Alternative to Zip Ties

[Minibear453]

Why not just get a waved endura?

The endura waved doesn't come in ffg, at least I can't find it.
It's an extra $20, while a zip tie is nearly free.
And I was wary of the whole wave idea, and didn't want to have this piece of steel jutting out once I was tired of waving the knife. And because the steel looks cumbersome.

[chuck_roxas45]

The endura waved doesn't come in ffg, at least I can't find it.
It's an extra $20, while a zip tie is nearly free.
And I was wary of the whole wave idea, and didn't want to have this piece of steel jutting out once I was tired of waving the knife. And because the steel looks cumbersome.

Yeh, a bit more expensive but it does work well. Another thought, if you're gonna have a wave ground into a standard endura, why not just have a waved endura reground to an FFG? That way the re-grinders won't have any copyright issues.

[unit]

Yeh, a bit more expensive but it does work well. Another thought, if you're gonna have a wave ground into a standard endura, why not just have a waved endura reground to an FFG? That way the re-grinders won't have any copyright issues.

That is some solid advice. Though I might recommend NOT doing anything to the stock waved Endura.

Further, the gain in performance between a FFG and a Saber (for whatever use you NEED a wave for) is going to be pretty slight....and possibly not a "gain" at all.

Further, waved blades seem to work a bit better when they have some mass. A thinned out blade is going to be lighter than a saber...something to consider.

Further, you can explore the wave in its full glory (at least as glorious as you will find in a Spyderco knife). Anything else *could* potentially lack the performance that Emerson and Spyderco felt appropriate.

Further, if you later decide that a wave is not for you, you have an un-modified knife with an intact warranty that you can re-sell...anything less will not command as much attention on the market.

Just my thoughts. Your knife, your money

[chuck_roxas45]

That is some solid advice. Though I might recommend NOT doing anything to the stock waved Endura.

Further, the gain in performance between a FFG and a Saber (for whatever use you NEED a wave for) is going to be pretty slight....and possibly not a "gain" at all.

Further, waved blades seem to work a bit better when they have some mass. A thinned out blade is going to be lighter than a saber...something to consider.

Further, you can explore the wave in its full glory (at least as glorious as you will find in a Spyderco knife). Anything else *could* potentially lack the performance that Emerson and Spyderco felt appropriate.

Further, if you later decide that a wave is not for you, you have an un-modified knife with an intact warranty that you can re-sell...anything less will not command as much attention on the market.

Just my thoughts. Your knife, your money

And that is much more solid advice than mine. Very well thought out and written superbly. As I come to expect from you Ken.

[Evil D]

All of what unit just said, is why i stuck with zip ties instead of grinding up my blade and making it permanent. Then i spent some time in a knife shop with a real waved Delica, and i felt that the zip tie worked better...but almost too good. It was harder to draw out of pocket without opening it than the waved Delica was. This thread has me thinking about carrying my Para 2 tip up for a while with a zip tie to see how i like it. I've really gotten used to tip down/spydiedrop opening since i carried my old Para for so long. Now when i carry my Delica, i find i'm looking for the hole and blade to grab when drawing it out but it's not there since it's always tip up.

[knkali]

I have to admit that my modded Police 3 opens better than my factory waved Endura 4. But the Police 3 looks a little silly with my mod. Not quite as bad as the ziptie mod though IMHO. Sorry Ziptie guys..JMHO

[tonydahose]

Steve Rice (STR) is licensed by Emerson to add the wave opener to knives. Not sure if he still does it or not, know there are some things he's stopped doing, but if someone wants one done it might be worthwhile for them to ask him on his BladeForums forum.

when i was on the USN forum asking about getting the license from Emerson, Steve's name came up and from what i remember he actually wasn't licensed, at least that was said. I think they originally had an some sort of agreement but nothing was in writing and whatever agreement they had, ended. i am not a paying member over there or i could do a search for the thread and quote it here, sorry.

[Fred Sanford]

At least for me those "ugly blocky zip ties" look better than all that stuff wrapped around the hole. :eek: Looks kinda messy to me.

[knkali]

think of it as a spider's web around the spydie hole?

[knkali]

well my mod broke off when I dropp my knife. Looks like the kydex mod is next

[Dr. Snubnose]

Here's and idea for you I call it a static cord wave. Tie some paracord thru the Spyderco hole of a sharp PE knife. Burning and melting the edge of the knot end for a firm connection and hold. Make the cord about four inches and tie one end off to the belt loop of your pants....clip spyderco to pocket...draw the knife backwards towards the rear of your body sharply to open blade till it locks in place, (Does not matter if the knot catches the pocket lip) quicky turn knife upside down and return the forward draw stroke to cut through the paracord freeing up the knife,,,with a little practice it works just fine and only take about 1/4 second more to deploy. Cheap mans wave without destroying the knife or using a zip tie that has a 50% chance of opening when SHTF,,,,Plus when you cut through the cord your knife is moving forward towards the target,,,,,Only use a sharp PE not SE ....Doc :D

[Blerv]

The way many people zip-tie the success rate is much higher than 50%. With some knives it's in the 90's and the failures are still half open. Loose pivots and some styles work better than others.

It's a goofy way to mod a knife. Some are far better like custom grinds. Still, there is some science to zip tying. Maybe trial n error rather than "science" :p .

[unit]

The way many people zip-tie the success rate is much higher than 50%. With some knives it's in the 90's and the failures are still half open. Loose pivots and some styles work better than others.

It's a goofy way to mod a knife. Some are far better like custom grinds. Still, there is some science to zip tying. Maybe trial n error rather than "science" :p .

Hey as long as you make a video, you can call it a test and argue the scientific validity

To your point, the ones I have seen seemed pretty consistent. That said, I look at a fast knife draw with the same philosophy I look at a monster truck. You will generally get deeper into the muck when you inevitably get stuck anyway, and if you were REALLY smart, you may have succeeded in avoiding the muck in the first place.

Wow, I am a cynical jerk today.

Just ignore me :D

[knkali]

waiting for my sheet of kydex--pics to follow

[Bill1170]

Ken's comments about a waved knife performing better with higher blade mass are correct. I have waved both a Pacific Salt and a FFG Endura 4. The Salt waves open much more reliably due to the thicker spine, equals greater blade mass. Both were waved by first drilling a hole to form the hook, and then Dremeling off the rest.

Despite this, I carry and use the Endura much more than the Salt. A plain edge is better for my daily work needs, and the knife slices much better than before I waved it, due to the thinner spine.

Bill

[ATV1116]

I'm not trying to be a hard *** but that doesn't look any better to me than a zip tie. In fact, that looks less neat.

:spyder: I agree too, sorry... :spyder:

[Blerv]

Hey as long as you make a video, you can call it a test and argue the scientific validity

I like it!

Problem is I can't say "EDC" without laughing and wearing camo in an urban situation while trying to act serious is nearly impossible.

Back to flipping my Tenacious and making mean faces at the mirror . Lol.

[shimage]

The way many people zip-tie the success rate is much higher than 50%.

The Doctor said "when SHTF", which reminded me of a story my violin teacher told me about Jascha Heifetz when I was a child. According to my teacher, Heifetz claimed that anyone, regardless of their ability, could only perform at 80% once on stage. So then, how did Heifetz manage to hit the most difficult sections perfectly on stage, time after time? His solution to this problem was to be at 120% before stepping on stage. That may have worked for Heifetz, but mere mortals like us must make due with a greatly increased rate of unforced errors.

IMO, if person ever misses a deployment at all when they are practicing, they should consider themselves lucky to get a successful deployment "when SHTF".

[unit]

I like it!

Problem is I can't say "EDC" without laughing and wearing camo in an urban situation while trying to act serious is nearly impossible.

Back to flipping my Tenacious and making mean faces at the mirror . Lol.

You actually made me LOL.

It is easy to say "EDC" with a straight face...you just need to concentrate on the other terms you need to puke out in the same breath:
"This is my EDC Hard Use Tactical System that I am going to test..."

Ohh, I gave myself goose bumps on that one...

[unit]

His solution to this problem was to be at 120% before stepping on stage.

I once had my deployment speed at 120% in practice. In other words, the automatic in my pocket deployed 20% faster than I could withdraw it from my pocket. Not what you would call "success" :D

IMO, if person ever misses a deployment at all when they are practicing, they should consider themselves lucky to get a successful deployment "when SHTF".

This is probably a reasonable consideration. If you can not do it right every time...stress will probably not improve your success rate.