(beautiful knife)
I love it very much and thought I'd post a review, using the Endura for comparison because that's a knife that most of y'all are familiar with.
It's nearly the same length as the Endura, but feels much smaller. This is because it's much lighter; there are no metal liners in the handle. Also the lockbar is nearly an inch shorter and the handle is slimmer. It's less overbuilt than the Endura and feels kind of delicate if you're used to the Endura. I know that the Rescue was built to be used and that the FRN is tough and I haven't ever heard of anyone accidentally snapping it, so with time I'll probably get over the instinct to baby this thing -- but dang, it sure triggers that instinct. I love how lightweight it is though. Anyway, if worst comes to worst and I do manage to snap it, eBay will sell me another one anytime I want (they're about $40) and it'd give me an excuse to buy the cool yellow-handled version.
(demo of the length of the lockbars)
Fit and finish on the Rescue are great. When I got my Endura, I had to take sandpaper to it to make the FRN edges match up, and to keep the metal edges from being uncomfortably sharp around the Spydiehole and the Boye dent. The Rescue has no such issues. Granted, that may be because it's a used knife, and the previous owner could've done something about it, but I doubt it; it doesn't show any signs of having been sandpapered.
The action is much less stiff on the Rescue, probably because it's been used way more, but still plenty strong enough to hold the knife closed in my pocket. The difference is that I can open the Rescue by holding it by the handle and flicking my wrist to get the centrifugal force to pull the blade out, and I can't do that with my Endura. Action on the Rescue is also very smooth, kind of amazing for a knife that's older than I am and has its insides full of grime (couldn't get a photo, but hoo boy it is there). Lockup is perfect, which is also impressive, considering that it does not look like the previous owner was gentle to the knife. There's a very slight wobble if I really try to rock the blade, but it's not enough to bother me, and doesn't hinder using the knife. The Endura is better in this area and has zero wobble and a lockup like a bear trap.
Plastic clip on the Rescue is more comfortable in hand than the metal of the Endura. The entire knife is more rounded and comfortable than the Endura, and the ergos work better with my hands. I have very small hands, and the grooves of the Endura handle don't quite line up the way I'd like, although it's not uncomfortable to hold by any stretch of the imagination. Unfortunately, this plastic clip does nothing to actually hold the knife where you put it. If you clip it to your pocket and then hang upside down, the knife will fall out. Also the clip flexes easily under pressure, and would probably snap off if you yanked on it too hard at the wrong angle. This was back in the early days of Spyderco, when putting a clip on a knife was still a new and revolutionary concept, and they were still kind of refining the implementation I guess. Fun fact for anyone who doesn't know: Spyderco was actually the company who first came up with the idea of putting a clip on a knife, and their patent for the idea hadn't expired yet when this knife was manufactured. That's why it says this on it:
(if the photo's too hard to read on your screen, the clip says "US AND FOREIGN PATENTS")
I am super happy with my purchase of this cool old knife. 10/10 would buy again. Now all I gotta do is find someone local who I trust to sharpen the serrations...
