hardest use spydie folder?

[jezabel]

There's more to toughness than just the locking mechanism, the blade steel and grind and profile are of utmost importance to me when I'm looking for folder that's going to see abusive work. What qualities are you looking for as far as blade steel is concerned? What are you actually going to use it for?

If your restricting yourself to Spyderco's current lineup, the Bradley M4 is in a league all of it's own. Do not underestimate this knife on any level.

If your looking out side of that box, Imo the for toughest all rounders add the 440V Millie, CF S90V Manix, S90V Millie.

If you just want tank like construction and strong locks then : any Chinook, any Manix (new or old) and the ATR's.

Jez

[chuck_roxas45]

ah yes the chinook and the GB both rock, but price wise the mannix 2 seems to be the winner. steel is just 154 cm but i think that will be sufficient. edge retention and hardness won't be a major requirement. it's the construction( lock strength and pivot strength) that will most likely be the first to breakdown. i work on my farm and I often have to trim small branches, some household manintenance ( my hut is a bamboo hut). A fixed blade would be ideal but is not a legal option at the moment.

[Pete2s]

Manix 2

The GB is not a hard use knife. Metal is not everything. The ergonomics have no slip protection aside from the thumb ramp. With a glove or a sweaty hand combined with hard cuts, you'll have to be much more careful about sliding up the handle and cutting yourself.

[JD Spydo]

I find it interesting that Deacon mentioned the Chinook III :cool: Because I've thought that for quite a while that the Golden Co made Spyders tend to be a bit more ridgid than the Seki City models. And please don't take that as a slam against the Seki Spyders because many of them are near and dear to my heart.

But even the 440V Native I've been using like a beast of burden has held up beyond my wildest expectations. The Chinook and Manix models are built so stout that I think you could drop either one of those models from an airplane and still be able to use them :eek:

I've always been a huge fan of the CPM blade steels as well. I will admit that it's a very close race performance-wise but I still give it to the Golden CO Spyders by a nose :cool:

[Paul 883215]

My vote is for the M2. I've been abusing mine for 7-8 months now and aside from some scrathes it is perfect.

Paul

[unit]

what's the hardest use folder that spyderco produces? or the one that can take the most abuse?

As an interesting follow up question for those that have weighed in...

What are you envisioning as "hard use" and "abuse" as you formulate your conclusions?

I can answer the original questions many different ways based on what we are considering to be hard use and abuse. If we are merely discussing performing really hard cuts through materials that dull edges (such as roofing materials), you might come up with a very different answer than if you are contemplating piercing and prying uses.

Still another form of abuse is chemical exposure. What I am doing with my Salt series knives would certainly qualify as "abuse" if done with M4 steel....

NO wrong answers here, I just want some insight to where your answers are coming from if you do not mind sharing.

Thanks,
Ken

[Glock27]

My hardest use folders, by far, are my Enduras! Worst treatment I've given them is cutting carpet over concrete floors.....took a while with the diamond rods to get them to cut again.
I have Chinooks, Militarys, etc....put just can't seem to be able to torture higher priced knives. Gentle use or the safe for them.
G27

[Paul 883215]

As an interesting follow up question for those that have weighed in...

What are you envisioning as "hard use" and "abuse" as you formulate your conclusions?

Ken,

Good question. I am a remodeling contractor and to answer your question here is a list of the "abusive" tasks that I asked my knife to handle this week:
Opening a paint can, scraping a dried paint drip off of tile, probing for dryrot, removing a plug from a hole saw and cutting phone wire. I have been treating my knife like this for 6-7 months and it still works perfect. The Manix 2 is one tough knife.

[buferoe]

hi there,


this one is very simple: the Chinook I.

kind regards,

Werner

[jezabel]

The GB is not a hard use knife. Metal is not everything. The ergonomics have no slip protection aside from the thumb ramp. With a glove or a sweaty hand combined with hard cuts, you'll have to be much more careful about sliding up the handle and cutting yourself.

I thought the same thing at first, but after this using this for plenty of hard work of the past couple of months, this simply is not the case. Spyderco proves me wrong yet again. The shallow finger choil is only an issue if used in a thrusting motion. Now I cant remember the last time I needed to stab a car door. The Bradley actually works better for me when wearing gloves.( which at the moment accounts for 70% of my knife use). FWIW I'm not a fan of the exposed liners though.

Jez

[VashHash]

I can't remember the last time i NEEDED to stab a car door but i remember the last time i did and it was with a manix 2

[2cha]

I can't remember the last time i NEEDED to stab a car door but i remember the last time i did and it was with a manix 2

I can remember the last time I wanted to stab a car door--every time I look at this thread--and when I did, I wanted to use a Manix 2!!!

[VashHash]

http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.p ... ix+torture just so you know

[chuck_roxas45]

My list of hard use tasks.

1. digging at the roots of a mango tree to look for root rot.
2. cutting off the part with rot.
3. trimming up to 1 inch diameter branches.
4. cutting up sacks of fertilizer.
5. preparing firewood from bamboo(some batoning required)
6. cutting and shaping bamboo sticks for small household repair tasks.(batoning needed to split bamboo stems).
7. probably more that I can't yet foresee.

as I mentioned in an earlier post edge retention is not crucial. Before our pre-election gun ban was imposed,(actually a so called deadly weapons ban) i used a fixed blade with 1095 steel and the edge retention was sufficient( i have a field sharpening kit in my hut). I can really smuggle in a machete if i wanted but I want to see how I'll do with a hard use folder.

[peacefulNeasyfeelin]

Wouldn't it be better off just getting fixed blades for hard beating tasks?

[gaj999]

I think so. "Hard-use" and "folder" don't really belong together. For half the weight, a fixie will be twice the strength.

Gordon

[Water Bug]

I'd put the Chinook III very near, if not at, the top of the list. While it's not quite as robust as the original Chinook, which has to be the strongest folder Spyderco ever built, it's still one a tank of a knife.

If we're talking current production :spyder: s then I concur with Paul that the Spyderco Chinook III is the tough, hard use one with the Spyderco Military included along with it. If we're talking about older :spyder: models as well then I'd go with the original Spyderco C95 Manix in lieu of the Chinook III because of the Manix's practical design. The Military would still get tossed in there as well.

[The Deacon]

Wouldn't it be better off just getting fixed blades for hard beating tasks?

Yes and no. A well made fixed blade can take more abuse that a folder, but they are less convenient to carry and, in some areas, restricted or prohibited. Note the OP's comment in post #21 that "A fixed blade would be ideal but is not a legal option at the moment."

[LowTEC]

1. digging at the roots of a mango tree to look for root rot.
2. cutting off the part with rot.
3. trimming up to 1 inch diameter branches.
4. cutting up sacks of fertilizer.
5. preparing firewood from bamboo(some batoning required)
6. cutting and shaping bamboo sticks for small household repair tasks.(batoning needed to split bamboo stems).
7. probably more that I can't yet foresee.

Manix and Chinook are probably the heaviest duty out of all Spydies, and they will do all your requirement no problem, except batoning. I dunno, they might do that just fine but I wouldn't count on ANY folder doing constantly batoning and doesn't wear out the locking mechanism. IMHO

[chuck_roxas45]

ideally i would want something that has the endura 4's saber ground blade with solid liners like the CG and a lockup like the original manix. but that would be a custom and would cost too much to be a beater knife. batoning a bamboo stem is way easier on the knife than batoning wood since bamboo is hollow like a cylinder and the sides of the cylinder at the max are just about half an inch thick.