Wanted to love Enuff; knife is great, sheath a fail

peacefuljeffrey · #1

My Spyderco Enuff (leaf blade) arrived on Friday 5/24/13, and I was very excited to meet it. I am not the type who gets a knife and then proceeds to immediately start cutting everything in sight and torture-testing it, so really what I did was sit down and look it over. In and out of the sheath a bunch of times.

The knife is great: It's a stout, compact little handful and that's just what I wanted from it. It's too heavy to be a neck knife, but that's ok (even though I had held an outside hope that it might be suitable for that).

At first glance, the sheath seemed good as well. I was wary because I had read people's complaints that it might not hold the knife well enough, but I held the knife upside-down and shook the assembly a bit and it really didn't seem like under normal circumstances the sheath would let it go. That's good. It's true that I like about 50% more retention force than most knife sheaths provide; that's why I bought myself a bunch of kydex and rivets, a rivet press, and a heat gun. I've made myself several kydex neck knife sheaths because stock sheaths were unsatisfactory to me.

Well, time went by, evening came, and I picked up the Enuff once again to ... well, you know, to fondle it some more. This time, I was playing around with the feel of the knife while it's sheathed. Uh oh. That was when I found out that there is lateral wiggle. Too much of it. The sides of the blade are not held securely, and so they can slap around inside. What's worst of all, though, is that evidently, the EDGE CAN AND DOES CONTACT THE PLASTIC INSIDE THE SHEATH.

What that means, and what I tested for, is that the edge can be dragged side-to-side inside the sheath while it is in contact with the plastic. The knife came with a nice, sharp factory edge, but it didn't take more than a few rattles to see that edge start to be affected. There is a portion of it that is flattened slightly because it touched the plastic inside the sheath as it wiggled.

It looks like I'm going to be seeking to make myself a sheath for my Enuff. I'll probably appropriate the Tek-Lok from my Moran Featherweight, and hopefully be able to put together a serviceable carry rig.

I do have to admit to being somewhat disappointed.

Doc Dan · #2

I have read of people experiencing problems with the sheath. This is a new knife and I guess it has bugs. Reading this caused me to put the Enuff I had on order on hold. I want to see what transpires out of this. I know Spyderco will fix this problem. I have heard this is a great knife, other wise (people like it better than the Izula!)

donovanlai · #3

Hi Jeffrey, first thanks for the review. I'm very disappointed, I thought the sheath problem were individual cases, but now seems it's not... guess I will have to wait till Spyderco fix this problem, for now I better stick to the "Half Price" ESEE Ezula... I hope Sal will look into this, but Sal said he didn't experienced any sheath issues in his use in the other thread...

sal wrote:Hi Gary, Dan,

Thanx for the research and input. We'll have to study the sheath. I have not experienced any sheath issues in my use, but we'll work on trying to re-create the problem.

sal

peacefuljeffrey · #4

I don't like feeling like I just badmouthed Spyderco, and I hope that it's not taken that way.

The knife is great! I don't know if the company plans to rework the sheath, but if they do I will be first in line for an improved version.

APS · #5

I generally agree but perhaps calling the sheath a fail was a bit strong. Or at least by my definition of fail which usually means totally worthless. I'd give the sheath a "C".

.357 mag · #6

donovanlai wrote:Hi Jeffrey, first thanks for the review. I'm very disappointed, I thought the sheath problem were individual cases, but now seems it's not... guess I will have to wait till Spyderco fix this problem, for now I better stick to the "Half Price" ESEE Ezula... I hope Sal will look into this, but Sal said he didn't experienced any sheath issues in his use in the other thread...

I wouldn't call an Izula "half price" to a Enuff but I agree on holding off. I've been wanting to purchase 2 Enuff's since they came out. ( leaf and sheepsfoot) The sheath problem I keep hearing is keeping me from the purchase.

captnvegtble · #7

Let me just say that this knife is FANTASTIC! I love the size, grip, and ergonomics... pretty much everything about the knife.

The sheath, I agree, is not ideal, but it holds the knife without having the knife fall out. The knife can, however, be inserted and withdrawn from the sheath without it dulling the knife, I think.

I would totally buy this knife again, even with the sheath the way it is. I can't wait for the H1 SE sheepfoot version to come out.

donovanlai · #8

Maybe they should consider come out with "knife only" version, let user have the choice to choose or even made their sheath, I believe the Enuff is an excellent knife, but I'm not going to spend my money on a class C sheath…

defenestrate · #9

Enuff Mule?

I'd imagine that someone with one of these could figure out a way to build up part of the sheath to make the fit a bit more snug, and/or line the area the blade meets with something soft that will eliminate rattle and contact with the hard plastic. If I had one I would be working on that now. Probably won't until later this year, though. Will be looking to get the SE Sheepsfoot as well.

peacefuljeffrey · #10

APS wrote:I generally agree but perhaps calling the sheath a fail was a bit strong. Or at least by my definition of fail which usually means totally worthless. I'd give the sheath a "C".

A sheath that damages the edge of its knife is a fail. The edge should never be able to contact the inside of the sheath when it is seated in battery.

peacefuljeffrey · #11

captnvegtble wrote:The sheath, I agree, is not ideal, but it holds the knife without having the knife fall out. The knife can, however, be inserted and withdrawn from the sheath without it dulling the knife, I think.

Yes, the knife can be inserted and withdrawn without dulling it. That isn't my point, though. The problem I am talking about is that while the knife is sheathed, there is potential to wiggle (I mean, it does wiggle), and with that wiggle comes the potential for the edge to sweep back and forth across the inside of the sheath, flattening the edge. I made it happen deliberately while testing my knife/sheath, but the same thing can easily happen, I suspect, from just carrying and jostling the knife, as can easily occur continually when it is carried on a belt, where the handle can be pushed by one's body.

broo · #12

the knife fell out of its sheath while i was sitting on my couch with my dogs. for the second time. this is after i sent it back in to Spyderco and asked if there was anything else they could do (eg, replace the sheath in case the one I had was defective).

i have come to the conclusion that the sheath is totally unacceptable. i would not buy this knife again, given the sheath. i am having a family friend make me a custom leather one (he's a saddle-maker), which might be the only thing that saves this knife from being sold or given away. pretty disappointed.