Spyderco Forums

If you wear a large or extra large glove, what do you go for in a three inch or smaller knife?

XXL hands but normal XL fingers. Delica or smaller gets too small for my clumsy hands. I have a Chaparral and like it but I do better sticking to a Delica , better yet my Endura.

Joe

Urban, especially the K390 model if you can still find one. The grip and ergos are amazingly centered for a variety of hand sizes. I had to buy my wife one because she kept "borrowing" mine for a pairing knife.

I wear XXL. Anything around the size of a Delica or smaller tends to not work for me. Every single Spyderco I own is 4" or larger closed, except for one.

The Spin.

I rarely use knives smaller than my Tasman Salt (Delica sized). I carry a Leatherman Micra but I never use the blade, same with my small swiss army knives. But I'll carry the Spin clipless once in a while, and often open my mail with it. The deep finger grooves let me get a secure grip despite its tiny size. With the clip removed it's very flat and hard to notice in the pocket. The blade shape is ideal for a small knife IMO, with a really short blade that has lots of belly things slip off easily.



I don't carry it much these days because it's more convenient to use the Police/Millie/Pacific Salt clipped to my pocket / waistband. When I worked in an office environment with mostly middle aged women I'd carry it, because using a Police 3 to open an envelope in that setting feels a little over the top :rolleyes:

Back when I carried small knives, the Caly 3 / Caly jr / UKPK family of knives were my go to. I'd carry a Military for hard cutting tasks, and let the Caly handle most day to day stuff.

My hands are only just slightly larger than average, but for me the Dragonfly is just a little bit too small, so I prefer the Urban as the ergos are similar, but just slightly "beefier" than the DF. If the K390 Urban sprint isn't sold out yet, that would be my pick for a high-end small knife.

Chaparral, Cat, and Byrd Crow 2 are all pretty comfortable as well imo.

XL-XXL over here. Depends what I'm doing I guess...

Dragonfly2 is the smallest knife that I can use hard comfortably. What a great design. Everyone should try one IHMO.
Native5 fits my hand like it was molded for it. Pure utility and power in a lightweight package.
Chaparral is one of my favorite carries. Classy and slices like ****. Super practical knife.
Techno works surprisingly well. Meaty three finger grip.
Love all the Sages.
Caly3 is nice.

Delica never quite fit my hand right, but we've come to an understanding and I like it. Carry it quite often.
Manbug is just a little to difficult for me to use, so I never carry it even though I own three and appreciate them.
My hand hated the Positron ergos.

I really like my Native 5 g10. Fits great.
Its my very first Spyderco also.

Big hands here. Delica isn't comfortable, Urban is really nice, would love one with a lock.

Most comfortable is Southard, then PM2. PM3 is a little small for me.

For those of you who like the native 5, do you have to use the choil? Or an you get a really comfy grip without it as well?

bgoode315 wrote:For those of you who like the native 5, do you have to use the choil? Or an you get a really comfy grip without it as well?

The design makes you want to use the choil, it feels very natural. However I can hold it behind the choil comfortably when sawing or stabbing.

Ive always been really drawn to the Dragonfly design, but I never dreamed it would work for my big paws. I'm excited to try it now. And the Native 5. Thanks for the input guys.

My hands aren't wide, but they are long. I like the Delica and Dfly and never feel like I can't get a grip.

I prefer larger knives but I carry a lw Urban, Dragonfly and Lil' Nilakka quite a lot recently. I also carry the G10 Native sometimes but it can be a bit heavy.

I love my Titanium Chaparral and it goes along every day with me just because I like the design and the way it cuts so efficiently with its thin blade, but it is the only small sub-3" blade knife I will tolerate. My Manix 2 fits my hand "okay", but it is really about as small as I want to go for a working knife. I end up carrying one of my Mules most days because they just go anywhere I go.

Dave

For a small knife I like the Meerkat. The chunky handle goes a long way in big hands.

For a mid sized folder like the Native I'm a fan of ... the Native FRN :). Haven't gotten a 5 yet but probably should.

Native 5 without question. I prefer the LW models. It's the only 3" or smaller knife I carry. Had a Delica, gave it to my Dad. He loves it and he has bear paws too. Can't go wrong with either but I'm a choil type of guy. The N5 feels like it was made for me.

I can get a good grip on the N5 not using the choil but the choil is where it's at.

I like the G10 Worker for a small knife.

Best you try before you buy though. Ergos are pretty personal.

XL here and most of my small knife usage is with a C22 Walker, Techno and Copilot.

The smallest I've tried are the Ladybug and Dragonfly. I guess you could include the Kiwi/Kiwi 4 in there too. I pretty much loathe forced grip finger grooves on most knifes because they never fit the width of my fingers (Delica, Endura, etc).

Native/Dragonfly/UKPK all with choil, only just got the Alcyone which is also quite nice but haven't really carried it yet.
(I have quite big hands but more 'tall' than 'buff' big)