Current Spydies.... Captain Persian
Chinook 3 Manix 2
Stretch (Black CE and Blue ZDP)
Military (orange, brown, and CF)
Para Military 1 (black) (My EDC)
Para Military 2 (grey, orange, brown, blue, green) Khukuri
Sage 1, 2, 3, & 4 Dodo
Chokwe
Gayle Bradley
Caly 3.5 Super Blue UKPK
Urban (Wharncliffe and Leaf)
Progrip
Endura (white, orange, and G10)
Delica x6
Dragonfly x2
Ladybug x4
Perrin Street Bowie
Super Leaf
Sounds funny but my smoothest out-of-the box Spyderco was my Sage 3....like glass Also have a Para 1 D2 that is incredibly smooth. With others it is just a matter of degree. All very smooth.
Superleaf followed by...gasp...my $42 Resilience!
My $220 Manix XL with S90V does not even begin to come close.
My two PM 2's have been quite nice after tweaking the locks, but the weight of the big leaf's blade gives it the edge once flipped.
Haha now I'm sitting here picturing Paul doing a behind the back triple aerial :D
Water babies singing in a lily-pool delight
Blue powder monkies praying in the dead of night
Here comes the black queen, poking in the pile
Fie-fo the black queen, marching single file
Sage 3, without a doubt. Not sure if it's a function of the bolt action lock or the Taichung fit n' finish...probably a bit of both. No friction at all, though. The blade will flick open and "gravity close" when I release the lock every single time. Love it!
I don't know which is the smoothest, but the Sage 1, 2 and 3 are all very smooth and my PM2 is right up there with them. Now that the lock spring has loosened up a little on the Sage 3, it is probably the easiest to open and close, but I don't know if that equates to being smoother.