pocket scalpels, what are yours?

[dbcad]

I had to mention these little big knives because they generally do most of the work. I'll give a brief overview from right to left.

Michael Walker CF. Mine is on of the ones with some CF chipping and lousy counterbores, but still it is a beautiful knife, blade is perfectly centered, action is beautiful :) I'm not a fan of the smooth CF scales and had some thoughts of selling it, but when I took it out again and felt it with the super sharp hollow ground ZDP I decided to hang on to it. It is a pocket scalpel :eek:

Dragonfly2 ZDP. The only :spyder: knife that came to me with a banged up edge out of the 40 or so that I've bought and sold over time. Thinking it was a return?? Reprofiled to somewhere around 30 deg and now it is probably one of the sharpest of the 4. Very light and ergonomic and can be tucked just about anywhere. It is a another true pocket scalpel and love having it on me everyday. Great materials in a small and relatively inexpensive package

Urban. I love this knife too :D That it's a slipjoint makes it very convenient. The springs a reassuringly tight and extremely easy to use. The choils for the grip make it feel safe and very controllable. I've been carrying this one for many months just about everyday. I love the solidity with the thickish blade and having it as sharp as the D'fly classify it as another pocket scalpel.

Balance CF. If you have a close quarters tough job this is the knife to do it :D It's almost as sharp as the D'Fly even with the 40 deg mocrobevel I put on it. When you get that 3 finger grip with the pinky backing it feels very secure and safe. It's been used to open a few tough clamshell packs and boxes and I have to say it feels like it was made to do it. It was a little expensive for a 1" blade, but It's most likely the toughest knife of the lot. Very thick blade blade and liners with beautiful craftsmanship. It inspires confidence.

My short impressions are incomplete, but I can't sit here and type all night. These knives handle most of the load even though there's always Manix2, or PPT, or Large Lum alongside. The Balance, D'Fly and Urban are carried every day with a larger folder alongside. I know I'm a knife nut :o

What are your pocket scalpels???

[DeathBySnooSnoo]

On the days where I have to carry just something really tiny, the MW comes with me. I love mine and even picked up the blue almite vg-10 version.

[VashHash]

As far as small knives id say the spin and the dfly tattoo. Pretty much all my knives are sharp enough for surgery though.

[SpydieZ]

I'd have to say the g10 dfly which came with a very unimpressive edge from the factory but now it's the sharpest knife I own!! Actually same with my newly aquired cat!

[Stuart Ackerman]

Ladybug...ZDP189...

[gunnut35]

Spin, Kiwi, and Dragonfly2
And i always have a couple of ladybugs on me.

[The Mentaculous]

All of mine have been mentioned already--Urban (wharncliffe) and G-10 Dragonfly mostly, and Walker CF and Kopa on special occasions. Also my little Ladybug Salt does a lot of big jobs--today it opened up a clam pack that contained a new electric razor.

Can't wait for the Chaparral, it looks like a definite scalpel, with its 2mm FFG blade stock and nice tip.

[Pneumothorax]

Spin, Dragonfly, Kopa, Navigator, Cat - They're all great!

Oh, almost forgot my Balance = the little guy opened up 20+ cardboard boxes today. Need to give him a little tune up on the sharpmaker.

[The Deacon]

Kiwi, especially the one I had Tom Krein full flat grind for me, and the Chaparral.

[wongKI]

UKPK, orange. New little guy :)

[JD Spydo]

My "Pocket Scalpel" will always be my original Burgundy FRN handled, ZDP-189 Caly Jr. I've had it since mid 2005 when it was first released. I still EDC about half the time.

My good buddy has a Kopa model with VG10 that he has me sharpen for him frequently. That knife to me cuts like a scalpel.

The only other Spyder I have that I have referred to as a scalpel is the plain edged blade on my big Dyad. When you get that one sharpened it goes through raw meat like a laser :eek:

[BAL]

ladybug...zdp189...

+1

[jackknifeh]

I had to mention these little big knives because they generally do most of the work. I'll give a brief overview from right to left.

Michael Walker CF. Mine is on of the ones with some CF chipping and lousy counterbores, but still it is a beautiful knife, blade is perfectly centered, action is beautiful :) I'm not a fan of the smooth CF scales and had some thoughts of selling it, but when I took it out again and felt it with the super sharp hollow ground ZDP I decided to hang on to it. It is a pocket scalpel :eek:

What are your pocket scalpels???

On the days where I have to carry just something really tiny, the MW comes with me. I love mine and even picked up the blue almite vg-10 version.

I have a MW also, the same one you have dbcad and even though I've never considered selling it I don't carry it often and sometimes almost forget I have it. But whan I pick it up I'm overwhelmed at how solid this knife feels. I only bought it because I wanted a ZDP-189 blade and it was my first. It has to be the knife I love most compared to how I thought I would feel about it when I ordered it. I mean the knife as a whole. I did think about throwing it away because it was the knife I struggled with when learning to sharpen ZDP. :eek: :eek: :eek: It's the smallest knife I have (except a bug). The next largest is the Delica 4. I carry a Delica 4/ZDP and Manix2/M4 as EDC. If I still wore nicer clothes for work I'd carry the MW and if I needed a nicer looking bigger knife I'd get the Gayle Bradley. I think they would make a nice "pair" of knives.

Jack

[Blue72]

To me a pocket scalpel would be a small knife that is sharp like a scalpel

Even though the dragonfly is a great knife and can be sharp, it is still thick behind the edge. The spyderco Lava and the Al Mar Hawk fit the definition of a pocket scalpel much better for me. They are thin behind the edge and will out slice many that are mentioned above

[bh49]

I like slicers, but found 3.5"long blades most universal. The closest to scalpel is my Caly3.5 with blade thickness behind the edge about .016".

[rodloos]

To me, scalpel-sharp means being able to slice the thinnest sliver of shavings from wood whittling, as well as slicing thin strips from paper. My sharpest little folders I think would be my Michael Walker CF, and Dragonfly ZDP-189.

My best fixed-blade slicer is my Bill Moran. Absolutely effortless slicing.

Of course, *nearly* all of my Spyderco's come so very sharp that it is pretty hard to start ranking them.

[224477]

Caly Jr. FRN grey sprint and ZDP189 blue Stretch, I would rate these two as sharpest, Stretch is leading.

[gull wing]

Calypso Jr, the Gray VG10 or Black ZDP189.

[dmon]

Ladybug...ZDP189...

+1
carried along larger folder, mainly PM1, PM2 or D'Fly SS.

[.357 mag]

I have an older ATS-55 mini dyad that is very sharp but the wife carries it in her purse. I carry my delica ZDP that I've thinned the edge down to 9 degrees and put a 15 micro bevel on it.