Spyderco Forums

Hello fellow spydercodies!

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I bought my first spyderco about 4 years ago. It was a FRN delica. After receiving it, I promptly gave away my other brand knives. I carried the Delica for 4 years, heavy use daily. I finally decided to retire it this weekend after I received some extra spending money.

Ive always liked the Dragonfly etch. I was so pleasantly surprised to see the dragonfly tattoo. So unique, it was total eye candy. I ordered one and plan on buying a few more, one to keep boxed, one for an EDC and the others to maybe give away.

My main reason for registering was to find a self defense carry. Not a sword you keep by the door, but one you carry when visiting that friend across the tracks.

I have martial arts training, so Im humbly skilled with self defense. Not being familiar with too many spydercos, the Lava caught my eye. I prefer small blades for SD, but wish the LAVA had a point.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions, and i look forward to hearing from everyone.
Jon

Just bumping this thread up. It was held in the "approval" queue over the weekend.

XingYiJonny, welcome to the Spyderco Forums.

Thank you very much!
Thought I'd share my pics.

Small?

Ronin, Street beat, Dodo? :)

Oh, how about a Yojimbo?

If you have blade training, I would go with something like a pkal, or one of mike janich's designs. Otherwise, I love the tasman salts. It really depends on how big you wanna get. If you're staying lava size it'll be a bit more tricky. Bigger, and you get into your para2, millie, and spyderhawk. Welcome to the forums!

Btw, lava has been discontinued for a while now. May be able to find one on the secondary market though. Could have someone put a regrind on one of those!

I have a pretty fair amount of CQB training... but knife fighting is for suckers, if I have to defend myself, it'll be with this.

Delica/endura for me. I'm hoping for a dragonfly soon for deep SD.

Error

Not to speak for them, but I've taken some notes from the martial artists here like Doc Snubnose and most aren't fans of knives around 2" of blade simply because they only can cut so deep (even the wharnies). Not to get gruesome but 3" seems to be much more handy unless it's one of very few self-defense tools on the market (Kabar Last Ditch Knife, Perrin LaGriffe, some Kerambits, etc). Anything is better than nothing but the smaller the tool the better (or luckier) you have to be.

For me it's just my bigger knife that gets carried daily (small in the watch pocket). This is normally something 3-3.5" of blade length like a Delica, Sage, Stretch, Superhawk, etc. Tasman PE's are great for this too and light weight.

While I wouldn't say the following is a "self defense knife" in the right hands it would be pretty dang dangerous. Namely someone who can block, check, and think with multiple limbs rather than just swing wildly (again 2" is still pretty small but at least it's legal almost anywhere!).

Brad Southard (Tricod on the forums) reground it. You can contact him by a Google search or PM here. He is a custom knife maker and I think is still doing regrinds.

Whatever I like for EDC will have to do for SDC too. I will settle for a familiair knife with a good grip and a sharp blade.
Somewhere in the percentages the size and actual design can probably make a little difference as can the clothes and the shoes you wear.

Hey everybody!

Thank you all for your responses. I think I have a better grasp on the different options and blades available from Spyderco.

One thing my teacher always told me was to be comfortable with your choice...sleep with it, practice with it, eat with it. I think Ill stick with my delica and dragonfly and practice with those.

The military/police line looks awesome too...surely will be next on my list!

Thanks again! Looking forward to my time here and learning much!
Jonny

Blerv,

What kind is that one there? I like that one alot.

Thanks!

Blerv,

What kind is that one there? I like that one alot.

Thanks!

Blerv wrote:Not to speak for them, but I've taken some notes from the martial artists here like Doc Snubnose and most aren't fans of knives around 2" of blade simply because they only can cut so deep (even the wharnies). Not to get gruesome but 3" seems to be much more handy unless it's one of very few self-defense tools on the market (Kabar Last Ditch Knife, Perrin LaGriffe, some Kerambits, etc). Anything is better than nothing but the smaller the tool the better (or luckier) you have to be.

For me it's just my bigger knife that gets carried daily (small in the watch pocket). This is normally something 3-3.5" of blade length like a Delica, Sage, Stretch, Superhawk, etc. Tasman PE's are great for this too and light weight.

While I wouldn't say the following is a "self defense knife" in the right hands it would be pretty dang dangerous. Namely someone who can block, check, and think with multiple limbs rather than just swing wildly (again 2" is still pretty small but at least it's legal almost anywhere!).

Brad Southard (Tricod on the forums) reground it. You can contact him by a Google search or PM here. He is a custom knife maker and I think is still doing regrinds.

I appreciate your advice. There are reasons for a smaller blade fo SD, which I wont get into here.

XingYiJonnY wrote:I appreciate your advice. There are reasons for a smaller blade fo SD, which I wont get into here.

Understandable :)

That is actually a Spyderco Lava. I pulled a picture into MS Paint ( :p ) and wharnied it. Brad Southard of Southard Knives did the grinding.

You wouldn't tell it's modified until it's opened. It's a MUCH more useful knife now for general tasks and the tip just keeps digging. It's like a hard-use Kiwi.


PS: On that note any knife can be modified if you have a specific use for it. Michael Janich has been grinding down Endura's to 3.5" to meet Colorado's laws. I've seen Manix2's turned into 3" stubbies. Either way you have a full-size handle with a legal blade. Just expect the warranty to suffer a bit.

Wharnecliffe's cut very aggressively per inch of length. They actually pierce very well too.

XingYiJonnY wrote:I appreciate your advice. There are reasons for a smaller blade fo SD, which I wont get into here.

If you don't mind, I would like to hear why you prefer a shorter blade for sd.

Thanks.

Donut wrote:If you don't mind, I would like to hear why you prefer a shorter blade for sd.

Thanks.

Sure!

Starting off first, my hands are small. I can manuever a smaller knife alot better.

Having a small blade you can hide is extremely valuable in a public setting.

My style focuses more on controlling and neutrilization of limbs/arms first, which is done much easier with a smaller blade.

If it ever comes to drawing it, which is of course a last resort, were talking urban settings not war. A wound with a 2" blade vs a 6" blade can make a huge difference in determining the bad guys health and more importantly my future.

A few inches will not make a huge difference imo. Your still going to be up close and personal, having reach wont be an issue, especially if my goal is disarming or stripping a weapon. Alot of people dont think about that, arms would be the first thing Id go for.
once the weapon has been neutralized, depending on the situation thats where the blade use would end.

I hope I dont sound like some sort of gungho tough guy. Please know that running is in my top choice of action =) i would avoid violence at all costs, and feel confident in my hand skills. A small blade would be all I need for my circumstances.

Cheers!

I understand the where you are coming from but think it may work better on paper than in practice.

Michael Janich has designed his curriculum around Bio-Mechanical Cutting and legal awareness which seem interesting to you. He even grinds Endura's down to Colorado legal length and makes them wharncliffes for better performance.

The topic is pretty well discussed and I'll leave it at that. Martial Arts on the Internet is like Religion and Politics at the dinner table.

Since I don't have the training or experience to sit at the grownup table I'll just throw my peas and make baby noises. :)

Lol, i agree with you!

Im sure theres plenty of guys around here who have forgotten more than I know on the subject. Thats why I didnt want to get into the specifics and start a debate. Just looking for recommendations on small blades for defense situations.

Im not a LEO or into real life testing. Ive studied chinese gong fu for about ten years, and Ive done some seminars w kali. Thats my extent of training =)

Blerv wrote:I understand the where you are coming from but think it may work better on paper than in practice.

Doesn't everything? :p