Spyderco Persistence

[Wanderer]

I am trying to find out what the general feel and opinion is on the Tenacious and Persistance models. If you have a view please share.

[THG]

People love them. My friend has one. It's a tough knife for the money, and the quality makes it seem like a much more expensive knife. I wish they'd start putting out a Japanese or US version with better steel.

[SaturnNyne]

Persistence is a great knife for the money.

Here's a thread discussing how impressive it is:
http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41380

A little more praise for it:
http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41267

And here are my initial impressions (including a concern that proved unwarranted):
http://spyderco.com/forums/showpost.php ... stcount=68

There are initial impressions from various others towards the end of that last thread too. Hope that helps.

[kankryb]

I have used Tenacious for work and found it holds up great.For the price you won´t get a better knife than this.

[Billy]

I own both and would highly recommend both. F&F are far beyond the price point and I find the steel to be a good choice for most EDC tasks. It holds an edge reasonably well and is easy to re-sharpen to hair-splitting levels.

Nice knives to have as backups for tasks you wouldn't want to use your higher-end knives for.

[addylo]

I also own both and love 'em. The Tenacious was my first Spydie and got me hooked on the brand. I couldn't believe how sharp it came right out of the box. I bought the Persistence next and between the two it became my regular EDC (until I bought my next "favorite"). I loved the heft of the Tenacious but the Persistence made a better EDC for me just because of the slight size difference. It's simply less noticeable in my pocket.

Here's a side-by-side comparison.

Tenacious:
7 3/4" - length overall
4 7/16" - length closed
3 3/8" - blade length
4 oz. - weight

Persistence:
6 13/16" - length overall
4 1/8" - length closed
2 3/4" - blade length
3.3 oz. - weight

Both knives are a good value for the money. I agree that either would make a great backup for when you don't want to use your more expensive knives.

[The Deacon]

Steel and G-10 are both a notch down from what's used on other Spyderco models, but the build quality is extremely good, they're sturdy, and the designs are excellent. As has been said, they offer great value for their price.

[Jay_Ev]

Either knife is a great value. The Tenacious is offered in all (3) edge types - plain, serrated and combo whereas the Persistence is not. You can't go wrong either way, in my opinion.

[JaM]

EDC-ed a Tenacious for over a year now I think. Used it for lots of different things (scraping paint/wall filler, cutting wood, foodpred, stripping wires, etc. etc.) and it still holds up fine.
Easy to resharpen, fit&finish are good.

That being said, I'd love to have one in a better steel, S30V or VG-10 for example. Because if it had an even better steel it'd be even be better.
And I would want it with a black clip.

[psychophipps]

My Tenacious is an excellent knife for the cost. The G10 is grippy, the blade locks up tight, and the weight isn't too much for the size. These knives seem to be some of the best bang ----> buck blades Spyderco makes.

Now if we could just get Spyderco to make a trainer for them...

[iwolf81]

I think the Tenacious does offer a lot of bang for the buck. It's definitely sharp - it drew blood on the first opening. I did need to lubricate it, adjust the pivot pin tension, and open/close it a few dozen times to "break it in." With that being said, it does not have the smoothness or solid feel as my Khukuri or D2 Para, however, I didn't expect it to for its price. If you only have $35 to spend on a knife, you can't go wrong. I keep my Tenacious in my toolbox for the dirtiest of chores.

Regards,
Ira

[Aimless]

I've found the Tenacious dulls quicker than some other steels, but it is also easy to sharpen

[Chopping Broccoli]

My first Spydercos (after my long several year gap from owning a Spyderco) was the Tenacious and the Captain. When they arrived and I compared them side by side I was disappointed with the Tenacious. It felt cheap next to the Captain. The G10 as noted earlier is of a lower quality than most Spyderco's. The level of finish was not as good either. The sanded out area for your thumb rest near the Spyder hole was rough and felt unfinished compared to the finish on the Captain. I ended up sending my Tenacious back and upgrading to a ZDP Endura.

You get what you pay for. There is a reason those models are priced at $30. Most people feel they are great knives at a great price. I can't argue about that, the price is good for a Spyderco. Just about anything that has the Spyder on it is good quality but I would personally rather spend an extra $20-30 and get a higher quality Spyderco knife. Just my .02

-Eric

[addylo]

Apples and oranges. Comparing a $35 knife to a $100+ knife I would never expect the same quality.

[[digidude]]

The first time I handled a Tenacious I had no idea it was supposed to be a budget knife, I couldn't figure out why it was cheaper than all the other spyders in the display case.