Caribbean Salt serrated leaf blade first impressions

[Pete1977]

I recently purchased a Caribbean Salt with a serrated leaf blade. I was on the fence with this knife because the serration pattern is, in my experience, the optimal pattern for general cutting chores vs deep, pointed serrations. On the other hand, the handle was unappealing to me with the bumblebee stripe pattern.

The knife arrived yesterday and i am impressed. This is the first >$100 knife I have bought in several years. The blade is the perfect size with perfect serrations. Fit and finish is excellent. The handle, ugly scales notwithstanding, is extremely ergonomic and feels secure even with wet hands.

I like that there is no choil and minimal ricasso, allowing the cutting edge to reach nearly all the way to the handle. I have found that integral choils hang up when cutting rope and detract from cutting edge length.

The minimal jimping on the thumb ramp is the perfect amount on a knife.

I am curious to see how LC200N compares to other mid range steels Spyderco has used in their working knives.

I am indifferent to the compression lock but don’t mind it although i prefer back locks. The open construction of the knife appears to lend to easy cleaning and the nested, skeletal liners reduce weight. While the knife is slightly larger than my tenacious it is noticeably lighter.

The lock is secure and the action is smooth. I do miss the old style chamfered opening holes but the hole on this knife allows for a positive opening every time.

I have carried and used my PE tenacious for 15 months and will probably use the Caribbean as my emergency knife when in the patrol boat.

I chose the leaf blade over the sheepsfoot merely for aesthetic reasons and the fact that i carried a sheepsfoot for over a decade (Atlantic Salt, Byrd Rescue, Byrd Rescue 2).

For its light weight and open construction the Caribbean Salt appears to be a sturdy knife with no blade play, excellent serrations and an extremely ugly but very ergonomic grip.
I look forward to putting it into service soon.

[Drubieg]

I’m glad you are liking this knife! I felt almost exact same as you before I purchased this knife, and when it came… it was so ugly that I tried to sell it haha! But EvilDs Caribbean inspired me to dye the handles black. Then I also demeled the handle to a shape I liked better and now I love it! I’ll post some pics tomorrow and maybe it will inspire you so you can love the Caribbean even more. Much love

[Wartstein]

I recently purchased a Caribbean Salt with a serrated leaf blade
....
.... While the knife is slightly larger than my tenacious it is noticeably lighter.
...

Congrats!

The Caribbean has so much going for it from all I see, and yes, if it had a backlock (or linerlock) I´d certainly have one too already (like you in SE of course).

One thing though: By Spydercos specs it has the excact samew weight as the G10 Tenacious (4.2 oz), and a n bit more than the FRN Tenacious (3.8 oz) - could it be that the Caribben just feels lighter, due to it larger size but still same weight than/as a Tenaious?

/ And I hope you´ll share how you like the cutting performance of those serrations! They must work great, from all I read!

[elena86]

I love mine and I am happy with the comp lock. Back lock would have been a no go for me. It drives me crazy when they develop lock rock. The lack of a choil or ricasso is also a huge win for me. That being said this is probably the folder I would bring with me in a trip around the world. I am tempted to purchase a SE sheepsfoot one and to grind the spine to my liking, EvilD’s style or something similar.

[Pete1977]

I recently purchased a Caribbean Salt with a serrated leaf blade
....
.... While the knife is slightly larger than my tenacious it is noticeably lighter.
...

Congrats!

The Caribbean has so much going for it from all I see, and yes, if it had a backlock (or linerlock) I´d certainly have one too already (like you in SE of course).

One thing though: By Spydercos specs it has the excact samew weight as the G10 Tenacious (4.2 oz), and a n bit more than the FRN Tenacious (3.8 oz) - could it be that the Caribben just feels lighter, due to it larger size but still same weight than/as a Tenaious?

/ And I hope you´ll share how you like the cutting performance of those serrations! They must work great, from all I read!

Wartstein- that is highly likely if specs show that they are the same weight. The Caribbean spreads it out much better!

The serration pattern is almost identical to the pattern used on early Byrd knives and the style I prefer most, shallow scallops with less defined points, so even having not cut anything yet, i have a lot of experience with this style and have found it far more suited than the deeper, pointier toothed serrations used on most of the Seki City knives such as the Salt series, Endura/Delica or Police.

The comp lock does take some getting used to after having used a liner lock or back lock for the last dozen years or so.

The handle is probably the ugliest color scheme I have ever seen and the reasoning behind it is a mystery but man, does it offer a positive grip. The 3-D machined G-10 feels almost like micarta. Aesthetics aside, the simplicity of the handle, lack of random jimping everywhere, and the texture of the G-10 make this an ergonomic, positive grip on an excellent knife with flowing lines- a fine departure from finger choils that appear to dominate most of the modern high-end spyderco designs.

I am a Spyderco traditionalist and prefer the style of their earlier knives like the Endura and Police. While they are innovative in designs and materials and function over form, the expensive modern models have not appealed to me and I tend to gravitate towards the earlier designs.

I was an early proponent of H-1 when the Salt series was introduced and have used both plain and serrated Salt knives working at sea. I did not mind the edge retention of H-1 and found it close to AUS-8 (less toothy at lower grit sharpenings) or Buck’s 420HC. I have always preferred softer tougher steels that lent themselves to easily resharpenings in the field vs super-steels that retain their edged exponentially longer yet often need a lot of elbow grease to resharpen or repair, especially in their serrated models.

I began to lean towards PE models as well after finding their performance at lower grits on par with serrated blades, with the added benefit of not snagging in fibrous media and am happy to see less aggressive serrations on higher end models again.

Now that I am in the law enforcement field I can comfortably invest more in a spyderco knife than when I was commercial fishing. There was always the risk of breaking or losing a knife (i lost my original byrd rescue that Sal sent me overboard after 2 years) and that kept me from investing more than $40-$50 in a knife.

[Pete1977]

I love mine and I am happy with the comp lock. Back lock would have been a no go for me. It drives me crazy when they develop lock rock. The lack of a choil or ricasso is also a huge win for me. That being said this is probably the folder I would bring with me in a trip around the world. I am tempted to purchase a SE sheepsfoot one and to grind the spine to my liking, EvilD’s style or something similar.

I considered the sheepsfoot but would also have ground the spine into more of a wharncliffe. The shape of the Caribbean sheepsfoot, like that of the Autonomy seem unnatural after using Spyderco’s earlier sheepsfoot blades for so long. The long straight edge and blade to handle angle on an Atlantic Salt or Rescue create almost a hawkbill effect, hooking the media into the cut.

I was never a fan of the Assist with its blunt tip or the D’Allara with its bulky grip and sloped spine.

The leaf blade does offer more versatility than the sheepsfoot for day to day use (after having used rescue-style knives for over a decade) and the serrated Caribbean with its gently scalloped edge offers equal cutting ability as a plain edge over the aggressive toothy serrations coming out of Seki with the added benefit of easy touch-ups on the sharpmaker when needed.

I have never used LC200N and have no benchmark steel to compare it to but my cutting chores are easily handled these days by a plain edged Tenacious sharpened to a low-grit toothiness so I don’t foresee issues with edge retention in the Caribbean.

I hope to be able to include more mid to high end Spyderco’s into my rotation but I have become comfortable with particular features over the last 15 years or so and also more frugal. If the knife has an opening hole and serrations that work for me, I don’t need much else.

I am happy to have found a fully serrated knife again after 5 years of carrying and using PE, as I am a full SE guy, one of the reasons I prefer Spyderco over any other brand of folding knife (the other being the round opening hole.)

[Evil D]

Don't let the bumblebee color ruin it for ya, you can always dye it.

Titanium


Sapphire Blue


Red



When you get bored with it just use RIT dye remover and it'll strip the dye almost back to the factory yellow, or light enough to dye over and you can pick a different color.

[Brock O Lee]

Rit Dyemore Graphite. It is still not going to win any beauty contest, but it is a step in the right direction...

[Matus]

Caribbean ist definitely one of the best Spyderco knives I have used. I used to have a PE, today I would probably get the SE version. I only found the handle a bit too slippery - wait let me explain - in the case when I would pinch it jut between the thumb and the index finger while unlocking the compression lock as those stripes are very smooth on the surface (and I often have dry hands what obviously is the part of the problem). The quality and fit & finish was next to none. I may get it again at some point (as usually, a matter of priorities and budget)

[elena86]

Don't let the bumblebee color ruin it for ya, you can always dye it.

Sapphire Blue
[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/518 ... 989_4k.jpg[/img


When you get bored with it just use RIT dye remover and it'll strip the dye almost back to the factory yellow, or light enough to dye over and you can pick a different color.

That sapphire blue is super cool ! Do one for me

[Evil D]

Don't let the bumblebee color ruin it for ya, you can always dye it.

Sapphire Blue
[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/518 ... 989_4k.jpg[/img


When you get bored with it just use RIT dye remover and it'll strip the dye almost back to the factory yellow, or light enough to dye over and you can pick a different color.

That sapphire blue is super cool ! Do one for me

Mail it to me

[Drubieg]

I went a little further to grind down the guards on either end of the scales

[JoviAl]

Don't let the bumblebee color ruin it for ya, you can always dye it.

Titanium


Sapphire Blue


Red



When you get bored with it just use RIT dye remover and it'll strip the dye almost back to the factory yellow, or light enough to dye over and you can pick a different color.

You are a man of many talents David - these all look great. Did you plop the whole knife in the dye or strip the scales off to do the job?

[JoviAl]

I find my Caribbean Salt SE with leaf blade to be my least favourite yet most used work knife it’s like a honey badger - kind of hard on the eye and not especially remarkable in its size or weight… and yet it turns a large thing into small things with extreme prejudice.

If it was a dog it would be a Rottweiler.

If it was a biscuit it would be a HobNob.

If it was a car it would be a Humvee.

If it was a film character it would be a T101.

It is a fantastic knife in my opinion

[Evil D]

Don't let the bumblebee color ruin it for ya, you can always dye it.

Titanium


Sapphire Blue


Red



When you get bored with it just use RIT dye remover and it'll strip the dye almost back to the factory yellow, or light enough to dye over and you can pick a different color.

You are a man of many talents David - these all look great. Did you plop the whole knife in the dye or strip the scales off to do the job?

I like to take them apart, scrub the scales with dish soap and dye them by themselves. I use grease in my pivots and it tends to block the absorption of dye if I don't clean them first.

[JoviAl]

Don't let the bumblebee color ruin it for ya, you can always dye it.

Titanium


Sapphire Blue


Red



When you get bored with it just use RIT dye remover and it'll strip the dye almost back to the factory yellow, or light enough to dye over and you can pick a different color.

You are a man of many talents David - these all look great. Did you plop the whole knife in the dye or strip the scales off to do the job?

I like to take them apart, scrub the scales with dish soap and dye them by themselves. I use grease in my pivots and it tends to block the absorption of dye if I don't clean them first.

top tips. I’ve found a local stockist of Rit Dye and I’m itching to have a go.