Spyderco in use, review/feedback thread

[TkoK83Spy]

*no pics for this past weeks end of the week cut test* My work computer decided to be annoying and not allow me to post on the forum. Usually last 3-4 days. I also can't figure out how to post pics from my phone.

Last week I carried my Manix 2 in Cruwear, hoping that Cruwear would give me a better experience after a bit of a disappointment with the Cruwear Shaman a few weeks back. Going into Friday, it was still pretty sharp. Noticeably sharper than the Shaman was at that point. Cutting paper with ease. I've decided that 255ft of cardboard will be the length of cardboard I'll be cutting from hear on out, using the same boxes as well to keep it consistent. The Cruwear Manix had no issues with the cardboard, pretty cleanly cut through all of it. The hydraulic hose surprisingly gave it a bit of a fight towards the end. I was using a bit more pressure than having the knife just glide through. I noticed a few dull/reflective spots on the edge (no rolls like when using the Shaman) Next up was the 50 slices of rope, Cruwear had no real issues with this either. Only slipped off of 2 of the cuts. I then feathersticked a few pieces of pine pallet wood since I had done the same with the Shaman a few weeks back...again, no rolls. Onto the paper test and it still cut through paper cleanly, even with a few reflective spots.

The Cruwear on the Manix seems like a different steel than on the Shaman, has me a bit puzzled! Tough to really rank it because there's 4 other knives I've used that I've achieved the same results. I have to put it behind the 20CV Manix though, because the 20CV suffered no visible edge damage...though these spots on the Cruwear sharpened right out with no issues on the brown stones in less than 10 minutes, sticky sharp. A very nice trait with Cruwear.

I still don't find it to be some super amazing steel, but it's certainly a nice balance of many properties as many have said before. I feel better about it now, and think I may need to give that Cruwear Shaman a full sharpening from the CBN stones and progress through and see what happens.


My rundown through 11 weeks...
1a - Manix 2 / Rex45
1b - Manix 2 / 4V
2 - Shaman / 4V
3 - Para3 / M4
4 - Manix 2 / 20CV
5 - Manix 2 / Cruwear
6 - Shaman / Cruwear
7 - Para 3 / 204P
8- Smock / S30V (granted only used for 3 days, so maybe I should give it another try)
9 - Manix 2 / 52100
10- Caly Jr / Super Blue (garbage...retired after 2 days)

[Wartstein]

*no pics for this past weeks end of the week cut test* My work computer decided to be annoying and not allow me to post on the forum. Usually last 3-4 days. I also can't figure out how to post pics from my phone.

....

For me imgur works perfectly fine both from phone and computer
Catbox ( viewtopic.php?f=5&t=83968) should work as well or even better.

[PStone]

S45vn update:

Been mostly carrying/using the S45vn pm2 this past month. Typical edc uses. Lots of cardboard and plastic jugs. Edge holding in my opinion is only slightly better than s30v. If at all. I can get through a 5 day work week with both, and neither needing a full sharpening. Just a few strokes on the doublestuff and it’s back to hair popping.

But today... . Today I dropped it. Of course it landed tip down. Lost about 2-3mm of blade. I’ll report back on the repair process and how it compares to s30v with the same damage. I had similar damage to my Wolfspyder I can compare to.
Warning: Graphic photo. Click with caution

► Show Spoiler

[PStone]

Update after repair:


Pretty straight forward and simple fix. Grinding the spine down was done on a Norton coarse crystalon. Process was an identical experience to an earlier fix of my Wolfspyder with the same damage. Took about an hour. Although to be fair, I don’t think I could tell a difference between any two blade steels doing this. Maybe 3cr and Maxamet I could. Big maybe though.

Also have been using mineral oil on the pivot and blade. No signs of any corrosion at all. And it does get used around various cleaning chemicals. Some can totally wreck an M4 blade in mere minutes. Ask me how I know...

[TkoK83Spy]

Impressive that you repaired it so quickly! Looks good.

[SG89]

Sharpened my s30v lil native on my kme sharpener today and I'm feeling really great about the results. Still getting a feel for it but learning a lot. Slicing paper like its air.

[The Meat man]

Sharpened my s30v lil native on my kme sharpener today and I'm feeling really great about the results. Still getting a feel for it but learning a lot. Slicing paper like its air.

What did you have before? Just the Sharpmaker?

[SG89]

Sharpened my s30v lil native on my kme sharpener today and I'm feeling really great about the results. Still getting a feel for it but learning a lot. Slicing paper like its air.

What did you have before? Just the Sharpmaker?

Yes. Which worked fine but the kme is faster

[PStone]

Impressive that you repaired it so quickly! Looks good.

Thank you very much! I had no choice but to act quickly last night. This has been my main carry the past month, and I didn’t want it to be out of commission. I wish I was better at providing feedback, rather than just damage and repair to the thread though. My next post will be actual use/sharpening reports.

And also, I am so ready to see some Spy27 posts in here!

[TkoK83Spy]

Just throwing a bump here, as PStone said above...hoping we can get some contributions from some Spy27 owners here!

[TkoK83Spy]

Been a bit since I've done one of these and decided to go with my reprofiled S30V PM2. It's around 14dps, finished on the brown rods and my KnivesPlus strop. No microbevel. I used it quite a bit during the week, more so than some of the others I had posted in here. Because it's been reprofiled, I'm not going to rank it amongst the others because it gives it a bit of an advantage over an edge that's never been sharpened at a grit lower than the brown rods.

That said, going into today the edge had been touched up with 4 passes on each side on the brown rods on Thursday night just to give it a bit more bite going into today because I cut an unusual amount of rope this past week. The knife blazed through the approximate 255ft of cardboard like a hot knife through butter. Same with the rubber hydraulic hose. Cutting 50 slices of rope, the knife never slipped once. I was very impressed with how it performed and then when it came to the paper test...it failed miserably! The edge is pretty reflective at this point and definitely needs a little love later! The way it performed on cutting those 3 materials, I thought it would do well with the paper. Tried it at different angles, but never got a really clean cut. Not sure why, but oh well. Will be an easy touch up later.

This is also the first time I've ever really given a PM2 a good amount of work...and I, well my thumb...really didn't like it. I was wearing cut gloves, but with that high thumb ramp and jimping, as you can see I will certainly have a blister. Just another reason I've come to love the Shaman and Manix as much as I do!

[JuPaul]

Dang - ouch, Rick!

[TkoK83Spy]

Dang - ouch, Rick!

Yea, it's nice and plump and filled with water now. Cancelled my workout for the night!

[attila]

Hey Rick,

I was wondering what your opinion is of the Manix vs Shaman?

I want to like the Shaman more due to its shape (no thumb ramp, contoured handles, and more rounded between-the-finger humps) and longer edge length, but it’s thicker blade stock and super chunky BTE thicknesses are a huge turnoff.

What are your thoughts on the differences under extended use and in the cutting that you do?

Thanks a bunch!

[TkoK83Spy]

Hey Rick,

I was wondering what your opinion is of the Manix vs Shaman?

I want to like the Shaman more due to its shape (no thumb ramp, contoured handles, and more rounded between-the-finger humps) and longer edge length, but it’s thicker blade stock and super chunky BTE thicknesses are a huge turnoff.

What are your thoughts on the differences under extended use and in the cutting that you do?

Thanks a bunch!

Hey attila, funny you asked that. Earlier this week, I think it was the "what Spyderco is your pocket" thread I mentioned how I've carried my 4V Shaman all last week and the Rex45 this week, and will carry the Crucarta (thanks again :) ) next week. I've proclaimed the Manix as my favorite knife the past year now, but I've really been enjoying these Shamans exclusively the past couple weeks.

After my last post here in this thread, and the resulting massive blister from the PM2, I was ready for the Shaman with no thumb ramp. A major plus in design for my preferences/uses. It's really a tough call for comfort between the Manix and Shaman. Those contoured, and slightly thicker handles fit my hand great. The Manix really feels designed for my hand though. It's a perfect fit! I think I would give the Manix the tiniest of edge there...and I mean tiny!

In use, it's also tough. I feel I can use both and really bear down with no issues. It's nice the Manix only has a subtle ramp so it's more comparable in that aspect to the Shaman compared to other models. Sometimes I prefer the heavy, wide, stout blade of the Shaman...but I've also never questioned or received any issues with any of Manix's.

After the past couple weeks, I was starting to lean towards the Shaman...but I know in the back of my mind, the Manix is my favorite, and to confirm that...after next week with the Crucarta Shaman, I'm going to carry my Manix's exclusively for a few weeks.

Honestly, they are my 2 favorite models for my job. But the perfect finger grooves for MY hand on the Manix, and the better slicing ability gives it the slim edge in my book.

Thanks for asking though, I appreciate that you value my opinion :) I do say though...give that Shaman more of a chance. You may be surprised!

[TkoK83Spy]

Reading back a bit on this thread, I see I totally neglected to do a rerun of the 204P Para 3 after I resharpened it. It still qualifies for these rankings, as I didn't sharpen it past the brown rods. The previous test it was used right out of the box. I'm also interested in how this turns out and it will be my carry for work next week, those were some odd results the first time around...before having 13 days off from work :)

[nerdlock]

Thank you TkoK83Spy for pointing me to this thread...backreading (while at work), I'm impressed at how you all put some time doing real world applications for these knives! I have Cru, 20CV, M4 coming in the next week or so, I hope I can contribute to this thread soon!

[TkoK83Spy]

Thank you TkoK83Spy for pointing me to this thread...backreading (while at work), I'm impressed at how you all put some time doing real world applications for these knives! I have Cru, 20CV, M4 coming in the next week or so, I hope I can contribute to this thread soon!

No problem! Would love to read your thoughts compared to my own experiences. Remember everyone...this isn't MY thread, the more the merrier!

Would love to see some feedback from others with that 10V PM2, any of the Spy27's, S45VN or some K390 in here as well!!

[SubMicron]

I just found this thread... This is great, I dont know how I didn't see it sooner.

Thank you for sharing all of this!

I do own SPY-27 but due to being distracted with so many other steels to play with, I've not truly put it through its paces. However I have done some cardboard cut tests with it in the most controlled way possible.

Through brand new clean cardboard, SPY-27 cut about double the amount that S30V did. This was unexpected since it was advertised as having wear resistance comparable to S30V. I made a few lengthy posts on Blade Forums but here's the summary:

Sharpening progression:
DMT DiaSharp Extra Course
Atoma 400
Atoma 600
Strop: 10 micron - 5 passes per side, 3 micron 5pps, 1 micron 10pps, 0.25 micron 5pps

The edge angles are about 16 degrees per side.

Using consistently sized peices cut from the same batch of boxes purchased from Home Depot, I held the cardboard up, standing on it's broadside over the edge of a table, and I cut strait down through the cardboard into the air underneath. This removes the cutting board variable. I also alternated the direction of the corrugation on the cardboard to remove variables with that.

The numbers:

Holding the knife consistently at 90 degrees to the cardboard:
Civivi Shredder D2 - 117 feet
Benchmade Bugout S30V - 157 feet
Spyderco Para3 LW SPY-27 (tested twice) 317.5 feet & 315 feet
Spyderco Delica S90V - 382.5 feet

The Delica S90V may have more in it. This result is from the 3rd edge, the 2nd edge produced a lower result... I need to test it more when I have time and I plan to run it against the M390 Delica and K390 Delica.

[TkoK83Spy]

Nice write up! Impressive how much better S90V performs. That's one steel that's been around awhile, but I just haven't landed a model with it.