Spyderco Tasman Salt, with Michael Janich

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Here is a neat video with Michael Janich and the Spyderco Tasman Salt. In it he gives you a good showcase of this knife.

https://secure.action.news/watch?v=oIV0OWkBldE

There are also other features there that show cutting tests with Spyderco knives.

Michael, you are an amazing person. I for one want to sincerely say thank you for your service and for your great teaching and training for people and amazingly excellent insights into knives and steel. You are very valued and appreciated by myself and others.

[z4vdBt]

Great video. Thanks.

[Bloke]

Michael, you are an amazing person. I for one want to

[SpyderEdgeForever]

When you see pictures of the Spyderco Tasman Salt, does it look like the point/tip of the blade is thicker and beefier than what you actually receive or not? I wish the tip was a bit on the thicker side for more toughness.

[James Y]

When you see pictures of the Spyderco Tasman Salt, does it look like the point/tip of the blade is thicker and beefier than what you actually receive or not? I wish the tip was a bit on the thicker side for more toughness.

Yes, it does look a bit beefier in photos. The Tasman's tip is fine and fairly delicate. Compared to my VG10 SS Harpy, whose blade and tip are thicker and more appropriate for rugged use than the Tasman's. I'm always a little mindful of my Tasman's tip. All three of my Tasmans are SE versions. The very tip on one of them accidentally broke off easily when my hand accidentally slipped (very slightly) and the tip lightly hit the table I was cutting over. Not enough to ruin it or negatively affect the knife, though. The Tasman is still one of my favorite SE knives.

Jim

[SpyderEdgeForever]

When you see pictures of the Spyderco Tasman Salt, does it look like the point/tip of the blade is thicker and beefier than what you actually receive or not? I wish the tip was a bit on the thicker side for more toughness.

Yes, it does look a bit beefier in photos. The Tasman's tip is fine and fairly delicate. Compared to my VG10 SS Harpy, whose blade and tip are thicker and more appropriate for rugged use than the Tasman's. I'm always a little mindful of my Tasman's tip. All three of my Tasmans are SE versions. The very tip on one of them accidentally broke off easily when my hand accidentally slipped (very slightly) and the tip lightly hit the table I was cutting over. Not enough to ruin it or negatively affect the knife, though. The Tasman is still one of my favorite SE knives.

Jim

Jim, thank you so much for this reply. It is a good knife, yes. Do you think it is possible for Spyderco to somehow specify and modify the Tasman Salt, in order to make it closer to the Harpy, or it is unlikely that they will do this? Basically what I was hoping for was Harpy with a FRN handle.

Spyderco originally had a model called the Merlin. Do you remember that one? Here it is:

http://spydercosource.com/2009/04/spyderco-merlin-c21/

[James Y]

When you see pictures of the Spyderco Tasman Salt, does it look like the point/tip of the blade is thicker and beefier than what you actually receive or not? I wish the tip was a bit on the thicker side for more toughness.

Yes, it does look a bit beefier in photos. The Tasman's tip is fine and fairly delicate. Compared to my VG10 SS Harpy, whose blade and tip are thicker and more appropriate for rugged use than the Tasman's. I'm always a little mindful of my Tasman's tip. All three of my Tasmans are SE versions. The very tip on one of them accidentally broke off easily when my hand accidentally slipped (very slightly) and the tip lightly hit the table I was cutting over. Not enough to ruin it or negatively affect the knife, though. The Tasman is still one of my favorite SE knives.

Jim

Jim, thank you so much for this reply. It is a good knife, yes. Do you think it is possible for Spyderco to somehow specify and modify the Tasman Salt, in order to make it closer to the Harpy, or it is unlikely that they will do this? Basically what I was hoping for was Harpy with a FRN handle.

Spyderco originally had a model called the Merlin. Do you remember that one? Here it is:

http://spydercosource.com/2009/04/spyderco-merlin-c21/

SEF,

I think it's unlikely that Spyderco would beef up the Tasman's blade. The Tasman's handle and blade are also longer than the Harpy's.

Yes, I do remember the Merlin model, but never owned or even handled one.

I just bought myself a Tasman Salt 2, because I like the D4 handle better than the D3 handle.

Jim

[Michael Janich]

Hey, SpyderEdgeForever:

Thank you very much for your post and the kind words.

Hey, Bloke:

Thanks for creeping me out with your post. Now I value my self-defense skills even more...

Stay safe,

Mike

[yablanowitz]

The Merlin was the same thinner blade stock as the Tasman. Changing the Tasman to the thicker stock of the Harpy would require new molds, so I doubt you will ever see that.

In my experience, H-1 is much tougher than VG-10, and much less likely to chip or break. I had the last 1/8" of the tip break off my VG-10 SpyderHawk in a straight pull cut, but I've never had anything like that happen with the Salt version that has been used even harder.