An 'Astute' assessment

[vivi]

same experience I've had with 8Cr. It's a lot like PE H1 in that while edge retention isn't amazing, it's trivial to bring back to full sharpness. I love the sharpening response from it, it feels harder than other companies 8Cr and less prone to huge burs.

[ladybug93]

same experience I've had with 8Cr. It's a lot like PE H1 in that while edge retention isn't amazing, it's trivial to bring back to full sharpness. I love the sharpening response from it, it feels harder than other companies 8Cr and less prone to huge burs.

i meant to mention that in my post... i don't know what spyderco is doing with their 8cr13mov, but it's not the same experience i've had with other manufacturers' 8cr13mov. this is my second spyderco in this steel and both have outperformed other knives said to be the same steel from other companies.

[Manifestgtr]

I have a resilience and I feel like a lot of these bullet points apply to it…I truly don’t mind 8cr in this series though. I don’t mind sharpening and to be honest, I don’t think an s35vn version would even interest me…I would, however, be into BD1N just because I love that steel and whole-heartedly endorse it as a quality budget choice.

The other thing is that I like having my resilience as a large beater spyderco. I don’t want all of my spydercos to be perfectly centered, crucarta masterpieces that would crush me if they were lost. The astute/resilience/etc are models that I could drag through the mud, use hard then throw at a hoarde of rabid, charging squirrels and not think twice.

[vivi]

same experience I've had with 8Cr. It's a lot like PE H1 in that while edge retention isn't amazing, it's trivial to bring back to full sharpness. I love the sharpening response from it, it feels harder than other companies 8Cr and less prone to huge burs.

i meant to mention that in my post... i don't know what spyderco is doing with their 8cr13mov, but it's not the same experience i've had with other manufacturers' 8cr13mov. this is my second spyderco in this steel and both have outperformed other knives said to be the same steel from other companies.

Yep, same ingredients can go into the steel, but the difference in heat treat can bring out different performance. It's one of the things I trust Spyderco to get right, consistently. Their CPMD2 blew other companies D2 out of the water for me across the board too - though some of that was surely due to comparing the CPM version to regular D2.

I have a resilience and I feel like a lot of these bullet points apply to it…I truly don’t mind 8cr in this series though. I don’t mind sharpening and to be honest, I don’t think an s35vn version would even interest me…I would, however, be into BD1N just because I love that steel and whole-heartedly endorse it as a quality budget choice.

The other thing is that I like having my resilience as a large beater spyderco. I don’t want all of my spydercos to be perfectly centered, crucarta masterpieces that would crush me if they were lost. The astute/resilience/etc are models that I could drag through the mud, use hard then throw at a hoarde of rabid, charging squirrels and not think twice.

Yep, it's nice having knives that can be used hard and put away dirty without a second thought. One can pick up a Resilience or Astute for $50 or $60, and if it gets lost or broken or worn out, it's trivial to replace. I've got some really cool Spydercos like a sprint C95 and a pakkawood / k390 Police I'd never consider bringing to work and getting dirty ,but I don't think twice about carrying my LW Resilience anywhere.

[olywa]

Could be worse. Could be rabid Zombie squirrels...

[eventhorizon]

Spyderco is just treating their 8Cr13MoV right:

[Meadowlark]

Think it's time to resurrect the astute xl idea.

This knife is awesome, would anyone else like it about 1"+ longer with a backlock, deep carry clip and upgraded steel?

Edit: I'm thinking 1.5-2" longer blade. This handle to edge ratio is just awesome

[capt.carl]

It’s an amazing design and the most under appreciated Spyderco of all time. I want it to stay the same, just give it some m4 like the tenacious, it deserves better steel and more recognition

[zhyla]

would anyone else like it about 1"+ longer with a backlock, deep carry clip and upgraded steel?

No, no, no, and no.

The Astute is the only compact knife in the value line. It’s $60. That’s a sweet spot for Spyderco to have a great little EDC knife that’s small but has some blade length. Making it bigger, heavier, and more expensive is the wrong direction. Just buy a Delica.

Jazzing up the scales a little might get it more attention. That’s about all I would do to this design. I’m not surprised it hasn’t caught on with Spyderco fans as it doesn’t look like much and most of us probably haven’t bought a value line knife besides maybe a Tenacious. People are missing out.

[Meadowlark]

Nah, I've got a delica. I like this knife specifically for its lack of a ricasso and/or choil.

Regardless, the idea of a larger version doesn't require production to cease of the original version, anyway.

The only thing I'm not too keen on with this model is the linerlock.. are backlocks more expensive to produce?

Also, I've noticed all these "handle forward" choiless designs tend to be liner locks. Is it possible to make these as backlocks?

If a large version of this knife, say 4-4.5" blade with a backlock and deep wire clip (vg-10/s-30v) were to come out I may have the ideal spyderco..

[zhyla]

Regardless, the idea of a larger version doesn't require production to cease of the original version, anyway.

It will require something to cease production. They only can make so many knives.

The only thing I'm not too keen on with this model is the linerlock.. are backlocks more expensive to produce?

Of course. Ever notice nearly every budget knife is a liner lock? Backlocks have more parts and if you want good action they require much more precision and design.