Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
User avatar
rwasham
Member
Posts: 133
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:48 am

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#21

Post by rwasham »

My current rotation is a S30v PM3 PE in the right front. VG-10 Ladybug SE in the watch pocket and a 9Cr18Mo Mule on the belt, horizontal appendix carry. Probably overkill on the mule, but I think it's fun!
User avatar
Enactive
Member
Posts: 2041
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:19 pm
Location: Wet side of Washington

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#22

Post by Enactive »

Cambertree wrote:
Fri Jan 29, 2021 8:51 pm
Some of my favourite threads and posts on this forum are those where members tell us about their favourite knives and what makes them so.

I often like to gain an understanding of some of my own favourite Spyderco knives by considering them in comparison with another knife model.

Like many of the Spyderheads here, I like to carry a pair of complementary knives which offer different specialised functions.

Sometimes this may be a pair of different sized knives. Sometimes it may be a plain edge and a serrated knife duo. Or it could be two knives with different blade shapes.

At the moment at work I’m enjoying using the SE LC200N Pacific Salt 2 and the K390 Dragonfly, for example.

Image

When I go camping, hiking or hunting I like to carry a fixed blade with a folder. Of late, that’s been the 52100 CE Paramilitary 2 with the Southfork.

I’m sure some of you also enjoy comparing the same knife model in different steels, too.

So let’s make this a place to compare a pair of knives. The pair can be as similar or as different as you like. They don’t even have to be knives you carry or use in tandem. Perhaps you might like to compare two incongruously different types of knives to aid in understanding the use and design features and functionality of both models.

For the purposes of this thread, let’s make them Spyderco models only, please.

Simple lists of favourite pairs for your dedicated knife tasks are welcome, although more in depth reviews and thoughts are very much appreciated and valued.

So let’s go! I’m eager to hear your thoughts!
Cool thread, Cambertree! I've been enjoying the responses so far. I haven't responded yet in part because i haven't had time to take or dig up photos of pairs that i enjoy. Maybe i will make some time for that.

On another note, i have been admiring your photo and thought that it looks like some small black walnut leaflets on a black walnut table/ counter/ butcher block. Is it?

I've also been enjoying my pair of LC Pac Salts and my K390 Delica, which i find pairs particularly well with the SE Pacific.
User avatar
Danvp
Member
Posts: 190
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2018 1:45 pm

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#23

Post by Danvp »

legOFwhat? wrote:
Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:31 am
I've also been pairing up SE and PE quite a bit and it's also tool steel and stainless. Here's my current favorite combo:

Image

I always have a MuleTeam with me as well :D
I am resisting those two...
A very nice combo indeed!
Which one do you use the most and recommend to get first?
User avatar
wrdwrght
Member
Posts: 5078
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:35 am

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#24

Post by wrdwrght »

I made a conscious effort to pair different combinations of Spydies when someone issued the challenge some years ago.

Didn’t work for me. I kept forgetting about the “other” Spydie when I went for the one in my RFP.

My conditioning has become so pronounced that the RFP is where my hand usually goes for retrieving the contents whenever I open this Forum...

Not to say I don’t carry two Spydies every day. Along my RFP’s Spydie of current interest, I always have my SE Ladybug Hawkbill Manbug Salt on my car keys in my LFP. I keep forgetting I have it there for things like clamshell packages. Seems the pandemic rarely sees me reaching for my car keys.

Image

But, all-in-all, my Spydie of current interest (such as the pictured Ayoob I got last week) will automatically be one that can do most everything I need. That’s why it’s there, and why my Ladybug Manbug is really just-in-case.

EDIT: Seems I reach for my keychain Spydie so infrequently that I forgot I changed my Ladybug for a Manbug… :o
Last edited by wrdwrght on Sat May 15, 2021 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
-Marc (pocketing an M4 Sage5 today)

“When science changes its opinion, it didn’t lie to you. It learned more.”
User avatar
Enactive
Member
Posts: 2041
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:19 pm
Location: Wet side of Washington

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#25

Post by Enactive »

wrdwrght wrote:
Wed Feb 03, 2021 1:14 pm
I made a conscious effort to pair different combinations of Spydies when someone issued the challenge some years ago.

Didn’t work for me. I kept forgetting about the “other” Spydie when I went for the one in my RFP.

My conditioning has become so pronounced that the RFP is where my hand usually goes for retrieving the contents whenever I open this Forum...

Not to say I don’t carry two Spydies every day. Along my RFP’s Spydie of current interest, I always have my SE Ladybug Hawkbill on my car keys in my LFP. I keep forgetting I have it there for things like clamshell packages. Seems the pandemic rarely sees me reaching for my car keys.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/hjyZZLFn/15-E123-E ... 1-FBD1.jpg

But, all-in-all, my Spydie of current interest (such as the pictured Ayoob I got last week) will automatically be one that can do most everything I need. That’s why it’s there, and why my Ladybug is really just-in-case.
Marc, welcome back! I missed your December return. Nice Ayoob too.
User avatar
wrdwrght
Member
Posts: 5078
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:35 am

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#26

Post by wrdwrght »

Enactive wrote:
Wed Feb 03, 2021 2:25 pm
Marc, welcome back! I missed your December return. Nice Ayoob too.
Thanks, and thanks. PM sent.
-Marc (pocketing an M4 Sage5 today)

“When science changes its opinion, it didn’t lie to you. It learned more.”
User avatar
legOFwhat?
Member
Posts: 3107
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:58 am
Location: Kentucky; Earth

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#27

Post by legOFwhat? »

Danvp wrote:
Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:59 am
legOFwhat? wrote:
Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:31 am
I've also been pairing up SE and PE quite a bit and it's also tool steel and stainless. Here's my current favorite combo:

Image

I always have a MuleTeam with me as well :D
I am resisting those two...
A very nice combo indeed!
Which one do you use the most and recommend to get first?
I've only had the Endela for a week or so, but I'm digging everything about it. Can't go wrong with either but I'd lean on K390 because I love tool steels and some have had issues with loose pivots on the pacsalt's. Its a non issue to me and I just snugged up mine on arrival with a dab of lock-tight and a can-do attitude :)
-Larry
Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
MNOSD #0049
User avatar
mrdavidkolds
Member
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:35 pm
Location: Arvada, CO
Contact:

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#28

Post by mrdavidkolds »

My second knife is a man bug for when people want to borrow a knife, which is fairly often because they know I always have a knife.
vivi
Member
Posts: 13846
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:15 am

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#29

Post by vivi »

legOFwhat? wrote:
Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:49 pm
Danvp wrote:
Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:59 am
legOFwhat? wrote:
Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:31 am
I've also been pairing up SE and PE quite a bit and it's also tool steel and stainless. Here's my current favorite combo:

Image

I always have a MuleTeam with me as well :D
I am resisting those two...
A very nice combo indeed!
Which one do you use the most and recommend to get first?
I've only had the Endela for a week or so, but I'm digging everything about it. Can't go wrong with either but I'd lean on K390 because I love tool steels and some have had issues with loose pivots on the pacsalt's. Its a non issue to me and I just snugged up mine on arrival with a dab of lock-tight and a can-do attitude :)
I have the same Pacific Salt. I can tighten the pivot until I can't open it with one hand and there's still side to side play. Not the same as a pivot that's merely loose, that's a two second fix.

I've decided to just keep it and use it, but I have never owned any other Pacific Salt with that level of play. Even my first run pinned salts that I can't adjust.

If it were a minor enough issue I could fix it with a twist of a torx driver I never would have mentioned it.
:unicorn
User avatar
Cambertree
Member
Posts: 1640
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:48 am
Location: Victoria, Australia

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#30

Post by Cambertree »

Thanks everyone for your contributions here. :)

It’s been fascinating to see both the diversity and similarities in your favourite pairings.

Also, feel free to just post pics, or do review comparisons on pairs of Spydies which you don’t necessarily carry together, but which you want to contrast to gain a better appreciation of them.

For instance, both these knives were designed for different purposes, and I wouldn’t usually carry both at the same time, but I’ve very much been enjoying comparing them in use recently:

Image
Enactive wrote:
Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:49 pm
Cool thread, Cambertree! I've been enjoying the responses so far. I haven't responded yet in part because i haven't had time to take or dig up photos of pairs that i enjoy. Maybe i will make some time for that.

On another note, i have been admiring your photo and thought that it looks like some small black walnut leaflets on a black walnut table/ counter/ butcher block. Is it?

I've also been enjoying my pair of LC Pac Salts and my K390 Delica, which i find pairs particularly well with the SE Pacific.
Thanks bro!

I’ll look forward to hearing your thoughts on some of your favourite Spydie pairings, if you have time.

And I appreciate the comment on my rudimentary photography!

Nice guess, the timber background is actually an acacia cutting board, which was a gift from a mate.

When I do a more ‘composed’ type of pic, I like to include some element which references the actual usage of knives as a tool. And the human eye is very sensitive to many different shades of the colour green, through evolutionary necessity, so it’s innately appealing to have that element too in a photo.

The leaflets are actually from a Cedrela Sinensis, one of my favourite ornamental trees - beautiful in both name and prescence. Being an area with rich soils and many plant nurseries and orchards, we have quite a few of them around here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toona_sinensis

Here’s what I’m using at work this week:

Image
aicolainen
Member
Posts: 1788
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2019 4:08 am
Location: Norway

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#31

Post by aicolainen »

wrdwrght wrote:
Wed Feb 03, 2021 1:14 pm
I made a conscious effort to pair different combinations of Spydies when someone issued the challenge some years ago.

Didn’t work for me. I kept forgetting about the “other” Spydie when I went for the one in my RFP.

My conditioning has become so pronounced that the RFP is where my hand usually goes for retrieving the contents whenever I open this Forum...

Not to say I don’t carry two Spydies every day. Along my RFP’s Spydie of current interest, I always have my SE Ladybug Hawkbill on my car keys in my LFP. I keep forgetting I have it there for things like clamshell packages. Seems the pandemic rarely sees me reaching for my car keys.

Image

But, all-in-all, my Spydie of current interest (such as the pictured Ayoob I got last week) will automatically be one that can do most everything I need. That’s why it’s there, and why my Ladybug is really just-in-case.
As I mentioned in my first post, I rarely carry more than one knife, but interestingly enough that one knife has mostly been my Manbug salt ever since I got it. So small, but for office work and city life its proven to be all I need. Those bugs punch way over what their diminutive appearance suggest
User avatar
Brock O Lee
Member
Posts: 3297
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:34 am
Location: Victoria, Australia

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#32

Post by Brock O Lee »

I tried various Spydie combos in the past, large/small, SE/PE, but it did not really work for me. One of the Spydies always felt redundant, and coming from a SAK background, I missed the SAK tools too much.

I’ve settled on paring any alox SAK with any 3-4 inch Spydie. Best of both worlds... :)
Hans

Favourite Spydies: Military, PM2, Shaman, UKPK
Others: Victorinox Pioneer, CRK L Sebenza 31, CRK L Inkosi
User avatar
Cambertree
Member
Posts: 1640
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:48 am
Location: Victoria, Australia

Re: Spyderco Pairs: Reviews and Reflections

#33

Post by Cambertree »

One of my favourite pairs of the same model - the K390 and AEB-L Urban:
7C230B8E-63FB-45F1-B028-45DDFBEBD3F3.jpeg
They both offer performance and steels from differing ends of the spectrum. :)
Post Reply