So I was shocked to find that all of my "better" knives were now living in a drawer, while the Urban handled every daily task with aplomb.
I've never owned a Spyderco Sprint before, and I never buy knives based solely on the steel.
Nor had I considered owning several iterations of the same knife with different alloys. Until now, I guess.
This knife performs well above its modest size and price (the K390 only cost $10 more than the standard Urban or UKPK, <20%).
It absolutely kills the UKPK, my closest basis for comparison, despite the decrease in blade length.
I attribute this improved performance mainly to two factors:
The steel, and
The blade grind.
The Urban K390 has the thinnest edge of any Spyderco, or really any modern production knife I own.
A thin edge really allows modern, high-hardness steels to show their potential (while a thicker grind largely negates their advantage in my opinion).
I believe that the Urban platform would make an excellent test-bed for comparison of high-end steels, kind of like a mini folding Mule.
-The thin edge accentuates the advantages of high-hardness steels.
-The blade is small, so we don't need much steel.
-The construction is simple, and the FRN molds exist, keeping the price down.
-Sal's design is so brilliantly effective that I would carry one with a blade of hard dry salami if it was sliced thin enough.
So, if Maniago can manage to keep a consistently thin grind, and can handle the heat-treat protocols for a range of steels,
this would allow Spyderco enthusiasts who may shy away from the premium on many higher-end sprints to get their hands on a great knife in new, exciting flavors, and hopefully provide for a consistent, relatively inexpensive basis of comparison between sprint steels.
Of course this is contingent upon how much work the Maniago factory can handle, but I say keep 'em busy.
One Urban sprint a year would be plenty, thank you.
What steel would you like to see? What FRN color?
I'll take CTS-XHP in Diamine Teal, or LC200N in Pilot-Iroshizuku Yama Budo for starters.
idk WHAT the **** Pilot-Iroshizuku Yama Budo is, but I'd love a non stainless sprint. I don't have an urban yet, but as an edc knife it is pretty much ideal. I love my manix s110v lw, but in most situations it seems to be overkill and I tend to use my ladybug instead. I could see myself utilizing a chaparell or delica, but the simplicity and cost effetivness of the urban would be ideal for fancy sprints, as you have eluded. Especially with the scale design, it would be a great platform for some never before used colors. Thanks for making this post.
