S110V Manix- not ideal for wood working

[KevinOubre]

I recently got an S110V manix and did some wood cutting on pine cut offs from a contruciton site today. They were pine and fairly dry. Un fortunately, about 100 cuts in, it was very clear that this knife was just not designed for sustained, heavy wood cutting. It did fine making curls similar to what you do for feather sticks, but once you start putting fairly heavy pressures, I would say greater than 50 pounds of force, the handle showed a great deal of hot spots. Here is how I was holding the knife:



Here is the wood that was cut:




Here is my hand after cutting it:



Not sure how clear it is in the last picture but there was definite visible irritation between my thumb and pointer finger. Now, this could just be my soft girly hands but I have done the same type of work with my gayle bradley and had no irritation, even after far more cutting. I still like the knife. It does great on stuff like cardboard and rope, food, stuff of that nature, but for anything requiring a significant amount of force, the handle is just too squarish to be comfortable over an extended amount of time. However, for me, that is not a huge deal. I have plenty of knives that work wood well, my Benchmade Bedlam suprisingly among them, and my Gayle Bradley and Bushcraft. This knife has been fantastic in the pocket and a general utility knife. Super light and the Manix blade does cut well on all my normal, non evaluative cutting needs. Now I just need to fine a bunch of cardboard and other abrasive materials to see what S110V is made of. I expect it to exceed my 10V and S90V knives, but not by much. Thats my hypothesis anyway. To conclude, The S110V Manix is a well made, and well designed knife, for what its intended use is, a general utility folder for us urban and suburban knife users, and not a great pic for a wood working/bushcraft folder.

[apollo]

I must say having handled the LW a few times and comparing the feeling against my normal manix2 the lw is for my personally not as good in hand as the regular one. The Frcp feels very good for normal day to day use but not in the role of a hard work knife. :)

[jabba359]

I did some side by side testing cutting a ton of cardboard with my CTS-XHP Manix 2 and M390 Para 2 a couple years back. I found the Manix 2 caused me a lot more hot spots than my Para 2. I'd imagine cutting wood amplifies the hot spots due to the extra pressure you have to apply.

[ABX2011]

Yeah, I think that is true of many folders. And I agree that the Gayle Bradley is one of the most comfortable for prolonged heavy cutting.

[Cliff Stamp]

What exactly is causing the irritation?

[ManixFan]

I must say having handled the LW a few times and comparing the feeling against my normal manix2 the lw is for my personally not as good in hand as the regular one. The Frcp feels very good for normal day to day use but not in the role of a hard work knife. :)

Actually this one is FRN.......it is the translucent blue LtWt's in BD-1 that are FRCP........but I do understand what you are saying as I also have the S110v Manix LtWt.

[Blerv]

Seems to me the non-LW Manix2 would be far more prone to hotspots based on the proud jimping, flat G10 and open pillar design.

IMHO, FRN models are by far the most comfortable of the folders. At least well-designed ones.

[Evil D]

This is why I'd love to see one made in solid G10 without liners, that would keep the weight down and make for a smoother grip. I like the bidirectional FRN, but it can be rough on the hands. When I did my 2000 cut test through double wall cardboard, it got a little rough towards the end. But, like mentioned the standard G10 version has it's own issues with that crazy jimping all over the place. Some knives and more so some tasks just require gloves. I'm sure we can list a bunch of knives that wouldn't give you hot spots without gloves, but we can also list plenty that would.

[ManixFan]

This is why I'd love to see one made in solid G10 without liners, that would keep the weight down and make for a smoother grip. I like the bidirectional FRN, but it can be rough on the hands. When I did my 2000 cut test through double wall cardboard, it got a little rough towards the end. But, like mentioned the standard G10 version has it's own issues with that crazy jimping all over the place. Some knives and more so some tasks just require gloves. I'm sure we can list a bunch of knives that wouldn't give you hot spots without gloves, but we can also list plenty that would.

Great idea on the solid G10.....but even if there were some contoured G10 over steel liners (if you don't mind the weight) I think there would be a drastic improvement in grip. I love my regular BM 710 but the blue-black G10 KW exclusive M390 BM 710 is a dream to hold and it just uses contoured G-10 over steel liners vs the flat G10 of the regular versions.

[Evil D]

Yeah I wouldn't be opposed to seeing more contoured handles. Spyderco are kind of known for the flat G10 scales, but the knives that I've owned that were contoured were a joy to use, like the Vallotton. It doesn't take much contouring to make a difference either.

I think the biggest down side to the Manix 2 LW is that the handle lacks a significant bevel around the outer edge. A lot of G10 knives have a bevel, and it isn't much but it makes a difference. The Military for example (just comparing what I have laying in front of me) has a nice bevel and you can squeeze the heck out of that handle and not get hot spots. I don't think the texture in the FRN is as much to blade as the squared off corners. Personally I think I would like the LW much more if the scale design was something like the UKPK texture but with a more significant bevel around the edge. I've thought about taking my Dremel to mine and grounding off the shoulders, but it hasn't been much of an issue to me.

[KevinOubre]

What exactly is causing the irritation?

The square shape of the handles. Nothing is sharp, but there is pretty much no contouring so when a lot of force is applied with the hammer grip, the corners dig into my hand. Its totally fine in the saber grip, but as you know that is a very poor way to hold the knife for this type of cutting.

[Donut]

I don't understand, why is the last picture in the OP of a 10 year old girl's hand? :p hehe

I believe that the Manix 2 was designed to be hard used... with gloves on. The jimping that would be rough on your hands would provide grip while using gloves.

[Cliff Stamp]

The square shape of the handles.

Do you mean the top/outside part as it is pretty flat with light chamfering at the corners? Don't all of the Spyderco's have that same basic shape?

[Surfingringo]

To me it is an issue of handle width. The wider handle doesn't allow the fingers to wrap around as far, therefore i can't get quite as much "grip" with the fingertips. The end result is more pressure against the area between the thumb and forefinger during high pressure cuts. Not sure if that makes sense but that's the best way I can describe it. This is one of the main reasons I prefer narrower handles like that of the pm2.

[bearfacedkiller]

I do not like to choke up that far on a knife when applying a lot of force and prefer to use some leverage to my advantage. I choke up for detail work and take the rearward grip when I need to apply a lot of force. That said, I own one Manix2 G10 and it has just never been super comfortable for me.

[KevinOubre]

The square shape of the handles.

Do you mean the top/outside part as it is pretty flat with light chamfering at the corners? Don't all of the Spyderco's have that same basic shape?

Its the corners that dig into my hand. Its not something I have experienced with my Gayle Bradley, Endura 4, and stretch. Though I do get similar grip issues with the para2, tenacious, and Persian. I would say most spyderco have a similar shape in that they are flat, but the corners and contours of the knives have some differences, at least to my hand.

[KevinOubre]

I do not like to choke up that far on a knife when applying a lot of force and prefer to use some leverage to my advantage. I choke up for detail work and take the rearward grip when I need to apply a lot of force. That said, I own one Manix2 G10 and it has just never been super comfortable for me.

I hear you. I find when using that type of grip, I get a lot of torque on the blade and wrist fatigue. Choking up helps me get rid of tat and apply more force in te cut. But that's just my hand

[Ankerson]

This is why I'd love to see one made in solid G10 without liners, that would keep the weight down and make for a smoother grip. I like the bidirectional FRN, but it can be rough on the hands. When I did my 2000 cut test through double wall cardboard, it got a little rough towards the end. But, like mentioned the standard G10 version has it's own issues with that crazy jimping all over the place. Some knives and more so some tasks just require gloves. I'm sure we can list a bunch of knives that wouldn't give you hot spots without gloves, but we can also list plenty that would.

Yep, and it's more of a personal thing as everyone's hands are different so the knives will have a different feel to different people.

Personally I like knives that are more shall I say plain without a lot of jimping and aggressive scales or handles.

[zhyla]

I think I would want gloves on for extended cutting sessions with anything tough to cut.

[Brock O Lee]

I removed all the jimping on the handle of my LW, and it improved the comfort noticeably. I do not understand why you would need all that jimping, the shape locks into your hand well enough that it is unlikely to slip IMO. I agree with everyone who said it needs to be chamfered more.

Another way to improve the handle comfort for hard cutting is to reduce the thickness behind the edge! :D As you drop the dps you will need much less force to get through what you are cutting.

My stock LW came very thick and obtuse from the factory, and I thinned it out considerably, but it is used as a slicer and not for hard cutting. For a hard user this will be too thin for S110V.