The Waterway is the latest fixed blade from Spyderco.
It is constructed out of heavily textured G10, and LC200N rust proof steel. This is my first LC200N blade, and being a huge fan of H1, I'm very excited to test it out long term.
One of the first things I noticed about this knife, is that its almost the exact same size as my favorite folding Spyderco - the Police 4. It's about 9.5" overall, with a 4.5" blade.
The knife is very comfortable to use. The slight negative angle makes it feel more natural in the hand compared to straighter designs, and the angle the hand is placed in makes it feel like an extension of my body.
The handle is VERY textured. It is extremely secure in my grip, with or without gloves on. If anything about this knife could end up dividing people, I could see it being this.
The texture is amazingly grippy for what the knife was designed for, but the texture can be a little too abrasive for certain things. If you want to carve a lot of hard wood with the Waterway, your hands would probably appreciate gloves.
If, as some people here have mentioned, you want to carry the Waterway in a defensive capacity, you'll want an undershirt (Just like with gen 2 M&P Shields). The handle texture would be a bit much rubbing on bare skin for an extended period of time. Something with a smoother texture like the Ronin 2 is better suited for that application.
It's a very interesting texture, because it really locks your hand into place better than anything I've tried, but it can be overkill if you're not using it with your hands soaked in fish blood.
Two things jumped out at me in terms of ergonomics. The complete lack of a thumb ramp means I can extend my thumb as far forward as I want, without anything getting in the way like most Spydercos. This was one feature that initially attracted me to the design.
Something I did not know until I held the Waterway is that the scales are rounded rather than being flat slabs with a texture. This more rounded shape makes the knife more comfortable to use for extended periods.
The neutral, ergonomic handle shape terminates in a prominent guard. Between the extremely grippy texture and deep forward guard, the Waterway is extremely secure in the hand. Stabbing it full force into a log in reverse grip is no issue.
As I mentioned earlier, this is my first LC200N knife. So far I am happy with how it has performed, but keep in mind any impressions I share are based off a single evening of testing.
My Waterway arrived shaving sharp. I've read that wasn't the case with some of them. There were small bits of kydex on the blade the first few times I sheathed it then drew it out, but they stopped showing up after blowing out the sheath.
The knife showed no noticeable difference in sharpness after doing a little food prep, cutting paracord, paper and cardboard, and splitting some wood for a fire.
The blade shape is wonderful. There is enough belly that the Waterway does great slicing food on a cutting board. It is light and ground thinly enough that it could fill the role of your main food prep knife in camp. The tip is very pointy and pierces nicely. The spine is very flat, which makes it work well for scraping food off a cutting board into a pot.
There is a choil, but it's not quite a full sized choil. It is large enough that you can use it for more delicate work, but I would not suggest it for your main working grip. I wouldn't call it an after thought, but it's definitely intended as a back-up grip rather than the primary.
The spine came sharp enough to make tinder with a fatwood stick, scraping thin curls off with the upper corner of the blade. It also sparked my ferro rod nicely.
As I promised, I tried some batoning with my Waterway. I sectioned off a few 2-3" wide branches with my folding saw, then split them into quarters. The knife handled this just fine, despite whacking the pretty thin tip with a good amount of force.
Lastly I would like to touch on the sheath. I forgot to take photos of it, so you'll have to wait for my video.
There are two details I like about the sheath.
First, it is taco-style, where one end is folded over. This creates a lighter, more minimal footprint than Spydercos typical pancake style sheaths. This is especially nice if you carry scout style, or clipped to the front of your belt. This is where I like carrying smaller fixed blades I'll be using frequently, since its a little easier to draw than reaching under a jacket when the knife is vertical near my hip.
The other detail I appreciate is the lip for you to push off with your thumb when drawing the knife. Many taco style sheaths omit this feature, which means you need more of a pulling motion to draw the knife. Carried scout style, this can make the sheath slide around as you draw and re-sheath the knife. Being able to push off with your thumb eliminates this potential issue.
Overall I think this is a perfectly executed sheath. I would not change a single detail if I had made this with my own kydex. Hats off to Spyderco for nailing it.
I'm not much of a fisherman, but I'm sure the Waterway would fill its design purpose with aplomb. I will try to test the Waterway out on some fish sometime this Spring, but unlike the knifes designer, I'm a complete novice :o
https://youtu.be/gT_mmsW_jo8
If you have any questions I can answer, feel free to ask!
