Your top 5 Sal Glesser designs?

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

I am curious What are your tasks? I have found this knife in VG10 to be surprisingly capable. Have it in ZDP189 also as well as a recent Stetch 1 in HAP40 and Tofuku coming in. Going to take some microscope pics of the freshblades before using.

Yes it is an addiction! :)

I should have put that better. Vg10 is an amazing steel, sharpens easily and I've never had much ado with it. However, I'm working in this thriftstore were we also empty houses, and look for treasures in junk (and you wouldn't believe the stuff you come across! I still have this military dagger anno 1944 of the Dutch military. Engraved with the soldiers Id and year of manufacturing, and from the state of the blade it well used during that historic time!). Anyway we get lots of containers boxes etc full of various items and to make a long story short; I needed a knife that would keep performing, and resilient to damage because too often id hit metal or some other tough things. I've had to reprofile softer steels so much I ran out of blade. Things got a lot better when I got my hands on the S110V pm2 at release because the damage was always minimal but even that one is now about as big as Para 3 and the height of a delica Haha.

Now I've come to be more careful about it and mainly use a S110V manix 2 for most things. And a finer blade for the everyday things (caly 3).
As I read this I have to question my own thoughts on vg10 as well as softer steels should chip less in comparison, so my main gripe is that it will lose its edge after a week if I recall correctly and that combined accidents with lots and lots of ReSharpening takes it toll on the lifespan of a knife.
Vg10 is amazing for the things it was designed for, and I'm planning to get a df2 in it over hap40 or zdp, but it'd be a waste to put it through harder use when other steels do fare better and longer in that area.
I wish I could find my blurple pm2 for a photo. That beast even fell 3m down into a concrete pit one and after pulling it out with a magnet inspected it, only thetop of the tip and some minor chips in the belly from what I thought would be the end of that knife.

This is also why I carry 2 blades nowadays. Something that will work and won't complain about it, and something smaller for the more refined tasks. Hap40 served me well the last few years and I've had no problems with vtoku2 on the delica neither, so I'm curious to see how the stretch works out for me in the field. Even though I can't say anything bad about the caly 3, it sometimes is preferable to have just a little bit more edge to work with.
Tried to keep it short because it's Saturday evening here and I have to go. Pretty much failed in this didn't I?

So in summary, love vg10, so I don't abuse it, but a light longer slicer as edc that can also do the harder use from time to time is preferable to me. And the more I think about it the more I suspect the vtoku stretch might be one of those knives that really grow on you.

Thanks for the detailed reply you are certainly a hard knife user!

[GarageBoy]

Caly 3.5 and Calypso Jr are up there (along with their cousins) - the urban handle is amazing

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Oh and I just did a count 41 Spyderco's.

How did that happen? :eek:

[dodgie02]

Thanks for the detailed reply you are certainly a hard knife user!

Well I do also pull out the sage 5 at home when I need to open a bag of cat food every so often so it varies but that's the nice thing about spyderco. Function over form isn't just a slogan I've come to appreciate, it absolutely shows in most of all their designs I've handled. Out of all my purchases of spyderco knifes I haven't once been disappointed. I've been in the knife game since I learned to sharpen from my late grandpa, and I know he would have loved the models they have been making last ten years. I've been through the lot of it and already appreciated spydrrco before signing up here, but all I've learned and the vibe I'm getting is they really care about their products and philosophy. I have all these other expensive knives like 940-1s, their anthem, 2 sebenzas which I sold in the end, but I kept and still keep coming back to the old trusted spydies that cost half of the before mentioned and outperform them consistently. Take the sage 5 which I'm carrying a lot since optimizing it's action. Very thin behind the edge and in the grind Overall, strong compression lock, ergos are on point, grippy handles. It's actually designed as a knife, and it shows in its performance in the field.
Not gonna name brands because it's petty to look down on what might work for others and such, but more often then not I find most other tools to have lost sight of what a knife should be with grinds as thick as vile, and putting the focus on the looks and action. I have a few of them in my collection and can't help to compare it to spydercos I own which theoretically fulfill the same role. The spydie might not have ultra light or over build features, or flashy means of deployment but if it comes down to it none of that matters. I'll take a backlock with great ergos and a blade designed for optimal performance instead of optimal cool factor any day.

I wish I could find an excuse to get a rex 45 millie too, but I'm so content with my current selection I've fought the urge thus far. Even though it's more blade then I'll need I still want it and it's priced at the same point as a normal military here in the Netherlands for a change.. And going by my Rex 45 pm2 I'll love its performance..
So please don't talk me in to it, one knife a day is more then enough and I might even listen if my peers praise it enough haha!

So thanks again Sal, Eric and the people who get these top performance blades to us regular folk for an honest price! If it lived in the states I'd love to take a shot working in the industry. That will always be just nice thing to fantasize about as the knife industry here is pretty much dead.

Shouldn't have mentioned the rex military, I'm already playing with the thought of it now haha! I'm out for the weekend, thanks for the fun conversations guys.

[anagarika]

I managed to dodge the Rex-45 by insisting only getting lockbacks nowadays. Admittedly I have more than enough to last several lifetimes. :o

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Having M4 and a few other non stainless tool steels made it easy to dodge REX45

[sal]

Thanx for all of the kind words. Eric and I have worked hard to try to crate designs that work well. While I have more experience, I think Eric is a better designer. He's taken designs like the Paramilitary 1 and made it much better with the Paramilitary 2. The Para 3 is really all Eric.

FYI, VG-10 was created for grafting of plants.

sal

[500Nitro]

FYI, VG-10 was created for grafting of plants.

sal

Interesting.

Why specifically grafting of plants and why ?

[sal]

Grafting cuts require a very sharp edge that will make the cut without squishing the plant parts. They have to match another plant part and if the parts are squished, they don't "mend / graft" as well,.

sal

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Grafting cuts require a very sharp edge that will make the cut without squishing the plant parts. They have to match another plant part and if the parts are squished, they don't "mend / graft" as well,.

sal

Cool!

I did read that about VG10 and thought no wonder Sal chose this for the Stretch series. Funny how it happened a Bell pepper had grown hidden until it turned bright orange. I pulled my trusty Stretch 2 in VG10 popped the blade and thought why am I doing this? They never cut great? Then thought hey this is Sals design lets see.

To my surprise Zipped it right off in one pass.

Then I read up on what the steel was for and laughed, no wonder it bites the way it does! Cool!

[ThePeacent]

Grafting cuts require a very sharp edge that will make the cut without squishing the plant parts. They have to match another plant part and if the parts are squished, they don't "mend / graft" as well,.

FYI, VG-10 was created for grafting of plants.

sal

not hard to believe, since I have several shears/pruners some of which sport Japanese Cutlery Steels, such as this one I love that uses SK-5 :o



also, my VG10 Lil'Matriarch is the golden folder for clean cuts on stems, tomato plants, ball peppers, squash, zucchini and other edible plants :cool:

[GarageBoy]

The stretch was originally a "hunting" knife, right? Love how it became an edc favorite

[Wartstein]

The stretch was originally a "hunting" knife, right? Love how it became an edc favorite

I think so... called even "hunter" and a bit smaller.

[BLUETYPEII]

I’m liking the Caribbean Salt more every time I handle it

It's the SpyderGOAT!

^???^

[Sumdumguy]

I’m liking the Caribbean Salt more every time I handle it

It's the SpyderGOAT!

^???^

Greatest
Of
All
Time

SpyderGOAT!

[BLUETYPEII]

I’m liking the Caribbean Salt more every time I handle it

It's the SpyderGOAT!

^???^

Greatest
Of
All
Time

SpyderGOAT!

Ahhh

[Ngati Pom]

In no particular order. Stretch 2, UKPK, SPY-Dk, Dragonfly, Chaparral lwt.
Honourable mention's Polestar and the byrd line up.
For me all of these knives just fit.
I'd love to see a byrd 'Stretch' ( The Ostrich?). :D Although I understand why we probably won't.

[Cambertree]

In no particular order:
Dragonfly 2
Lefty Military
Delica
Urban K390
Stretch 1 (I haven’t tried the 2 yet).

[Mom3ntuM]

1. Stretch 2 (g10)
2. Ukpk drop point
3. polestar
4. Caly jr
5. Delica 4

List is based on what i own.
Got my First military (rex45) on the way, police4, endura and shaman on my shortlist so it's subject to change.
:)

Recieved my military on monday, and it has pushed the delica from my list..
I do miss the makers mark on the military, why is it left out on some of the knives?
I think it adds to the aesthetics of the knife.

1. Stretch 2
2. Ukpk drop point
3. Military
4. polestar
5. Caly jr

[SG89]

The Caly 3.5 is an absolute work of art. Really looking forward to the upcoming Caly 3.5 Lightweight