Well I've been hearing nothing but good things about the Spyderco Gayle Bradley for quite a while now, but never really fancied it myself. After picking up the Manix M4 sprint I started to warm to the idea of the Bradley a bit more as I found CPM-M4 to be such a lovely steel. That fact coupled with me wanting to try out CF scales for the first time eventually twisted my arm. Thankfully my wallet didn't get twisted along with my arm as it was my birthday recently...I dropped a few Bradley hints and the girlfriend did the rest :D
So I hope no one minds me going over an already well known knife, but hopefully this will be useful to someone. Well here we go then...
Here are the stats from Spyderco:
length overall: 8.078 " (205 mm)
blade length: 3.438 " (87 mm)
length closed: 4.687 " (119 mm)
cutting edge: 3.188 " (81 mm)
weight: 5.5 oz. (155 g)
blade steel: CPM M4
blade thickness: 18/ " (3 mm)
handle material: Carbon Fiber
Now when purchasing knives looks aren't the be all and end all for me, and I was never blown away by the Bradley's appearance in photographs, but in the flesh I have to say that my first reaction when this came out of the box was simply 'beautiful'. I've never gone for CF scales before as they reminded me to much of black G10 (which I'm not a fan of) but boy have I been silly to let that put me of CF. The scales are a joy to behold as they twinkle in the sunlight and they also provide more grip than I'd expected whilst still being very delicate on the hand...
It's quite a hefty beast at 5.5oz, even heavier than a fully lined Manix 2. I didn't think anything could feel tougher than my Manix, but somehow the Gayle Bradley manages it whilst misleading you with its gentlemanly looks! Honestly this thing feels fantastic in the hand and the steel liners sitting proud of the CF scales just works on so many levels...I'd love to see this more often. This touch doesn't have an impact on grip comfort at all, yet lends so much to the aesthetic of the knife.
And just look at that pocket clip :)
I love the way the Spydie logo has been applied to the black clip...looks very classy indeed. As with all the Spydie hour glass clips this isn't the ultimate clip for deep DEEP pocket carry (like the tremendous Spyderco wire clip), but I have to say I think it looks a lot more attractive than the wire clip (just listen to me going on about looks again :lol:...if the Gayle Bradley has done one thing to me its made me appearance obsessed!). Here is how it stacks up for discreet carry against two other well known Spydie locking folders of similar size, and a wire clip UKPK for contrast as well...
From left to right - Para 2, Gayle Bradley, Manix 2, UKPK Ti:
There were a few negatives I found right out the box as well, the first of them being the size of the lanyard hole...
...its pretty small and 550 paracord is a bit of a squeeze. I'd rather have the wider lanyard holes of the Para 2 and the Manix 2 as seen above. Its still very functional, I'd just prefer a bit more room. The forward choil was also something that I puzzled over a bit. Its already very shallow so a bit of jimping would have been nice. I know that this may be very subjective and if I want a great big forward choil I can just use a Manix 2, but for me a touch of jimping here would have been an improvement, as the jimping on the thumb ramp is just right.
Jimped thumb ramp, smooth choil:
Whilst on the subject of ergos, here is the Bradley alongside two similar sized and well known Spydie lockers...
Top to bottom - Manix 2, Gayle Bradley, Paramilitary 2:
Now the size difference here surprised me; both open and closed the Para and Manix appear at first glance to be larger than the Bradley, yet the Bradley has a larger cutting edge than either, in fact considerably more than the Manix. More on the blade later though. As far as the handles go the Bradley is the least 'choiley' of all three, so it depends on your preference. I'm a choil kind of guy myself and would like the Bradley's to be just a bit deeper (or more guarded at the cutting edge) for peace of mind, but then you can't have everything can you! Its not given me any problems (or cuts!) so far. I have to say it does also have its benefits, as my hand can sit anywhere and the shape of the handle doesn't dictate my grip position. It's certainly a very comfortable handle to hold. In the event of a lock failure though if gripped in the 'secondary choil area' (below pic, bottom left) you'd be getting your fingers nipped. What appeals to me about the Manix 2 and Para 2 is no matter which choil/handle recess you grip the knife in, if the lock fails the choil-portion of the blade is what will be making contact with your delicate fleshy pincers and not the cutting edge!
), and as expected after all that the M4 is still paper-slicing sharp:
