Balance G10/SPY27 Sprint Review: An all-time great LBK, but probably not for everyone

[Michal O]

As plenty mentioned before, price is deal breaker. I was considering it but pic with Microjimbo probably sealed it's fate. Not for me. I would rather buy another Khukuri with K390.

[Wartstein]

Well, as said: I was not really aware of that model, but now after seeing it and the great review it definitely appeals to me.

Won´t happen, but still an affordable FRN version would be great - I think I absolutely would carry such an option quite a bit as a companion to my usual, large serrated EDC Spydie.
Because to me a potential secondary carry would have to be smaller than a DFly and offer something "special" over the main, large EDC folder.
The Balance would apparently give me both - very small and the "special" thing is the super low tip and downward blade angle plus the relatively generous grip area.
A Lady-/Manbug, though roughly the same size, would not give me that, not even the hawkbill... (to be clear: If I was forced to carry such a tiny model as my ONLY knife, I would go with Lady-/Manbug indeed, but not as a secondary option).

[Jesla]

I just hope Spyderco didn’t make too many of these, because if they have to discount it to move the left overs, it will make for some of very unhappy customers. It might be cute, but it is entirely over priced for the size. $30usd is probably more than I would spend on a keychain hanger, even if I wanted one.

I’m sure that some will be sold, but it makes me question how those few, who buy one, value their money.

[zuludelta]

Woof, seems like I might have touched off something with my review. To the folks decrying the price of the Balance G10/SPY27, I get it, I really do, I’m right there with you in that I think it could be way more affordable given its size and materials. I even go so far in my review to say that I actually felt a bit foolish for a time for dropping the amount of money I did on it. And while everyone’s economic situation can be different, I think most of us can agree that C$300 is a somewhat silly amount of money to drop on any knife, let alone one as small as the Balance.

At the same time, the Balance is a folder whose design has very much intrigued me since I first got to handle the original version over a decade ago, when I first started getting heavily into Spydercos. At the time, I couldn’t afford one (I couldn’t afford many things back then), but made a mental note that I’d snag one if the chance ever came up later when I was in a better place in life. When I first saw earlier this year that it was getting reissued as a Sprint, the memory of handling the original Balance ten years ago came back, and I started setting aside funds for it. And really, it didn’t take much—it mostly came down to skipping the pub for a couple of months.

I don’t just like using knives (they are my main tool at work, after all), I also like studying knives, the design, engineering, craft and yes, the art that goes into them. I’ve bought books on knife history, design, and engineering (shout out to Dr. Larrin Thomas!), and taken multiple classes on edged-weapon martial arts and combatives since I was a teen (most recently, I purchased and studied the base online component of Michael Janich’s MBC program). Is it so hard to imagine that I could get C$300 worth of utility and joy out of the Balance? A lot of people easily spend double or triple that in a year on streaming and gaming services they barely use, or on the latest & greatest mobile phone that they only use to doomscroll their evenings away.

One last thing, and then I’ll probably have written all I care to write about this topic: I used to draw and paint portraits of people’s pets as a way to make some extra cash on the side (this was back when I couldn’t afford to buy the original Balance, or many other Spyderco knives for that matter). I had a pretty reasonable rate, probably even on the low end based on what I saw other artists were charging. Some clients would be so happy with the work I did that they would insist that they pay me double what I originally charged, even when privately, I thought the work I did for them was no better or worse than the work I did for other clients. To them, the portrait of their beloved pet was more than just the sum of the labour and materials that went into making it, and they were willing to pay for it as such. I think with the Balance (and a good many other knife designs), I am now on the other side of that transaction.

I know to some of you it reads like I’m just huffing copium with this post, but I’m not really, I’m just explaining why purchasing the Balance makes sense for me, while conceding that it probably doesn’t make sense to a whole lot of other people. My thanks to all who have participated in this thread so far, your comments have given me a lot to think about and evaluate, and that is always a good thing.

[cabfrank]

Thanks for yet another great review. Your reviews always tantalize, making the knife sound like a must-have.