My new dragonfly 2 salt: the good, bad and observations.

[suedeface]

I purchased this knife to carry with me after a recent move from the country to a nice suburban neighborhood. I have several dragonfly models (they are one of my favorite designs) but this is my first H1 variation. I find it to be a great all-around urban carry EDC. Here is my short-term review:

I'll get the negatives out of the way first. Compared to the rest of my small dragonfly collection, this model has the most up-and-down play in the lock-back mechanism of any of them. I tested it by placing the knife edge face-up on a table and putting medium pressure on the spine of the knife. It flexed a bit, but held strong. I then did a few medium spine-whacks on the bottom of a rubber soled boot. No problem there, held strong. I'm convinced that while the blade play may be annoying, it doesn't affect the safety of the knife. Next, while very sharp, the factory edge was quite uneven from side to side (at least compared to my other dragonfly models). Once again, while annoying, doesn't affect the function of the knife and I can adjust it to my liking when I eventually go to sharpen it. Lastly, the clip screws just plain suck....or at least one of them does. I went to remove the clip to loc-tite it (as i do all my knives), and the bit fit perfect on one side, but almost stripped on the other side. I ended up just leaving the clip on to avoid stripping the head out. The size is a T9, but it seems like the faulty side could have taken a "T9.5" as a T10 was too big. Perhaps some of the problems with stripped screws are due to poorly sized screw head dimensions? In my experience....maybe. Also, the blade is not centered when the knife is closed. No big deal though.

The good: Overall, the knife is sweet. The main grinds look great and they match up just about perfect at the choil area. The jimping is well done, and the spine swedge is perfect. The round hole cutout is nice and crisp too, and gives excellent purchase when opening. I usually never buy knives with colored handles, but for it's intended purpose, I have come to like the marine yellow. It is actually a bit darker tone compared to many of the pictures i see. Very functional and well done. The clip is very minimal and secures the knife well. Love it. The high hollow grind on the knife is preferable to me as it will be easier to lay the flat section on the rest when I sharpen it on my edge-pro apex system. The standard FFG blades are a bit trickier to accomplish this on.

Observation: I noticed there is a "step" inside the lock well on the tang of the blade. At first i thought it was just from the grinding/cutting process of the blades, but then I thought "are Sal & co. such geniuses that the "step" is actually a form of lock break-in"? I think during several openings of the knife, the "step" will get peened and worn down first, settling the lock bar deeper, before the final critical wear starts to happen on the lock faces. Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I'm not. Makes sense though.

All in all this is a great knife. It will be my EDC for the foreseeable future and I plan to test it to it's fullest. Thank you for reading!

[DRKBC]

Nice Review, I just bought a Salt DF2 myself. It is my first Dragonfly and I can't believe how handy it is I bought it as a secondary blade and I use it more than my primary blade. Great little knife, came very sharp. I have the same issue with the grind and the centering but I have no blade play.

[Leon]

Good review!
I have an orange FRN dragonfly2 and love it, but I actually gave in to the "everyone has to have at least one salt knife" and ordered a serrated h1 dragonfly
my first h1 blade and first serrated spydie .. looking forward to it :)

[Evil D]

I have the same knife, carried it around in the ocean last year on vacation. It does have quite a bit of up and down wiggle.

[zinczinc]

I have a g-10 version wtih vg-10.
The factory edge and the steel just keep the edge super scary sharp.(sharpest in my small collection.)
the knife is just perfect for urban carry.

p.s I agree the screw that spyderco use has some quality problems. i have four blades and three of them have a screw got stripped.

[Revival]

Good review!
I have an orange FRN dragonfly2 and love it, but I actually gave in to the "everyone has to have at least one salt knife" and ordered a serrated h1 dragonfly
my first h1 blade and first serrated spydie .. looking forward to it :)

Nice review! With all the Dragonfly 2's I got within the last month, I forgot to to get the serrated salt version. I defitnely need to get one of those too.

[rodloos]

Sorry to hear that your's has a bit of play, mine seems very solid, I can't see any play at all. I haven't tried to remove the clip on mine, so haven't run into any issue there.

I always have multiple knives on me, yet it seems the Dragonfly Salt is my most-used, other than maybe when I'm whittling. If I'm using it to start peeling an orange, or cut fruit or other acidic stuff, I don't worry about it rusting, it's small enough to not alarm people around me, and it sharpens up quite easily.

[dbcad]

Glad you like the D'F'y Suedeface :) I've noticed the same step on the lock well of a vg-10 Delica I had disassembled. Maybe it's there as some relief in case some lint or other crap falls into the knife while the blade is closed.

My SE D'Fly salt on my keys has absolutely no vertical or horizontal blade play that I can tell. Trying to think of why? The backspacer-spring-lockbar-blade back dance with the scales can be interesting.

[suedeface]

Today I took part of an old trash bag and put it over the end of the t9 bit and got to remove my clip. Before I took it off i noticed one side of the clip wasn't making contact with the scale fully, so I carefully bent it in to the right position. A bit of loc-tite and it's ready to go. NOTE: I did notice the screws heads were slightly different thicknesses, so I put she smaller one underneath the clip for better clearance when clipping it to something. Keep that in mind when changing clips!

I also finger tightened the pivot and lockbar screw to see if they weren't loose for any reason, and the lock-bar screw turned in a bit. After that adjustment my up and down play seems to be a bit tighter, though still there somewhat. So I pretty much have all my issues solved except for the uneven factory edge. That will get taken care of down the road after a few sharpenings. For now, the factory edge is sharp and works great. No rust so far either!

[Holland]

I have a g-10 version wtih vg-10.
The factory edge and the steel just keep the edge super scary sharp.(sharpest in my small collection.)
the knife is just perfect for urban carry.

p.s I agree the screw that spyderco use has some quality problems. i have four blades and three of them have a screw got stripped.

I used to have this problem. you should invest in a higher quality torx set with all the different sizes. using a snug fitting torx goes a long way.

[Evil D]

I used to have this problem. you should invest in a higher quality torx set with all the different sizes. using a snug fitting torx goes a long way.

This echos what I said in another thread about torx bits. I have 2 Dfly's in my house and the screws are mint.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

I liked the Deacon's recommendation to slip some plastic bag material between the bit and bolt head for a tighter fit, haven't tried it myself, but it seems like a pretty slick method for those of us with cheap $5 Torx sets. :)

[DougC-3]

I'm glad I didn't throw away my cheap sets when I got my Wiha set. Sometimes the cheap ones will fit the in-between sizes of poorly made screws :D (none on spydies so far).

[Jazz]

I warm up the screws under a hot lamp for a bit before loosening. It loosens up the factory locktite. Plus, use, as has been said, a snug fitting driver, and do it slowly.

[Leon]

I received my serrated H1 dragonfly today
very smooth, actually smoother than my FRN DF2
absolutely no blade play

It's my first salt series knife, and my first serrated Spydie .. I think will really enjoy this knife!

[Holland]

This echos what I said in another thread about torx bits. I have 2 Dfly's in my house and the screws are mint.

Not sure if i posted this yet. but try to tighten the screw that holds the lockbar. it eliminated all the play on my dfly salt

[Evil D]

Not sure if i posted this yet. but try to tighten the screw that holds the lockbar. it eliminated all the play on my dfly salt

No dice