Spyderco Forums

Well, I finally got my Southard in the mail.

I couldn't be happier with this knife. Sal, Brad, and company really scored the overtime goal on this baby.

It's my new favorite user and I'm going to run it through the paces cutting up Christmas cardboard.

Congrats!

very nice, use it well

Nice. Enjoy it!

Well, this has now arrived in the UK but the price equates to $387.00.
Is this knife really so much better than a Paramilitary 2?

How much are standard S30v Para2s going for over there? The Southard is my favorate Spyderco knife by far, , , but bang for the buck I'd say it would be VERY hard to beat the Para2 (or Manix2 for that matter). If one didn't know better you'd swear it was a custom.

Soooo nice! want one...really want one.

Great looking knife, its above my budget so I do not plan to get one. Congrats on your new knife

Let us know how yours does on the cardboard. I love my Southard, but I have to say, I was not impressed with its performance cutting cardboard boxes (at least with the factory edge, I haven't messed with the edge at all yet).

SQSAR wrote:How much are standard S30v Para2s going for over there? The Southard is my favorate Spyderco knife by far, , , but bang for the buck I'd say it would be VERY hard to beat the Para2 (or Manix2 for that matter). If one didn't know better you'd swear it was a custom.

Para2 - £125
Southard - £239
Prices from Heinnies

gbelleh wrote:Let us know how yours does on the cardboard. I love my Southard, but I have to say, I was not impressed with its performance cutting cardboard boxes (at least with the factory edge, I haven't messed with the edge at all yet).

It does fine on cardboard. That is however a highly subjective statement since my fine might be terrible to somebody else. I measured the bevels on it with a marker and my Wicked Edge and it came from the factory at around 21 degrees per side. That's fairly obtuse compared to something like my Caly 3 zdp. I usually run my knives with a 15 per side primary bevel and just put a 20 per side micro bevel on there for ease of maintenance on the Sharpmaker.

It's a fine knife and I really like the blade length and shape, I can't in all fairness compare it's cardboard slicing ability to my Caly 3 or Military because the edge geometry and blade shape is so much different. The Caly 3 cuts like a freaking laser beam because it's so thin and I have mirror polished the whole blade surface. I can't really expect a fat, short little blade to slice like that... haha.

All that said, I love this Southard and for now I just matched the 21 degrees per side and am using it that way. I might reprofile it slimmer eventually but it cuts cardboard just fine the way it is. More obtuse also means a tougher edge so it's a trade off. I haven't done any scientific testing but it seems to be holding an edge as well as my M390 Milly which is great in my book! The ergos of the Southard are fantastic when you are gripping it hard and cutting some really thick, doubled up cardboard. Fat handles work great for that kind of thing I find.

Thanks for the report. I guess I need to work on my edge. My Southard ripped through the cardboard leaving jagged tears. I switched to my (short, thick bladed) Techno, and it zipped through the same box with no problem. :confused:

gbelleh wrote:Thanks for the report. I guess I need to work on my edge. My Southard ripped through the cardboard leaving jagged tears. I switched to my (short, thick bladed) Techno, and it zipped through the same box with no problem. :confused:

Today I re-profiled my Southard to about 17 degrees per side then put a light micro-bevel on it with the Sharpmaker. It now slices paper and cardboard with very similar feel to my M390 Military which is sharpened very close to the same way. I think that says a lot considering how different the blade shape is. I think that if yours is tearing the cardboard rather than slicing nicely, then you are likely right and need to just refine your edge a bit more. This Southard is officially mine now, it bit me several times today while sharpening and obsessing over the edge... :D