Spyderco Junction

[Tucson Tom]

I just ordered one of these. I can thank Bloke for this, since he mentioned the Bradley Bowie in another thread and that got me doing some searches and led me to this. This is a fixed blade knife in PSF27 steel that many of you may be familiar with.

It has also recently gone onto the Spyderco discontinued list, but many sellers still have stock that they are now discounting. Mine is shipping from Utah. I have to say that to my taste, a knife going on the discontinued list can be a strong reason to take a good look at it. By no means does this mean the knife is a dud, it just means (as I understand it) that it didn't sell well and doesn't merit continued production. I recognize that I often am not the typical knife buyer, and I think this is true of many on this forum. So something that didn't appeal to the common rabble, may be right up my alley -- with all due respect to the common rabble. And grabbing something when it goes on the discontinue list, means that you get it at a pleasing discount. A nice bit of serendipity.

The junction is sort of a little brother to the Bradley Bowie. A 4 inch rather than a 5 inch blade. Thinner blade stock. As I understand what I have read, it is essentially a production version of a Bradley knife he calls "the Packer", which has a lightweight emphasis. Just right for me since I don't intend to use the knife as an axe or crowbar. And I missed the PSF27 mule. PSF27 is "spray formed" D2 -- and I like all that I am reading about that. I have had an idea of getting a fixed blade in D2 for some time, this should fill that "need" nicely.

[vivi]

These have been tempting me as well. Curious to hear your thoughts when you get yours.

[murphjd25]

Mine is in the way too. I’m excited to see how it compares to the Bradley Bowie, and it will be nice to have the pair :)

[Tucson Tom]

These have been tempting me as well. Curious to hear your thoughts when you get yours.

At 4.1 ounces, it is close to half the weight of the Bradley Bowie at 7.8. Compare that to 3.7 ounces (from the Catalog) for the Native 5 and this becomes a real candidate to replace the Native 5 as my backpacking knife. Well, they claim 5.8 with the sheath, so there is the rest of the story. We will see how this all works out on my own scales with the sheath included once it arrives. But I am surprised now looking up the weights. When I am backpacking, my Native is usually on a lanyard attached to my pack somewhere or in a pack pocket. I don't anticipate any need for quick access like I would in an urban environment. I'll have to rethink all of this with the Junction and decide just where it would go on my setup.

Anyway, I will let you know when it arrives. First impressions first of all, then hopefully later some comments when I have some road time.

It is tempting to compare it to a mule. It has a 4 inch blade with some belly, as compared to the fairly straight 3.3 inch blade of the mule, making them quite different. My mule (PD1) with halpern scales weighs 4.75 ounces. In the boltaron sheath it is 6.7 ounces. Being an ultralight backpacker, I try to keep an eye on those ounces.

[vivi]

I'm in the same boat. When I go camping I usually sleep on an eno sub 6 :)

The original reason I picked up the Ark was for UL camping / bicycle tours.

[Tucson Tom]

When I go camping I usually sleep on an eno sub 6 :)

That's funny. I often hammock backpack (and hammock camp). Less so in really cold weather because I sleep cold in all situations and it is even more tricky to stay warm in a hammock -- unless you really have things dialed. I used to spend time on Hammock Forums, which has a very high proportion of really nice people. Much like this forum.

I have taken to ground sleeping again. I had an opportunity to pick up a really light one man Nemo tent (the Hornet) for a great price and am letting the pendulum swing back in that direction again. Good to have some versatility. I have by no means abandoned hammock camping, but it was nice this summer to be in a tent with mesh among swarms of mosquitos in the Kings Canyon Park backcountry! My hammock is home-made and I have yet to rig up a mosquito net for it.

The box just arrived with my Police 4 -- but that is a topic for another thread.

[Bloke]

Junction hurtling towards me as I type. :rolleyes:

Ah, hahaha! Yeah, good on yah Tom ... couldn’t help yourself ay, just had to start a thread on the Junction. :p

[vivi]

When I go camping I usually sleep on an eno sub 6 :)

That's funny. I often hammock backpack (and hammock camp). Less so in really cold weather because I sleep cold in all situations and it is even more tricky to stay warm in a hammock -- unless you really have things dialed. I used to spend time on Hammock Forums, which has a very high proportion of really nice people. Much like this forum.

I have taken to ground sleeping again. I had an opportunity to pick up a really light one man Nemo tent (the Hornet) for a great price and am letting the pendulum swing back in that direction again. Good to have some versatility. I have by no means abandoned hammock camping, but it was nice this summer to be in a tent with mesh among swarms of mosquitos in the Kings Canyon Park backcountry! My hammock is home-made and I have yet to rig up a mosquito net for it.

The box just arrived with my Police 4 -- but that is a topic for another thread.

Nice! Let me know what you think of the P4!

I have a eureka solitaire I use for when I feel like sleeping on the ground, but my hammocks definitely see more use these days. I usually reserve tents for when my lady wants to go camping :)

[murphjd25]

The Junction is great! Fit and finish is stellar! Went straight onto my hip. I personally believe 4 inches is the best size for a edc fixed blade. So glad I picked this up on sale! And very happy to have my Gayle fixed blade pair complete!

[Big50]

The Junction is great! Fit and finish is stellar! Went straight onto my hip. I personally believe 4 inches is the best size for a edc fixed blade. So glad I picked this up on sale! And very happy to have my Gayle fixed blade pair complete!

The handle looks more compact than I anticipated. Can you fit 4 fingers comfortably on the scales, or do you need to move your index finger forward to the ricasso/choil for a comfortable grip?

Thx!

[murphjd25]

The Junction is great! Fit and finish is stellar! Went straight onto my hip. I personally believe 4 inches is the best size for a edc fixed blade. So glad I picked this up on sale! And very happy to have my Gayle fixed blade pair complete!

The handle looks more compact than I anticipated. Can you fit 4 fingers comfortably on the scales, or do you need to move your index finger forward to the ricasso/choil for a comfortable grip?

Thx!

I wear XL gloves, and I can get a four finger grip on it without using the choil. That was my worry too, and now I am very happy that I picked it up! It fits in my hand nicely.

[spyderwolf]

I want one too!Thanks for posting this!

[Tucson Tom]

The package arrived. It is a surprising knife.

It is amazingly sharp. Scary. I always wonder if a factory sharp knife really tells about the steel or the care taken on that particular knife. I think though that it says things about the steel, assuming that the sharpening is robotic (with Spyderco anyway) and quite consistent. But I could be nuts about this. Regardless though, amazingly sharp.

And the knife is beautiful. Another immaculate piece of work from Taichung. Really a beautiful well made knife. Perfect execution.

The handle though surprised me. It is thin and flat. Really thin. Very smooth. I can see perhaps why this knife didn't make it. People would pick it up and say, "um, I don't think so", and there goes a sale. Gives me ideas about what I could do on some mule scales I intend to make. Actually it kind of emboldens me, and I think: "Heck, I could easily make scales just like this". Actually my thoughts go a step farther and I think, "I could do this one better". But you have to admire simplicity.

An interesting knife to compare to a mule team with halpern titanium made scales, and I have the two sitting side by side on my desk right now.

The sheath is tight, really holds onto the knife, which I think is good. This may vary from unit to unit though.

So there are some quick first impressions.

[Bloke]

Junction, waiting to be picked up from local Post Office. :)

Good grab at great prices! What do you think so far? Been carrying mine everyday for three weeks now.

Hey Josh, I hope you don’t mind I thought we’d swing over here.

It’s not love at first sight, but I like the knife and have a feeling it will grow on me.

It didn’t come overly sharp but I cut up the postal box it came in, put a point on a small, dry Ghost Gum (hardwood) branch and cut some notches in it with a little lateral pressure to no ill affect. I did manage to put the most minuscule dent in the edge however when I banged it against my Sprig’s spine. Ah, hahaha! :rolleyes:

Anyhow, after all that I took exactly three (3) ultra light passes each side on SharpMaker medium stones at 40deg, stropped on my office worker’s palm and it feels like it’s sharper now than when we started, so I think I’m going to like PSF 27. :)

[mb1]

...stropped on my office worker’s palm...

:D Nice

[TomAiello]

I just ordered one from Massdrop for $120. Can't wait to get it. :)

[murphjd25]

Junction, waiting to be picked up from local Post Office. :)

Good grab at great prices! What do you think so far? Been carrying mine everyday for three weeks now.

Hey Josh, I hope you don’t mind I thought we’d swing over here.

It’s not love at first sight, but I like the knife and have a feeling it will grow on me.

It didn’t come overly sharp but I cut up the postal box it came in, put a point on a small, dry Ghost Gum (hardwood) branch and cut some notches in it with a little lateral pressure to no ill affect. I did manage to put the most minuscule dent in the edge however when I banged it against my Sprig’s spine. Ah, hahaha! :rolleyes:

Anyhow, after all that I took exactly three (3) ultra light passes each side on SharpMaker medium stones at 40deg, stropped on my office worker’s palm and it feels like it’s sharper now than when we started, so I think I’m going to like PSF 27. :)

Nice Bloke! I think it will grow on you, it sure has grown on me.

[SubarcticStan]

Greetings from Finland, this is my first posting on this forum!

I am not new to Spydies, I got quite familiar with them in the previous decade. However for a while now I have not been buying any new ones.

I saw a nice deal at knifecenter.com for the Spyderco Junction, I was interested in the steel, and then had to buy one. I don't NEED new knives, I have too many already, but I could not resist the urge because PSF-27 is something I have never ran into before. FedEx delivered the knife to Finland pretty fast, no problem there.

I really, really like the Junction. It is very much like a scandi knife, but the grind is not scandi. The flat grind is good for processing food. It is a very nice general purpose knife.

I like the sheath very much. Someone somewhere said about these sheaths that it is "too tight", but I think it is just right. You can never please everybody. With this sheath, you can be quite sure that the knife won't fall out. No rattle, no shake.

I like everything about this knife. The steel, the size, the sheath, it is a very nice design overall. Like I said - a really nice knife for general purpose use, not specialized for any particular thing but a nice balance.

[Sumdumguy]

I have still not actually used it. But, I knew when I saw it that I wanted it. It looked like a perfect hiking knife.
At the price they were asking, easy decision.

[GarageBoy]

I know, old thread - but anyone have a spine shot? How thin are the handles and what alternatives are there in the current line up?