Aqua Salt sheath - Fail

[THB]

First post in Spyderco forum - not a good one. I sent a complaint to Spyderco 3 days ago but no reply so decided to share my thoughts here.
I live in Denmark (Europe) and have and a nice collection of Spyderco's - Delica's, Salts, Bill Moran, Sprig and Southfork. I really like Spyderco's for it's high quality fit and finish.

Bought a PE Aqua Salt from a authorised dealer. Love the knife but the sheath dulls the knife. I am a decent sharpener but after inserting the knife into the sheath it's back to "not cutting paper". I have had the same experience with Cold Steel sheaths but never thought I would experience the same with Spyderco.

One thing is that I now have to spend more money on a new sheath but I am surprised to find out, after some internet searches, that this is a common problem that dates back several years.

What is Spyderco going to do about it ?

All the best from a huge Spyderco fan

Thomas B

[TazKristi]

Hi, THB:
First, welcome to our forum. Your post got caught in a filter so I'm bumping it up a bit. It looks as though your e-mail was sent through our site. I'm sorry to say our outlet store has been short-handed for the past week so they're catching up to e-mails. I'll do my best to assist you here.

I'm sorry to hear of your issues with your Aqua Salt sheath. May I ask, when you draw the knife from the sheath or insert it back into the sheath, are you indexing the spine along the sheath? If not, that can absolutely lead to dulling of the blade - particularly a PlainEdge. We've found that when this issue occurs it's typically due to the way someone draws or inserts the knife. There are reports of this issue but in all honesty, compared to the thousands of Aqua Salts in the market it's a small percentage of users that encounter this issue.

It does take some practice and initially a conscious effort but it will become second nature relatively quickly and you shouldn't need to purchase a new sheath.

We hope you enjoy your time with us. We appreciate your continued interest and support!

Kristi

[ZrowsN1s]

First post in Spyderco forum - not a good one. I sent a complaint to Spyderco 3 days ago but no reply so decided to share my thoughts here.
.....
What is Spyderco going to do about it ?

All the best from a huge Spyderco fan

Thomas B

Hi Thomas, first off welcome to the forum! Always glad to see another Spyder fan. Sorry it was a problem with your sheath that brought you here for your first post, but I hope you stick around.
I should let you know that while some of the good folks from Spyderco do read and post on this forum (the owner himself posts here often), using this forum is not by any means a faster way to a response from the warranty and repair department at Spyderco. (With rare exception) They do not respond to posts made here. It is a great way to get help and ideas from other Spyderco enthusiasts and forum members though. And hopefully some of them will chime in with their similar experiences and have some good advice for you.
It may take them a while to get back to you by email, you could try calling....
Spyderco Warranty and Repair Phone: 800-525-7770 / 303-279-8383

*I'd also second the advice Taz gave about indexing the spine along the sheath. This really helps.
-Z

[ThePeacent]

that's what I learned (here!) to do with my Aqua



now sheathing and unsheathing is done pushing the spine against the sheath and it's quickly become a second nature, no more problems since

[vivi]

Yep, pretty simple fix. Don't drag the edge along the sheath, it won't dull. It can happen with most fixed blades regardless of company.

[THB]

Appreciate your suggestions and reply from customer service. I will give the alternative drawing method a try even though I doubt that a new deviating technique is what I need tangled in a fishing net under water. I have managed to produce a ugly but functional kydex sheath where I can draw the knife as I am used to without dulling the knife.
Thomas

[qazy]

Reminds me of an old iPhone issue... "you are holding it wrong..."
With all due respect!

[ZrowsN1s]

Appreciate your suggestions and reply from customer service. I will give the alternative drawing method a try even though I doubt that a new deviating technique is what I need tangled in a fishing net under water. I have managed to produce a ugly but functional kydex sheath where I can draw the knife as I am used to without dulling the knife.
Thomas

I realize that this suggestion isn't much help for your current knife but you might consider getting a Serrated Edge in H1 if a functional edge for cutting nets is a critical need for you. It is much more reliable than plain edge in that regard and SE H1 has the best edge retention you can get. An SE Aqua Salt like ThePeacent's and a sharpmaker to maintain it, and you should never have to worry about the sheath dulling your knife, or not having a functional edge in critical situations. Again I realize this doesn't help you with you current problem. :o

[vivi]

Reminds me of an old iPhone issue... "you are holding it wrong..."
With all due respect!

Apples to carrots. Turns out running the edge of a knife along a surface dulls it

[qazy]

Reminds me of an old iPhone issue... "you are holding it wrong..."
With all due respect!

Apples to carrots. Turns out running the edge of a knife along a surface dulls it

It's obviously not the same, but IMHO it's a design flaw. If the "normal/usual" way that works on almost every other scabbard dulls the knife.

And hence the iPhone example, where the usual/normal way of holding the phone would jeopardize the reception.

[vivi]

This happens with every fixed blade I own whether its Spyderco, Esee, Busse, Scrapyard, Bark River and an assortment of various puukkos. The sheath either dulls the knife or (In the case of leather sheaths with no reinforcement) it cuts through it if I draw it with poor technique.

Which fixed blades do you own that do not have this problem?

[qazy]

This happens with every fixed blade I own whether its Spyderco, Esee, Busse, Scrapyard, Bark River and an assortment of various puukkos. The sheath either dulls the knife or (In the case of leather sheaths with no reinforcement) it cuts through it if I draw it with poor technique.

Which fixed blades do you own that do not have this problem?

Hmmmm, with hard shell scabbard I have Tops Pasayten, few moras, couple scuba knives I also used to have few no names. Several others with leather sheath.
Non of the scabbard dulls the edge, and I have no holes in the leather.

I agree that poor technique can and will dull the edge or make a hole. But this is not the first time I hear people complain about Aqua Salt's scabbard. It's hard to believe that this is all a user error. Smells like a design flaw.

[vivi]

Hmm, my Mora 760mg's have the same issue. Dunno what to tell you :p

[qazy]

Hmm, my Mora 760mg's have the same issue. Dunno what to tell you :p

~9.5 times the cost?

[zhyla]

Hmm, my Mora 760mg's have the same issue. Dunno what to tell you :p

~9.5 times the cost?

This doesn't have anything to do with cost. There's no way* to design a closed sheath where the user can't contact the edge with the sheath on insertion. If you've got a design that solves this "problem" I'm sure someone would license it from you.

* Actually there's always a way, but we're talking within the constraints of a $100 street value here.

[VashHash]

I have some custom kydex sheaths for other knives that can cause this same issue if you're not mindful of how you're drawing or sheathing the blade. It's not just a spyderco or H1 problem.

[ThePeacent]

Cold Steel's secure-ex sheaths, KaBar and SOG plastic sheaths dull the blades in many models

[Blerv]

You might find someone to make a Kydex or leather sheath locally. I personally also hate the injection molded sheaths. Even if it's possibly my user error.

Sorry Spyderco, I'm a fanboy for all things but those :o.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

If someone wanted to make a leather sheath that was reasonably water-resistant, to replace the polymer one, for an Aqua Salt, what would you all suggest?

[Joshua J.]

Ironically I have the same problem with every Kydex sheath I've ever used, but I'm very happy with all my cordura sheaths. They're louder and you have to be careful not to slice the retainer, but they're easy to clean and don't dull the knife.