Spyderco Forums

Being a prior Military Spec. Ops. guy, I sat down and thought, IMHO, what would I want in a folding knife. This is what I came up with.

1. Inexpensive- If I lose it. No worries, break it, no problem, buy a new one for use while the old one is sent off for repair if it's coverd under warr.

2. Built tough. No nonsense design. no frills needed. FRN's good enough, don't need G-10, don't need subdued blade. Nothing fancy, just a folder doing what it does best. Cutting cords, Cutting det. cord, shaving C-4, for eating ect.. Don't need to open ammo boxes or pry other things open, I carry a fixed blade for that kind of stuff. ( I find that some knives are over rated. the title military should make it the perfect military knife is not perhaps the way it is.)

3. Blade length- I only need a blade length here of 3"-4" for what I will be doing with a folder in the field. If I need anything longer, I have my fixed blade.

4. I want a knife that feels good in my hand. That way at night, I don't have to fumble around with it in the dark, and cut myself. So, a good feel, and knowing the knife is important to me.

5. Considering all of the above and considering that this is what I would need and use in the field. After some thought. These would be the three top choices on my list.

1. Delica 4 FRN combo blade. Perfect blade length for me. Great feel for night use. The price is right. No nonsense build. works this time and everytime.

2. Endura 4 FRN combo. same as above.

3. Wal-mart Native. Price is right. feels good, and does the job.No nonsense. Lose it, go get another.

Keep in mind, all of the above is IMHO. By the way, the fixed blade I carried was the Schrade M-7, then later the Schrade extreame survival, In my opinion the most underrated survival knives. For me they worked. Full tang, decent steel, price is fantastic. does the job.

rainbow stalker wrote: shaving C-4 for eating ect..

I REALLY hope you forgot a comma there... If not you guys were REALLY tough if you are eating C-4!!! :D

By the way, agree with your assessment.

Yep. Forgot the , C-4 was to heat the meal.

Were your top three choices listed in any particular order, or was it a toss-up between them?

I recently replaced my Paramilitary with a Native I, coming to pretty much the same conclusions as you. The dead simple and 100% functional monocoque design of any pinned FRN Spydie like the Native I is just pure genius, IMHO.

I sometimes suspect that the Native I is tougher and more resistant to abuse than many of the more pricey Spydies geared towards the hard-use market. By tougher and more resistant to abuse I mean having a truck run over the knife or dropping the knife out of a moving vehicle. These were the two most common causes of an untimely death for the Victorinox jack knives issued by my country's military.

perfect order of quality from top to the bottom

I would wote for the Endura, maybe black bladed version, or the Waved. Maybe cause the bigger size its stronger than the 2 other.

My order of choice was in no particular order. My personal prefrence and first choice for me would be the delica. This is only because it feels the best in my hand, and I really don't need a blade any longer than what the delica offers. If I need a longer blade, I have my fixed blade.

I just wanted to add the following. Myself, and most of the men I served with agreed that we all wanted a folder with the least amount of moving parts or gizmos that could go wrong in the field. I had personally had problems with automatic knives ( the benchmade auto's) when dirty or wet. and also some linerlock blades also were prone to problems if dirty or wet. The more moving parts or options, the more that can go wrong, kinda like the old M-16 when I first went in. The last thing I want to do is to sit around and clean my knife so it will work. This is another reason why a lot of guy's still carry and use the buck 110. But, I have also seen as many endura's in use.

Hi rainbow stalker, as ex-military spec-ops myself but much, much older than you I'm sure, I agree with you. Delica, Endura, for sure. The others are nice but combo edge regular Delcia, Endura does it.

Just curious, how big are your hands?

I find the delica a little small for my large hands. The endura or native fit it much better.

I would vote for the native. To me the Delica and Endura have to obtuse of an edge and too short of a grind to cut that well. The blades on them are really stout though, but for just cutting, the Native works much better (just don't pry with it, the thin tip and the S30V are not a good combination to pry with).

I guess you could say my hands are Med. At least thats my glove size. The Native is a solid knife. If that is your choice, you can't go wrong.

I know you said no G-10 and they are that bit more expensive than the knives you have listed. However, if and when I end up in the field it tends to be a CE Manix that I go for. It's got that bit bigger a grip for the times it's cold/wet or you've got gloves on. The blade is that bit more substantial and has a less delicate tip without the blade appearing to be excessively long.

Here's a couple of questions for you spec-op guys (deep respect to you, by the way):

1. Several of you chose a combo edge. Why is CE better than plain or fully serrated in the field, other than the usual reasons, or is it just the usual reasons?

2. Do you need a black blade in the field, especially in an area where there are unfriendly eyes around? I'd like to send a :spyder: to someone I know who is currently in one of those unfriendly areas, and I'm wondering if he'd need a black blade or not.

I always liked the combo edges because I could slice with the flat part of the blade and saw with the serated part, and as far as a blade being black or not goes, again it's personal preference, I always felt no need for a black blade. If I needed to use the knife in a survival mode to signal aircraft, I wanted a shiney blade. I have in the past darked mine with a black magic marker if needed. If the enemy is close enough to worry about reflections, your probably to close to have your folding knife out and useing it anyway, in that situation, your mind should be focused on your men and your weapons and what the enemy is doing. I think it's great that you are sending a knife over. When I was out pounding the bush, I would have been thankful to have any knife sent to me.

(Just my two cents)

rainbow stalker wrote:I always liked the combo edges because I could slice with the flat part of the blade and saw with the serated part, and as far as a blade being black or not goes, again it's personal preference, I always felt no need for a black blade. If I needed to use the knife in a survival mode to signal aircraft, I wanted a shiney blade. I have in the past darked mine with a black magic marker if needed. If the enemy is close enough to worry about reflections, your probably to close to have your folding knife out and useing it anyway, in that situation, your mind should be focused on your men and your weapons and what the enemy is doing. I think it's great that you are sending a knife over. When I was out pounding the bush, I would have been thankful to have any knife sent to me.

(Just my two cents)

Thanks for the comments. They're all good points and I'll keep them in mind. Be lucky,
Doc

I would think the Native has less parts to fail, being that it's pinned instead of screwed together like the Endura/Delica4 is. Can you tell I really like the Native? :D

Always remember the C4 trick. That was before we got the fuel tabs. As long as you didn't try to stomp on them, or throw a rock down on it , doing it was as safe as those things can be anyway. Stomp on it and you could lose a foot though. It wasn't as dangerous as doing things like loading tanks up on the rail cars, or driving blackout drive through the trails in the blackforest at night.Joe

The Mastiff wrote:It wasn't as dangerous as doing things like loading tanks up on the rail cars, or driving blackout drive through the trails in the blackforest at night.Joe

Or having armor move up to your dug in positions......at night. :eek:

TR Graham
The Glocksmith

Oh, and I fully agree with Rainbow Stalker's choices.

TR Graham
The Glocksmith

How about chucking the Tenacious into the mix? I know that I often consider one of my three if I'm at all worried about losing a knife.

The reason I didn't list it as one of my choices was of the linerlock, I have had trouble with them in the past when in the field, and when wet and dirty. But, again thats only my choice. If you like it and trust it, carry it.