MY FIRST SPYDERCO KNIFE

[CunznCo]

G’day Spyderco crew, I have been very very sneakily lurking around here for quite some time now sometimes at smoko time & sometimes late into the night. I would just like to thank you all for your wealth of knowledge & information that you have here & I have decided to sign in & share with you my thoughts & experience of acquiring & using my first Spyderco knife.
Now since a very young age only knee high to a grasshopper I’ve always had a knife close by & as Pa drummed into my thick skull, it was always better to have & not need than to need & not have! & as Pa was an old school military hard bastard he would conduct his own style of random inspection to make sure we was doing as expected, & a swift foot up the arse would be issued to those that did not comply.
So I have been for years doing this edc thing without knowing I’ve been doing this edc thing if it’s actually a thing. Not to the degree of some of these hipsters on the instanet with umpteen amounts of pockets & hidden compartments in their trousers carrying an array of crap that would be totally useless in a time of need like fidget bars & spinner thingys & more ways to start a fire than a bloody pyromaniac & in the middle of suburbia for Christ sake!! I’ve simply put this in this pocket & put that in that pocket grabbed my wallet, phone & keys, made sure there’s a couple of coldies in the esky & some ice for the thirsty trip home & hope like **** I don’t need em all at the same time !
Now if I happen to run into a mischief of sorts out on the road & **** will happen when its least wanted, I’ve got tools, proper tools in the back & the trusty .300 win mag tucked down the side, so roadside problems only require solutions coz I know things & can fix stuff. like the time this big roo decided to play chicken & ended up wrestling with the tailshaft of me truck leaving a bit of a mess to remove from the rotating assemblies. Nothing like being stuck under your truck in the late hours on a dark country road fixing a feed for the hungry Feral’s & leaving some for the local black fellers to take back for the footy club bbq. Worse part is the wife whining about the smell when you get home & telling you to get out ! but life goes on.
Pa used to get buggery from the old chook too, I remember quite a few time she would make him go back out & hose himself down. Pa worked over at the local abattoir when he finished in the army & often took me into work with him during the school holidays to give Ma a break from all the shenanigans. Pa would work in the boning room & as a ten year old I may have seen some things that most ten year olds don’t get the opportunity to. Pa was a huge indestructible monster of a man that stood about 7 ft tall, arms & legs like tree trunks & huge hands, his hands were that big a normal longneck beer which is 700mls would disappear into. He always carried a folding knife a buck 110 I still have to this day & this huge bushman’s type bowie knife that he kept on his side in a cowhide sheath that he had made himself. One day he called me into the tool shed he said “ come here boy, its time to learn” so he asked me “ where’s your knife boy ? “ as I pulled it out of my trouser pocket & he proceeded to show me the method of sharpening blades upon an oilstone. As rough & tough of a mountain of a man he was & as much of a hard arse he was, I cherished these moments I had with him & deep down I think it was his way of showing his caring side that hardly anybody else would ever see! So we sharpened my folding knife until he was satisfied with the edge & then he took out the huge knife & I watched ever so keenly as he proceeded to run it back n forth upon the oilstone, once he was happy with that he went to the door frame where he kept a really long leather stropping belt hanging & after a few wipes of the blade over this magical type if implement he gave a smile & ran the blade down his forearm & as his arm hairs fell off the edge of the blade onto the floor he knew his knife was sharp..it was razor sharp, scary razor sharp, he looked at me & allowed me to handle the blade, he never let anybody bar anybody touch that knife, not even Ma. But as I took hold of this knife I needed two hands to even attempt to wield it as he said “ be careful with that boy it’s not a toy you know” but that was the only time I ever got to touch that knife & something happened inside my brain that day & I gained a new respect & love for all things sharp & shiny & couldn’t wait to see the day when I had one of my own just like Pa’s. any way the drought destroyed the farming life out in the country & destroyed the land & livelihoods of many & we moved down to the bayside suburbs of Melboune & I started to go to a normal school.
A few years later Pa passed away & Ma told me that Pa always wanted me to have his Buck folder of which it sits proud on a shelf in my shed & I always keep it sharp & clean just as he would have wanted. But I won’t carry it & use it every day out of fear of losing it. As for Pa’s big knife, Ma or nobody else knew of what happened to it. But it was like a part of him, it would go everywhere he went till the day he died & I think he may ‘in fact I’m pretty **** sure as my arse points to the ground that he not only wanted, but was buried with it. When I had the time I used to look in the shed for hours at a time searching through old boxes & piles of stuff hoping I would find it tucked away in a box or something but no joy & sometimes at night when all was quiet & still you could sense Pa standing there holding his knife & it used to scare the absolute bejeezus out of me & still does sometimes to this day.
Anyway a bit off the subject & don’t want this to appear too long winded but since the roo incident among others, if you have ever attempted to cut through roo fur & hyde it as tough & hard as the toe of a hobnail boot & blunting a well sharpened blade as quick as look at it.
So I started to look at some serrated types of blades & every time I started to do a search on what to get & what ticked all the boxes of what I needed as far as a serrated folding knife went, one thing in common kept appearing time after time, this brand with the little fat spider as its logo.
So that folks is what has brought me here & not having any shops that you can just go in & try before you buy it was very difficult to come to an educated decision but wherever I looked the little fat spider was there, I could not escape this little fat spider & I hate spiders they’re creepy, sneaky little buggers that crawl around at nigh & sneak up on you when your not looking & hide under the dunny seat & bite you on the bum if you don’t look first before taking a dump , as a matter of fact I would rather deal with venomous snakes & crocodiles than bloody spiders but that’s just the way I’m wired ! & I spozze this anacraphobia will not go away anytime soon. But I chose to give this Spyderco product a go. What was there to lose ?.

I will try to post some pics up in a while but due to working around a saltwater environment dealing with ropes, nets, lines, sheeted material & sometimes very tough kelp & other types of seaweed I needed something that would be impervious to corrosion & was a good quality steel.

So I have chosen the Spyderco SALT 2 with a fully serrated blade. & have now had it a good 8-10 months.
The cost of this item was $220 bucks & im pretty sure it’s the ridgy didge article & do hope it’s not one of these fake Chinese duds, may the gurus of the well weathered Spyderco clan can help me confirm its legit !
My first impressions upon opening the box were “ this seems a tad smaller than I was expecting” but I’ll give it a go.
I opened the knife & admired the type of blade & the detail on the serrations & noticed how light it was, it was as light as a feather & it took some getting used to as far as I can feel it in my pocket type feeling goes & although I have large hands just like Pa did it felt quite well fitting in my hands & noticed the grip on the handles felt quite substantial & very very grippy, I had also noticed a fair sort of smile on my face as I put my thumb into the spider hole as you call it to open & close it. & it opened with a lovely snap as it locked itself into the fully opend position, it was nice & sharp as far as I know a serrated blade should be & has no trouble at all cutting through some ½ inch silver anchor line or some rubber Kevlar reinforced sheeting.
It had all started to make perfect sense to me & although it’s hard to ignore & escape the hype of a lot of products at times, this time was different & I actually started to feel very satisfied with my new addition to my edc.
So the next morning into the left pocket it slipped & although I hardly notice it’s there I know it’s there & ready to go when needed. I have used it many times daily as well as my other blade which is of harder use & a straight plain blade folder made here in Australia, I can post a pic if you want.
As a week or so of use I did start to notice there was a small bit of a sharp molding flash or dag on the inner edges of the handles & at times it did bite me very slightly.
This was easily rectified by getting some 240 grit wet n dry & folding it as to get into the inner edges of the scales & lightly remove the dag’s & then finishing with some 600 grit to make it nice & smooth. This by no means has affected my outlook on the knife & brand & was probably just one of those tiniest of details as far as finish goes during the manufacturing process. I am very happy with the steel as far as its resistance to corrosion as I have had it under the saltwater & cut into kelp a few time without washing it until I get home that night & have not seen a speck of rust on the blade at all, the blade has loosened up nicely & I can just about spidey flick it open every time & has been given a drop of oil ot two in the pivot area to help this.
The knife has worked fairly hard to date & probably performed some tasks that have been beyond its designated limitations but I have had no doubts or worries about its abilities apart from its smaller size. & all reality if I did happen to break it, I could honestly say that I pushed it way beyond its limits & it still would not affect my outlook on the brand & materials that Spyderco have used as I have destroyed quite a few knives over the years with lesser punishment & some of these are well known brands which I will not name as its no longer relevant.
I am overall highly impressed with this little knife & very happy to recommend to anybody who wants a serrated blade to give a Spyderco a go
I have blunted the serrations to the point that it wouldn’t cut the skin on a rice pudding & have attempted to re-sharpen it several times now but have not had full success as to its original edge feel, so I would love to hear from the gurus as to getting the edge back on the blade like it was new again.
Also as I’m so impressed with the Spyderco brand I am ready to order the larger version. Has anybody else here got the endura sized salt full serrated & share some thoughts ??
Here are some pics of my Spyderco SALT 2
Thank you for taking the time to have a read of my thoughts & hope to write again soon.

[MacLaren]

Congrats on your 1st Spyderco!
As to getting it sharp you have options
You can send it in to Spyderco to sharpen it.
You can also have it professionally sharpened by an individual- either way I highly recommend either Spyderco or individuals
A couple individual sharpeners I highly recommend are Jason at Traditional Sharpening in Michigan or Father & Son Traditional Sharpening in Florida
Jason would be my 1st choice though.

[Wartstein]

Welcome to the forum!

The Salt 2 SE is an amazing knife - among the very best in its size range, and definitely the one with the best "weight to performance" ratio for me.
Also roomier handle, better ergos and a slicier blade than competitors like Para 3 or Native 5 for me.

/ Serrations are actually even a bit quicker and easier to sharpen than PE, if one knows how, for that see Vivis post/thread here
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84544#p1349519 (including a vid https://youtu.be/Ptmx1iJELhU?si=GkBGsG5rCcHKnU2T)

I´d highly recommend a Spyderco Sharpmaker not only, but especially for SE, but as you can see in that vid it is not mandatory.

[Hopsbreath]

You wouldn’t by chance be on bladeforum under the handle “meako,” would you?

[MacLaren]

Yeah, Wartstein made a great recommendation
Whatever ya do, go ahead and get a SharpMaker
They're invaluable imo.
Your gonna wind up having more Spydies
And when a guy like Jason of Traditional Sharpening finishes your blades, they will last so much longer with a SharpMaker to touch them up on.

[CunznCo]

sorry guys i had a bit of strife as to re-size pictures, buy here goes. & thank you for your reply's.

this is the first & only knife blog i have joined. have looked at a few, but this one seems the best as a brand specific place.

[Albertaboyscott]

Welcome!

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

Welcome, cool intro…1) get a SharpMaker as it’s super simple, quick and does a fantastic job…2) I believe you’re inquiring about the Pacific Salt which in my opinion is one of Spyderco’s greatest creations or you might wanna try the upcoming Stretch XL LW Salt or the Caribbean SE which has “slicey serrations”… can’t go wrong with any of them

[Michael Janich]

Dear CunznCo:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

[Hopsbreath]

sorry guys i had a bit of strife as to re-size pictures, buy here goes. & thank you for your reply's.

this is the first & only knife blog i have joined. have looked at a few, but this one seems the best as a brand specific place.

Great knife! I’ve grown to appreciate serrations and the H1 is a fantastic vehicle for them.

There’s an Australian on Bladeforums who also has quite the way with words; that’s the connection I alluded to earlier — perhaps it’s a down under thing. Glad to have you here!