The single greatest Spyderco of all time is...

[kgriggs8]

The Centofante IV!

IMHO that is the most quintessential Spyderco ever made. It is compact, light weight, has good steel (VG-10) is very reasonably price ($40-45) and is more about utility and function than looks or eye grabbing design.

It did not do so well with the public because it is not a "tactical" knife but after having one for many years, I can say that it is as close to perfection as Spyderco has ever come on a knife.

The very thin blade cuts and slices as good as any full flat ground blade. The Wharncliff design is endlessly useful and I have only found a few cases where it was any sort of hindrance and they were minor. The times where it comes in handy to have the down turned tip out number the times where it is a problem by about 25-1.

The handle seems thin and weak but when you look closer, you see the nested liners that make this knife incredibly strong for it's size and weight. I have put my full strength to this knife when I didn't have anything larger and half expected it to fail but it never did. Not only did it never break but it hardly shows any evidence of use after years of hard work. The Bug has long since fallen off the grip and even though I tried to super glue it back on a couple of times, it kept falling off. It now sits on my work bench and I am just going to leave it off since I never really liked it any way.

The FRN scales are strong and light and more grippy than they appear. This knife has never slipped in my grasp. The handle design is wonderful. It appears simple but someone thought it out. It is handy and comfortable in all grip styles.

The VG-10 steel is perhaps the best steel on the planet for the money. Nobody does VG-10 better than Spyderco. I have never lacked edge holding or strength from this knife and that is all I can ask of any knife. It is also easy to resharpen. I often just strop it on the back of my belt and the edge comes back. I have only used a stone twice in the years I have owned it.

This is the ultimate EDC and utility knife yet if the need ever arose, would make an absolutely fearsome self defense knife. I know how well this blade slices and I would not want to be slashed with it. It will cut deep and the tip would sink into flesh or clothing instead of glance off like an up swept tip might.

This knife is so good that any "improvement" I think to make would result in taking away from something that is already there. If you add G-10 scales you add weight and thickness and cost. If you add a higher end steel like ZDP-189, you sacrifice rust resistance ease of sharpening and make it more expensive. It seems to sit if the sweet spot where improvement is not possible with making it into a different knife with a different purpose.

I am forced to conclude that the Spyderco Centofante IV is as close to perfection in a knife as possible at this time. I mean that in context of the intended purpose of this knife. This knife is intended as a compact and light weight EDC utility knife. It was never intended to be a tactical self defense knife or a skinning knife or a survival knife. There are better knives for those roles but for the all purpose EDC where size and weight matter, there is none better.

The new Delica with the FFG blade is also an impressive knife but lacks the Wharncliff blade and I have had nothing but problems with the clips getting loose.

[Jay_Ev]

Reading that makes me regret that I sold mine a few months back.

[The Mentaculous]

Personally, I'm a bit turned off by the complete lack of a forward choil or exposed tang. If that thing closes on your fingers, you're screwed! However, it does look nice, and I hear great things, so I may pick one up eventually.

For me, the Stetch 2 is probably the equivalent of what the Cento. is for you.

[Blerv]

Personally, I'm a bit turned off by the complete lack of a forward choil or exposed tang. If that thing closes on your fingers, you're screwed!

If your finger is close enough to the pivot it wont be more than pinched. Chances are it will be far enough back to get cut though as mentioned. The lock should still be very tough (for a 2mm thick blade). The advantage w/o the choil is that while cutting there is nothing to bind up on.

The main problem (for me) with a Wharny is exactly what makes it so great. No belly = aggressive cutting but also nothing to peel/skin/rock, etc.

It's definitely a great knife! It gets far more pocket time than my Cento3 and excels at 9/10 tasks. Also a great 3" lightweight defense knife that doesn't scream "killer".

[2cha]

I prefer my Vesuvius to Centofante 4,...

But, the greatest Spyderco of all time is the ATR Ti.

[coelacanth]

Centofante doesn't have clip positions for left hand carry so that won't work for me personally.

Delica 4 FFG is just about perfect for me. I don't have loose clip problem with mine. Bottom end choil would make it really perfect though.

[freeman7]

Worker.

[Jay_Ev]

Caly 3.

[HotSoup]

pfft!

MILITARY BABY.

[Joe Talmadge]

Calypso Jr. A sleeper when it came out, being ugly even by spyderco standards, until a few people figured out its genius. The ancestor of a lot of Spyderco's current great knives -- Caly line, Sage, Manix, etc. -- with a lot of the features in place: choil, full flat ground leaf blade, etc.

[Flashpoint]

I really like the Cento 4 and recommend it often. It was my first Spyderco pocket knife (Spyderfly was my first Spyderco knife) and it's the one I grab when I'm traveling out of state and don't want to be hassled about my knife, but want something that can handle anything I'll come upon. Unfortunately the Wharncliff blade is way underrated.

[rcbalt2]

Persian the most comfortable knife I ever held.

[Simple Man]

Meh... G-10 Endura

[BDNX]

Always been a big fan of the whancliffe blade style...that and hawkbills. I wish I had acted sooner and picked up a Cento 4. I did get a Cento 3 a while back but ended up giving that one to my girlffriend, as I think she actually liked it a bit more than I did.

[Mr Blonde]

I don't necessarily agree with you on the Centofante IV being the greatest spydie of all time. For starters, the Cento IV isn't 100% lefty-friendly.
However, it is a very refined knife and I'm hard pressed to name other folders that are as light, offer as much cutting performance, offer such an efficient blade/handle ratio and are as ergonomical as the Cento IV.

If only the Cento IV was more lefty-friendly, had a choil and a slightly bigger opening hole...

[gull wing]

One knife! :spyder:
Yes it has to be the Calypso Jr.(FRN) My first folding scalpel.
I had other Spydercos before, but this was the one that turned me. It was cheep, light, small enough to carry anywhere. I like these so much I got four of them, one I put G10 scales on, the other titanium liners with carbon fiber. They deserve it.

[Sequimite]

One knife! :spyder:
Yes it has to be the Calypso Jr.(FRN) My first folding scalpel.
I had other Spydercos before, but this was the one that turned me. It was cheep, light, small enough to carry anywhere. I like these so much I got four of them, one I put G10 scales on, the other titanium liners with carbon fiber. They deserve it.

I have four Calypso Jr's also, great classic Spyderco. Can't think of a better one to nominate as I hesitate to include newer models. I would favor the earlier micarta Caly Jr. over the FRN.

[Mako109]

In 1981/82 it was the the first and only commercially produced folder of it's kind that I could find in any cutlery store in my old stomping grounds of Seattle, San Francisco, and Honolulu. It was the first to combine a "hole" + integrated pocket clip + ergonomic organic shaped handle + all SS steel construction. In the better cutlery stores I frequented at the time, I could find no other pocket folder resembling the unique combination of features as the Spyderco C01 Worker.

Please note that I say this based only on personal observation (and I knew much less about all the knives and makers out there back then) and perhaps there were other makers producing similar knives; if so, I "believe" they had less or no presence on the west coast compared to Sypderco. I could be wrong on this conclusion but IMHO the Sypderco Worker CO1 introduced to the general masses of casual pocket knife users, the concept of modern "organic" ergonmics, one handed opening using a hole, and integrated clip, all at an affordable price. If my conclusion is off, I would love to learn about other makers commercially producing similar products at that time.

While the Spyderco concept has evolved over the decades to many more functional designs, for those reasons stated above, I believe the Worker C01 deserves recognition as the greatest Spyderco of all time :)

P.S. Oh, now how about that proposed Sprint run? :D

[Evil D]

You guys are playing favorites...the quintessential Spyderco has to be the Delica. That said, i do really want a Cento 4. I was just lusting over one at the knife shop this past weekend. Lately i've really been into thicker blades though...how cool would it be to have the same knife but with 4mm thick steel? I love the profile of the blade (both of them).

[grg]

Calypso jr for me, a real pocket scapel,but the new sage 3 is running a close second.