Stainless steel handled Spydies

[TheGiant80]

I've been interested in knives for more than half my life, and the Spyderco bug bit me 7 or 8 years ago now. I've determined in that time the E4 platform is among my all-time favorites. I decided to stop getting caught up in high end steels I'll never be able to sharpen properly or keep rust free, or ultralight this and all-titanium that, and buy a true tank of a knife that can take an unholy beating and most likely outlive me.

I've got a stainless steel handled Endura CE in the mail. I've recently moved to what's essentially a rain forest, and I've started a small agricultural business with my wife. We have specialized tools, but a pocket knife for cutting rope, slicing plastic wrapping, scoring turf etc is still needed for day-to-day operations. We have pretty much every Salt knife Spyderco makes between the two of us, but I'm craving a bit more heft and solid feel this time.

So yeah, I'd love to hear from those who rock any of the Spyderco knives with stainless handles. Is it your EDC? Do you love it? I imagine I'll also get some flack for going with the combo edge. Haha!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks!

[Evil D]

I carry my Police on weekends a fair amount but it sees lighter use than you'd probably put it through. I like it quite a lot but I would want more traction for a dedicated user.

[TheGiant80]

I carry my Police on weekends a fair amount but it sees lighter use than you'd probably put it through. I like it quite a lot but I would want more traction for a dedicated user.

Traction is one thing I've heard conflicting stories about. I trust your input though. I'm actually considering having the scales engraved. That might assist with the grip issue.

[Wartstein]

Hey Dan, my friend!

I have a steel handled Endura and for a (though admittedly rather short) period of time it was my main EDC.

Main reason for that though was (besides getting to really test and know that "flavor" of Spyderco of course) the sabre hollow ground blade, which in certain tasks is just a great cutter and even beats ffg.
Now only the OLD SS Enduras have that hollow grind, I am afraid yours will be a newer one and offer "just" a sabre grind - imo not as good of a performer as hollow sabre.

Still: The SS Endura was (is!) a nice and unique experience.

Some more points:

- The handle is a lot slimmer / thinner than on the FRN Enduras - combined with the slick scales less stable in hand, but very slim in pocket. (Actuallly I thought of attaching one of my spare Endura FRN scales on ONE side of the SS handle to make it thicker and give it more traction. Did not do that in the end).

-.The "smoothness" of the handle, though offering little traction, is very comfortable in a way. Also, and this is not what I expected, really warm when coming right out of the pocket - the metal takes up heat much better than FRN (or G10) - so on colder days and in short (!) use it is nice to have that warm(ed up) handle in hand

- It is also cool by concept to have a knife that is completely made of metal. Still not sure if this knife has washers, but even those would be 99% metal appearently (see my question concerning this here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=91478)

- Don´t know about the newer SS Enduras, but mine has no screws at all (except for the clip screws), so not even a pivot screw - this gave me some trouble when the action got gritty cause I used the knife in the mud, it was a bit hard to clean it out (no disassembly, not loosening of the pivot screw possible) - see my thread about this here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=91551#p1589740

So, all in all I hope and think you will enjoy the knife - though, tbh, it would not be my first choice for a main outdoor folder...

[Wartstein]

I carry my Police on weekends a fair amount but it sees lighter use than you'd probably put it through. I like it quite a lot but I would want more traction for a dedicated user.

Traction is one thing I've heard conflicting stories about. I trust your input though. I'm actually considering having the scales engraved. That might assist with the grip issue.

As said in my post above: It is not only the lack of traction that makes the knife less stable in hand - besides that the handle is also very thin, which means that the knife in my experience is a bit less stable and more prone to "shift and role" in hand.
Not a major issue though in normal use.

[Wartstein]

Added to my first post: Here you can see the SS Endura in outdoor use, the kind that made the action gritty and (see my first post) was a bit harder to get smooth again than on a knife I can disassemble or that at least has a pivot screw..

[zhyla]

I went thru a SS handle phase. I like how they carry. They’re fine for urban EDC. Traction is ok for light tasks.

Honestly based on OP’s description a fixed blade makes more sense. You don’t want dirty getting up in your handle/pivot. SS and other pinned handle designs are the worst for this.

[Wartstein]

I went thru a SS handle phase. I like how they carry. They’re fine for urban EDC. Traction is ok for light tasks.

Honestly based on OP’s description a fixed blade makes more sense. You don’t want dirty getting up in your handle/pivot. SS and other pinned handle designs are the worst for this.

True... viewtopic.php?f=2&t=91551#p1589740

[Evil D]

I carry my Police on weekends a fair amount but it sees lighter use than you'd probably put it through. I like it quite a lot but I would want more traction for a dedicated user.

Traction is one thing I've heard conflicting stories about. I trust your input though. I'm actually considering having the scales engraved. That might assist with the grip issue.

A lot of it is ergonomics too. For example the old full stainless Kiwi is far less likely to slip out of your grip because the finger grooves/choils are so aggressive, same with a stainless Native or Dragonfly. For me the Police grooves never matched up and then I went and ground them off so now it's extra slippery so maybe my knife isn't a good basis of comparison.

You could go all out with engraving though, that's maybe the best part of stainless handled is the near endless potential. You could put jimping anywhere you want it and have the outside machined to give it a G10 type traction. The question in the end is how much do you really want to make it work vs starting with G10 or FRN.

[Tristan_david2001]

I love to carry the ss kopa sprint and the serrated harpy. I’ve always been very fond of spydercos old school ss handled models

[RamZar]

I have a Native II from 2000 with pinned construction and it still works great. It’s important to wash out the gunk, perhaps use an air gun if necessary and let it dry completely before closing it (I use a hair dryer to accelerate that). I’ve never oiled it. The great thing about the all stainless steel folders is that they have really thin handles.

[Wandering_About]

My first Spydie was an SS handled Delica. It worked well for me at the time, but I've come to enjoy other handle materials more. Would be interesting if there could be more of a bead blast texture (kind of like CRK titanium slabs) instead of the smooth SS that Spyderco uses, would certainly help with grip. SS is also rather heavy, compare an FRN Delica to an SS handled one. SS is 4oz, flat ground FRN is 2.3oz per website specs.

[yablanowitz]

H-1 Mariner Salt. The rustproof SS handle Spyderco knife.

[Doc Dan]

A hand held engraving tool, or a hammer and something to strike, will do a good job of stippling the top and bottom of the handle scales. That will give good traction.

[Wartstein]

Another thing I really like concerning the ss Spydies: How unique, individual and personal each piece gets over time.
Just cause each handle inevitably will develop its own, distinctive "sratch pattern" - like natural aging in a living creature, and I love that worn (in) look.

Could distinguish my SS Endura out of 1 hundred examples, just by looking at the scratches on the handle.

[RamZar]

H-1 Mariner Salt. The rustproof SS handle Spyderco knife.

Nice! That’s quite a collection of all stainless steel Spyderco folders with scratches like my Native II.

I only have three all stainless steel folders (I should take a picture one day):

• Native II AUS-10 ComboEdge (2000)
• Endura 4 VG-10 SpyderEdge (2006)
• Foundry CTS-XHP PlainEdge (2015)

[Wartstein]

H-1 Mariner Salt. The rustproof SS handle Spyderco knife.

Nice! That’s quite a collection of all stainless steel Spyderco folders with scratches like my Native II.

I only have three all stainless steel folders (I should take a picture one day):

• Native II AUS-10 ComboEdge (2000)
• Endura 4 VG-10 SpyderEdge (2006)
• Foundry CTS-XHP PlainEdge (2015)

So your Endura also has the "old" hollow grind (like mine) and not the "new" true sabre grind?

How does it cut in SE? Like an H1 Pac Salt SE?

[RamZar]

H-1 Mariner Salt. The rustproof SS handle Spyderco knife.

Nice! That’s quite a collection of all stainless steel Spyderco folders with scratches like my Native II.

I only have three all stainless steel folders (I should take a picture one day):

• Native II AUS-10 ComboEdge (2000)
• Endura 4 VG-10 SpyderEdge (2006)
• Foundry CTS-XHP PlainEdge (2015)

So your Endura also has the "old" hollow grind (like mine) and not the "new" true sabre grind?

How does it cut in SE? Like an H1 Pac Salt SE?

I haven’t looked at them in ages. Back in October 2006 I got three Endura4 folders at the same time. The SS SE is I’m sure like you said a Hollow Grind ($53). The VG-10 SE Black FRN would be Flat Saber Grind ($43). The last one was the AUS-6 Red FRN Trainer ($43). I’ll look for them this week.

[GarageBoy]

The 90s are back in style!

Always loved the look and feel, but cold in the winter, a tad heavy, and slippery. But looks so cool, feels nice and rigid

[Wartstein]

.... but cold in the winter....

Completely true of course in even just a bit longer use or when not coming right out of the pocket.

But, as said in my previous post: For just a quick cut, right after one has drawn the knife out of the pocket: In my experience the ss handle is clearly WARMER than FRN or G10, just cause the metal takes up the body tempetarure better.
Can actually be and feel nice in winter (but sure, the handle gets cold then pretty quickly).