be on the ground with a savage killer with massive power in his paws and claws not to mention jaws! You will be in a wresling match with a creature stronger than you and at least as heavy. So Sal pointed out, how is that massive Kukrhi going to help you now? I winced at the picture Sal pointed out and remembered my Karate instructors advice of thinking about fighting someone in a phone box...

So, Sal pointed out the features of this knife that made it the perfect self defence tool against a Cougar! Firstly the blade shape and sharpness. You have a tapered full flat ground blade with a very efficiant cross section for minumum resistance when trying for a penetrating hit repeatedly. Sal said "they" or "he" (I forget which) spent a great deal of time finding the optimum compromise between ease of insertion, wide would channel, blade strength and utility. He did not want a stilletto style blade or dagger as they has limited use in the day to day aplication of a utility blade. Remember this knife is still a fantastic camp knife.

Well Sal found that balance between utility, offence and strength. That blade is the Temperance. Sal explained that when the lion has you down, you want a blade that you can very rapidly stab stab stab into the lion without hesitation. A blade that will go in with frightening ease, but not break if you hit a rib or hard bone. Sal said you will be panicked and using unskilled max power in you blows. Desperatly trying to get the lion to let you go. He showed me the rapid stabbing style with different grips, how the handle gives a good grip even when covered in blood or oil, how the back of the handle has a "beak" or thumb holder, the only way to have a really good reverse hammer grip is to cap the grip with you thumb. Look at the handle closely, this knife handle almost looks at first like a cheap kitchen knife, then you see the details, how comfortable it is to hold and then the MBC index points are visable. This is a MBC/fighting knife that looks and performs great as a kitchen or camp knife. The wide blade made from VG-10 holds and takes a breathtakingly sharp edge. That wide blade makes a terrible and wide wound channel.

No sir, this is not a knife to get stabbed with! To my limited fighting experience and somewhat more experienced bushcrafting and knife user eye, this is an utility blade that steps into the phone booth as you would say and comes out with its under wear on the outside of its costume. Its a fighting knife disguised as utility blade. Its the look on the wolfs face when amoungst the sheep and Irish wolfhound appears! Its the Irish wolfhound of knives. Looks like a sheep till it steps up and bites you!

Sorry for the ramble.

More reading-
http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/t ... _vg10.html

[LoneStar]

Redhawk thank you! That was a wonderful read with tremendous information. I am now going to tell everyone its my Cougar killing knife.

Congratulations Lone Star and greetings from muggy Houston. I had ordered a knife just like yours only to find out the retailers site was out of date.

Greetings from cold as **** Amarillo :)

-Jeff

[redhawk44p]

You are most welcome.

[WinstonWolf]

The Temperance was my first Spider and it made a **** of an impression. I got it to apeace my knife dealer because until that time I did not like Spyderco knives at all and he is a Spyderco nut. Once I got it and started using it I was AMAZED at the blade. This made me research other Spyders, this lead to the realization that I was an idiot for not seeing the quality and design of Spyderco sooner and now I am hooked.

I found out that the Temperance was out of production about a year after that when I told my dealer that I wanted several more, a couple for me and the rest for gifts. I was very bummed when he was unable to source any from his distributors. I have seen them on-line and on eBay occasionally but I refuse to buy a knife from anyone other than my dealer (loyalty can be a real PITA at times), after all he has become a good friend over the years and I really do want him to stay in business.

So enjoy your Temperance, it is a **** of a knife, I take mine with me in the woods, on the water and on the road. My Temperance and my Assist are never far from me.

WW

[ducktapehero]

Congrats!!! Not too many cougars here in the Ozarks but I wish Spyderco could design a knife to help fight off these daggum chiggers. That's one thing I LOVE about winter, the chiggers are gone. :D

[Joshua J.]

Good post Redhawk.

Sal has mentioned a six inch micarta handled version in the works, now I'm definitely going to pick up one of those.

[redhawk44p]

Good post Redhawk.

Sal has mentioned a six inch micarta handled version in the works, now I'm definitely going to pick up one of those.

Glad you enjoyed it Joshua.

I am a big fan of the Temp. I will definitely buy the micarta one.

[Slick]

What?

Quote: "Sal has mentioned a six inch micarta handled version in the works..."

I've not heard a word here. Could this be true and if it is where is the mentioned thread? Micarta warms my heart and any new Temp model just warms it WAY more. I don't know if my heart can stand this abuse.

WTH? Is this for real? Where can I find more info?

[Joshua J.]

Slick, here's the thread.

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30016

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