Spyderco Forums

A 3" blade is more than enough for my needs in a folding knife. I only have four Spyderco knives:

1. Chaparral LW: my newest and current favorite carry either clipped or unclipped. Light and thin, it is disappears until I want it, and then I'm amazed at what a solid and excellent tool it becomes. In use it gives up a little in edge and ergonomics to the Sage (see below), but that is more than made up for by the way it slices and carries. With only 1/3" less edge, the Chaparral feels like less than half of a Sage 1 when folded.
2. Sage 1: feels better in hand than any knife I own, but carries a bit large/heavy for my daily needs. I tend to use it for projects and around the house. The CF scales still look like new after seven years, and I'm very happy with deployment and liner lock mechanism
3. Ladybug: I bought this to couple with a bladeless Leatherman Style PS; a surprisingly good cutter in a a small package. This combo gets a fair amount of pocket time .
4. Executive C04P late 1980s vintage; this was a gift from my brother before I knew what a Spydeerco was, it has great sentimental value but gets little use.
5. Not sure what's on deck. I am curious about Sage 5 LW, PM 3 LW, Chaparral CF, maybe a slip joint, but right now the Chaparal LW is scratching the itch pretty well.

In no particular order:

Military
Chapparal
Southard
GB1/2/Advocate
Native 5

Right off the top of my head without really thinking about it:

Police 4
Pacific Salt SE
Dragonfly
Delica
Paramilitary 2
Urban

Hard not to include the Military, but I had to include the Urban.

And now I'm thinking how could I have left out the Stretch and the GB1, lol. :D

Folders:
Manix
Autonomy 2
Caribbean
Native Chief
Endura/Pacific Salt
(Honorable mention: Delica/Salt, especially the wharnies)

Fixed:
Street Beat
Mule
Waterway
Aqua Salt
Enuff
(Honorable mention: Jumpmasters)

Collaborations and others I still want to try:
Amalgam
Smock
Swick
Ronin
Yojimbo 2
Police

All Manix 2: I specifically love my KC Carbon Fiber CRU-Wear
Kapara: It was designed for food prep and excels at it. Perfect size, love the design
Delica: It was my intro to Spyderco and to me the quintessential Spyderco model to own.
Gayle Bradley 2: Amazing slicer, love the size. Lock-up on mine has worn over time so I don't carry it as much. Still one of the best
Sliverax

This is based on what I have owned and have experience with. PM2 would be #6 but I don't like how wide they are. There are many others that are probably great but I didn't want to list something I have never owned.

I've owned many Spydercos over the years but only a few have stood the test of time to still be in my collection. Over the last 2-3 years, my tastes have changed to where virtually everything in my collection is under 85mm blade length.

Not it any particular order...

Gayle Bradley Air (an underappreciated gem but getting hard to find)
PM2/P3 in Maxamet (love the stonewash finish vs. brushed)
Lil Native
Dragonfly ZDP-189 Nishijin (if this version didn't exist I probably wouldn't own a Dragonfly)
Lil Nilakka (I wish the full-size Nilakka had the same styling)

Oh yeah, evergreen thread. Gonna go with:

1) Para 3
2) Native 5
3) Military
4) Advocate
5) Stretch 2

All but the Advocate come in a variety of steels so can provide adjustments to flavour to suit.

The best one is easy, Chaparral. Small, slim, and cuts like nobody's business. It's a knife that can and does handle 99% of what a pocketknife needs to do. At home in a suit or as a pocket knife at a campout. My personal favorite is the stealth ti model, but I will be getting a sun and moon when they are released.

The other four in no particular order.
Ladybug, keychain knife extraordinaire.
Delica, feels and cuts like a knife is supposed to.
Native, one of the oldest and best designs.
Sage series. Pick your lock, they're all great.

Grizz

Spyderco Stretch SE

Spyderco Stretch PE

Spyderco Stretch Combo

Para3 SE

Spyderco Hundred Pacer

Spyderco Military

Spyderco Pacific Salt DLC SE

Spyderco Salt DLC SE

Spyderco Jumpmaster

Spyderco Native Chief

^ That would be 10

2020 list :D
1. (Still) Hawkbill Dragonfly
2. Dragonfly Salt SE
3. ZDP-189 Dragonfly
4. SHAMAN (any)
5. Para 3 (any)
6. Bonus Knife, Fluted CF Native 5 (the highest quality knife spyderco makes imho)

Military
Caly 3.5
Stretch
DragonFly
Vallotton - actually dead dang uselful!!!
I must amend this to include the Manix 2 XL

Manix2
Sage3 *
Shaman
Para3
Police4 (G10 or FRN)

Honourable Mention -- Ulize, would love to see it made of Rex45 / 4v / CruWear / K390, w/a different colour of G10, but do not change a single thing about the knife other than G10 colour and blade steel. -- With any of these 4 steels, it would be overall my #1 Spydie of all time.

* Love pretty equally the Sage3 in CF or G10, and the Sage5 in CF or LW

ownnife wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 30, 2020 1:33 am

If yOu like the layout. Seki and Maniago product is only a half step at the back of and if a knife from either source fits your desires buy it without hesitation! On to "Taiwan" (now not Taiching) and Chinese made knives, again, they're very strong competitors of their respective market segments, do not consider them "terrible", just extra budget orientated.

Welcome to the forum! (And to be honest: I don´t fully understand your very first post in the context of this thread... )

I think I shared already my top 5 when this thread came up first, but I am sure this ranking has changed meanwhile:

1.) Endura 4 ffg (HAP 40 very closely followed by VG10. And if the FFG Endura 4 came in SE, it would be my number 1 forever I guess...
2.) Stretch 1 (discontinued) HAP40 or VG10 : Always a tight match with the Endura for number one... Tbh on many days I am not sure which one I like more...
3.) Endela SE: A bit too short edge for my main-EDC-preferences, but for me great ergos AND: That perfect serrations in the ffg blade...
4.) Chaparral FRN: If I could only have TWO knives, number 2 ALWAYS would be the Chap (together with some larger blade as Nr 1) - Absolut perfect design, does everyhing right for a small folder (blade stock, size in pocket and so on) - I still wish for a Chap XL with the same thin blade stock
5.) Pacific Salt SE: My go-to-outdoor folder. For more "urban" EDC tasks I prefer the Endela serrations, but for thougher outdoor jobs (cutting branches, rope and so on) the Pac Salt SE is hard to beat.

Large: CF Military
Small: C22 CF Walker
The rest:
Pacific Salt since it survives sailing and diving in the ocean
Kapara, very useful and gorgeous (with a liner lock it would have been perfect)
Can't decide on the last one (Chef, Bowie, CF Stretch and Techno maybe)

Sharp Guy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 30, 2020 4:52 pm

^ That would be 10

Darn things are like potato chips who can eat just 5?

Decided to post again just to see what changed from the first time without looking.

Doeswhateveraspidercan wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2020 8:21 am

Sharp Guy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 30, 2020 4:52 pm

^ That would be 10

Darn things are like potato chips who can eat just 5?

Decided to post again just to see what changed from the first time without looking.

I know that's why I don't usually participate in these threads. I like too many to pick just 5

My hands are average-sized, so my preference skews towards ~3" blades.
1. Delica / Meadowlark - Perfect size, weight, and ergonomics for EDC. This one fits juuust right. Bonus points to the Delica for its ergonomics, but it's hard to fault the Meadowlark at its price.
2. Tasman Salt - Combines the Goldilocks size of the Delica with the fantastic H1 steel & a serrated curved blade. I was unsure of the Hawkbill blade until picked the Tasman up on clearance. I'm now a 100% believer in the bill, and plan on picking up larger & smaller hawkbill blades in the future.
3. Sliverax - This is my favorite Spydie, but I recognize that it's probably not the "best" for everyone. I'm a sucker for a good flipper, and I LOVE the action on this one. I also love the blade-to-handle ratio, compression lock, deep carry clip, blade shape, and lightweight carbon-fiber scales. It was my first $100+ knife, and sold me on the value of higher-end folders.
4. Pacific Salt - I can't believe how LIGHT this big knife is. The entire Salt series is growing on me by the day.
5. Robin/ Dragonfly - A small knife that handles like a big knife. The Dragonfly is more ergonomic, but the Byrd Robin is still excellent for the cost. Being able to wrap all of my fingers around the grip of a ~2" blade makes that blade a LOT more capable than I expected.

Paramilitary 2
Para 3
Native
Tenacious
Salt

Air
Para 3
Caly 3.5
Paramilitary 2
Military

Advocate
DF2