Urban LW Coyote—realistic look

[Doc Dan]

I finally got my AEB-L Urban Light Weight in Coyote tan from customs, after a long battle. I’ve read all the horror stories but, at least for my knife, those are overblown.

The knife has a great look and the color is very nice. It feels good in the hand, open or closed. It is a great size, not too big or too small. Blade centering is perfect and the polish is well done.

The much talked about problem with the blade tip being too high is exaggerated a little. It is true that the tip is higher than on the K390, but it would take a lot of hand sharpening to get to where the tip were exposed. I have lots of knives that are in a similar situation by many different makers. I do not see this is a problem. Of course those that use electric sharpeners could grind it down more quickly. The kick could d be taken down a very small amount if there were ever a problem.

The jimping is okay, but not great. It is larger/coarser than on the k390 and not quite as well executed. To be fair, if I were not looking fir problems here I would not have noticed the slight unevenness of the lines, it is that slight.

I have not taken it apart but by looking at the tang it is obvious that there are some internal differences. I am not sure why but that is the case.

AEB-L is the same as 13C26. Despite all the hype we should not expect more of this steel than it can give. It is a very tough deal and often well compared to 52100. It is tough but it will not hold an edge as long as some others steels, such as XHP or S90v. It will roll rather than chip in my experience. Overall it’s not a bad choice for a pocket knife.

The action was very stiff when I opened it the first time. I’ve opened it numerous times since I got it today. It has gotten a little bit better and I assume it will continue to wear in overtime. My other urban was the same way.

My overall impression is that it is well done for a pocket knife at this price point. Couldn’t be better? Absolutely. Is it as bad as some people made it out to be? No way! It’s a knife it has many good points and a few minor issues.Overall I’m pretty happy with it. It’s not as perfect as my k390 but it is far from being bad.

[Ngati Pom]

Thanks for this useful perspective on this knife.

[Woodpuppy]

Doc I tend to agree. My pics may have been some of the earliest closeups of the areas others found fault with, and I posted them so others could see and decide for themselves. Not a show piece but a fine user. I have to say it took more effort and time than I expected to reprofile it to 30 degrees inclusive on the sharpmaker. Edge holding is not on par with M4 or CRUWEAR, and with the limited time spent sharpening AEB-L I don’t find the tool steels more difficult at all. AEB-L May have better edge polishing properties, but beyond a few strokes on a strop I don’t go nuts polishing.

Overall a great pocket knife, especially at the price.

[elena86]

Enjoy Doc ! LW Urban is an awesome platform. From all the variants, I like the K390 the most, at least so far :cool:

[Marulaghost]

I can't compare mine to any other iterations of the knife but there really is only one thing i had to complain about.
The thumb hole was sharp. Unpleasantly sharp. It took me a while to wear it down to the point where it isn't an issue anymore but to begin with...

[Doc Dan]

Enjoy Doc ! LW Urban is an awesome platform. From all the variants, I like the K390 the most, at least so far :cool:

I agree on both points. The Urban LW design is my favorite out of all the myriads of pocket knives I’ve owned over six plus decades. K390 is still my favorite steel.

I do think Maniago is capable of doing better. All of my Italian made Spydercos have had great fit and finish excepting a weak Squeak spring and too strong of a spring on this Urban.

[ChrisinHove]

A fair assessment, Doc.

My Ti Squeak is darn near perfect, but that was a spendy knife.

[sal]

Thanx Doc,

Always appreciate the feedback.

sal

[A.S.O.K.A]

After doing cut testing with my urban coyote I found that AEB-L out cut V-TOKU2. My V-TOKU2 Dragonfly at 13dps cut just over 100ft of cardboard before not being able to slice paper, where as my AEB-L Urban at 18dps was able to cut just under 150ft of cardboard before it would no longer slice paper

[elena86]

Enjoy Doc ! LW Urban is an awesome platform. From all the variants, I like the K390 the most, at least so far :cool:

I agree on both points. The Urban LW design is my favorite out of all the myriads of pocket knives I’ve owned over six plus decades. K390 is still my favorite steel.

I do think Maniago is capable of doing better. All of my Italian made Spydercos have had great fit and finish excepting a weak Squeak spring and too strong of a spring on this Urban.

Could a 2.75 inch blade Dragonfly change that ?

[Doc Dan]

Enjoy Doc ! LW Urban is an awesome platform. From all the variants, I like the K390 the most, at least so far :cool:

I agree on both points. The Urban LW design is my favorite out of all the myriads of pocket knives I’ve owned over six plus decades. K390 is still my favorite steel.

I do think Maniago is capable of doing better. All of my Italian made Spydercos have had great fit and finish excepting a weak Squeak spring and too strong of a spring on this Urban.

Could a 2.75 inch blade Dragonfly change that ?

Since it would then have thinner blade stock, perhaps. I really love the overall balance of attributes of the Urban. What I honestly think would make it better is to move production to Golden or Taichung.

[bbturbodad]

I'm really enjoying the Urban! I find myself choosing and preferring it over the Dragonfly. The handle fits my hand better and I like the extra blade length that it provides in a similar sized package. Build quality is about equal in my examples, adequate and fine for knives at this price point. AEB-L is again fine and touches up easily but I would jump on a Maxamet or other high wear resistant steel sprint in a second. If anyone wants to get rid of their K390 shoot me a message.

As I write this I realize that if you look at the components individually nothing stands out as being amazing but taken as a whole it's pretty darn good knife.

[Woodpuppy]

I think it’s a fantastic form factor! And after holding it next to the DF2 it seems enormous!

[Cambertree]

Good one Doc. I’ve tried to slow down on knife acquisitions of late, but the AEB-L Urban is a knife I’ve been very excited about, since it was announced.

Mine is currently on the way to Australia, and I’m looking forward to thinning it right out and putting it to work.

The K390 Urban is one of my all time favourite Spydies, and has displaced my beloved Dragonflies as my discreet work knife of choice. When I lost my first K390 Urban (it’s probably in New Zealand now, via a 20’ shipping container), I didn’t think twice about paying a premium to get a replacement knife.

I remember some old posts of Sal’s, where he mentioned Rabbi Yurman ground some MBS-26 and MRS-30 Chalifs right down to 0.1mm/0.003” behind the edge.

Apparently the MRS-30 knives, at 1.12% carbon, while being absolutely fine for normal kitchen use, had some breakout issues at the edge, being run so insanely thin.

The MBS-26 knives could apparently take that kind of thinness behind the edge. MBS-26 is basically a Japanese analogue of AEB-H.

AEB-L with Spyderco’s high quality heat treatment should similarly be able to take an extremely thin edge.

I’m looking forward to testing it out, in this supremely elegant, low key, minimalist powerhouse of a design.

[Doc Dan]

I'm really enjoying the Urban! I find myself choosing and preferring it over the Dragonfly. The handle fits my hand better and I like the extra blade length that it provides in a similar sized package. Build quality is about equal in my examples, adequate and fine for knives at this price point. AEB-L is again fine and touches up easily but I would jump on a Maxamet or other high wear resistant steel sprint in a second. If anyone wants to get rid of their K390 shoot me a message.

As I write this I realize that if you look at the components individually nothing stands out as being amazing but taken as a whole it's pretty darn good knife.

Yeah the urban is my go to pocket knife now. The only time it’s not as if I want something that is very very light weight and then the dragonfly Frn gets the nod. Urban has a longer cutting edge than the larger chaparral so for me it’s a no brainer. I get more cutting edge in a slightly more compact package.

[jpm2]

Urban LW Coyote—realistic look

I reject your reality and substitute my own.

[Wartstein]

Yeah the urban is my go to pocket knife now. The only time it’s not as if I want something that is very very light weight and then the dragonfly Frn gets the nod. Urban has a longer cutting edge than the larger chaparral so for me it’s a no brainer. I get more cutting edge in a slightly more compact package.

Sorry, Doc, but that's not true, according to Spydercos page:

Urban: Closed length 3.45 (88 mm); cutting edge 2.33 (59 mm)

Chap FRN: Closed length 3.6 (91mm), edge 2.35 (60 mm).

So, yes, the Urban is slightly shorter when closed, but has a tiny bit less edge. Weight of the two is about the same.

[Wartstein]

I'm really enjoying the Urban! I find myself choosing and preferring it over the Dragonfly. The handle fits my hand better and I like the extra blade length that it provides in a similar sized package.....

Don't want to get boring or annoying, but reading that I just have to suggest the Chap FRN once more: It also HAS the extra blade length compared to the DFly, is really similar in its dimensions and weight to the Urban, but has a lock. And, big difference: 2mm bladestock (instead of 3mm (Urban)). Imho a vastly better choice for such a small knife.

[Doc Dan]

Yeah the urban is my go to pocket knife now. The only time it’s not as if I want something that is very very light weight and then the dragonfly Frn gets the nod. Urban has a longer cutting edge than the larger chaparral so for me it’s a no brainer. I get more cutting edge in a slightly more compact package.

Sorry, Doc, but that's not true, according to Spydercos page:

Urban: Closed length 3.45 (88 mm); cutting edge 2.33 (59 mm)

Chap FRN: Closed length 3.6 (91mm), edge 2.35 (60 mm).

So, yes, the Urban is slightly shorter when closed, but has a tiny bit less edge. Weight of the two is about the same.

When I put my k390 up to any of my chaparral the cutting edge is longer on the urban but the blade is longer on the chaparral.
We have to remember that the original specs for the urban were different coming out of the factory than they were supposed to be.

[Wartstein]

Yeah the urban is my go to pocket knife now. The only time it’s not as if I want something that is very very light weight and then the dragonfly Frn gets the nod. Urban has a longer cutting edge than the larger chaparral so for me it’s a no brainer. I get more cutting edge in a slightly more compact package.

Sorry, Doc, but that's not true, according to Spydercos page:

Urban: Closed length 3.45 (88 mm); cutting edge 2.33 (59 mm)

Chap FRN: Closed length 3.6 (91mm), edge 2.35 (60 mm).

So, yes, the Urban is slightly shorter when closed, but has a tiny bit less edge. Weight of the two is about the same.

When I put my k390 up to any of my chaparral the cutting edge is longer on the urban but the blade is longer on the chaparral.
We have to remember that the original specs for the urban were different coming out of the factory than they were supposed to be.

Thanks for the insight and "real life data points"! Then you are right of course and I was wrong. I was just going by the specs Spyderco gives and only have a Chap myself, but never had an Urban.