FRN is our Friend {;-)

[Gary W Graley]

New Graham Knives came through with shining stars, as the box arrived today :)

Here are some shots taken this afternoon, VERY nice knife and agree with
all the comments I've read so far.
The edge is a little thick, but not overly so, still slices extremely well !
So colour me keen







shot of the edge, you can see a bit how thick it is from the flats of the bevels



very nice contour to the grip/guard area, some knives have TOO gradual a grip
and you find yourself too far back on the handle, this is about as good as it gets!





And a close up of the texture that is put into the handles, very grippy



I will probably get the Carbon Fiber one but it will certainly have to wait, takes
a while for that money tree to blossom, plus I need to be home when it does
as people driving by just like to help themselves :)

G2

[smikesmith3]

Very nice...We must have had the same excited reactions because my Native BB and Delica came in today as well. Here's to New Knife Saturdays!

[StangBang]

Congrats!! That thing looks great! nice pics! Thanks for sharing!

[Gary W Graley]

Thanks guys, a few more points about this knife;

when closed, you have a smooth contour around the entire knife
nothing that sticks out against you, nice touch and elegant to look at
but then Spyderco and crew tend to design a lot of their knives in this manner!

The edge, I love the fact that they ran the edge bevels all the way up and
did not put in a small cutout before it starts, I really hate it when a blade has
that, the notch tends to get caught in the material as you go to cut, this blade
you can go to work and never a worry about getting it hung up on that :)

The 4 way clip mounting, very considerate of them to do so, I like it with tip up
so I can use the lanyard hole to it's fullest potential which is another nice feature
they made the clip so the lanyard hole is still accessible when it's mounted there.

The Spydy hole verses a thumbstud, several good things regarding that, ease of
opening, even with gloves on, depending on the size of course. And also when
sharpening, a thumbstud can be in the way of sharpening stones, the hole elminates
that problem entirely.

The Boye Detent midlock, I like the fact that they do give written credit for that as they
could probably just pay what ever royalties that are associated with it's use and not make
mention, but they do.

Plus the lock back itself, pretty secure in it's locking mech, ease of closing as well, always
liked the mid lock.

and last, at least for now, the addition of steel liners inside for a frame, with lightening holes
but you have a bit more than just FRN for it's makeup, which provides a little stronger overall
frame system.

Very nice job! Quite pleased with this purchase!

G2

[Fred Sanford]

Great pics. A friend just gifted me a fully serrated one. I love it. I'll have to do some posting about it soon here.

The more I use FRN the more it becomes my favorite handle material. I also love the Stretch.

[dc50]

Thanks a bunch Gary! I posted the second pic on my desk top.
This is my most awaited Spydie this year.
Our dealer wont have them in until the end of the month counting the days..

[Gary W Graley]

Thanks, if you'd like the larger version let me know and I could email it to you.
G2

[Gary W Graley]

And one final thing I noticed about the build of these folders
a minor thing but it was a nice touch, the screws used to fasten
them together, Spyderco has the allen heads on the back side
if you are right handed, they will be facing towards your palm
along with the clip.

Everytime I got a Sebenza I would switch the screws around so
the smooth sides would be on the side you see when holding the
knife, just makes for a nicer overall look to the knife, kudos again to Spyderco
for this extra little bit :)

G2

[firebert]

the stretch II looks so nice, I cannot wait to get one this winter.

[Gary W Graley]

It is all that and a bag of chips to be sure! :)

The one trouble is, the ZDP FRN will be out soon, woe to me!
G2

[Mr Blonde]

Thanks for the mini review and the excellent pictures, as usual. I'm a big fan of the CF Stretch, so I'm sure I'll end up with the FRN version(s) sooner or later.

Wouter

[THG]

Yes, FRN is our friend :D

[Halfneck]

Great pics Gary!

I want a FRN Stretch, but I have to hold off till after August 29th. My birthday is then & the FRN Stretch was 1 of 3 Spyderco knives (Caly 3 & Orange Wharncliffe Urban are the other 2) I put on the list.

[Gary W Graley]

Thanks Wouter and THG, and Halfneck, that'll be a nice b'day present for you!
I'm saving my pennies I think for the Carbon Fiber one now, just to mix it up
that'll take a while to save up for though!
G2

[The Deacon]

Excellent photos Gary, and I agree, FRN is great stuff. Have to admit though that I have a soft spot for the bi-directional fish scale pattern on the old Calypso Jr. and wonder sometimes though if Spyderco's decision to use a bi-directional version of it's traditional volcano grip pattern was based on it offering a better grip than some other patterns or simply because it was traditional.

[Sam Vimes]

The jury is still out for me on FRN but in this instance I'm warming to it.
Can't say that I like the FRN Stretch as much as the CF version but I'm likely to carry and use the FRN more.
What is making me happy is the amount of interest. It seems to have been quite some time since Spyderco had a successful drop point that came close to being a "hunter". The Stretch finally seems to be doing it without actually being labelled as a hunting knife. Perhaps not labelling drop points as hunters is the way forward! :D

[red mag]

Great pixs - thank you.
I like the possibility to put the forefinger near the blade.
The way it is done on this knife doesn't take up too much room as on some others.
red

[The Deacon]

You may be onto something Sam. Placing a a label on a knife that associates it with a specific activity can cause those who do not engage in that activity to simply say "don't need one of those". Just putting the knife out there, free of the baggage every "niche market" label carries to some degree, is really more sensible. Forces people to figure out for themselves whether the knife will do what they want it to do.

[El Comanche]

David, would love to see some pics and hear your thoughts on the se model. In love with the PE and thinking about getting an SE to keep it company-

[Billy]

Gary, great pics! I have had my FRN Stretch in my FRP since I got it a few weeks ago. My Millies are getting jealous!