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Spyderco Amsterdam Minimeet the 10th Anniversary Report

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Amsterdam Minimeet 2014

This review will be update on regular basis as we are also dependent from Spydercollector pictures.

Nemo: Again we have been 80 lucky people to attend the 10th Anniversary Spyderco Meet in Amsterdam.
Some were there since the beginning like my friend JD and this post will be both impressions.
Here the list of knives and our impression.
For the model pictures you can visit Spydercollector excellent blog here as he got the exclusivity:
http://spydercollector.wordpress.com/page/2/

Sal Glesser

29 concepts and prototype are a lot in a single session. They are a lot and a lot of ideas in non locking knives, bushcrafting, SD tools, long forgotten designs and performances researches but… without showing any pics it’s a little pointless to talk about them here.

JD and Sal

Eric and Sal have harvested our impressions, sucking up feedbacks from 80 feverish minds.
For example JD gives the important hint that Walter Brent trademark was mirror finish blade on his Mamba Concept Model.
JD: Polished deep hollows, thats Walter Brend!
Nemo: And Eric will now see what would be the best steel for respecting that particular signature.

This is where the Minimeet shows how important exchanges are ! Eric and Sal are here to listen to the “hot” feedbacks and they take very good notes of each of them. It’s quite obvious after to notice the changes in a final product. (We got some very passionate exchanges three years ago with Sal about a huge folder featuring an “über” strong lock which could be used as a tough folding camping tool for example…)

Also the Minimeet is the chance now to see designers and knifemakers coming in Amsterdam to present their prototypes.
Like Ulrich “Uli” Hennicke:
Uli new proto

or
Filip De Leeuw:
Filip De Leeuw

So let’s browse the memory of some models we liked:

Slisz Bowie Marcin Slysz Prototype
JD: Impressive! Ergonomic, solid, slicy.
Nemo: This one is my favorite so far in this 10th Anniversary. A sexy shape, a ergonomic titanium handle. This could be a Sebenza Killer with a bowie blade and full flat ground blade. It should be release for mid 2014. So we will have to review it in september.
(I will like pictures from Wouter site as soon as he will have them on line.)

His ‘father’ could be the K2 by Farid Mehr.
JD: Pocked machete!
Nemo: but again if it’s going to be produced in CPM10V this huge Sebenza / Bowie like knife is going to be a must have.
Farid is known for his Heavy Metal knives. He was making RIL locks in stainless steel on thick blades !! The K2 has been refined by Eric and Sal a lot before to born. Now it’s a big folder but with a slick appearance. It’s big but it’s a very useful shape. You can easily see how to cut a whole chicken or a pinapple with it. This knife is also very easy to clean.
Fortunatly we got a link to the pictures here:
http://spydercollector.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/spyderco-2014-production-prototype-farid-mehr-k2/

The Native 5 Lightweight production sample
JD: Favorite Native so far !
Yes it’s light and it’s solid a s a rock. Sal loves it. This is a knife destined to be a classic.
It’s a Native 5 with FRN handle but the feel in your hand is balanced. A great tool to clip. The plastic handle is square and smooth. I really liked it.

ARK Sam Owens design production prototype
Nemo: This little FB is destined to be a self defense tool to prevent rapes under the shower in the Army… Go figure how people are crazy nowadays. What can I say ? Of course it will be rust resistant as it will made in H1. I would have preferred a Fred Perrin La Griffe as even with soap in my hands I would not have lost my grip. Anyway, fighting naked with a blade in the shower seems like a nightmare…
They should invest in video camera instead. The blade shape is like a Sharpfinger which is a very nice utility and skinning edge. For SD I would have prefer a serrated edge for a maximum of pain without to inflict lethal wounds. Anyway a razor sharp neck knife for shower does not seem like a good idea to me anyway. I’m much more for the use of psionic blasts…
picture and description here

Battlestation Alex Diaconescu production sample.
JD: Much of the jimping has been removed after feedback. Nice handle but this is not a thin slicer.
Nemo: Th grip once open is very secure. It’s a very solid feel. again it looks like a weapon oriented project. Would look great in a movie. It’s a “dramatic” design for Snake Plissken to escape from a battle station.
Picture and description here:
http://spydercollector.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/spyderco-2014-production-sample-alex-diaconescu-battlestation/

Bradley Folder 2 Gayle Bradley design Concept model.
We had the chance to tot two BG folders. One with a bolster and the other one without it.
JD: Both very nice, but the bolstered one is nicest. Most comfortable in the hand and prettiest!
Nemo: Yes, but the bolster does not leave any access to the pivot screw… Beautiful knives. No finger choil, very sexy lines. Like a stretched and lighter Gayle Bradley previous hardcore folder.

Chubby Michael Burch design Production Prototype
A lot of belly and a false edge for nice looking little big knife. But I did not get any vibes from this one… I did not like the clip at all as it is ready to scratch the car’s paint.
Pictures are here:
http://spydercollector.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/spyderco-2014-production-prototype-michael-burch-chubby/

Condor Jot Singh Khalsa design CM
JD: Interesting look, awkward and uncomfortable in the hand.
Nemo: Yes, there is pig tail to the handle for the pinky to rest. But like you I was not convinced. They are a lot of curves in this knife but I was not able to find it confortable to hold too.

Dice Eric Glesser Design PP
JD: The Dice is Nice. Fits me even better than the Domino.
Nemo: The opposite to me. I miss the blade of the Domino which is the minimal length for me.
Pictures:
http://spydercollector.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/spyderco-2014-production-prototype-dice/

Dog Tag Folder Serge Pancheko PP
Nemo: this one going to be a success as it is so cute. It could be a anti rape self defense tool too as this small folder can be a latch ditch weapon for naked fights.
Pictures:
http://spydercollector.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/spyderco-2014-production-prototype-serge-panchenko-dog-tag-folder/

*******Edition of the 10th of marc 2014. Further reading will be even more chaotic than the previous one. 🙂

Foundry Spyderco design PS
JD: Comfortable and useful design. Bit heavy.
Nemo: and it will be rare as the Carpenter workers will have it in priority. Eric told us it took him one year to design it as he wanted to design a simple knife for blue collars. This is a knife which can be used for eating, the kitchen and for hunting. This is the kind of knife my grandfather would have love.

Frontier Ed Schemp design PP
JD: Nice thin grind!
Nemo: I usually a big fan of Ed Schempp design but here the S guard is getting in my thumb’s way. I like to give pressure on the back of the blade with my thumb (that’s why I do not like vertical play also).

Mini Nilakka Pekka Tuominen design CM
JD: Interesting. Clip needs to move to the back of the handle.
Nemo: The clip was not as clever as the Nilakka folder. A very impressive little knife.

Grievous Dave Gagne design CM
JD: Do not understand what it is for.

Introvert Chris Knutson CM
JD: Interesting look, fun to flip, rings get in the way of use.
Nemo: another folding Lagriffe. Good thing is that Spyderco is always giving credits to the original designer.

Ion Brad Southard design
JD: Pretty and smooth. Liked the inlayed lock the best. Gentac knives.

Joule Michael Reinhold design
JD: Functional design if the handle is rounded. It has to many shar points now.

Kingyo Liong Mah design
Kiwi 4 G10 Prototype
Lady Finger Ed Schempp design
Lil’ LionSpy Gianni Pauletta design Proto
JD: Nice but thick.

Liong Mah Liong Mah design CM
JD: Nicest and most practical of the two Liong Mah designs.

Manix 2 LTWT 110V
Mike Draper design PS
JD: Big but comfortable and useful design.

Myrtle Filip De Leeuw design CM
Native 5 Fluted CF Proto

One-Eyed Jack A.T. Barr design
Opus 14 Ulrich Hennicke design CM
JD: Anonimus, would like to de a DE/UK legal design from him.

Ouroboros Paul Alexander design
JD: strange ergonomics.

Para Military 2 Composite – Sprint Sample
Para Military 2 Fluted CF – CM
JD: Most comfortable PM2 ever!

Parata Paul Alexander design
JD: strange ergonomics.

PIP Jamie Bailey design CM
JD: End of handle too pointy, fun little knife

PITS Mike Read design Proto
JD: Comfortable, practical & elegant. Most upscale UK legal production folder.

Retract Ed Schempp design CM
Roadie Spyderco design
JD: Cute! Sharpen flat on the stone to make a pocket scalpel

ROC Serge Panchenko design proto
Rockhopper Michael Reinhold design CM
Spydi hole hard to reach.

Roto Wedge Spyderco design CM
Rubicon Peter Carey design Proto
JD: Pretty! But clip is digging uncomfortable in the hand.

Shaman Spyderco design CM
Six Blade Tool CM
JD: Pointy holes.

Southard Folder (all black)
Spin Blue Nishijin
Splitter. Spyderco design CM
JD: Solid, ATR 2.0

SpydieChef Marcin Slysz design CM
JD: Impressive! Beautiful and practical.

Spy-DK Prod sample
JD: Nice thin edge! I could open it with one hand, but not easily.

Stop Lock CM
Swede Michael Henningson CM
JD: Nice look, lanyard hole very sharp and pointy.

Szabo Higo Laci Szabo dsign CM
JD: Needs to be found thinner, more like the knife it is based on. Other than that nice modernization of and classic.

Three Blade rescue CM
JD: Small holes have pointy tops.

Texture tech CM
ULU CM
Ulize M Ulrich Hennicke design
JD: Very Spyderco jet different. More carriable size.

Valloton Sub-Hilt 3.5 Butch Vallotton design CM
Victory Jot Singh Khalsa design
JD: Interesting look, awkward and uncomfortable in the hand.

Worker G-10
JD: Comfortable handle. Will probably be sold out very quickly.

Genzow Hatchet Martin Genzow design CM
Lum tanto Sprint
Ronin 2 Michael Janich Proto
Packer Gayle Bradley design
JD: Excellence!
Nemo: I was very impressed by the balance and the heft of that “Tomahaxe” 😉
Beautiful lines and great handling. I would love to test it as soon as it is released. I think this gorgeous hatchet has made a great impression !

The Dutchman tom Zoomer design CM
B & T Phil Wilson design CM
JD: Slicey
Nemo: But the “cobrahood” guard wich will go in the way when power cutting and batonning.

Whale Blade H1 w/handle Spyderco design.
JD: For the GI’s

Eric Jur and Sal

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Folders

Thoughtful Southard part 2.

4 Comments

Spyderco Southard Nemo

Using the Southard is a pure pleasure.
Why ?
Because you got a thin edge and a thick spine.
The full belly has proven to be hard to mistrust. It’s a curved guillotine.
Cardboard sheaths are cut like with a lightsaber, tomatoes are slices thin, rabbit’s bones are cut with no chipping even wooden wine boxe from Burgandy are open with a twist of the handle.
The thick handle is really confortable for hard and long period of work. I cannot find any hot spot in this knife especially since… I have removed that awful clip.
It’s look like folded metal sheath. It’s pointy and will pierce my pocket instead, it’s shiny, sharp and will keep my knife on an high profile while clipped to my pocket.
The Southard is so nice without its clip.
Since I have Steve Rice from STR’s Backyard knifeworks who has gently sent to me one of his beautiful Lowrider’s clip he has especially invented for the Southard and a Southard part 3 is in preparation.

For now on, my C156 is clipless and this is a pure wonder. The Carpenter version of M390 has proven to be absolutly reliable as CTS 204P is really a great steel. No chipping so far. Stay razor sharp for a week long. Easy to strope on leather. Easy to maintain on ceramic.

But clip are an issue on a lot of flipper. Check the Massdrop Falcon for example.

You can see there is a lot of attention to detail. I love how the blade flush with the handle, especially near the pivot. I love the No Spin construction. The absence of any play in any direction. This folding knife looks more solid and beefy than my Sebenzas !
The flipper is acting as a guard. But its all rounded so choking up the blade is possible. The asymetrical handle’s slabs/liners are not a big deal as they are providing a very comfortable experience.

As you can notice the blade of the Southard got something special. It’s full belly but also it seems like the tip is able to catch the cutting material. Like the last centimeter toward the tip is a claw. When I cut with my Southard I can feel all the length of the edge being in use. This is really something unique in that edge design. The blade cuts with ease without any drift. Like the Spyderco Dodo.
Yes, the Dodo is one my favorite whittling knife. Not for fine work but to cut a rod from a tree. The continious curves in the Dodo edge make it a great matter separator. The Dodo was able to cut into hardwood with less energy than any of my knives. The belly and the geometry of the Southard are in the same league.
Now the thick spine is a pleasure for my thumb when I’m doing powerful pushcuts. I can choke up the blade beyond the flipper and work with all my weight. Thanks also to its thick square handle I do not need gloves like with the Lionspy or my Sage 2.
So my mileage with that flipping beauty so far is exceeding my expectations. It’s even hard for me to enjoy my Techno or my Tuff or my Persian: the Flipper is really addictive and beyond the gimmick there is a really thoughtful design in that Southard.
Easy to use. Confortable. Easy to clean.Easy to keep razor sharp.
The Southard is also an eyecandy.
Anyway, mine has been used daily, in the plate, the kitchen, the wood, the boat, the city, the car, the office, the field, the dirt, the rain, the sea… It cuts. Stay sharp. Is easy on my palm. Is nice in my eyes.

SPyderco Southard without clip
No clip, more clip.

Southard Techno Nemo
The Techno clip is really the best. The Techno is the only SPyderco folder which is absolutly flawless IMHO.

Southard Techno Nemo
Fred Perrin and Jerry van Cook ?

Southard Nemo
CTS 204P is easy on white ceramic and the edge is kept on the popping hair sharp level.

Spyderco Southard
Eye candy when closed too !

Uncategorized

Spyderco Southard C156GBN – Flipping Beauty.

8 Comments

Southard

“One of the most advanced Spyderco folders ever produced.”
dixit Spyderco on their site

Come on…

OK let’s give a look.

Oh no, I’m in love again. I really thought the Wonderful Techno would be the Ultimate EDC, even beating the amazing Michael Walker and the great Gayle Bradley and the Legendary Military and the perfect Native 5 and…. but the Gods of the Hole in The Blade got their own way.

Why ? Tell me why ?
Why the Southard is not two inch longer and would loss its portability? At an hair under 8 inches (202mm) open and 114 mm closed (great blade/handle ratio BTW) this knife is not unforgettable once clipped: you forget it even when not clipped. Worst than that, I’m able to carry the Southard in my watch pocket.
Arrrgh. Brad Southard, if you hear me, I hate you for this amazing design.
And thank you. Thank you for giving us that pointy shiny clip with high visibility. Thank you ! At least you have left something to improve. Lucky us.
This clip is a joke actually.

The knife could be also a Spyderjoke. Go figure:
This the first Spyderco to be not advertised for its ease of opening with its hole. “Don’t use the hole ! It got a flipper ! ”

OK as far as I’m concern the only Spydercos with useless holes are their fixed blades but the SPOT, SWICK… inspired by Fred Perrin’s Lagriffe.

So “Don’t use the hole as primary opening device… use the Flipper”.
In France Flipper is a dolphin. For Spyderco it’s a pedal. Some Dolphin are also pedal but only during le Tour de France and this is another story.

OK let’s talk about its blade. Have you notice its belly ? From the tip to the flipper, the edge does a beautiful arc. It means, cutting power.
The blade is 4mm thick but its edge is thin. This means a lot of cutting power. I was able to cut through hard plastic with the same ease as my Gayle Bradley. this is impressive.
The flipper, once the knife is open offers a guard to your finger erasing any fears of lock failure.

The lock ? A Reeve Integral Lock with some refinement like a system to prevent over bending the lockbar. Very clever.

Lets’ talk about smoothness. With its wide ball bearing pivot the action on the flipper is smooth and only the friction of the lock bar seems to brake the movement. It’s not as smooth as the Gayle Bradley but it’s at least as smooth as the Lionspy and much smoother than the Tuff, both R.I.L. folders.
Taiching is again showing how they hare great in manufacturing. The blade is dead centered and everything is perfect but the clip.

There is one detail I love: no stop pin. The stop pin is hidden near the axis. With its open handle the Southard is a breeze to clean.
The absence of hump of the hole makes it a beauty. With its very uncommon blade mixing drop point and sheepfoot… with the back of the blade offering a thumb space to rest. All angle are smooth but the G10 gives a great grip.
The Southard is a pure hardecore folder. You feel you could thrust it with full force. The flipper/guard will prevent any slippering and lock failure.
This is a knife wich express itself in your hand. Perfectly balanced. It’s fast and easy to put in use. Really this is something to experiment by yourself. This is not a big knife but with its 1/1 handle ratio it’s all business.
The steel is one of the latest powder metallurgy Über Alloy made by Carpenter the CTS 204P. The kind of monster steel with almost 2 percent of carbon. For now the knife is so sharp, I was able to cut cardboard with the ease hollow ground blade desserve. I was laos able to stumble on a stable.
And…. zero damage to the edge. As far as I’m concern I’m quite impressed by the new generation of Powder Steel.

Now the handle is a little on the squarish side. It’s thick as there is a brown G10 liner over a liner of titanium. This asymetry could be a show stopper for some but actually I like the way the handle fills the palm of my hand. The knife is anchored. I will see in the next review if there is any hot spots… I already spot one: the clip !

The Persian carpet, even the most beautiful got all a little imperfection. For one reason, only God can create perfection not humans.
This is the meaning of that clip.
This piece of shining metal has already tried to pierce my denims pocket… and it hurts my palm. This is the only imperfection of the Southard who’s desserved better. BTW a dremel should be able to round that pointy tip on that prehistoric clip…

But this is true. My Techno, for example, is absolutly flawless. Nothing to sand on the handle. Everything is perfect.
And the Southard got a Perfect Flaw. But you forgive everything to such a Flipping Beauty.

The C156GBN is the kind of folder who can make you sold all your other knives. It’s ‘that’ great.

Southard
Peekaboo in the pocket watch… no clip used.