Best Spyderco for Mountain Climbing?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

What would you all suggest for a person who was planning to go on a mountain climbing expedition trip, say it was to something along the lines of Everest or the Alps or a place like that, and the following were the parameters needed for a Spyderco knife?:

1 The knife has to be decently visible if dropped in the snow and on rocky surfaces.
2 The knife has to be able to be used easily in both bare hands and gloved hands if needed.
3 The blade has to be able to cut through fibrous materials and webbing in an emergency or if called upon.
4 The steel has to be able to remain usable in very low temperatures and not have risk of getting brittle and chipping or breaking.
5 The blade should be wide enough to be used for food preparation while not being too bulky.
6 The knife should have a reliable gripping surface and not be overly smooth.
7 The preferred budget cost ceiling for the knife should be somewhere around 100 dollars or less; preferably, but, if
no other option, a little over 100 dollars is okay.
8 The knife can be either a folder or fixed blade, but, a folder is preferred.
9 The knife has to be one of the presently-available as in non-discontinued models for ease of purchase.

Which Spyderco would you all recommend for such uses based on those parameters?

[Fancier]

Climbing Everest on a budget? :)
I guess I'd go with an Aqua Salt. In snow the black blade and handle should be plenty visible.
If you want a yellow folder I'd suggest the Salt 1.

[JD Spydo]

Spyderco had two ideal folders in their line up back in the late 90s/early 2000s that I thought were specifically for rapelling, climbing and other utility uses. I'm speaking of the "Snap-It" and "Remote Release" models. I think they even brought back the "Remote Release" model in the mid to late 2000 decade for a year or so but I heard it had lackluster sales and it got dropped from the line up.

Also take a close look at virtually any model out of the H-1 Salt Series because there are a lot of models in that line up that should work well. I'm hoping that "Surfingringo" chimes in on this one because he's kind of our In House expert on the H-1 Salt blades.

Another Spyderco model I could recommend would be the TUSK model which has a marlinspike which is extremely handy for rope work and other cutting chores associated with those types of activities. And you also want to take a close look at Spyderco's Hawkbills which could really be handy for those types of cutting jobs.

[elena86]

Pacific Salt SE, yellow handle.No competition here.

[bearfacedkiller]

A Delica has already climbed Everest.

I would vote Delica or a Salt1. I don't do anything like Everest but I have done more than a little backpacking and a lot of it has been in the winter in the mountains. When camping a good camp knife is very important. When ultralight backpacking nothing really matters except shaving weight and you tend to bring no more than what you need. This is especially true in winter or at altitude because your cold weather pack can get heavy fast. My winter pack can hit 60 pounds on longer trips and I only weigh 150 so shaving weight matters. Food prep is not very demanding in these situations either. You are eating mostly dried food and a spoon and some boiling water is all you need. You won't be chopping veggies or anything like that and probably just opening packages. Get an orange Delica4 PE or a Yellow Salt1 SE and you should have all you need without adding anymore weight than necessary.

[Mako109]

A Delica has already climbed Everest.

I would vote Delica or a Salt1. I don't do anything like Everest but I have done more than a little backpacking and a lot of it has been in the winter in the mountains. When camping a good camp knife is very important. When ultralight backpacking nothing really matters except shaving weight and you tend to bring no more than what you need. This is especially true in winter or at altitude because your cold weather pack can get heavy fast. My winter pack can hit 60 pounds on longer trips and I only weigh 150 so shaving weight matters. Food prep is not very demanding in these situations either. You are eating mostly dried food and a spoon and some boiling water is all you need. You won't be chopping veggies or anything like that and probably just opening packages. Get an orange Delica4 PE or a Yellow Salt1 SE and you should have all you need without adding anymore weight than necessary.

This is my experience in snow too. A lightweight FRN model as bearfacekiller describes; I would also consider an FRN Endura or Pacific Salt. I haven't climbed exotic places like Everest, but have done a bit on Mt Rainier and Mt Baker in Washington State. Actually, from those experiences I learned I never needed anything more than a small SAK, mainly for a small 1" blade to cut open food packages and scissors to trim bandages. I pre-prep all tent guy lines (and any other lines for that matter) with adjustable tensioners way before hitting the trail, so never needed to cut line. So really I no longer carry anything but a small basic SAK when mountaineering.

Regarding a bright color, the best solution is to attach a long bright lanyard. In fresh soft snow, even a small, lightweight, brightly colored FRN knife will sink and disappear. A brightly colored nylon "ribbon" lanyard about 6" or longer between 1/4" to 1/2" wide (without fancy metal skull beads that will weigh it down) will "float" and still be visible. Emphasis on nylon ribbon as it floats better over snow than paracord.

Hope this helps.

[Birdman21]

Tasman Salt in H1 SE sounds like it would fit the bill quite well

[gaj999]

I'd go with the Assist with the orange handle. It's easy to use with gloves or mittens on.

Gordon

[twinboysdad]

FRN all the way, either Delica or Endura or yellow Pac Salt if SE

[PM1]

Yellow Pacific Salt SpyderEdge all day.

[bearfacedkiller]

I left out what I actually carry. For the past year my backpacking knives have been a Swick and a SAK. I don't bring serrated edges into the wilderness and I have never needed a very long blade when mountaineering. I keep the SAK in my pack and clip the Swick to the shoulder strap of my pack. Truth is that I only bring the Swick because I am a knife geek. I value the wood saw and scissors on the SAK so it always comes along and the truth is that it is really all you need. It may not be the best rescue knife but I don't use rope to climb so that is not an issue for me. The thing to keep in mind is that while a knife can be pretty light and one knife may only weigh a little more than the next the amount of gear you carry when mountaineering adds up and every ounce really does make a difference. While I love knives I still find that it isn't worth bringing much more than you need.

[Skidoosh]

Probably a serrated edge D-fly. Weight is key in climbing. A knife really isn't used that much. Even better choice would be the knife that combined the lighter with blade, you need to melt edges on nylon.

[GoldenSpydie]

A knife really isn't used that much.

This. What are you going to cut? I've done a fair amount of outdoor stuff, and I find that in most alpine, non-camping situations, the usefulness of this or that gadget is extremely overrated, knives included. For example, I climbed Mount Audubon (13,200) yesterday, and while I carried a blue Delica 4, I never took it out of my pocket except to grab some pictures for the forum. A better question is what are you going to eat, what clothes are you going to wear, what technical gear do you need, etc.

To answer the question, if I were going to climb Everest (I might someday), I would probably take a Dragonfly 2 Salt serrated, but I would probably never open it. You're eating dehydrated food, so forget about a knife for food prep, and if you need to cut yourself free from a rope snag or something like that, you've got worse problems than what knife is in your pocket. If you drop it, regardless of what color it is, it just fell a thousand feet off a glacier, you're not going to bother looking for it.

Just my 2 cents. Of course we need some pics of Spydies mountain climbing. Here's some from Audubon in the Indian Peaks, taken yesterday, on a 12.5 mile out-and-back trek.

The knife:



The view from the summit:

[Dodge]

Wait for the Snap it salt next year. If you can't then Atlantic salt now!

[TomAiello]

The upcoming snap it salt sprint wins by a mile.

I have used my original snap it for climbing for years.

[Brock O Lee]

In the past (before my first Spyderco) I relied on a SAK for hiking, and it was sufficient. Saw and scissors were useful.

These days I am spoilt with Spyderco's one hand opening and pocket clip. I would still take a SAK, but also a light weight FRN model like a Delica/Endura/Native LW/Manix LW. With a bright lanyard, as suggested.

[vlawson]

A knife really isn't used that much.

This. What are you going to cut? I've done a fair amount of outdoor stuff, and I find that in most alpine, non-camping situations, the usefulness of this or that gadget is extremely overrated, knives included. For example, I climbed Mount Audubon (13,200) yesterday, and while I carried a blue Delica 4, I never took it out of my pocket except to grab some pictures for the forum. A better question is what are you going to eat, what clothes are you going to wear, what technical gear do you need, etc.

To answer the question, if I were going to climb Everest (I might someday), I would probably take a Dragonfly 2 Salt serrated, but I would probably never open it. You're eating dehydrated food, so forget about a knife for food prep, and if you need to cut yourself free from a rope snag or something like that, you've got worse problems than what knife is in your pocket. If you drop it, regardless of what color it is, it just fell a thousand feet off a glacier, you're not going to bother looking for it.

Wisdom in this response. ^^

I've been climbing at a fairly high level for the last decade, from sport climbing to trad cragging to hard alpine trad routes in Canada to big walls in Yosemite to giant 8 mile technical ridge traverses in the Sierra Nevada...and I've rarely needed a knife. That said, I've almost always brought one. Whenever I have a rope involved in my climbing day, I'll always bring one. I've been carrying a Ladybug in Spyderedge for years. Light as can be and great insurance when clipped to the harness. Pro tip: I usually wrap it once with some climbing tape to make sure it won't open and cut any of my softgoods when shoved in my pack, or swinging around on my gearloop.

Now, that's not to say that's the best option for you. It IS the lightest option, and I would say it's the best if you are mostly a technical free climber. If you are more of an all arounder, I'd maybe step it up a size, and use a Dragonfly in spyderedge. Still only 1oz (the weight of a wiregate carabiner) and able to be clipped to a harness easy, but a bit better ergos and usefulness, and just easier to use overall. If you are more of a slogger and mountaineer, then I'd up it yet again and so with a Salt 1 lightweight...or a Delica 3 in comboedge. Those are the lightest "full size" Spydies with serrations I believe. If you want bright, then any of these can be the salt versions, which with H1 steel would be superior for use in snow anyway.

You want as little knife as possible, in my opinion.

[vlawson]

double post.

[vlawson]

triple post. sorry. I should go to bed!

[bearfacedkiller]

Good times GS! I climbed Audubon a few years ago and it was a great time! :D