Spyderco Forums

Just got this in the mail today, and WOW. I am not quite sure how I’ve gone this long without this beautiful knife. I’m surprised you don’t hear to much about this thing. Some might think it’s a little heavy for a backpacking knife, but I think it’s just perfect. Yes it is a little heavier then I wanted but it won’t stop me from using it. It feels my hand way better then the Junction, I really wanted to like that packer. I am confident it will do all the small to heavy chores I will ever need it to do.

I can’t wait to get out to the woods now and give it a good break in. Here are a couple pictures for now, Taichung and Spyderco/Gayle Bradley sure know how to make a knife. It is simply stunning, and feels great in the hand. The bolatron sheeth also feels great and the retention is fantastic. Thanks for making such a beautiful tool Sal.

Lovely! I think you have the best fixed blade going. I’m a bit prejudiced having spent many of my early years near Weatherford (played high school football against them which, in Texas is a big deal) where Mr Bradley lives. The Bowie shaped blade has been around for almost 180 years for a reason. Congratulations on a superb knife. Let us know how it does in the Bush.

Yeah, thanks a big mob Murph … why couldn’t you have said you hated it? :p

I’ve been dancing around the Junction for a while, the Waterway will be mine soon enough, I’ll definitely buy the Ankerson Bowie, I want Mr Glesser’s Respect Bowie, I’m not far off hittng the Buy Button on the Jade HAP40 Lum and you come along and post this complete with pictures. :rolleyes:

Wonderfull knife,congrats!Now you need its little brother,the Junction.

The Bradley Bowie is a well thought out design. A solid knife that feels right. Mine is a all around big game hunting knife.

This one is awesome for sure, but a Junction with a contoured handle would be the best of both worlds IMO.

I would of had the Junction if the handle wasn’t so skinny and if it was contoured like the Bowie. The blade length and blade stock is perfect and it should make a great slicer. It just didn’t feel right in my hand unfortunately.

I have used mine a lot and it does a great job as an all arounder even though I consider it more of a fighter or a tactical fixed. I do think it is one of the best looking fixed blades Spyderco has ever done. Certainly is stunning in person.

I have had mine for about two and half years and I have used it a ton. For me it is not quite perfect (I still haven't found the perfect fixed blade) and I would change a couple of things but it is a beautiful knife. It is a great all purpose knife. To me it is a great hunting/survival knife. It is based off of a custom called the Elk Skinner so that should tell you what the main design philosophy is. It is a great knife for back country hunts where you are camping as well and where you want a knife that could take any abuse you may need to throw at it in a survival situation.

Great pictures Darby as always!

Thanks brother! I like knives and I enjoy taking pictures of them and sharing them. If you guys didn’t like pics of knives there wouldn’t be much point to doing it so thanks for appreciating them. :)

I hear ya. I just got to find some time to get out to the woods now! It will happen soon.

Nice Pics Darby!

Is that a Spec Ops Sheath?

Besides adding some jimping on the spine, be interested to hear how you would make this knife perfect.
Thanks,
-C

It is a spare sheath I had for a Kabar Short Becker. It came with the BK15/16/17. It is just an average nylon sheath. The pocket holds a Delica or Native well. When i do not have a knife in the pocket it also can hold a Falkniven DC4. The sheath is cheap but works well for me and fits the knife very well. I do not like to have knives ride too high on the hip. I am pretty thin ( 6 foot tall and 155 pounds ) and even though I don't have much for love handles I still find knives that ride too high to poke me in the side. That pretty much includes every Spyderco with a Boltaron sheath and G-clip.I wish they would sell a nylon drop loop to replace the G-clip for those of us who like low ride sheaths. I keep meaning to make one out of an old nylon belt. It is on the to-do list and I'll get to it eventually.

What would I change? Besides a leather sheath? :) These are all subjective though and mostly just my preferences and opinions.

I wish the tip wasn't so upswept and that the belly was more spread out.

I wish the plunge line was closer to the handle. I don't get choils on most fixed blades. Folks say they are there so you can choke up on it. If the edge just came all the way to the handle then you wouldn't need to choke up. The choil is a solution to a problem that is created by the choil itself. Just my opinion though. :)

It has no distal taper so the tip is quite robust. This is not a fault but for my uses the tip could be a little more acute. The tip is well suited to some light drilling and prying though. Most of the Spydie fixed blades I have have very acute tips though so it is nice to have one that is more robust.


Overall it is great looking, well built and very functional. PSF27 seems terrific to me. The edge I can get on it is very aggressive. I am not sure why but I can get a very sticky edge with it. I would like to see more of it. I can only think of one thing holding this knife back and that is the price. It ain't cheap but hey, you got to pay to play, right?

Thanks for your opinion / preferences. All good points. I agree just by looking at it, more edge to be found going to the handle.

Maybe we can get a Bradley / Bearfacedkiller colab going?
--C

Ha! Mr. Bradley has probably forgotten more about knives than I know. Not sure what he would get from me. :D It sure would be cool to meet him though. I do have an idea of what my perfect fixed blade would be and I am gonna commission a custom here at some point. That also is on my ever growing to-do list. :o

I got one when it first came out, largely because I love the way it looks and it generally has the right size to be a one-knife option.

F/F was great out of Taichung as usual. That swedge clip is very beautifully executed and adds even more robustness to the tip/taper. The handle is very comfortable, if a bit smooth; the shape helps.

Nitpicks:
- Not anything against this specific knife, but whatever I was doing, I'd think, hm, this would probably be more effective with something bigger, or smaller.
- It's a looottttt of belly for a general fixed blade; probably useful for skinning, but that's not my thing; it's technically a Bowie, so this is really just my issue and not the knife's.
- It's very thick behind the edge out of the box: great for hacking (very slowly and wastefully) and batonning (smallish branches), but this isn't going to flex or break on heavy use against non-stone natural materials. I ended up thinning and lightly convexing the edge to get some more sliciness out of it.
- The Boltaron sheath is well made, but the ride is high and the pancake build is a disservice to the knife's design and lines. I might try my hand at making a leather one.

Could someone please post a pic showing the spine, possibly comparing it to a Southfork? :)

Bloke wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:10 pm

Could someone please post a pic showing the spine, possibly comparing it to a Southfork? :)

Here’s the best I could do Bloke, sorry I don’t have a Southfork.

Thanks heaps Josh! :cool:

I was a little surprised when Darby said the blade wasn’t ground with a distal taper. It obviously doesn’t matter and I can’t help thinking I’ll have one of my own soon enough. :rolleyes:

Thanks again! :)