Temperance 2 and abuse

[SolidState]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to purchase a fixed blade that is going to see some severe use bordering on abuse. I'd prefer to keep it spyderco, and I'm looking for 4mm blade stock as a minimal thickness. I'm intrigued about peoples' experiences with the Temp2 for this application, partially because of the cost and partially because of what I've read about it. It seems lots of people love them for kitchen use, but I haven't read much about outdoor use.

I have some key questions like:
How strong is the tip in comparison to say an Aqua Salt or a Paramilitary 2?

Would you trust it for gutting out and taking fillets off of large fish like salmon, steelhead, and ling cod?

How about shucking muscles and oysters?

Finally, for EvilD, Have you batonned with it?

The knife will be seeing 10-30 miles of continuous backpacking in the coastal mountains and shore. It needs to be capable of operation for days at a time without more than a wipedown. I need to be able to do feathersticks, minor kindling splitting and food prep as well as small game like rabbit or quail.

My lady carries a serrated aqua salt, and I may be getting another one of those for this purpose if the temp 2 doesn't sound like it will pan out, but I'd prefer a plain edge with better edge retention than PE H1. I have a rock salt, but I'd rather not remove it from its emergency kit in my automobile. I'd prefer to bring something with better edge retention in, as my car is better at carrying a sharpening system without complaining than I am. I'd also like a new knife to show off for this year's journey.

Blade length is key, as my Mule hasn't been the best in previous iterations of my journeys. I can get away with it, as it's a great knife, but it wasn't quite long enough for all of my food and wood preparation needs. I was left wanting another 1 to 2 inches of edge.

What do you guys think? Who has pushed their Temp 2 outside the kitchen? I'm having a heck of a time committing on the Temp 2 due to the price tag, and the kitchen-knife-like appearance.

[Aotea]

My thoughts are if you are taking a quality knife such as the temperance on that hike treat it well and also take a cheap sacrificial knife for rough treatment.

How about shucking muscles and oysters?

If you shell your shellfish raw best to use a knife with no edge such as a bread buttering knife. Sharp knives opening live shellfish is a very common cause of finger lacerations (and damaged blade edges).

[.357 mag]

If your going to abuse a knife, ESEE knives come to mind. I wouldn't beat on my spyderco's (bushcraft maybe). The ESEE 4 would be what your looking for. Just a thought.

[SolidState]

My thoughts are if you are taking a quality knife such as the temperance on that hike treat it well and also take a cheap sacrificial knife for rough treatment.


If you shell your shellfish raw best to use a knife with no edge such as a bread buttering knife. Sharp knives opening live shellfish is a very common cause of finger lacerations (and damaged blade edges).

While I agree wholeheartedly with your comment, and I bring a mini prybar with me, this is going to be a group camping trip. Sadly, as I'm usually the guy with the nicest knife, often my co-campers "borrow" it if left out. I have had bad experiences in previous years with people overextending my tools and removing tips.

Aotea is probably right, I should go with a sharpened prybar.

[jzmtl]

The knife will be seeing 10-30 miles of continuous backpacking in the coastal mountains and shore. It needs to be capable of operation for days at a time without more than a wipedown. I need to be able to do feathersticks, minor kindling splitting and food prep as well as small game like rabbit or quail.

What you say here doesn't sound like abuse and it'll handle them without problem.

That said I'd go with something cheaper, crap happens and I wouldn't want to lose/break a $200 knife. Maybe if I the lottery, but definitely not now.

[sal]

I don't share my knives except with afi's. Biring a "junker" to share. Your Temperance 2 will surpise you. It was designed and built to be a very high performance cutting tool. Not a hammer or pry bar. I'll stack the T2 against any fixed blade of equal size for cutting horsepower. :eek:

sal

[Donut]

Isn't the south fork equal size to the temp 2?

[sal]

Blade length is about the same, but the T2 is thicker and broader.

sal

[JLS]

I don't share my knives except with afi's. Biring a "junker" to share. sal

I was sure I wasn't the only one who did this, but it's nice to see it in writing.

The Temp 2 is a great knife, though I can't say I've used it much yet in the great outdoors. I've only made it out into the wild one night this year. It is a great blade for yardwork or breaking down lots of boxes though. The handle is very nice and didn't create any hotspots in a couple of hours of in-hand use.

[Blerv]

Have you considered a Bushcraft? O1 is tougher than VG10 and the grind seemingly is more stout.

You would have to keep it clean and dry but as it's intended for a survivalist blade that doesn't seem impossible.

[Chris_H]

An old forum member, yablanowitz, did an initial review of the T2 that you might find useful in your decision:
http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... has-landed!

[Eee]

I've got a feeling Zackerty has been using a T2 in the wilds of New Zealand; he may be along in a bit...

My favoured 'sharer' at the moment is the Bear Grylls Compact fixed blade (Gerber not Bayley of course). It takes up virtually no space, is sturdy, reasonably competent and non-afis think it's great because they have heard of Bear Grylls (I guess they think they are getting something decent and not being fobbed off). NKP don't seem too scared by it either.

[Sequimite]

Kabar Becker BK 2 is a great beater. If that's too heavy they recently came out with some lighter mid sized knives: BK 15, 16, 17

[thog94]

I'm going to completely agree with Aotea on the shucking aspect. I've been bitten by my blade while shucking and have seen a ton of others as well. I'd recommend a Dexter Clam Knife for shucking, the plastic white handle version. We use them at work all the time and they are versatile for just about any shell fish except scallops.

[dbcad]

The Temp2 should hold up well for your trip Solidstate. It is a very good cutter. I would take Sal's advice on letting others use it I always question folks that want to use my knives about what they want to cut, how they're going to do it etc. On the occasions I do let someone else use my very sharp Spyderco I lay out very clear stipulations: Be mindful of the tip, no prying (some exceptions for FB), respect the knife, etc. By the time I'm through they know to treat the knife with respect

The Temp2 is a beautiful and useful piece of sculpted steel with a terrific grip :D If you choose to buy it you will be happy :)

Old picture, mine looks a bit more used now

[Cliff Stamp]

The Temperance (original model) that I have handled (several) have edges in the 0.010-0.020" thick range. If you get one closer to the thinner range and you try to chisel cut through knots in harder wood by hitting the knife with a stick you are very likely to leave a piece of the edge in the wood. An accidental hard hit near the tip could also break off the tip. Similar the points are very thin, the edge has a very low angle and prying apart shellfish is likely to damage that as well.

Not saying that it could not be done with enough skill/patience, but fo the type of use you are describing you would be better with a more robust design which would allow a little more speed and efficiency and a lot less delicacy being used in the application. Of course you always could just use it and then if there is an issue with the tip/edge then in the repair have it ground to a more robust shape.

[sal]

As long as we're on the subject. From an ELU's point of view; what is the most preferred? Is the hi-powered cutter (for cutting function and / or animal defense) in an outdoor environment? Is the "Military Issue", thick tough, rusts, good prybar and hammer but not much of a cutter (by Spyderco standards) or what in the middle?

I see these popular fixed blades deemed indestructable by the "experts", but rarely cut well and certainly for not very long before sharpening is required. In a fixed blade outdoor knife, what would be your ideal?

sal

[speedcut]

Mr. Glesser i think that Spyderco is doing it the right way and your Temperance design is surely a very high performance cutter but also i believe that Spyderco also needs a replacement for Hossom fixed blades....What about a big choppper made by Mr. Ed Schempp?

[JLS]

Personally, I like my knives to be good knives and my prybars to be good prybars. I have yet to used a satisfactory combination tool; most are mediocre at everything in the best case.

[Left Hand Path]

As long as we're on the subject. From an ELU's point of view; what is the most preferred? Is the hi-powered cutter (for cutting function and / or animal defense) in an outdoor environment? Is the "Military Issue", thick tough, rusts, good prybar and hammer but not much of a cutter (by Spyderco standards) or what in the middle?

I see these popular fixed blades deemed indestructable by the "experts", but rarely cut well and certainly for not very long before sharpening is required. In a fixed blade outdoor knife, what would be your ideal?

sal

The hi-powered cutter is my ideal and the Temp 2 is just about perfect. It is my favorite fixed blade and a really nice design. I think it is a good crossover between light FBs like the original Temp and the sharpened prybar types.

I have processed wood for a fire and batoned through 3-4" logs in the winter (20 degrees F) using the Temp 2 with no edge damage and almost no loss of sharpness. I was impressed, thinking that I might get chipping. I have a feeling that Spyderco FBs, such as the Temp 2, can take a lot more than people think. Most of the time, most people really don't need an overbuilt fixed blade.

Military-type fixed blades have their place, though. I also own sharpened prybar types, such as the ESEE 4. I like this knife, and if I was going to do a lot of batoning or wood processing it would be my choice because you don't have to be careful or worry about edge damage. The Temp 2 is a better cutter and all-arounder though, in my opinion. And I think it is nice to have stainless steel.