The Advocate

[archangel]

I'm fiddling my Advocate as we speak, and I'm asking myself: Has anyone ever put this beauty to serious tasks? It's so beautiful...

You know I carry 3 knives when I leave the house for longer than 1/2 hour (except for when I'm off to work): a small non-locking spydie, a SOG MT, and a bigger spydie. I do carry the Advocate as my second bigger knife occasionally, which means it's not being drawn. Being a towner, when I need a knife, the small spydie is usually sufficient.

The Advocate is so shiny, I can imagine well it's not for everybody, and not made for all tasks. A gentlemen folder by definition.

What do YOU use your Advocate for? (I mean the knife, not the suit )

[The Meat man]

Yes! Nice to hear from a fellow Advocate advocate.

I use mine quite regularly as an EDC knife. (As a matter of fact it's in my pocket right now.) I've used it for all kinds of things - cutting cardboard, slicing through pallet banding, carving (and even chopping) wood, cutting copper wires (in testing), and food prep among others uses.

It's a work of art in my opinion: beautifully constructed, perfect fit and finish*, masterfully designed. The slightly contoured, textured titanium makes it feel even more like a custom knife. The blade shape is my favorite of all of Spyderco's current offerings; I like the slim height and robust tip, coupled with that high saber grind. Not only does it look great but it's also excellent in use. It is really the definition of functional art.

In all my uses, I've never ever had the slightest degree of blade play; the blade has stayed perfectly centered from the factory; and the flipping action remains fast and smooth.



* I made one minor modification: rounding the edge of the lockbar insert to make unlocking more comfortable.

[archangel]

Wow, you really use it to chop wood?! :eek: Good for you, and good for the knife. Yes, every knife deserves to be used. But a design pearl such as the Advocate I'd only hard use in case of an emergency, a REAL emergency. In that aspect I'm a bad knife master...

[The Meat man]

Wow, you really use it to chop wood?! :eek: Good for you, and good for the knife. Yes, every knife deserves to be used. But a design pearl such as the Advocate I'd only hard use in case of an emergency, a REAL emergency. In that aspect I'm a bad knife master...

I don't regularly chop wood with it, but yes, on that occasion I was working by myself late at night and I decided to put it through its paces a bit. The knife held up flawlessly.

You're not a bad knife master, just different. To each his own.

Of course, I usually am a little more conscious of how I use this knife compared to, say, my Maxamet Native or Pacific Salt SE, even though I know that the Advocate could easily take as much or more abuse than either.

[The Meat man]

This thread needs some pictures.

[Mako109]

+1 for the Advocate. My favorite blade shape put out by Spyderco so far. I installed a deep carry pocket clip. It's thin frame carries well, the flipping action is crisp, and it feels solid in hand. I know M4 and titanium are super capable materials, but I've been babying mine so far. The Meat Man is making me think I need to put it work!

[Surfingringo]

Not technically an Advocate, but I have one of Gayle's Tac-1 models. It is an outstanding design and I really enjoy carrying and using it. All my knives get used. I know folks have different ways of experiencing the knife hobby but personally I have a hard time getting any enjoyment out of a tool that I can't use for its intended purpose.

[The Meat man]

Not technically an Advocate, but I have one of Gayle's Tac-1 models. It is an outstanding design and I really enjoy carrying and using it. All my knives get used. I know folks have different ways of experiencing the knife hobby but personally I have a hard time getting any enjoyment out of a tool that I can't use for its intended purpose.

Wow that knife looks almost identical to the Advocate. What steel is the blade? Not CPM M4, surely. :eek:

[Surfingringo]

Not technically an Advocate, but I have one of Gayle's Tac-1 models. It is an outstanding design and I really enjoy carrying and using it. All my knives get used. I know folks have different ways of experiencing the knife hobby but personally I have a hard time getting any enjoyment out of a tool that I can't use for its intended purpose.

Wow that knife looks almost identical to the Advocate. What steel is the blade? Not CPM M4, surely. :eek:

Gayle Bradley custom? Of course it’s m4!

[The Meat man]

Not technically an Advocate, but I have one of Gayle's Tac-1 models. It is an outstanding design and I really enjoy carrying and using it. All my knives get used. I know folks have different ways of experiencing the knife hobby but personally I have a hard time getting any enjoyment out of a tool that I can't use for its intended purpose.

Wow that knife looks almost identical to the Advocate. What steel is the blade? Not CPM M4, surely. :eek:

Gayle Bradley custom? Of course it’s m4!

I see...well, you're even braver than I am! :D

Ever have corrosion issues using it like that, or what do you use/do to prevent it?

[Surfingringo]

I don’t have corrosion issues but tool steels like m4 certainly require a higher level of maintenance. Mainly that just means always cleaning thoroughly after any kind of use like that. I like the performance of many of the non stainless tool steels but he extra maintenance required gets old. I’m too spoiled by the salt knives that I can just use hard and throw them in the sink at the end of the day.

[murphjd25]

I haven’t really used it other then the first week I had it.i got a call from my sister in law that she was pulled over on the side of I-5 because her car was dragging something. I crawled under her car and all I had was the Advocate and cut her entire hard plastic skid plate off from under her car that had fallen down.

I’m hoping I use it some more here soon..I am sending off the scales to be bead blasted from the smooth gold finish. I never carry it because it slips out of my hands so easy, yet it is one of my favorite and last Spydercos left.

[archangel]

Like I said, in an emergency noone should NOT use their gem knife. Good that you had it, Josh, and good that you did.

SGringo, impressive that you used your Advocate clone ( ) under salt water conditions. Very understandable that in your older age ( again) you rather tend to use a spydie of the Salt series.

Thanks for your inputs!