Spyderco Forums

To my surprise , it’s two budget line knives, the polestar and the raven2, can’t explain till you get one in hand , very solid and well designed, well put together,
I have stretch 2’s , and couple of delica 4 , and some Byrd line knives

archangel wrote: ↑

Mon May 17, 2021 5:55 am

Might be my Advocate. It's virtually flawless. It looks and feels so perfect, I would have a hard time to use it rough. I do carry it from time to time, so it may come to that - though the risk is quite low. Nevertheless, it's a piece of Art......

Been carrying one for about six months. You can tell that this knife was made from the labor of love. Such a great knife.

Probably my Lum Tanto (FB03GBKGRP).

The z-wear Shaman was the most beautifully finished production knife I can ever recall handling. I could find no flaw. Perfectly smooth action, zero play, no lock stick etc.

Shame the model didn't work as well for me as others, because they knocked it out of the park with the fit and finish.

Swayback/Chef
Shaman Z-Wear
Kapara CF
Chaparral FRN
Are standouts but most stuff from Golden and Taichung have been great in my experience.

Gotta still go with the OG Slysz Bowie.



But there sure is something about that Sage2! Can we get a CQI return or Sage6 with the Reeve ceramic lock interface? :D

All my Taiwan models are incomparably better than my japan and US models

GB1, GB2, and chaparrals stand out the most

My Hungarian folder has fit & finish like a dream. But I'm hesitant to use it bc I don't want to mess up the beautiful shiny bolsters!

Golden compression locks ( PM2 & Yojimbo ) are always stout and sturdy.

Definitely my 1996 SS SE Delica :) - solid lock without any usual issues like blade play or rock lock, great blade handle ratio and overall wonderfully built. Other than that PPT sprint in S90V.

GB1 is probably the best made folder period.

Pingo gets a mention as used this for work for 2 years and it was flawless.

Some mentioned the Slysz Bowie. It is a great knife, and feels super good in hand. I have identified two flaws though:
1) there's no "overtravel stopper" mechanism. If you're stupid enough, you can bend the framelock bar reeeeeeally far - eventually wear it out? I don't know if it's possible. But I have some framelock knives with an "overtravel stopper", and it seems like a smart thing. I'd say it does not hurt to have it. The Slysz Bowie does not.
2) I have a feeling that the XHP blade dulls quite fast when you use it every day. It's not hard to sharpen on the Sharpmaker, but the feeling that it could use resharpening again comes quite fast. Curious if others have the same feeling...
Apart from these two flaws, the Slysz Bowie is a very capable and handsome knife. One of my favorites! It's my home EDC.

My Taichung knives are pretty much all perfect or close to it. Out of those, the Drunken stands out from the crowd, but the rest are very close behind.

honorable mentions:
Tighe Stick
Mamba

OG Slysz Bowie
Fluted carbon fiber Native 5
Nirvana
Para3 S90V and carbon fiber
All are perfect

archangel wrote: ↑

Tue May 18, 2021 7:05 am

Some mentioned the Slysz Bowie. It is a great knife, and feels super good in hand. I have identified two flaws though:

2) I have a feeling that the XHP blade dulls quite fast when you use it every day. It's not hard to sharpen on the Sharpmaker, but the feeling that it could use resharpening again comes quite fast. Curious if others have the same feeling...
Apart from these two flaws, the Slysz Bowie is a very capable and handsome knife. One of my favorites! It's my home EDC.

I think that's the first time I've ever seen anyone refer to the use of CTS-XHP steel as a flaw. Many think the use of XHP is a good thing. I'm one of them

I have 2 that stand out, a CF s90v Shaman because of its solid feel and loud two stage click when the lock engages, and a Knife Joy Damascus Endura 4 which had perfect centring combined the smoothest action out of the box I’ve ever experienced.

The Knifeworks PM2 CF/M4 sprint. I have no idea why these took a good while to sell. There's *no* blade play yet it's drop shut, lockup is perfect. Right out of the box that way. Holds 15dps wonderfully. The carbon fiber makes for an incredibly satisfying snappy open and close. Again, I don't know why they didn't evaporate like sprints normally do, but everybody who passed you really missed out on something special!

Best overall fit and finish quality is my standard Kapara. I have an S110V Paramilitary 2 that is also quite impressive.

Maxamet Sage 1 gets an honorable mention as well.

vivi wrote: ↑

Mon May 17, 2021 7:30 pm

The z-wear Shaman was the most beautifully finished production knife I can ever recall handling. I could find no flaw. Perfectly smooth action, zero play, no lock stick etc.

Shame the model didn't work as well for me as others, because they knocked it out of the park with the fit and finish.

This is interesting. My Z-wear Shaman came with a pretty gritty action and I had to take it apart a few times before I was happy with it. I had a hard time getting the pivot right between to tight action and blade play. Had a hard time getting the loctite to stick (my fault for not cleaning properly). Last time I took it apart I tightened the pivot a little bit harder then before and after a few days the action is perfect. But I love the model, I live with strict knife laws so my EDC-knives are small knives. So when I actually equipp myself with a knife it's so satisfying to grab the Shaman, the long handle and the thick massive blade...

My best fit and finish among Spyderco products are hands down the Lil Native. This is mostly based on the action. Its just super smooth with ZERO blade play, but when I press down on the compression lock it falls shut with no resistance at all. Have custom scales on the way and im scared to take it apart and that I will ruin the action.