Spyderco's budget knife with big dollar features
Written: Oct 16 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Insanely sharp, ruggedly built, multiple carry options, fast deployment
Cons: Insanely sharp, not a good starter knife for a noob
The Bottom Line: Even though I cut myself the first time I opened it, I won't hold that against the knife. It's razor sharp, very well built & meant to work hard.
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| buggman's Full Review: Spyderco Tenacious G-10 Pocket Knife |
Spyderco Tenacious G-10 handle plain edge pocket knife.
This is my first Spyderco knife. I fell in love with the blade shape oddly enough from watching knife review videos online.
The blade is made of 8CR13MOV stainless steel and is flat ground from spine all the way to the cutting edge. This steel is plenty hard yet flexible enough for this knife's intended purpose: everyday use.
The blade features a large spyder hole that's used in a similar fashion as a thumb stud would for opening the knife.
I noticed the etching on the blade indicates this knife was made in China, which is a bit of a surprise seeing as how Spyderco is a USA company and proudly boasts about it.
Here's where my only real complaint comes in... With the flat grind on the blade, along with the cutting edge being ground very close to the handles (when open or closed) this makes it VERY easy to get your fingers or thumb caught on the cutting edge of the blade while opening the knife. I found this out the hard way the first time I opened the knife.
With my thumb in the spyder hole, I gently applied pressure upwards opening the blade. When the blade was about 40% open, I repositioned my grip on the handles slightly and my index finger slid under the blade just as the blade closed about 1/8" downwards. The result was a wonderful slice about ½" long in the side of my index finger that worked its way nearly to the bone. I look it at as a really, really bad paper cut. The blade was ridiculously sharp right out of the box. Absolutely bar none, the sharpest knife I've ever purchased, even sharper than my Smith & Wesson Black Ops, which was the sharpest knife I've ever purchased.
After bandaging up my index finger, I adjusted the blade tension using an allen wrench (not included) so the blade would require slightly less upward pressure to open. This helped quite a bit as the blade now opens with much less pressure, yet still remains in the closed position without opening prematurely or accidentally.
I believe the hilt of the blade (the little bump right behind the cutting edge) should be moved towards the tip of the blade about ½" to help prevent "opening cuts" such as mine.
I do, however like the full flat grind on the blade. I feel this full grind makes the cutting bevels flow into the thick blade much better and further adds to the awesome cutting ability of this knife.
Once opened, the leaf shaped blade locks securely into place via a linerlock. The linerlock is itself made of stainless steel and locks without any measure of play in any direction.
You'll find just the right amount of jimping on the back of the blade (when locked open) to provide an extra measure against slipping off the handles. With a blade this sharp, you'll want all the help holding onto it as possible.
The handles are a G10 material that features a nice diamond checker pattern that offers just the right amount of grip. Both handles are attached with small allen head screws so if you should ever need to disassemble the knife for cleaning, it only takes a few minutes.
This is a basic linerlock knife, no switching mechanism, no assisted opening features. When properly adjusted, the blade will deploy with lightening fast speed. I wouldn't recommend you go flicking this knife around willy-nilly while showing off how fast you can open it; you're likely to seriously hurt yourself or someone else. On the other hand, should you NEED to open this knife in an instant, say for defending yourself against an attacker or grizzly bear, you should have no problem slicing a large chunk of their flesh before they know what hit them. (I don't advocate violence, but if it's a life or death situation...)
One trademark of Spyderco knives, aside from the spyder hole opening is the unique ability to mount the belt/pocket clip in 4 yes FOUR different locations to fit your preferences perfectly. Tip up, tip down on both right or left sides of the handles. I've never seen another knife with this many carry options. I prefer tip down so if the knife should happen to work its way open while clipped to my belt, I don't slice my gut open like a trout.
I haven't used this knife nearly as much as I should have by now, mostly due to the insane sharpness of the blade. Needless to say, this blade is still razor sharp, definitely sharp enough to shave with or perform surgery should the need arise.
After I cut through a dozen or so cardboard boxes, a couple hundred feet of rope & whittle myself a nice chair out of a tree stump, I should have the edge worn down enough for it to be safer to carry every day.
I would NOT recommend this as a first knife, it's simply too sharp & dangerous for a noob. You have been warned.
I've been collecting knives for 30+ years and I nearly took off the end of my finger the first time I opened it. This knife deserves respect or it WILL seriously hurt you. With that said, for the price (about 40 bucks) you get features and sharpness normally found on knives in the $100+ range. It's definitely a great bargain, just be careful.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
buggman
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Reviews written: 111
Trusted by: 1 member
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