Is the ronin/yojimbo supposed to be an s.d. Knife?

tacticooledc · #1

I see many people saying that blade shape is good for s.d. But i fail to see how something with such a delicate tip or no belly could be s.d. Could someone explain please?

Padawan · #2

http://www.martialbladeconcepts.com/ronin.htm

http://www.martialbladeconcepts.com/yojimbo.htm

tacticooledc · #3

Padawan wrote:http://www.martialbladeconcepts.com/ronin.htm

http://www.martialbladeconcepts.com/yojimbo.htm

Wow, thank you for those links! I learned a lot reading from those.
Just curious, where could I obtain a yojimbo/ronin? I can't find ANY on ebay which makes me wonder if I'm gonna have to spend >$300 :mad:

Creepo · #4

tacticooledc wrote:Wow, thank you for those links! I learned a lot reading from those.
Just curious, where could I obtain a yojimbo/ronin? I can't find ANY on ebay which makes me wonder if I'm gonna have to spend >$300 :mad:

Only place you can find them nowadays would be the secondary market: eBay and For-Sale-sections in various knife forums.
Or you can just sit and wait for the Yojimbo2, which is coming sooner or later, a prototype was shown at SHOT 2011. Some have estimated the release to be around the 4th quarter of 2011.

tacticooledc · #5

Got any info on the Yojimbo 2 in terms of how much and if it's gonna be a sprint?

Creepo · #6

tacticooledc wrote:Got any info on the Yojimbo 2 in terms of how much and if it's gonna be a sprint?

Generally any completely new model coming out will be a regular production run. A new model requires lots of engineering and development and it just isn't worth the time and effort if it's just a sprint run. So it will be a regular production version, it will most probably be Golden made with S30V, G10 and compression lock. There is no price on it yet, but it should be somewhat comparable to the usual S30V/G10 stuff coming out of Golden.
Here's a long thread with a video of the Yo2. :cool:
http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47468

tacticooledc · #7

Creepo wrote:Generally any completely new model coming out will be a regular production run. A new model requires lots of engineering and development and it just isn't worth the time and effort if it's just a sprint run. So it will be a regular production version, it will most probably be Golden made with S30V, G10 and compression lock. There is no price on it yet, but it should be somewhat comparable to the usual S30V/G10 stuff coming out of Golden.
Here's a long thread with a video of the Yo2. :cool:
http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47468

Thanks so much! Now I know 100% what model I'm going to be buying- now I don't have to buy the "eh, why not" knives and get this "MUST HAVE IT" knife

The Mentaculous · #8

The cutting power of a wharncliffe blade is impressive. The fact that cutting in an arc concentrates the power in the tip, so it penetrates and continues down the edge makes it extremely effective for deep cuts.

Honestly, I think too much belly hinders penetration, because the direction of the sweep, rather than supporting penetration, rather causes the edge to skim along the surface. Hawkbills and wharncliffes on the other hand have an angle that causes penetration on slash cuts.

I'm just gonna have to wait for the Yo 2, which comes this winter...I think the ergo's, blade to handle balance etc. look better in it than the original. The Ronin looks awesome though, I wouldn't mind a sprint of that.

Blerv · #9

It's a horrible design for SD. I suggest a locking Swiss Army Knife.

tacticooledc · #10

Would anyone know anything on the yojimbo 2 blade length? I don't get audio here at work so I can't tell if the shot show videos discussed the length :mad:

Creepo · #11

tacticooledc wrote:Would anyone know anything on the yojimbo 2 blade length? I don't get audio here at work so I can't tell if the shot show videos discussed the length :mad:

They didn't mention the length in the video but according to the poster of the video it is 3 ¼". link from the videos description box

tacticooledc · #12

So I fell in love with Yojimbo's blade shape and couldn't wait for the 2 to come out....so I ordered THIS to keep me going till then :cool:

The Mentaculous · #13

tacticooledc wrote:So I fell in love with Yojimbo's blade shape and couldn't wait for the 2 to come out....so I ordered THIS to keep me going till then :cool:

Ah, that's designed by Mr. Janich as well, no? Clever name to boot :p The handle on the Yo 2 looks way more comfortable to me, but aside from that, the blade shape etc. is very similar.

tacticooledc · #14

Yes, it appears I have been a Janich fan all of these years without even knowing it :p

chuck_roxas45 · #15

Yep, me too, but the 2 meyerco wharnings I ordered from a local dealer is still not here after 3 months. What a bummer!!

Slash · #16

great info. in both of those links. Mike Snoody is one of my favorite custom knife makers. His skills and attention to detail are hard to find these days.

tacticooledc · #17

Just curious, is the Kershaw "Needs Work" in any way a collaboration with Mr. Janich? It really reminds me of these types of knives....30 bucks at walmart, almost pulled the trigger before reminding myself I have the blackhawk be-wharned coming in the mail

The Mentaculous · #18

tacticooledc wrote:Just curious, is the Kershaw "Needs Work" in any way a collaboration with Mr. Janich? It really reminds me of these types of knives....30 bucks at walmart, almost pulled the trigger before reminding myself I have the blackhawk be-wharned coming in the mail

I could be wrong, but I don't think there's any affiliation with Mr Janich or Snody on that design. looks like a nice wharncliffe design though

Creepo · #19

The Mentaculous wrote:Ah, that's designed by Mr. Janich as well, no? Clever name to boot :p The handle on the Yo 2 looks way more comfortable to me, but aside from that, the blade shape etc. is very similar.

Yes, at one point MJ worked for Blackhawk for a while.
When you look at the Yojimbo, Be-Wharned and the Yojimbo2, you can see MJ's preferences evolve. The original Yojimbo and Ronin were pretty early designs and with experience MJ's preferences seem to have changed.
He got rid of the jimping and replaced it with a concave thumbrest,
tweaked the ergos with a rounded back and softer finger grooves.
He also opted for a high-hollow grind instead of a FFG for strength.
You can see all of these tweaks in the Be-Wharned, designing the Yojimbo2 he adopted all of these features as well. :)

In the end it kinda looks like the Be-Wharned was only missing the comp-lock, spyderhole and Spyderco-quality. :D

Creepo · #20

The Mentaculous wrote:I could be wrong, but I don't think there's any affiliation with Mr Janich or Snody on that design. looks like a nice wharncliffe design though

Yea, Kershaw is a reputable company and would let you know if MJ had anything to do with it. Needs-Work is advertised as a utility knife, MJ's designs are mainly SD.