Tag Archives: Hunter

Folders, Photos

SPYDERCO METROPOLITAN™ LIGHTWEIGHT – C213PBK – The Perfect Hunter Slipjoint ?

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Disclaimer: This knife was supplied at no cost by Golden as part of their brand ambassador program. Spyderco’s decision to include this publication is appreciated, though the review that follows remains independent and unbiased.

This is my first glimpse at the middle Brother of the SLIPIT™, the Metropolitan.
Made in Maniago. It is an Italian Spyderco.
Un altro piccolo grande coltello !

It is the second Spyderco Slipjoint in M398 after the Roadie XL which I use a lot !


It is made in Maniago like my Heinnie Urban and it is a pure Sal Glesser design.
The blade comes razor-sharp straight out of the box. The factory edge is excellent, though I know it can be refined just a touch on leather. It’s a very thin grind—thinner even than on my Roadie XL. While M398 isn’t as leather-friendly as SPY27, it can still be brought to a high polish, as I managed with my Roadie XL after breaking its tip.

Being slightly longer than the Urban, the Metro’s handle comfortably fits four fingers when using the choil. This choil also adds an important safety feature, preventing accidental closure on your fingers. The choil-hump combinaison—acts like a guard, directing cutting force straight into the blade while relieving stress on the handle and pivot.

“Metro In the Middle” pictured: the G10 SPY27 UKPK “Golden Child”, the Metro and the Heinnie G10 S90V Urban.

To quote my friend Wayne Thomas Heywood Adamson: “So now we have a middle ground between the UKPK and the Urban. I was surprised when the Urban shrank in size but that was clearly now to make room for the Metropolitan.”

(Made in Golden – Maniago – Maniago.)
The 68mm Metro’s blade thickness measures 3 mm at the spine, with a full flat grind in a leaf-shaped profile. By comparison, the longer UKPK “Golden Child” comes in at just 2.5 mm, which makes it the undisputed king of SlipIt designs. That said, opting for a slightly thicker blade in M398 is a sound choice. M398 is not known for its toughness—certainly less forgiving than Spyderco’s in-house CPM SPY27 alloy—so the added thickness provides welcome reinforcement.

The S90V Urban is 2,9mm !

And the Roadie XL is 2,8mm

Making the Metropolitan the thicker of the wild bunch !
By an hair !

Now about the weight…

At 51 grammes it is really light in the pocket.

The action is very good. It is as strong as my Urban and UKPK. perhaps a bit less hard to close but this is not really an issue.
I have noticed the Metro’s back is a full spacer/spring construction like a G10 version (when the UKPK FRN Salt is not for example.)
It does not share the same “fork” spring of the UKPK but the same slipjoint mechanism as the Urban.
You can feel the spacer moving up when closing.

So what can we expected from this Metropolitan compared to its siblings?
A little more room for your fingers. The Urban and the Squeak are three fingers knives, the Metro and UKPK are four fingers.
This is also an opportunity to showcase M398 in a high, full-flat-ground, thin blade. The Roadie XL’s narrower profile already favors cutting efficiency, and the Metro builds on that. In terms of edge retention, M398 belongs in the same category as S90V—a steel I know well from my Urban model, where securing an exclusive sprint run was a real challenge. With the Metro, however, M398 is now part of the regular production lineup, offering users a true “super stainless” steel in an accessible package. But beware M398 does not like torsions, like my Walker in ZDP189 which has been able to survive all those years.

The Metropolitan could really be a major upgrade for my Italian Hares Hunter in Tuscany. For the record, skinning game—especially dealing with hair full of sand and dirt—puts a significant challenge on edge retention. Hunters typically don’t use their knives for woodcraft; their main task is working on hares and similar game. In that context, a blade of 68mm in M398 could offer a real advantage.

The Metropolitan—easy to carry, legal in many countries, and made of stainless steel—could be the perfect hunter’s SlipIt, which is great news for many of my friends.

Review

Pekka Tuominen’s Puukko —Terävä Marvel

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At the FICX 2019 I have bought one of Pekka Tuominen’s Puukko to replace my Spyderco Puukko.

The husband of Pekka’cousin, who was also exposing as the Paris Knives Show told me: in my country, to “taste” a knife we just hold it in our hand without to loot at it: to feel its balance and if it suits us.
Holding that marvel of a Puukko in your hand is something to experiment. First, the handle is made of birch’s bark, which feels like a hard cork from a seasoned wine bottle. It is soft under the thumb but also grippy in the palm.
Pekka assured me this kind of handle are indestructible! Just some soap and water.
This handmade knife is a display of the highest craftmanship. Everything is perfect.
With that kind of handle, you need a pommel.

As you can see the mirror finish on the nicorros pommel is “melting” with the showing tang’s end. Look closer, there is some microscopic lines ! This is the level of craftmanship you are encountering with Pekka’s knives.

Now the blade being made of RWL34 and mirror finished, it is not easy to picture it without reflections.

RWL34 has been used in the Lil’Nilakka I have reviewed here.
Pekka used his own Spyderco version to cut leather for his sheaths. But I have also seen a video where he use the same puukko as mine in his workshop.
For record, RWL34 is some kind of powder steel version of ATS34: with a very very fine grain and an easy to put a mirror finish on.

A puukko is not a real puukko without its sheath.
I remember 4 years ago, Pekka talking with Sal Glesser about the sheath of the Spyderco Puukko version. There were testing prototypes of the sheath and Pekka was adamant in what retention he was asking from it. It a sheath with wood inlays inside encapsulating the blade, the traditionnal puukko scabbard is very elaborated.

So here are my main Pekka creation, the Nilakka which is my sharpest Spyderco ever.
“Ned” which is a “Urban Hunter II” with carbon fiber and titanium and the new Marvel.

You can notice the pure and clean lines of their edges.

Pictures wise, I will meet Pascal who has bought a Hunter with the same finish as my Puukko. Those marvels encounter will be photographed.

Having harvest a piece of chestnut wood, dried under the summer sun, I have put the new Puukko at the test.

The rounded spine makes it an ideal thumb pushcutting’s friend. The blade goes deep like in butter. In fact it beats the Nilakka and the Hunter in terms of spine confort and for an unknown reason it was just cutting like the proverbial lightsaber. The experience is putting a grin on my face.

To get the blade to the razor sharpness I really wanted , I have used white ceramics for 20 minutes and then leather stropping for another 15 minutes as Pekka has advised.

Yes it is now a razor with the same caress found on the AEB-L Urban.

Now, I’m going to use it also in the kitchen, which is some kind of battlefield where the Puukko will ne

Some pictures from Pekka’s Facebook page:

67270012_2580940811956868_4830865277648371712_nA picture of my Puukko by Pekka. The handle is like a finger print. 🙂

44900247_2158925284158425_6274309846309273600_n

40061662_2077625665621721_2176571228112814080_n
A tactical version which I loved too.

46782264_2196982117019408_1857255772753231872_nA sistership with brass bolster.

 

48891712_2246541792063440_2784894109402267648_nThat could be Pascal’s hunter.

 

51345914_2293930640657888_6713102130678333440_nA Hunter and a Puukko.

 

539010_446597628724541_641352881_n

9684_491301550920815_1854478392_n

430917_499278760123094_789927031_n

And the last one with a strong French flavour is “Ned” my Hunter.

1006284_596433383740964_252417189_n

Folders, Review

Manix 2 Lockback C101MBGP2 — Native 5.2 Grand Daddy !

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This version of the Manix is equipped with one of the strongest lock ever produce by Spyderco in a light package. We are touching here a “Knife of Excellence” and one of the best Eric Glesser’s design. Sadly it is discontinuited in 2019 but this is also the last chance for you to get an absolute fabulous workhorse at a great price. Mine came for 99 dollars…

Can you imagine better bargain for an all made American knife of high performance ?

The operation of the lock goes deep in the notch while unlocking.
And the G10 is factory smoothed (I have used 800 grid to get it even smoother later)  and the action is perfect. Lockback lovers can only fall deeply in love with this one.

The pivot screws are huge even compare hardchore folders like the Yojimbo2 and it is only a part of the enhanced strength of this version as also the blade is a little thicker than normal Manix 2 version.

Here the blade thickness is 0.145″ (3.7 millimeters)
against the usual Manix  thickness of 0.125″ (3.2 mm) !!
Half a millimeter in black thickness is a simple way to have a stronger blade.

G10 is extraordinarily strong and with such thick scales this version of the Manix do not need any steel liners which can rust or get dirty too easily, especially if they are skeletonized !! So this thick G10 use is a great plus in my book: the Manix 2 Lockback is easy to clean and easy to check for grim … It’s a plus for hunters which use their knives in the fiels were hair and blood can get inside the handle. I should also mention than this one, like all my Native 5 got ZERO vertical play and his so smooth it is fun to flick open.
Also don’t forget you can make stealth fixed blade (even Fred Perrin made Balisong’s blade and handles) only with G10: this is a real solid material.
Here the blade is made of S30V. Spyderco knows how to heat treat than steel so this is a no brainer.

The plain stell back space and thick G10 slabs of the handle are just wonderful to avoid blisters. This is where you recognized a tool you can use hard without hand sore.
The balance of the knife is also improved with this full G10 construction, the sweet point is just under the second horn of the handle not the one of the choil, the other further back.
Well it is a lightweight linerless handle construction, fine-textured G10 scales and a stainless steel backspacer ! There is no lateral movement. You know my favorite expression “built like a tank“… so here we go !

The tolerance and the QC are really high. The action is smooth and the blade locks with a firm “KLAK!!”

As you can see, as much as I love the Shaman design, this Manix 2 is the true daddy of the linerless G10 version of the Native. Again a very solid and light EDC.
In both the ergonomy is at its zenith: large choil, no jimping madness the handle spouses your palm.

Both are made in Golden, Colorado, a plant with now very high tolerance and excellent quality control: the blade is perfectly centered.

So what do you got here ? A incredibly solid and versatile outdoors knife ! Easy to clean and maintain, rock strong locking system and of course the full flat ground leaf shape blade which is a must in cutting control. Strong lock, stronger blade, great ergos… This is really a shame this knife is discontinuited …
Perhaps its reincarnation can be found in the Spyderco Chief found in this review from April 2021.

https://nemoknivesreview.com/2021/04/01/native-chief-rex-45-sprint-run-c244gbore-the-joker/

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“We were sanding in the rain – like we invented sanding
There’s a light in the sky from a million street lights
And we danced all the steps from all those old time movies
Rolling down the hill with laughing hearts…”