Szabo Folder Review (Picture Heavy)

[vivi]

Sometimes you see a knife and its appearance immediately grabs you.



For me, the Szabo folder is one of those knives. I still have an image on my computer from the 2011 Spyderco Amsterdam meet, the first time I saw the design. It would be over five years later that I finally bought one.

For a long time I avoided buying it because it didn't seem very practical. It's heavier than I like for an EDC folder. It's designed as a self-defense knife, and I carry knives for utility. Reviews spoke of its stiff opening, while my other Spydercos have years of use and are buttery smooth.



Szabo compared to one of my favorites, the Para 2.

I'm glad I finally picked one up. I like big knives that fit my large hands, I love the compression lock, and the ergos looked fantastic. It's a beautiful design full of some awesome engineering. In fact I strongly recommend reading through this thread just to appreciate the internals of this knife

This implementation of the compression lock is unlike any other knife I've seen. It's very robust. It inspires as much confidence as any other folding knife Spyderco makes...the Manix, K2, Chinook etc. 4mm thick saber ground S30V, thick, solid liners, a huge external stop pin, a second stop pin inside the blade's tang, an overbuilt compression lock, and beefy hardware. It's an absolute tank.







Now, I only buy knives as users. So despite not being designed with utility as its primary purpose, that's the role its filled for me.

I really like the handle ergonomics. That was the first thing that caught my eye with this knife, the handle lines. I do most my cutting with my index finger in the choil. Using that grip, the negative blade angle makes the knife handle like an overbuilt Calypso. The knife feels comfortable in a wide variety of grips, feeling very natural in the hand whether in normal or reverse grip, conventional edge out or edge in grips (e.g. using it as a draw knife or in pikal style grip). The curve on the spine makes a nice spot to put my index finger for controlled cuts with the tip, while my middle finger and thumb pinch the handle at the index choil.










Another thing I like about the handle are the carbon fiber scales. They look great and function very well. You have to see the knife in person to appreciate how the light reflects off the scales at different angles, its a very unique, eye catching effect. They have a three dimensional feeling texture to them, but they don't have the rough, gritty feeling of typical G10 / CF texturing. They provide grip and traction without feeling even the slightest bit abrasive. Given the option I'd buy a Military with these same type of scales.



The blade shape works pretty well for the most part. I like pointy tips (Military is my favorite Spyderco), so I love the tip profile of the Szabo. It's really easy to slip it under some tape to open a package, etc. For how long the blade is, I find the angle of the blade gets the tip in a very natural feeling position, so control is better than I expected when making cuts with the end of the blade.





The saber grind isn't as thin as I prefer, but it was thinner behind than edge than I expected from pictures. The edge also came ground thicker than I keep on a utility knife, so I reground it using a combination of DMT benchstones for the majority of the blade, and 200 grit sandpaper to thin out the recurve. The knife has solid cutting performance now.

The recurve shape is different than my other knives, and I feel it has pros and cons. Some materials it does a great job of slicing right into it and starting the cut easily, others I feel like the edge has a bit too pronounced of a belly, that a straighter edge would offer more control. It's not really better or worse for utility overall compared to say, my Military, just different. Lastly, I really like the coating. I value corrosion resistance a good deal, and it helps in that regard. It feels slicker than my DLC coated Para 2, so it creates less friction when cutting stuff like cardboard or apples. It also looks great!



Lastly, the clip. It's a pretty standard Spyderco clip, and in functions well. It's placed for pretty deep carry, but leaves just the right amount of handle exposed that when I draw the knife I don't have to adjust my grip to reach the opening hole.



Now, a few things that I think could be improved from a utility perspective:

- I heard the Szabo was stiff to open, but it was worse than I expected. After breaking it in I'm happy with it, but it took some extra lube and about 2,000 cycles before I wanted to actually carry it.
- I wish there was more cutting edge. Looking at the ricasso, it appears there could be a few more mm of sharpened edge, but maybe there is a reason for that I'm not aware of.
- I'd like to see the skeletonized liners be made a little lighter. It looks like there's room to remove a little more material, but again there might be reasons for that too.
- I would have preferred a higher saber grind or full flat grind for better slicing.
- While the recurve looks great and cuts well, I don't enjoy reprofiling it. I could do with filling out the recurved with a little more blade for easier sharpening.

Pretty minor things, really.

All in all I'm really happy with this knife. The fit and finish is the best I've seen in any production knife.

The Szabo isn't a knife I carry 24/7, but when I use it I really enjoy the ergonomics, stoutness and cutting performance. It's very comfortable and surprisingly graceful in the hand. It's definitely not a knife for everybody, but if its caught your eye like it did for me, I can say it won't disappoint.



I'll update this thread later with some additional pictures of my Szabo folder, showing the thinner edge I gave it.

[farnorthdan]

Hey, that was a really good review Vivi, I've thought about getting one for a while now, other "must have" pieces keep popping up. I too like bigger blades, I have yet to buy a Spydie that was too big in the pocket or uncomfortable to carry. I didn't use to like bigger blades until I finally bought a Military. Now I'm usually carrying one and since grabbing the K2 its been in pocket a lot.

Again thanks for the great review, the Szabo is again working its way to the top of my list.

[vivi]

It's definitely more noticeable in the pocket than a Millie, being heavier and a bit chunkier...but the closed size isn't that much bigger. It carries better than I expected, even in basketball shorts carried IWB like my pocket clip photo.

[JonesE]

Hi Vivi, Thanks for you review of the Szabo folder. Please keep us informed from time to time on how it is performing for you. I to enjoy using and carrying this folder. I have been fortunate to be able to own both the blue lightening strike carbon fiber model and the black carbon fiber weave model. I tend to carry the the original more often due to the fact that I don't tend to care for coated blades. I truly hope your knife give you years of enjoyment. JonesE

[ChrisinHove]

I've always admired this one from afar ... nice review. Maybe I need to take a closer look!

Thanks for posting.

[vivi]

Thanks for the kind words. Here's a few more pictures:



You can see the edge is still a work in progress. I've got most the raw material removal done, I just need to grind a few more areas a bit more, even things out, then bring it all up to a nice polish. Even though its unfinished, it still sails through roma tomatoes.









The blade profile works pretty nice for slicing up meats and veggies on a cutting board. From the tip to the belly is a nice straight section of cutting edge, angled so your hand has plenty of clearance to slice things up. The szabo helped me make some pretty delicious pasta!

[MacLaren]

Very good review Vivi. Much appreciated.
Makes me want a Szabo now....

[tripscheck'em]

I owned one a few years ago. It remains the best looking folding knife I've ever seen, but I just couldn't open it with one hand, very difficult to deploy, also very heavy. Then again, I'm a small guy.

make no mistake, when you see this thing in real life, you know its intended to do harm, a true weapon, no bs.

[vivi]

Making some progress on the edge. Going to try to finish it up tonight or tomorrow.

[ferider]

Belated thanks for the review, Vivi, motivating me to buy not only one, but two (including a long-term back-up, after seeing that the stocks are drying up, and the price of the white one is already going through the roof). If possible, Vivi, most of your pictures are not inlined here anymore, do you still have copies ?

After receiving the backup, I disassembled and lubed my user copy. Much like other Spydercos that have been sitting on shelves for years, the knife had oxidized brass washers and was dry throughout (and there are quite a few lube points, including the spring piston). Anyways, Humpty Dumpty is back together, and thumb flicks just like my other knives - no modification to the spring required. And - apparently in contrast to many here - after stupidly having been bitten by a slightly open Military in my pocket, I love the Szabo's closing mechanism ! Super tough knife, If you like big knives, you need one !

Roland.

[vivi]

Most of them are on my desktop rather than this laptop

[ferider]

Nice job on the regrind.

[spyderg]

I’m going to wake this thread up again since I just ordered one!

I was posting in the what’s next for the Sage thread about how I wanted a 3 with the funky cf pattern. (I really like it, it reminds me of Ukrainian embroidery, also similar to a pattern on a belt my late father always wore). It reminded me that a Canadian retailer had some of the Szabo’s with the same cf in stock. I bought my Domino with it from them actually.
I usually don’t carry as large as the Szabo but it caught my eye the first time I saw it and I keep toying with the idea of getting one. I’ve convinced my self the recent break ins in my neighbourhood was reason enough to own one.

I too have pretty large hands, wide palm in particular and from what I can surmise from knife designs, an abnormally large thumb. I can rarely get my thumb on a ramp with index in forward Choils. It kinda fits on the PM2 ramp if I’m behind the choil, and quite well on the Manix 2. From pics and vids it looks like I’ll be pretty comfy on the Szabo if I keep my index behind the forward Choil.

Things I think I’ll like are, handle size and ergos, the scoop looks like I can rest my thumb nicely when choking up, and I like when the edge doesn’t come all the way back to the handle. I know it seems to go against the fact that I like efficiency and dislike wasted space, ( like the empty handle space on pm2’s for example, easily could accept another 1/4” on the tip) but at the same time it helps keep crud out of the pivot.
I’m not so sure about the recurve. I’ve never liked recurves, in use or to sharpen. I’ve mostly been carrying my Smock so hopefully the extra size and weight in pocket won’t be too bad when I carry it instead.
I typically stay away from coated blades, an m4 Benchmade I have had such a thick coating I had to remove it. My black PM2 shows scratches easy enough to be annoying, kind of like the scales on my Sebenza. Eventually it looks good but for a while it looks terrible. Have to see how this coating wears over time I guess.

[vivi]

I’m going to wake this thread up again since I just ordered one!

I was posting in the what’s next for the Sage thread about how I wanted a 3 with the funky cf pattern. (I really like it, it reminds me of Ukrainian embroidery, also similar to a pattern on a belt my late father always wore). It reminded me that a Canadian retailer had some of the Szabo’s with the same cf in stock. I bought my Domino with it from them actually.
I usually don’t carry as large as the Szabo but it caught my eye the first time I saw it and I keep toying with the idea of getting one. I’ve convinced my self the recent break ins in my neighbourhood was reason enough to own one.

I too have pretty large hands, wide palm in particular and from what I can surmise from knife designs, an abnormally large thumb. I can rarely get my thumb on a ramp with index in forward Choils. It kinda fits on the PM2 ramp if I’m behind the choil, and quite well on the Manix 2. From pics and vids it looks like I’ll be pretty comfy on the Szabo if I keep my index behind the forward Choil.

Things I think I’ll like are, handle size and ergos, the scoop looks like I can rest my thumb nicely when choking up, and I like when the edge doesn’t come all the way back to the handle. I know it seems to go against the fact that I like efficiency and dislike wasted space, ( like the empty handle space on pm2’s for example, easily could accept another 1/4” on the tip) but at the same time it helps keep crud out of the pivot.
I’m not so sure about the recurve. I’ve never liked recurves, in use or to sharpen. I’ve mostly been carrying my Smock so hopefully the extra size and weight in pocket won’t be too bad when I carry it instead.
I typically stay away from coated blades, an m4 Benchmade I have had such a thick coating I had to remove it. My black PM2 shows scratches easy enough to be annoying, kind of like the scales on my Sebenza. Eventually it looks good but for a while it looks terrible. Have to see how this coating wears over time I guess.

I can rarely if ever use thumb ramps in the index choil, and a lot of knives without choils I can't comfortably use them (Endura 4, any Delica, etc.). I can use the Szabo's thumb ramp in confort in or out of the choil.

I'm not wild about recurves but I've found the Szabo can be sharpened on a regular benchstone except for the part right by the ricasso, which I'll hit with a sharpmaker rod. Or just use the corners of the SM rods.

[spyderg]

I don’t really consider index choils, index choils. For me they are middle finger choils. By that I mean I use them to rest the tip of my middle finger in while pinching the blade itself between my index and thumb for very fine work or slitting tape to open a fragile package. That’s why I actually love the Smock’s choil, it’s at a great angle to accommodate that grip. Other than that, I don’t often use the forward choil. Perhaps on such a large blade I’ll use it? Then again perhaps not, I turned the sharpening notch on my ZT0452 into a finger choil, (it didn’t extend past the plunge) but never use it.

I know I can sharpen the recurve well enough, it’s just not fun. I find it annoying and time consuming. Similarly I dislike sharpening blades with alot of belly near the tip. It’s difficult to find the right balance of maintaining an angle while keeping the bevel looking fairly even. A blade shape like my Manix or Smock I find enjoyable and satisfying to sharpen.

[vivi]

I don’t really consider index choils, index choils. For me they are middle finger choils. By that I mean I use them to rest the tip of my middle finger in while pinching the blade itself between my index and thumb for very fine work or slitting tape to open a fragile package. That’s why I actually love the Smock’s choil, it’s at a great angle to accommodate that grip. Other than that, I don’t often use the forward choil. Perhaps on such a large blade I’ll use it? Then again perhaps not, I turned the sharpening notch on my ZT0452 into a finger choil, (it didn’t extend past the plunge) but never use it.

I know I can sharpen the recurve well enough, it’s just not fun. I find it annoying and time consuming. Similarly I dislike sharpening blades with alot of belly near the tip. It’s difficult to find the right balance of maintaining an angle while keeping the bevel looking fairly even. A blade shape like my Manix or Smock I find enjoyable and satisfying to sharpen.

That's how I use index choils too. On larger folders that I tend to carry, like a Police, if I want fine tip control I put my index finger on the spine and my middle finger in the choil.



Using that grip gives me better tip control with a Police / Manix XL / Millie vs using the index choil how most people do on a small knife like a Caly jr. Once I figured that out carrying a small knife held much less incentive for me.

I'm with you on blade shapes and sharpening. One of the things I initially appreciated about Spydercos is how their blade shapes are often a long, mellow, continuous curve. You look at most knives and they have around 2.5-3" of straight edge, then a more drastic belly near the tip. I find shapes like that more difficult to sharpen compared to the sweeping lines of a Manix or Military. I also prefer how they cut.

[spyderg]

Vivi, exactly how I use the choil, also slight variations like pinching the blade depending on the task at hand.
I find the Smock or my Manix are just right for edc, blade shape and length but especially the shape. Occasionally I’d like a bit longer but for some reason the police has never appealed to me. We’ll see how the Szabo does in that roll. I typically carry a smaller traditional knife for small cutting tasks, mostly because I tend to need to do them around people, and people scare easy.

[spyderg]

So far so good, only had her a couple hours now but I’m liking it. Grips seem good, I can get my thumb on the hump while in the forward choil but it’s kinda cramped and not particularly comfortable but if I stay behind the choil it’s great.

Out of the box it was pretty stiff. I loosened the pivot, added some oil worked in in then snugged her back down. That helped a lot, now some break in and should be real nice action. I had to hit the edge of the Spydie hole with sandpaper as it was slicing through my callous after only a few openings.

[vivi]

They get a lot easier to open over time. Cycle the action a few hundred times and keep the pivot oiled. It's a pretty complex pivot, seems to take a bit more oil than more basic knives.

[JonLeBlanc]

It IS a cool looking knife, and the materials look great, but man my coworkers would look at me like I was inSANE lol