Outdoor Spyderco - what would you pick?

[Tgmr05]

Stretch k390 or zdp. The k390 will patina/stain/rust more easily than the zdp, if that is a concern. The Stretch is a great knife for the tasks you mentioned from your choices. Long enough to handle most tasks, and has a great blade shape for multiple uses in the outdoors.

I agree with Wartstein on the Tenacious s35vn even though I have not personally seen or used one with that steel, yet. Soon, hopefully, in the US.

[wrdwrght]

Matus, I have the PM2, Stretch1/2, Caribbean, and Siren. Any one would readily answer your requirements.

Also awesome is the mentioned Manix2 (my first Spydie love).

But don’t overlook the D’Allara3 (currently alternating with my Lil’Temp3 as my primary carry). It’s akin to the Caribbean, but with a pleasing drop-point blade. The ceramic BBL does take some getting used to, but it’s worth the effort.

The Stretch1/2, however, probably has the most belly toward the tip of all mentioned, and it is slicy.

[TkoK83Spy]

I'd look into the Bow River. Inexpensive, fits the criteria (unless you're just not into fixed blades) and could be pressed into more serious use if needed.

This is great suggestion, especially for the price. All this "camp knife" talk...I always thought of a camp knife as a smaller machete, followed by something like a Bow River, Siren, Bradley Bowie and then a folder as a 3rd option. Makes me wonder what people consider camping/outdoorsy when suggesting small folders :confused:

[MFlovejp]

It sounds like you want a lightweight knife that’s good for food prep. Don’t overlook the excellent Centofante. It meets literally all of the specifications you outlined, is inexpensive, and in my use has been a more than capable outdoor knife. Only question that remains is whether it is a good fit for your hand... but that’s a personal question! I do know that it’s awesome having the blade come all the way back to the handle- few Spydies do that.

[NCC-2893]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the Spydiechef. It fulfills all your listed needs and hopefully the ergonomics are agreeable to you. I bring it if I suspect I might need it for food prep in a pinch. It’s pockets very well because of how thin it is. It’s not terribly heavy. And you can rinse the whole knife off to clean it well.

[Wartstein]

:)

[kobold]

Go with the Caribbean, but consider all blade shapes and also serrations.
I picked the serrated sheepfoot for outdoor use (yardwork) and it is my best performing knife (see my collection in the sig).

[Matus]

Wow, thanks for all your feedback and ideas. Let me go through them quickly :)

First of all - I am only looking at folding knives at the moment. I plan to make a fixed blade myself, working on the design at the back of my head (I find the Bradford knives really interesting). but will probably only get to it by the end of the year as I will only be able to do a proper wet grinding once we move (too little space right now for my workshop) and these higher wear resistant steels (I am planning to pick Z-Wear most likely) would take for ages without overheating them.

Some really large knives like Military and Resilience were mentioned. The Mili would be fine concerning the cutting edge, but 140mm long handle ist just going to get in the way or at least feel weird (the Chief does).

The Subvert is one funky looking knife, but does not strike me as practical enough, nor does it triggers my fancy to get one (plus it is quite expensive)

The Manix seems to cause some polarization here :) I have checked it out recently as the blade profile would make it (for me) THE perfect spderco for the workshop, but I was not really liking the handle (it was the LW one). And yes, I would prefer a blade that is a bit longer or at least has a little more belly towards the tip.

Tenacious S35VN ... of course it must have been you @Wartstein to mention it :p Yes, I must agree - design wise it is the most no-nonsense choice. Basically a little smaller, much cheaper and less fancy version of the Caribbean, plus it brings a little more practical blade profile. I basically hate you :D I am going to give it time and see whether it grows on me. What I would like to see is some edge retention tests (I know, I know) as even though it is Spyderco, it does comes from China and it can be form fantastic to all the way down.

Pacific Salt kinda does land in the same category as Endura, sorry ...

The Manix XL is a big boy and I have heard good things about ergonomy, a bit heavy though.

Little knifes (Dragonfly and co.). Let me just say ... no. Yes I can use my Brouwer in to slice pizza or cut smaller apple when on the walk, but I usually prefer not to get food rests/juices in the pivot and longer blade makes it a little easier. Plus if you need to slice bread you are going to have a tough time. I love small knives in general though, just not for the purpose I am looking at right now.

D’Allara3 - now this is what I love about this forum. I literally NEVER heard of this knife before. Frankly, it looks super interesting design wise, the size is a check, S30V is plenty fine. I am going to have a closer look. Apparently - it is an older model, but it would seem it can be found on second hand market. Thanks!

Stretch, GB2, PM2 are all in the running too.

Centofante 3 - I used to have that knfie a long time ago. It felt a bit ... feeble (for the lack of a better word). I must say that it is a very elegant knife too.

Spydie Chef - I of course had a look at it. I am not sure. the blade shape is a bit extreme as as much as possible was done to make it compatible with a cutting board use. I guess it is a knife one really needs to get in hand and try to actually see whether it would fit the bill. Technically it does has a lot going for it.

So, that is where I stand right now.

[aicolainen]

I’ve really had an awakening the last couple of years with regards to using folders as outdoor knives, so I think I understand your motivation.

Now the outdoors is a big place, and I do a lot of different stuff out there, so I don’t ever expect to find one folder that is perfect for everything. And maybe I don’t want to either. How boring wouldn’t that be.

Of the folders I have, these are the three that follows me in the outdoors most often:
- Native 5 Salt: doesn’t really excel at anything, but does most task well enough and carries great.
- Siren: tend to bring it when there’s a chance I’ll be fishing, and that appears to be quite often. Mine doesn’t have the lock issue, and is really a great all round outdoor knife. If you’re primary focus is food prep, you might want to look at something with a thinner blade stock, but for the meals I prepare outdoors it’s certainly adequate.
- Pacific Salt FFG: I know you’ve pretty much dismissed this one, but I believe the linerless salts are slightly thicker in the handle than non-salty lined ones. So that might at least give the PS a tiny advantage over the Endura. I’m not stoked by the handle shape myself, but it’s hard to ignore this knife from an outdoor perspective. Very light, very capable and safe to operate.

To be honest, I’m still searching for a knife that does the food prep part even better, without giving up too much versatility.
The chief is interesting, so is the Caribbean and I’m also considering some of the larger offerings from TRM.

My main motivations for using a folder as a outdoor knife is the light weight and the convenient carry, so I will always value those attributes more than, let’s say, handle ergonomics and ruggedness. As soon as I believe those parameters to be of importance, it’s just easier to pack a suitable fixed blade. Often in addition to a folder. In fact, these days when I’m outdoors, I often carry just a folder, but I rarely carry just a fixed blade.

[PaloArt]

Some good suggestions here but basically from your selection I would personally go for Stretch - Sal designed this knife, if I am not mistaken, as his personal outdoors knife. Great ergonomics, solid steel (VG10 is really still amazing)...

Other than that I prefer personally Delica, Endura or PM2 for one day hike or even longer trips :). Endela might be good to consider as well - need to buy this fella for sure.

Let us know what you decided for and do not forget to share some photos!

Cheers, Pavel

[Wartstein]

Not really stereotypes...
I think it is pretty much common knowledge that especially in general food prep a longer edge is really advantagous (even long Spydie folders have not long edges compared to even smaller kitchen knives).

Believe me, I use all of my folders (from Chaparral to Endura size) a lot in food prep especially in the outdoors: Sure they all work, but just compare an Endura and a Manix in things like cutting a larger baking roll or fruit or whatever: Clearly more awkward and less efficient with the Manix due to its short edge (not really longer than on a BM Minigrip)

So, I stand by it: For the use the op describes I would not recommend a Manix - despite I really like that model and my two lightweights! Just really not a camp knife imho.

Right, 13mm (!!!) difference of cutting edge is a deal breaker, now i get it.

No offense, but I don´t see what is so hard to understand here:

- Of course 13mm difference in edge length (in fact it is 15 mm see below) is not a "deal breaker" - and a Manix works in food prep too, just not as good as an Endura.
- But if we are discussing on that level, most of this forum makes not much sense and we could answer the question asked in this thread with just "take any Spyderco wth a blade roughly between 2.75 and 4 inches"... since an a bit less comfortable handle is not a deal breaker too, but will still work decently, a thick sabre grind is not a deal breaker too but will still work in slicing, just not as good as ffg, and so on.
- Since the OP particularely mentions food prep as one task, of course I try to recommend the optimal choice for (also) that, and not a model that will work "just" somehow too...

Again: Just buy a loaf of bread, some large apples or whatever you might take on a hike and cut them up first with an Endura, then with a Manix: Both will do the job, but the Endura is more convenient and it will be easier to keep its pivot clean.
As an analogy: Just like in other tasks a larger, more handfilling handle is more convenient, but a small, flat one will work too

/ There are quite many advantages long blades/edges have, not only, but also in food prep (even Sal mentioned lately he´d carry a large Spydie for cutting up food in restaurants).
There is a reason why longer bladed folder exist, lets look at some data:

- Edge Manix LW: 73mm, edge Endura: 88mm: 15 mm difference
- Edge Para 3: 67mm, Edge PM2: 78 mm: 11 mm difference (so clearly less then from Manix to Endura)
- Edge Pm2: 78mm; edge Military: 94 mm: 16mm difference (so just one mm more than from Manix to Endura)

As said, there is a reason why people want that longer bladed/edged folders (yes, they offer also longer handles, but still) - food prep one of those reasons. And I think no one would consider the Millie and PM2 or Para 3 and PM2 in the same ballpark concerning blade/edge length, like you suggest with Manix 2 and Endura.

Another way to perhaps make things clearer is looking at it percentage wise: The Endura edge is more than 20 percent longer than the Manix edge: Not insignificant.
Just for illustration:
Imagine a guy who is 5.6 tall - pretty small for a man; Now 20 % taller would mean a man with a height of 6.73 - really tall, could play in the NBA, right? :)

[Wartstein]

.....
The Manix seems to cause some polarization here :) I have checked it out recently as the blade profile would make it (for me) THE perfect spderco for the workshop, but I was not really liking the handle (it was the LW one). And yes, I would prefer a blade that is a bit longer or at least has a little more belly towards the tip.

Tenacious S35VN ... of course it must have been you @Wartstein to mention it :p Yes, I must agree - design wise it is the most no-nonsense choice. Basically a little smaller, much cheaper and less fancy version of the Caribbean, plus it brings a little more practical blade profile. I basically hate you :D I am going to give it time and see whether it grows on me. What I would like to see is some edge retention tests (I know, I know) as even though it is Spyderco, it does comes from China and it can be form fantastic to all the way down.
.....

- As said, I really love the Manix (LW in my case), but as a small folder with extremely generous grip options (again, the Manix cutting edge is not much longer than on a BM Minigrip). Whenever food prep could be expected I would certainly not grab my Manix (reasoning see post above)

- Sure I had to recommend the S35VN Tenacious LW! :) - Firstly, I seem to be one of the few here who already has one, and secondly it keeps blowing me away: Perfect fit and finish, LOOOONG edge, great ergos, linerlock extremely convenient.
As for the S35VN: So far it seems to be on par with the Native LW I had in this steel and even with S30V. I did use the knife a lot and it still has the factory edge and still slices paper easily. Not a scientific test at all, but I am pretty sure my lets say VG10 knives would be a lot duller at this point..

[knifemovieguy]

Another way to perhaps make things clearer is looking at it percentage wise: The Endura edge is more than 20 percent longer than the Manix edge: Not insignificant.
Just for illustration:
Imagine a guy who is 5.6 tall - pretty small for a man; Now 20 % taller would mean a man with a height of 6.73 - really tall, could play in the NBA, right? :)

The size isn’t everything, this shorter guy can be better player than the nba candidate. Same with knives, my former pakka hap40 endura had the same behind the edge thickness as my s90v manix which is 3,2mm instead of 3 on endura. Basically this manix has more aggressive grind and cuts better. Case solved.

[Wartstein]

The size isn’t everything, this shorter guy can be better player than the nba candidate. Same with knives, my former pakka hap40 endura had the same behind the edge thickness as my s90v manix which is 3,2mm instead of 3 on endura. Basically this manix has more aggressive grind and cuts better. Case solved.

I think I am giving up...

This is not about more or less aggressive cutting - this is about the advantages that longer edges in principle have in food prep (something everybody can try for themselves, see my examples in previous posts). You just can´t make up for this with a shorter blade, since you can´t make it longer - but you CAN make a long blade sharper, thinner behind the edge and so on.

But I will respect that your experiences for whatever reasons are different on this and that you do not think a longer edge has advantages in food prep (also differently to I think almost all folks who actually do food prep with folders, including for example the founder of Spyderco as far as I know... )

It´s just knives in the end, right?

[M Sea]

Going off your own list, the Caribbean would be awesome. Also a big Manix fan as a close second. Imho.

[bobnikon]

Huge fan of the Stretch, but your two options you stated K390 and ZDP... not exactly stainless. If you want stainless go VG10. If you want "semi-"stainless the ZDP. is great If you want tool steel that won't be too bad once you patina it and take care of it, the K390 will be a beast.

But really, for "shorter hikes" just pick a knife you like. You don't need a full beast mode bushcraft knife. You just need something that you like, that fits in your hand, and that you like (yeah, I said that twice).

Cheers

[Gtscotty]

I was thinking Stretch as I read your list. I really wish they would make a 20CV or S90V/S110V version, but my VG-10 is still the main folder I carry as a backup to my fixed blades when hunting, it's an excellent outdoors knife.

I might need to break down and Just buy a ZDP Stretch at some point.

The Manix 2 LW works well as well, but has less belly in the blade and is pinned construction, so you can't take it apart to clean blood and goo out if that matters to you.

[VashHash]

Since you don't like the police I'd recommend the stretch in K390.

[buccilli15]

RockJumper is my #1 pick, followed by the Manix.

[Wandering_About]

I own both a Stretch 2 and a Dallara 3. Personally I think the Stretch is a better knife. The Dallara is by no means bad, but the Stretch has an excellent handle, is light, and the lock is easier to operate. It also carries better in pocket, for me. Really do like the stretch, even though I often carry other knives in preference to it. The design is excellent. I'd say just go VG10, much less worry if you're going to use it on food a lot.