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Spyderco frn Ukpk lightweight
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Fred Sanford
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Very nice review my man.
Might want to consider posting some pics here to entice some folks.
I like the old Gin-1 steel. I never had any problems with it. Worked great. Glad to see them bring it back in a nice inexpensive FRN slicer.
:spyder:
Might want to consider posting some pics here to entice some folks.
I like the old Gin-1 steel. I never had any problems with it. Worked great. Glad to see them bring it back in a nice inexpensive FRN slicer.
:spyder:
"I'm calling YOU ugly, I could push your face in some dough and make gorilla cookies." - Fred Sanford
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chuck buck
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ChapmanPreferred
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Nice work, Thanks for the comparison with the Caly Jr.
The Caly Jr was the single Spydie that really got me hooked, and for me the Caly Jr this sets a very high benchmark for small pocket lightsabers. Consequently I never went near the Caly 3's or Ukpk as I doubted they'd ever be as good as the Caly jr. That might be about to change though... there's something very appealing and familiar about these FRN UKPK's
Jez
The Caly Jr was the single Spydie that really got me hooked, and for me the Caly Jr this sets a very high benchmark for small pocket lightsabers. Consequently I never went near the Caly 3's or Ukpk as I doubted they'd ever be as good as the Caly jr. That might be about to change though... there's something very appealing and familiar about these FRN UKPK's
Jez
FB04PBB, C07FS4K390, C12GS, C12SBK2, C36GS, C36GTIP, C36CFM390P, C36CFTIP, C36GPBORE, C41BKPS, C44GP&SGY, C46PS, C46GPBK, C52BKP, C52FPGYE, C63G3, C65TIP, C70S, C81FG, C81GS2, C81CFM4P2, C83BM, C83GP2, C101GP, C101GPS, C101CF90VP2, C105, C134CF, C151GODTiPBK
My goodie bag contained a grey one with a leaf shape blade.
Carried it since and very happy with it.
Carried it since and very happy with it.
All your knifelinks, http://www.knifelinksportal.com
The same story here. It is astonishing how it finds it's way in my pocket so often. It is a very light, non threatening folder. It cut's good, because it has a thin blade. The E4 with the same grind, but a thicker blade cuts a lot worse. I can cut an apple in half without breaking it with the UK Pen Knife, but not with the Endura.Piet.S wrote:My goodie bag contained a grey one with a leaf shape blade.
Carried it since and very happy with it.
The workmanship and engineering are very good. The FNR Spyderco bug in the handle is a nice touch, and i really like the way the handle has integral washers! Good thinking Sal!
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/groteFoto-EGUMFHDE.jpg
The etching shows the Spyderco logo and 'Spyderco GIN-1' on one side, and on the other side Sal's logo, 'Golden, Colorado, USA, Earth', and the production date. You can only see the date when you disassemble the knife.
This is my first Spyderco with a wire clip, and I really like it for this purpose. It rides very low in your pocket, as the photo below illustrates. The handle color is better than black for such knife, and it is beautiful. The stonewash is subtile and makes the blade a little bit less shiny. The blade is a little under three inches, but you have an outstanding, comfortable full grip on the knife. The jimping is subtile and breathes quality, where the jimping on my Salt 1 looks and feels cheap (but it works, off course!).
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/groteFoto-ZKOI8PGI.jpg
I am technical student, and all my classmates know about my 'odd' hobby. They are always interested in my knives, and need them more than often. They classify most of my knives as butt ugly but scary sharp. When I came up with the UK Pen Knife Lightweight Leaf, most of them liked it because of it's small size, lightness and non threatening looks. I think that is a huge compliment, and shows the potential of the knife for the non knife public.
Big picture
I think the steel is a good choice for this knife, it came sharp and stays sharp with some care for it.
The slipjoint is a little different from those found on the Swiss army knives. The spring moves very little, and the spring is rather short. I really like the way Spyderco has integrated a kick, so you are not afraid of dulling your knife by closing it quickly.
Big Picture
Sorry Sal, I don't have any negative comments, maybe the edge came a little thick for the purpose of this knife. Thank you for this very generous and practical gift!!
Big picture
Agree.Koen Z wrote:Sorry Sal, I don't have any negative comments, maybe the edge came a little thick for the purpose of this knife.
Here's mine.
All your knifelinks, http://www.knifelinksportal.com
Sal told us its something like 440.
If i remember it in the right order it would have more edge retaining but less rust resistance than 440.
So a very usable cheap steel with good rust resistance and easy to sharpen.
(But i'm not really sure this is in the right order.
Maybe some other members (Piet or Koen) chime in on this)
If i remember it in the right order it would have more edge retaining but less rust resistance than 440.
So a very usable cheap steel with good rust resistance and easy to sharpen.
(But i'm not really sure this is in the right order.
Maybe some other members (Piet or Koen) chime in on this)
Thanks!Jijoel wrote:Sal told us its something like 440.
If i remember it in the right order it would have more edge retaining but less rust resistance than 440.
So a very usable cheap steel with good rust resistance and easy to sharpen.
(But i'm not really sure this is in the right order.
Maybe some other members (Piet or Koen) chime in on this)
If it's better edge retention than 440c and a bit less rust resistance, I'm in!
Here's mine, compared to its high-end brother
Another one...
First of all, I think it's great Spyderco gives us these knives for free :D Even before I got it, I was eager to test one of these out. I'm a big fan of my UKPK, and it finds its way to my pocket far more often than any of my other Spydies, so a more affordable version of the knife I love sounded like some sweet music to my ears!
Given the price-point Spyderco is aiming at for this blade, it surely is cheap enough to beat the crap out of it. But the question for me was: is it good enough to take that beating? Well, even though I haven't actually beaten the crap out of it yet ( :D ), I don't think the lightweight version is all that worse than the 'original'. Sure, G10 has been replaced by FRN, CPM-S30V got replaced by GIN-1, FFG became hollow-grind, and the blade is a fair bit thinner than the original UKPK. But what does all of that mean?
Firstly, the lightweight version is indeed.. lighter Secondly, it doesn't quite have the action the original has. The action is good, just not as good. I found it a wee bit too easy to open (and therefore close!) it. Even though tightening the pivot does help a bit, the 'notch' is more profound in the original version. There's another thing about the pivot though. It appears that the pivot screw turns a little bit, every time you open the blade. If you use your blade a lot, this will result in blade play pretty quickly. I guess some loctite will fix that issue though.
Cutting performance is good. It hasn't received my 'special treatment' yet, which my original UKPK has, so comparing isn't fair. However, slicing performance comes pretty close to my Sage 1, which still has its factory edge. I've mostly cut wood, paper, rope, and cardboard with it, and it held up well. My original UKPK was indeed better at all tests, but the lightweight version performed very well, and considering its price-point, I was surprised it performed pretty much on par with my ZDP-189 Delica4 (which has received my 'special treatment'). However, when looking at the chemical facts, GIN-1 will have worse edge-retention and rust-resistance than any of my other Spydies, but that doesn't mean GIN-1 is crappy.
All in all, I think this knife can be a home-run for Spyderco. It's legal just about everywhere, except for Denmark ofcourse, it's comfortable to use, people-friendly, it's affordable, while still offering great cutting performance.
Another one...
First of all, I think it's great Spyderco gives us these knives for free :D Even before I got it, I was eager to test one of these out. I'm a big fan of my UKPK, and it finds its way to my pocket far more often than any of my other Spydies, so a more affordable version of the knife I love sounded like some sweet music to my ears!
Given the price-point Spyderco is aiming at for this blade, it surely is cheap enough to beat the crap out of it. But the question for me was: is it good enough to take that beating? Well, even though I haven't actually beaten the crap out of it yet ( :D ), I don't think the lightweight version is all that worse than the 'original'. Sure, G10 has been replaced by FRN, CPM-S30V got replaced by GIN-1, FFG became hollow-grind, and the blade is a fair bit thinner than the original UKPK. But what does all of that mean?
Firstly, the lightweight version is indeed.. lighter
Secondly, it doesn't quite have the action the original has. The action is good, just not as good. I found it a wee bit too easy to open (and therefore close!) it. Even though tightening the pivot does help a bit, the 'notch' is more profound in the original version. There's another thing about the pivot though. It appears that the pivot screw turns a little bit, every time you open the blade. If you use your blade a lot, this will result in blade play pretty quickly. I guess some loctite will fix that issue though.Cutting performance is good. It hasn't received my 'special treatment' yet, which my original UKPK has, so comparing isn't fair. However, slicing performance comes pretty close to my Sage 1, which still has its factory edge. I've mostly cut wood, paper, rope, and cardboard with it, and it held up well. My original UKPK was indeed better at all tests, but the lightweight version performed very well, and considering its price-point, I was surprised it performed pretty much on par with my ZDP-189 Delica4 (which has received my 'special treatment'). However, when looking at the chemical facts, GIN-1 will have worse edge-retention and rust-resistance than any of my other Spydies, but that doesn't mean GIN-1 is crappy.
All in all, I think this knife can be a home-run for Spyderco. It's legal just about everywhere, except for Denmark ofcourse, it's comfortable to use, people-friendly, it's affordable, while still offering great cutting performance.
