An ode to the death of H1

[JoviAl]

When I first joined this forum what seems like an age ago (but can’t be more than a year) I remember reading positive comments about H1 on David’s SE thread and thinking to myself “but why choose H1 over Magnacut or LC200?”. Well after months and months of solid daily use I now have come full circle and will be sad to see the back of H1 - what a great steel for rough use! So tough yet so easy to resharpen. I have found myself carrying my innocuous little SE Salt Dragonfly almost constantly, even though I have similar sized knives many times the price that sport all the modern super-steel permutations.

I have high hopes for H2 and am much (much much much!) less inclined to believe any of the negative hype about certain steels now without thoroughly trying them myself.

[Doc Dan]

H2 will be just as good, I believe. No worries at all. I think they call it H2 because the maker of H1 has that name already and no longer makes it. I believe it is the same stuff, or close enough to it, just a different maker.

[JoviAl]

H2 will be just as good, I believe. No worries at all. I think they call it H2 because the maker of H1 has that name already and no longer makes it. I believe it is the same stuff, or close enough to it, just a different maker.

That’s a relief - I have become rather fond of the stuff. I’ve even picked up a little SE Salt ladybug that stays in my bag/pocket at weekends and gets countless outings a day for all those little odd jobs.

[sal]

Hi AI,

We generally don't leave our customers in a lurch.

sal

[JoviAl]

Hi AI,

We generally don't leave our customers in a lurch.

sal

One of the many reasons we hold Spyderco in such high regard I look forward to enjoying something in H2 when the opportunity presents itself. H1 has turned out to be like a loyal Labrador of a steel - easy going, low maintenance and a pleasure to have around.

[elena86]

Hi AI,

We generally don't leave our customers in a lurch.

sal

One of the many reasons we hold Spyderco in such high regard I look forward to enjoying something in H2 when the opportunity presents itself. H1 has turned out to be like a loyal Labrador of a steel - easy going, low maintenance and a pleasure to have around.

You’re right. H1 is such an awesome alloy( I don’t think it qualifies as a steel). It performs well enough in plain edge for the average user and outperforms many other steels in spyderedge. Super easy to sharpen, maintainence free and tough as nails. The fact that H1 blades are hollow ground is a bonus for me. I am not concerned with H2 since I purchased enough spydies in H1 to last me for the rest of my life and some.

[Traditional.Sharpening]

Just bought a plain edge Pacific Salt 2 in H1 yesterday, didn't see that one coming but came across a great deal at almost 50% off retail -- brand new -- so I'll now be getting to see for myself. Tough steels that are easy to grind are a favorite of mine, I don't generally get too excited about the high carbide stuff.

First order of business will be to give it a regrind and remove the hollow grind, planning to flatten out that bevel and possibly do a bit of a blended convex to zero. I'm not a big fan of hollow grinds in general but it will make it easier actually to do the regrind as there's less material to remove in general.

[JoviAl]

Just bought a plain edge Pacific Salt 2 in H1 yesterday, didn't see that one coming but came across a great deal at almost 50% off retail -- brand new -- so I'll now be getting to see for myself. Tough steels that are easy to grind are a favorite of mine, I don't generally get too excited about the high carbide stuff.

First order of business will be to give it a regrind and remove the hollow grind, planning to flatten out that bevel and possibly do a bit of a blended convex to zero. I'm not a big fan of hollow grinds in general but it will make it easier actually to do the regrind as there's less material to remove in general.

Wow, that’s a great deal! I’d be keen to see the end result of your labours once you are done with the regrind.

[ladybug93]

the hollow grind on the h1 salts is one of the best things about them for me. that robust, maintenance-free blade is what makes them scream to be used and not babied.

[JoviAl]

the hollow grind on the h1 salts is one of the best things about them for me. that robust, maintenance-free blade is what makes them scream to be used and not babied.

I wholeheartedly agree! I love a hollow grind anyway, but stick an SE edge on one in a tough steel (ok, alloy ) and all of a sudden you end up with a dragonfly that thinks it’s a Husqvarna 372XP.

[tangent]

I couldn’t find my kitchen shears the other day and needed to remove the backbone of a turkey so that I could cook it spatchcocked. No worries… grabbed my serrated PAC SALT (H1) and zipped right through both sides of the backbone in no time at all. I love the Spyderco PAC SALT (in both plain edge LC200N and H1 serrated). But the H1 serrated is special… it is my ‘go to’ hard use folder. When something tough needs to be cut (and quickly), there is no question about what knife to grab. I’ve said it many times, but for me the PAC SALT is the absolute best, no nonsense knife that Spyderco makes. I love it and have several.

Looking to pick up an H2 version soon. I have full confidence that it will be just as good.

[jordanix1871]

I’ve said it many times, but for me the PAC SALT is the absolute best, no nonsense knife that Spyderco makes. I love it and have several.

The Pacific Salt 2 (PE) in LC200N was my first Spyderco (not including 2 Byrds).

It was a significant purchase for me that I spent days agonizing over which knife I'd buy first. I was making the purchase as if I'd only ever get to pick up one decent knife in my life, so I wanted to make it count. Flirted with getting an Endela for a fair bit, watching reviews and videos. Then spent way too much time debating the Siren, like a lot. Even when I finally ordered the Pac Salt I was on the fence of whether I should have gone Siren or not. Anyways I love my green handled Pacific 2, and I stand by the decision that if I could only have one great knife, I think it'd be a perfect candidate for it.

Epilogue: next week I'll be getting an Endela and a Siren. Back on Thanksgiving 2022 BladeHQ had a combo deal on the pair of them, and well Santa is finally stopping by next week :)

[SchoonerBum]

My H2 Atlantic Salt is every bit as good as my H1 version. The only difference I've seen so far is the name of the steel stamped on the blade. It sounds like some folks on the forum got a little skittish after reading Larrin's article about H2, but as I read it he was just asking some reasonable scientific questions, not saying that H2 would be a bad steel.

I've been quite impressed with Spyderco's integrity - they took the time to get Magnacut really dialed in before putting it out when they could have probably made a lot of money pumping out less than perfect blades much sooner. I can't imagine that a company willing to do that would put out H2 without being equally thorough about testing it. It will be interesting to see if anyone finds any noticeable differences between H1 and H2 - in my experience so far I can't tell them apart in use.

I'm sad to see H1 go as it was the reason I found Spyderco in the first place, but I'm equally excited that we have a very nearly functionally identical replacement in H2.

Sal, thanks for looking after the sailors, mariners, and other saltwater dwellers. We deeply appreciate it.

[ladybug93]

My H2 Atlantic Salt is every bit as good as my H1 version. The only difference I've seen so far is the name of the steel stamped on the blade. It sounds like some folks on the forum got a little skittish after reading Larrin's article about H2, but as I read it he was just asking some reasonable scientific questions, not saying that H2 would be a bad steel.

that's good to hear. i am one of the skeptical ones as a lover of h1. it's what brought me back to spyderco as well. my pac salt is my most carried pocket knife, even though the manix is my favorite model.

I've been quite impressed with Spyderco's integrity - they took the time to get Magnacut really dialed in before putting it out when they could have probably made a lot of money pumping out less than perfect blades much sooner. I can't imagine that a company willing to do that would put out H2 without being equally thorough about testing it. It will be interesting to see if anyone finds any noticeable differences between H1 and H2 - in my experience so far I can't tell them apart in use.

do we really know that's the reason? are we to assume all the other companies that have been pumping magnacut out don't care about proper heat treatment or their customers? i have a hard time believing that and it seems it would be really bad for everyone involved to have magnacut make its debut in a bunch of garbage knives that only hurt the steel's reputation. is this really an integrity move, or is spyderco just bogged down with production of other knives and building a bigger facility to the point that they are much slower to the market with magnacut? (that's not to say they don't have integrity... i'm just questioning if that's really the motive here.) and there was lots of reason to be skeptical of h2. it was announced with very little real information. whoever wrote that marketing was perhaps trying too hard to be vague and didn't instill much hope of what we should expect with the new steel. with the fan base h1 has, it would've been nice to see some testing by users on the forum to compare the two leading up to the switch, but instead, the whole thing looked like spyderco was caught off guard by the h1 discontinuation almost as much as we were.

[tangent]

Regarding the release of MagnaCut by Spyderco one has to remember that they were dialing it in as a 'Salt' knife. It's somewhat likely they could have released it sooner in standard models, but I'll bet they wanted to know it's full potential as a Salt blade and then go from there in terms of planning the release of MagnaCut. (I could be totally wrong as this is all my own speculation!)

[JoviAl]

I wonder if we will see a salt Shaman at any point? I’ve just received my first Shaman in the post (a 15V one, which I’m thrilled with!) and the second thing I thought (after “oooh! This is NICE!”) is this would make a fantastic salt knife for canoe/kayaking trips where you want something that will do general water work and camp ground duties. If H2 is as easy to sharpen and tough as H1 I would love a H2 salt Shaman!

[Traditional.Sharpening]

Just bought a plain edge Pacific Salt 2 in H1 yesterday, didn't see that one coming but came across a great deal at almost 50% off retail -- brand new -- so I'll now be getting to see for myself. Tough steels that are easy to grind are a favorite of mine, I don't generally get too excited about the high carbide stuff.

First order of business will be to give it a regrind and remove the hollow grind, planning to flatten out that bevel and possibly do a bit of a blended convex to zero. I'm not a big fan of hollow grinds in general but it will make it easier actually to do the regrind as there's less material to remove in general.

Wow, that’s a great deal! I’d be keen to see the end result of your labours once you are done with the regrind.

This has been my main method of deciding what to buy lately when it comes to Spyderco. I just look for deals that are absurd as online retailers seem to get overstocked at times and have trouble moving things. I can usually find stuff somewhere around 40-50% off retail. That way if I don't like the knife (happens often enough whether it's a model I think I'll love or not) then I don't really lose in the end on resale assuming the knife is in good shape or like new. If I end up liking it, then it gets reprofiled to lower angle at the very least and reground if needed.

[Traditional.Sharpening]

the hollow grind on the h1 salts is one of the best things about them for me. that robust, maintenance-free blade is what makes them scream to be used and not babied.

Why do you feel the hollow grind makes them the best?

[JoviAl]

the hollow grind on the h1 salts is one of the best things about them for me. that robust, maintenance-free blade is what makes them scream to be used and not babied.

Why do you feel the hollow grind makes them the best?

The hollow grind on them is one of my favourite facets of that model - cuts very well but still has plenty of material higher up the blade for robustness. The hollow grind makes rattling out feather sticks effortless too, which is something I do a lot for work.

[ladybug93]

the hollow grind on the h1 salts is one of the best things about them for me. that robust, maintenance-free blade is what makes them scream to be used and not babied.

Why do you feel the hollow grind makes them the best?

i'm not saying the knife is best because of the hollow grind. i'm saying the hollow grind is one of my favorite things about the h1 salts. i know hollow grinds have been in and out of vogue, but i've found them to be better for many edc tasks. side by side, my pac salt goes through boxes easier than my manix. the manix even heats up from the friction created by constant, full contact and the pacific salt does not.
if you're more likely to be slicing food for your edc tasks, full flat might be better, but hollow grind cuts everything just fine (for my tastes) and some things better than ffg.
i guess you have to determine if ffg is better for what you cut most often and does an acceptable job at things you cut less often, or the other way around. and don't forget to factor in the blade being thicker down the full length of the spine. sometimes that's great and sometimes it isn't. honestly, these are all reasons i typically carry both a manix and a se h1 pac salt. and i also carry a utility knife as well, because it's far superior with boxes than any pocket knife, and there's just some things i don't want to use my spydercos for, even if they're capable.