Spyderco Bow River

[engine]

I am planning to buy a Spyderco fixed blade - Bow Rive. I've never seen it live, so I don't know if it will meet my expectations.
I looked at some videos and reviews, someone claims that it is too small for an adult. This surprises me because the length of the blade is not short. So I want to hear some of your impressions, not from the internet.
As for use, I'm not demanding, I have a lot of knives so I won't use it too much, it's important to me that it's aesthetically pleasing, that it has a good finish, that it's made by Spyderco. I see that the steel is Chinese entry level, but I assume that Spayderko would not allow themselves to use bad materials.

[Ngati Pom]

I got one for my son. He uses it for processing rabbits.
I liked it so much I got one for myself….
The Bow river is a full sized Phil Wilson design. The steel is perfectly adequate for my day to day use.
Get one, you will not be disappointed.

[jmj3esq]

For the price you can hardly beat it. I use mine in the kitchen.

[engine]

What about quality?

[Traditional.Sharpening]

It's interesting to hear arguments against the design as the biggest thing I'd expect to hear negative about it would be the choice of steel.... ie. "if only it were made w/ _____ steel". The steel itself is not going to be the best or worst at anything but it is a very solid value steel with a good heat treat and it has a lower carbide volume (which can be good depending on how you sharpen and use the knife).

The knife itself I cannot say will suit you but luckily it is very inexpensive, I'd expect you will be happy with it for the money in most every way as the value it provides appears quite strong. For me what puts me off is the way the ricasso/choil area is designed and I'm not sure what thought process caused the design to end up like that but it doesn't look right/good to me. I don't mind the blade coming down like that on a kitchen knife but something I'd use in the field is another story.

[Gtscotty]

I've always thought that would be a good design to offer a sprint with better steel in. S35VN like the tenacious for twice the price of the 8cr version would be compelling.

[Traditional.Sharpening]

I've always thought that would be a good design to offer a sprint with better steel in. S35VN like the tenacious for twice the price of the 8cr version would be compelling.

What do you find lacking with the 8CR13MOV steel that would make the S35VN a better choice?? There are no better steels unless you can identify where the edge is failing and determine that a change in the material itself would reduce that tendency.

[zhyla]

It’s a great knife. I have large hands and it fits just fine. I think some people just misunderstand what this knife is. It’s a small outdoorsy slicer. It is not a hard use camp knife. Very thin.

It also works well as a paring knife. I kind of roll my eyes at people using folders in the kitchen but this actually works great on a cutting board.

The quality is fine. On mine at least you can detect some asymmetry in the scales if you look really hard. You’d think these would be CNC produced but I guess they are making these at least partly by hand.

The steel is FINE.

The sheath is the only weak point for me. It works, it’s well made, but I ended up making a kydex sheath that i could strap to my backpack.

[vivi]

I've got bigger hands than everyone here except for thegiant, I believe.

Bow River is big enough for my XL-XXL hands.

My only complaint is they should sharpen the entire cutting edge.

Other than that it's a fantastic value and a great design. Spyderco does a good job heat treating their 8Cr.

[spydergoat]

It's an affordable outdoor knife that would be at home fishing, camping, making food, or whatever you need that isn't too abusive on the pointy tip. I like the sheath which is made by a leather company in Spain. The trailing point is nice looking and makes for a tip that is very acute. It has a full tang and the g10 handle is attractive, very smooth and comfy. There is no kind of choil or guard so be aware this is not a good knife to thrust into stuff. It is sized for an adult- whoever said that it is too small maybe has some interesting standards. I wouldn't compare this to large survival knives or choppers, it's not that kind of thing. It's a refined knife for the price which I don't think you could regret buying.

[bdblue]

I am planning to buy a Spyderco fixed blade - Bow Rive. I've never seen it live, so I don't know if it will meet my expectations.
I looked at some videos and reviews, someone claims that it is too small for an adult.

If you could find dimensions such as handle length you could compare it with other knives you have. I haven't seen one either and in fact back when I wanted to buy one I couldn't find one anywhere. Are they actually available now? I got the impression that it was a medium sized knife, not too big and not too small. I have had the experience in the past of buying a knife sight unseen and it turns out to be smaller than expected so I've learned to do more research first.

[Coastal]

Maybe Spyderco's top bargain. I have no problem with the steel. I use several of Spyderco's 8Cr budget knives and they're all fine performers. Like a couple of other posters, I don't understand the rationale for the choil-like cutout. I prefer a blade to either flow directly into the lower contour of the handle, or to have a small guard, or to have a clear-cut choil. This almost mimics a kitchen knife, but not quite. Wasted blade.

That said, to me the Bow river is an attractive and practical knife. My only real gripe, and it's a small one, is the design of the handle. It's comfortable and big enough, but to me it feels roundish in cross section. I like more of a slab-sided feel or, if it's contoured, I want it to be a little more contoured, similar to the Halpern Mule Team scales.

[Danke]

Either Blade HQ needs to do a M4/Green G10 or DLT needs to do a Cruwear/Red G10 and everyone will be happy.

[Gtscotty]

I've always thought that would be a good design to offer a sprint with better steel in. S35VN like the tenacious for twice the price of the 8cr version would be compelling.

What do you find lacking with the 8CR13MOV steel that would make the S35VN a better choice?? There are no better steels unless you can identify where the edge is failing and determine that a change in the material itself would reduce that tendency.

Lol, I've had and used my fair share of 8Cr, in my experience it is lacking in practical edge retention and corrosion resistance compared with other readily available stainless offerings. The list of steels that I have used and that are "better" for my purposes is long, the list of steels I like less in use is relatively short. This isn't an "everything has it's strength" type observation either , 8Cr's strength is being cheap and plentiful in Chinese knives, not a compelling feature for me anymore. If you like it, that's great, but I think it would be a compelling offering in a steel with better edge retention, or if similar edge retention, at least better corrosion resistance, I'd be willing to pay the difference.

[Nate]

Have used mine in the kitchen almost daily since it came out. Not for making big family meals, etc, but for smaller tasks while preparing individual meals for myself or my daughter. It’s great, very useful and well finished for its price point. Would prefer an ambi kydex sheath as a lefty, but the leather one is high quality with good retention.

[Traditional.Sharpening]

I've always thought that would be a good design to offer a sprint with better steel in. S35VN like the tenacious for twice the price of the 8cr version would be compelling.

What do you find lacking with the 8CR13MOV steel that would make the S35VN a better choice?? There are no better steels unless you can identify where the edge is failing and determine that a change in the material itself would reduce that tendency.

Lol, I've had and used my fair share of 8Cr, in my experience it is lacking in practical edge retention and corrosion resistance compared with other readily available stainless offerings. The list of steels that I have used and that are "better" for my purposes is long, the list of steels I like less in use is relatively short. This isn't a "everything has it's strength" type observation either , 8Cr's strength is being cheap and plentiful in Chinese knives, not a compelling feature for me anymore.

I don't see what's funny about my question at all. You still have not answered my question about how you noted the edge was failing. Was the edge failing by corrosion? Was it rolling? Was it chipping? Was it deforming/denting? How many times have the knives you noted were not behaving satisfactorily resharpened, in general? Corrosion may be an obvious performance data point as you see it rust but what's going on at the edge isn't at all obvious and these questions help get a sense of whether you've truly gotten an upgrade or you've merely seen what you expected to see by looking at CATRA data.

[Gtscotty]

I've always thought that would be a good design to offer a sprint with better steel in. S35VN like the tenacious for twice the price of the 8cr version would be compelling.

What do you find lacking with the 8CR13MOV steel that would make the S35VN a better choice?? There are no better steels unless you can identify where the edge is failing and determine that a change in the material itself would reduce that tendency.

Lol, I've had and used my fair share of 8Cr, in my experience it is lacking in practical edge retention and corrosion resistance compared with other readily available stainless offerings. The list of steels that I have used and that are "better" for my purposes is long, the list of steels I like less in use is relatively short. This isn't a "everything has it's strength" type observation either , 8Cr's strength is being cheap and plentiful in Chinese knives, not a compelling feature for me anymore.

I don't see what's funny about my question at all. You still have not answered my question about how you noted the edge was failing. Was the edge failing by corrosion? Was it rolling? Was it chipping? Was it deforming/denting? How many times have the knives you noted were not behaving satisfactorily resharpened, in general? Corrosion may be an obvious performance data point as you see it rust but what's going on at the edge isn't at all obvious and these questions help get a sense of whether you've truly gotten an upgrade or you've merely seen what you expected to see by looking at CATRA data.

Your assertion that "there are no better steels" than 8Cr is just not true, so not true it was funny, there are a lot of steels that offer a mix of attributes that are "better" for most people in most standard uses. Let's not entertain the red herring that if two things are different and have different combinations of attributes, one cannot be better than the other for a set of standard use cases (like small fixed blade use).

I'll entertain your demands for a bit though, rolling and general dulling from apex loss, not chipping. Many resharpenings on a Byrd Cara Cara and Tenacious I carried for a few years when I couldn't buy better. I've seen CATRA tests, but I've also used most semi-common varieties of steels at one time or another, and I prefer many of them, in actual use, to 8Cr.

Have you really never used any steels that you thought were better for small knife cutting tasks than 8Cr? Is it really your apex steel? If not, what compelled you to gate-keep my comment? What advantages do you feel 8Cr offers over steels like S30V, S35VN, S45VN, Magnacut, or even more cost efficient offerings like CPM-154, VG-10, 14C28N, LC200N, etc for normal smaller knife uses other than low cost?

My original assertion was that the Bow river would be more compelling to me in better steel than 8Cr (for standard knife uses) even at a higher price. That statement is true, based on experience with 8Cr and many other steels and based on the fact that I like the form and feel of the Bow River, I'm not guessing at anything or going by charts or whatever you're assuming. If you disagree that's fine, but we'll have to agree to disagree.

[vivi]

8Cr sharpens faster than those steels. Much quicker to reprofile.

[zhyla]

My original assertion was that the Bow river would be more compelling to me in better steel than 8Cr (for standard knife uses) even at a higher price.

I think it’s the “standard knife uses” where some of us are disagreeing. While Spyderco’s marketing blurb claims it’s an “all purpose” design, with respect we know that more less an empty statement and definitely not true of this blade.

It’s thin and rather dainty for its length. Someone mentioned it as a “camp knife” earlier and that can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. It strikes me primarily as something you’d take fishing or as a small companion to a larger chopper for general outdoors activities.

8Cr is a good choice for this. Decent corrosion resistance, decent toughness (tougher than S35VN if you believe Larrin’s charts), and easy to sharpen. Sharpenability in the field is a real concern.

[Gtscotty]

8Cr sharpens faster than those steels. Much quicker to reprofile.

That's true, I use my KME for most sharpening and all reprofiling, a lot of the time is in setup, and I don't notice big time deltas between most steels, but if you're using a sharpmaker or something like that I can see the benefit. Steels like LC200N are also nice in that regard, and come with extra toughness and corrosion resistance, admittedly at a higher price.