LC200N / Caribbean SE torture test gauntlet of death

[Evil D]

Well just a week or so over two months and after this thread I've called it quits just in case viewtopic.php?f=2&t=88291


Of course, that thread looks like a much more harsh environment than spending a couple months tied to a tree with various crap on the thread, my goal here was never to (intentionally) destroy this knife so we'll see how it fared and move on.

All in all, it did spot rust in a few places, but all of it rubbed off with some Flitz. The liners and pillars saw the most rust, no doubt related to galvanic corrosion (my other Caribbean rusted in the same places and that knife has never been left outside like this one). I can't see any spots on the blade itself where pitting occurred, but the liners have some spots that wouldn't buff off, I blame some of that on the scratchy surface of the liners.



In no particular order....












The blade did clean up quite nice though, and the edge is still hair splitting sharp so no edge degradation from corrosion.

[Salty Dog]

This threads awesome, thanks to all involved, great reading, thanks Evil!.

I was looking at the new green pacific salt 2 in serrated, as im looking for a SE fishing and all purpose knife, the PS2 $199 over here.

Then I saw a SE Caribbean for $250 and after seeing my brothers plain edge Caribbean i pulled the trigger on it.
These knives are usually well over 300 here in Australia so im very happy with the price, only $50 more for a much better built knife, plus I love compression locks.
This thread has made me extra happy about my choice, thanks Evil and all involved.

Any spearos here? anybody tucked these up a wetsuit leg or arm?

[Evil D]

I've been testing this convex/compound edge for a while now and was cleaning out the garage some this morning and thought I'd cut up some boxes and a piece of carpet I found.

Without a doubt the knife slices better now. There is still some steering but I only noticed it when making a cut straight into the box at 90 degrees from the panel, when the blade is really wedging into it. This is generally a poor way to cut a box anyway unless you need a clean straight cut for some reason, it's always easier to cut at a 45 degree angle to the panel to allow the board to separate around the blade.



As always it started out fully sharp, this is with a full grit progression from CBN through ultra fine:



Most of what I cut was double wall:






I started out trying to cut the carpet the same way I cut the boxes but that was a PITA so I just sliced it up. This was after cutting up all the boxes and the edge was well into what I consider to be dull, but it would still slice just fine since the edge is so thin. The edge would no longer shave or slice phone book paper.



As always there wasn't any edge damage whatsoever, no rolling or chipping.

There's also a short video that I'll post once it's finished uploading.

[Woodpuppy]

Harsh treatment there man! I cut up some of my grandma’s old carpet to 4’ wide strips to roll, tie, and stack by the road for pickup, and I didn’t have a razor knife with me. What I had was my 154cm Benchmade 525; the knife barely made it through the job. The edge was flat toast afterwards. I mean absolutely done. And I didn’t have a stone with me on that trip.

Several things in this story have been remedied since then :D

[Evil D]

Longest video upload of all time :rolleyes:

https://youtu.be/R4i-d4HrV0g&t=4s

[MFlovejp]

Dang that is a SICK reprofile on that serrated edge.

[Woodpuppy]

Longest video upload of all time :rolleyes:

https://youtu.be/R4i-d4HrV0g&t=4s

I was impressed when I thought it was single layer cardboard, then you showed it’s double thick! :eek:

[Evil D]

Longest video upload of all time :rolleyes:

https://youtu.be/R4i-d4HrV0g&t=4s

I was impressed when I thought it was single layer cardboard, then you showed it’s double thick! :eek:

It was zipping right through it. The big thing to take away was that there want any snagging or ripping, which is a very common complaint with SE and an issue I've had myself, which is a direct result of rounding off the points. It's a VERY aggressive cutter.

[The Meat man]

Cool to see this thread resurface. :cool: As far as I'm concerned, my Caribbean is THE serrated cutting tool of choice.

[cabfrank]

I noticed how smoothly it was cutting, and how easily. Impressive.

[tonijedi]

Impressive indeed.
My H1 Salt 2 is quite thick behind the edge... In comparison with my Pac Salt 1 it is like a brick.
It sharpens on the 30 degrees slot of the sharpmaker, but I'll try to reprofile the shoulder with a lower angle. Hope one day I can achieve this sliciness

[JD Spydo]

I have an item of interest to consider. And please I'm in no way trying to derail this most interesting thread but I do have something to consider comparing this Caribbean model.

But this thread make me want to create a list of Spyderco's top 5 or top 10 most endurable folders. OH I realize this Caribbean has had countless testimonies to it's rigid construction and ability to take about anything you can put it through.

But I am wondering how it would compare to the Stainless RESCUE model or the Titanium ATR just to name a couple. Because if the Caribbean is tougher than those two I most definitely want one.

[Evil D]

I have an item of interest to consider. And please I'm in no way trying to derail this most interesting thread but I do have something to consider comparing this Caribbean model.

But this thread make me want to create a list of Spyderco's top 5 or top 10 most endurable folders. OH I realize this Caribbean has had countless testimonies to it's rigid construction and ability to take about anything you can put it through.

But I am wondering how it would compare to the Stainless RESCUE model or the Titanium ATR just to name a couple. Because if the Caribbean is tougher than those two I most definitely want one.

I'd bet they're in a similar ballpark if for no other reason than being made by the same company and held to the same stress testing. There's probably more difference between the Rescue and Caribbean due to lock differences, and I'd put my money on screw construction over stainless steel pinned construction, it seems easier to rip out those pins than it would be to break a screw but I also bet by that point you're way into stupid knife trick territory and should have chose a fixed blade. The ATR I would expect to be similar, but they're always trying to improve their designs and the lock/pivot and overall construction of the Caribbean is pretty much the latest version of the compression lock besides the Shaman so it *should* be better. I'm not sure how the pivots compare, if the ATR uses a bushing pivot like the Military or a D bolt style pin, there may be some differences there but again I think once you find them you've broke the knife. I think even in daily hard use they're both plenty strong enough.

[cabfrank]

Just out of curiosity, because I know you haven't exactly babied this knife, has it developed any blade play at all?

[Evil D]

Just out of curiosity, because I know you haven't exactly babied this knife, has it developed any blade play at all?

I don't loctite the pivot since I take it apart so often, so it will loosen up now and then but nothing I can't tweak and get rid of. The lock also hadn't traveled any, but I also have never chopped with it or spine whacked.

[sengel]

That edge damage is from a single cut?

I guess the lesson here is don't use your pocket knife for something that calls for tin snips/wire cutters

[cabfrank]

Really good. Thanks.

[Evil D]

Really good. Thanks.

I really think it's the most well rounded knife Spyderco makes. You can make the argument that the Pacific is cheaper, but the Caribbean is the most edge in the smallest handle available (Military edge length in a Para 2 sized handle), it's 99.9% rust proof so virtually maintenance free, LC200N has proven to be tough and hold an edge and is very easy to sharpen. I really don't see why Spyderco hasn't expanded the handle color options, it's really their best EDC knife IMO. I bet if they just released a plain black peel ply G10 version it would sell well, or if nothing else do a full blacked out DLC version like other Salt models.

[Woodpuppy]

Between this and the pics of the modded wharncliffe versions, I like what I see. I want to be able to grind the nub off the bottom so it’s shaped more like a native when closed. But the liners are nested, yes?

[The Meat man]

Between this and the pics of the modded wharncliffe versions, I like what I see. I want to be able to grind the nub off the bottom so it’s shaped more like a native when closed. But the liners are nested, yes?

Yup.