Aloha!
Posted this elsewhere but under mixed in w/ some other gibberish, so just in case nobody reads that one...
Question: USERS of the Dodo, SPOT, Co-Pilot, Toad, even that Super Knife...Do you like the short blade w/ long handle ergonomics? Even the Kiwi might apply here...
If so, WHY?
MAHALO for the input!
God will put you over...if you let Him! Mark 11:23!
Dodo, SPOT, Co-Pilot...USERS ONLY!
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The Deacon
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Have a few Kiwis and a CoPilot. Had a Toad, but that little guy is now enjoying the warm Hawaiian sun while I freeze my nose off here in NY. <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> All of them, and I imagine the Dodo and Spot as well, are good for things where you use mostly the tip of the blade.
Of the three I've used, I find the Kiwi most universally useful. Small in the pocket, reasonably light weight, great handle shape for control in the grips a short bladed knife is normally used in, nice pointy tip for "coupon cutting" and enough blade to good for peeling and slicing food. Plus the straight edge makes it a breeze to touch up on a stone. The Jester, although it does not have a long handle, is also an exellent little tool, perhaps the most perfect small knife out there. Great control with the forward finger notch, almost amazing comfortable to grip despite the small handle. The FRN and micarta versions are light enough to be be good key ring knives, so one is alway handy, am less impressed by the all stainless one, the added weight does not seem to buy me anything worthwhile.
The most used knives in my life have been short of blade and long of handle. As a life-long model builder, X-Actos served me well and often. Not sure if I'd ever want to abuse one of my Spydies by making a draw cut with the side of the blade held tight against a steel rule or straightedge, something I do with an X-Acto without giving it a second thought, scratches on the side of one of those blades are no big deal. Don't think I could make up my mind to do that with a Kiwi.
Paul
Of the three I've used, I find the Kiwi most universally useful. Small in the pocket, reasonably light weight, great handle shape for control in the grips a short bladed knife is normally used in, nice pointy tip for "coupon cutting" and enough blade to good for peeling and slicing food. Plus the straight edge makes it a breeze to touch up on a stone. The Jester, although it does not have a long handle, is also an exellent little tool, perhaps the most perfect small knife out there. Great control with the forward finger notch, almost amazing comfortable to grip despite the small handle. The FRN and micarta versions are light enough to be be good key ring knives, so one is alway handy, am less impressed by the all stainless one, the added weight does not seem to buy me anything worthwhile.
The most used knives in my life have been short of blade and long of handle. As a life-long model builder, X-Actos served me well and often. Not sure if I'd ever want to abuse one of my Spydies by making a draw cut with the side of the blade held tight against a steel rule or straightedge, something I do with an X-Acto without giving it a second thought, scratches on the side of one of those blades are no big deal. Don't think I could make up my mind to do that with a Kiwi.
Paul
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thombrogan
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vampyrewolf
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How big do we want to get and still call em small? You count the dodo at 2.5, so I'll use that for max.
Jester: frn/se green in the BOB, used it for about a week before putting it in there
ss/pe is on my spare keys, currently attached to the key for my knife storage.
Ladybug: went through a few of em... 2 I bought to give as gifts, the rest were ppl needing a knife and being given one.
Cricket: Have ss and tufram, had frn... all SE... the tufram was doing up to 80 boxes a night.
Dragonly: ss pe... 24/7 neck carry. My edc one has seen better days, but still rock solid.
Kiwi: bone, love it. No complaints from ppl seeing me use it yet.
Toad: great for work when I was helping the sewing crew... 1" hem, 1.5" blade.... in goes the tip and rip down the hem.
<img src="http://www.members.shaw.ca/pjharyett/sp ... pyder5.gif">
Mei Fides, Mei Victus
Coffee Before Conciousness
Vampyrewolf@yahoo.com
Jester: frn/se green in the BOB, used it for about a week before putting it in there
ss/pe is on my spare keys, currently attached to the key for my knife storage.
Ladybug: went through a few of em... 2 I bought to give as gifts, the rest were ppl needing a knife and being given one.
Cricket: Have ss and tufram, had frn... all SE... the tufram was doing up to 80 boxes a night.
Dragonly: ss pe... 24/7 neck carry. My edc one has seen better days, but still rock solid.
Kiwi: bone, love it. No complaints from ppl seeing me use it yet.
Toad: great for work when I was helping the sewing crew... 1" hem, 1.5" blade.... in goes the tip and rip down the hem.
<img src="http://www.members.shaw.ca/pjharyett/sp ... pyder5.gif">
Mei Fides, Mei Victus
Coffee Before Conciousness
Vampyrewolf@yahoo.com
Love the Dodo, I think it has the best ergos of any Spydie. It has performed way beyond my expectations and was my first rev-s PE blade. Have carried almost EDC for the past six months. Never had a problem and the ball lock makes it very lefty friendly.
Kiwi, Also can't say a bad thing about this one either. My father carried it the day of my wedding and forgot it was in his pocket till I reminded him<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> Love the double choils and find it the smallest knife I carry but the most comfortable. Can't beat the warncliffe for utility tasks.
SPOT...really like it but catch WAY too much grief carrying it. I have found neck knives to be very sheeple unfriendly. Everyone I know has gotten used to me carrying two or three EDC's but when it comes to drawing the SPOT they all gasp. I really like the handle to blade ratio on this one. Took me a while to get used to it but I really like it. I would even buy a SPOT with a 3/4 inch longer blade because sometimes it is a bit small for some stuff. Think I might take the Tek-Loc off my Perrin and attach it to the SPOT for a while and EDC on my belt.
Hope this helped...Take Care!!!
"everything else is just a jeep"
Edited by - CKE on 2/20/2004 8:22:33 AM
Kiwi, Also can't say a bad thing about this one either. My father carried it the day of my wedding and forgot it was in his pocket till I reminded him<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> Love the double choils and find it the smallest knife I carry but the most comfortable. Can't beat the warncliffe for utility tasks.
SPOT...really like it but catch WAY too much grief carrying it. I have found neck knives to be very sheeple unfriendly. Everyone I know has gotten used to me carrying two or three EDC's but when it comes to drawing the SPOT they all gasp. I really like the handle to blade ratio on this one. Took me a while to get used to it but I really like it. I would even buy a SPOT with a 3/4 inch longer blade because sometimes it is a bit small for some stuff. Think I might take the Tek-Loc off my Perrin and attach it to the SPOT for a while and EDC on my belt.
Hope this helped...Take Care!!!
"everything else is just a jeep"
Edited by - CKE on 2/20/2004 8:22:33 AM
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mystillwater
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small blades seem more responsive and more easily controled. i have a PE Dodo that i found to be the best utility blade i've ever used. it's really like an extension of the hand. i'd highly recomend a small blade like that for an EDC unless you need to stab things on a regular basis (or clear heavy brush).
Yes, I'm very fond of my SE Dodo. In fact I'm really quite surprised at myself just how much I have taken to this funny-looking little knife. I've long been a fan of the reverse-S blade, having a couple of Crickets and a Meerkat. They are real cutters! But putting that style of blade on a handle you can actually get ahold of allows amazing things to happen. I find myself carrying the Dodo everyday now and using it for everything from a letter-opener to a steak knife. The more I use it, the more it grows on me. The fact that it can be a real "do-(most)-of-it-all" EDC knife and still have real potential as a self-defense tool, plus be all that in such a small and light package makes it a favorite of mine. The only downside is that the very tippy-tip of my Dodo broke off within the first week of use. Perhaps it was just a little too pointy or the steel too brittle. Despite that, I'm a big fan of the Dodo. Could you tell?
Eremitike
Eremitike
Aloha everyone and thanks for the input! It's just as I suspected, and as mystillwater stated, "unless you're stabbing things on a regular basis"...A short bladed, longer handled knife is the ticket for the average EDC ELU...
Anymore that feel this way? Thanks again!
God will put you over...if you let Him! Mark 11:23!
Anymore that feel this way? Thanks again!
God will put you over...if you let Him! Mark 11:23!
The uses for an oversized (in comparrison to the blade) handle are many.
Take the Dodo. The main use for the Dodo is slicing opening packaging and splitting sheets of material (it's certainly what it does best), and for this the handle shape really helps to focus the point of pressure.
All to often knife handles are designed just as a comfortable grip, (where if any design has gone into it at all it is just on stopping the hand moving forward or back), Spyderco knife handles are often the exception though. As well as providing a comfortable grip, the design often also take into consideration on the type of force you want to aply to the blade, where, and how much. Take the Dodo, just pick it up and you will notice that the handle shape tends to produce a downward and curving under pressure, which not so coincidentally is just the sort of direction of force that suites the Dodo's blade profile. This is completly different than the Lil' Temperance where the handle promotes a forward facing grip (for MBC), or the Military which seems both happy with forward facing or downward pressures.
One of the main reasons I like Spyderco's is because of the handle designs. A lot of Spyderco blade designs tend to be aimed more at one task than others (rescue, MBC, skinning, slicing, piercing), because of this it seems to make perfect sence to also incude an element of design into the handle that compliments the task.
So "yes", where it suites, I do really like larger (than traditional) handles with smaller blades.
P.s. Sorry for the waffle <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>
Walk softly, carry a big stick.
Take the Dodo. The main use for the Dodo is slicing opening packaging and splitting sheets of material (it's certainly what it does best), and for this the handle shape really helps to focus the point of pressure.
All to often knife handles are designed just as a comfortable grip, (where if any design has gone into it at all it is just on stopping the hand moving forward or back), Spyderco knife handles are often the exception though. As well as providing a comfortable grip, the design often also take into consideration on the type of force you want to aply to the blade, where, and how much. Take the Dodo, just pick it up and you will notice that the handle shape tends to produce a downward and curving under pressure, which not so coincidentally is just the sort of direction of force that suites the Dodo's blade profile. This is completly different than the Lil' Temperance where the handle promotes a forward facing grip (for MBC), or the Military which seems both happy with forward facing or downward pressures.
One of the main reasons I like Spyderco's is because of the handle designs. A lot of Spyderco blade designs tend to be aimed more at one task than others (rescue, MBC, skinning, slicing, piercing), because of this it seems to make perfect sence to also incude an element of design into the handle that compliments the task.
So "yes", where it suites, I do really like larger (than traditional) handles with smaller blades.
P.s. Sorry for the waffle <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>
Walk softly, carry a big stick.
Daywalker & friends,
LOVE my Copilot (and Meerkat)! Sheeple friendly (which is nice when you work at a Big 10 University), and enough blade to do any mundane urban cutting task I ask of it. Although, being SS, the Copilot is a "prettier" knife, I actually like the ergos of the Meerkat better.
All in all, the little ones rock!
Mike
"'Good!' said Legolas. 'But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.'" -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
LOVE my Copilot (and Meerkat)! Sheeple friendly (which is nice when you work at a Big 10 University), and enough blade to do any mundane urban cutting task I ask of it. Although, being SS, the Copilot is a "prettier" knife, I actually like the ergos of the Meerkat better.
All in all, the little ones rock!
Mike
"'Good!' said Legolas. 'But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.'" -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
IMHO the handle is as at least as important as the blade; if you can't grip the thing securely it is of limited use. The Dodo fits the hand in a variety of grips and this boosts its everyday usefulness considerably. Most of this is due to the handle shape, but the shape of the back of the blade works in concert with this. The Rev-S Meerkat lacks the flat on the back of the blade which makes the Dodo excel at delicate or high-force precision cutting. Equally the Cricket never did it for me because of the small handle (though it looks like a good knife to have "just in case...".
Unless there is a very good reason for a short handle on a knife I would always go for one with a big grip, no matter what length the blade was.
"Better gear than good sense a traveller cannot carry."
Edit to remove stupid typo
Edited by - chux on 2/21/2004 9:09:42 AM
Unless there is a very good reason for a short handle on a knife I would always go for one with a big grip, no matter what length the blade was.
"Better gear than good sense a traveller cannot carry."
Edit to remove stupid typo
Edited by - chux on 2/21/2004 9:09:42 AM
I have taken a real liking to both my Navigator and recently to a Spyderco Mouse that I traded into a while back. I have also had the opportunity to use my Wife's FRN Cricket so I can comment on that knife as well. I love the way the Cricket disappears into my pocket since I don't use pocket clips, but I never could like the blade shape or the way it cuts. The Navigator and the Mouse are just the opposite to the Cricket; I love the Navigator that I own and once I put a lanyard/fob onto the Mouse so I had something to grab onto I fell in love with it. The only real complaint I have about the Navigator is the slotted handle and the lock doesn't lock up tight the same way the Mouse does. If you lace enough downward pressure on the Navigator's lock you will see the locking bar rise up off of the blade. The Mouse just locks up tighter but I'm not as fond of the handle shape as I am of the Navigator. Both are great little knives that serve as EDC's wonderfully!
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sc_rebel1957
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Over the years I've done the old foot in mouth several times with the new <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> models.
At 1st to my eyes some of the later models just did not appeal to my old fashioned thinking.
But after handeling some and trading for many I'll have to say on many I was wrong.
The Cricket when it 1st came out I said to myself, I'll never carry a knife that small now a SS version is a constant companion and gets used just about as much as any I have.
I recently got a SS Kiwi in and man I LOVE this knife.
The ergonomics are just outstanding for a full SS knife it has that beautiful mid point balance exactly as it should.
I have had several Co Pilot's over the years and have given many as gifts.
The Dodo I've yet to try so I'm keeping my mouth shut on it until I can get 1 in my paws and actually use it for awhile.
The ONLY problem I have with the SS Kiwi is it's well just too pretty to jingle around in my pockets with the other load of pocket junk I normally carry.
I keep it in a soft leather sheath (it used to hold a Eze lap diamond hone) when I do carry it around.
Kewl topic. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> Ron
At 1st to my eyes some of the later models just did not appeal to my old fashioned thinking.
But after handeling some and trading for many I'll have to say on many I was wrong.
The Cricket when it 1st came out I said to myself, I'll never carry a knife that small now a SS version is a constant companion and gets used just about as much as any I have.
I recently got a SS Kiwi in and man I LOVE this knife.
The ergonomics are just outstanding for a full SS knife it has that beautiful mid point balance exactly as it should.
I have had several Co Pilot's over the years and have given many as gifts.
The Dodo I've yet to try so I'm keeping my mouth shut on it until I can get 1 in my paws and actually use it for awhile.
The ONLY problem I have with the SS Kiwi is it's well just too pretty to jingle around in my pockets with the other load of pocket junk I normally carry.
I keep it in a soft leather sheath (it used to hold a Eze lap diamond hone) when I do carry it around.
Kewl topic. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> Ron