Lil' Matriarch-Thoughts?

[mrtodd777]

Without doing any real research, I pulled the trigger on a LNIB SE Lil' Matriarch. It was a deal I just couldn't pass up, and I am an impulse buyer... What is your opinion of the knife? I love my Harpy when I am having to cover for the shipping/receiving dept. here at work. Is the blade on the lil matriarch thick enough to handle some cardboard and packaging tape, or should I stick to the Harpy for that purpose?? What are your thoughts of this knife overall? Pros/Cons. Thanks!

[demoncase]

I've got one- the reverse S is very slight compared to the big Matriarch or Civilian....The Harpy is definitely more stout in feel but the less 'hooked' nose has it's uses as does the slicey thinner blade.

Handles very similarly to the Delica in all regards- but with more 'aggressive' bite of the blade shape. The higher thumb ramp on the LM is useful if you like that.

[jdw]

I have both the PE and SE versions and love them both. In my opinion it
is a great blade design that is really versatile and useful in a lot of different ways.
I find one of them in my pocket all of the time as just a good, light EDC. I
think the blade would hold up pretty well to moderate use with cardboard and packaging
but I am not sure that it would be comfortable to use all day.

[zhyla]

I love mine. Been nearly 100% of my EDC since I got it about 6 months ago. I find it way more useful than my Harpy for general carry.

The only change I would make is to make it FFG instead of hollow ground. I'm not even sure how hard that is to do but it would be awesome.

[ChrisinHove]

I love mine, as well. Purposeful, but discrete.

[Surfingringo]

It is one of the most under appreciated EDC designs in the lineup in my opinion. (Actually its not in the lineup anymore ) The tip is stronger than you would expect but the Harpy definitely has more meat and will be much more resilient. The Lil Matriarch is a bit more of a precision tool in my opinion. I have opened tons of boxes and cut plenty of cardboard with mine and it works just fine but if I you are going to be using it in a more industrial setting, ripping through hundreds of feet of cardboard you will probably be safer with the Harpy. Anything lighter than that and I believe the lil Matriarch should serve you just fine.

FWIW, Sal mentioned recently that the Salt 1 handle was being updated and he (somewhat cryptically) mentioned that the new Salt handle would accommodate the Lil Matriarch blade. I sure hope he said that for a reason. I believe a super tough steel like H1 would be ideal for a SE Lil Matriarch. Bring on the Lil Matriarch Salt!!!

[demoncase]

Bring on the Lil Matriarch Salt!!!

Seconded....And double seconded (Quadrupled?) if there is a black blade variant that I can bladeswap into orange or yellow handle:

[RadioactiveSpyder]

A fantastic EDC knife that is deeply under-appreciated in my mind! The handles are not "like" Delica 4 handles, they ARE Delica 4 handles . Here's my SE and PE Lil' Mats in a bit more colorful D4 handles. Cheers, Radioactive :)




I am wondering since the redo of the Salt, making it able to accept Lil Mat (and therefore Delica) blades, means we will finally see them with yellow bidirectional FRN! :D (I personally hate the Volcano grip texture)

[bearfacedkiller]

[The Deacon]

Personally, if we're talking serrated, I'd take a Harpy, Merlin, or Tasman Salt over the Lil M as I don't see serrated "belly" as a particularly useful feature. PE would be the opposite, belly + hawkbill tip could have an advantage over hawkbill alone, at least in some situations.

[mrtodd777]

thanks everyone. I am pretty excited about this one. I am glad that some of you old spydie sages chimed in and had positive things to say about it. I did virtually no reading up on this particular model before I pulled the trigger. I dont own many discontinued knives so this should be cool.