Tag Archives: Sal Glesser

Spyderco Bushcraft UK – Part 3: Solid Companion

25/04/2013 nemosandman 4 Comments

Since I had received my Bushcrafter for 2010 Xmas, the knife has been always in use.
I really enjoy small fixed blades and this particular one has turned to be another little big knife.
In the 90’s I have been reviewing with Fred (Perrin) another little big blade: the Fallkniven F1 in its first solid VG10 incarnation. This is the kind of small tool with some heft in your hand, giving a sense of security and reliability. The Fallkniven F1 is now a legend in travelling knives. Well, the BushcraftUK feels that way in my hand but better than this it is also offering some uncanny cutting performance: the zero scandi grind cuts like a laser and it is very very addictive.
But fragile. I was able to micro chip its factory edge just by being me: clumsy… Bones, stones, sand… are not thin edge friendly. But the good thing is that I was able to gently convex my edge to keep it luch more stable. Removing a chip on a zero ground edge means time consuming before to see some result, unless you don’t want to “respect” the zero grind. Also sharpening the edge on ceramic can be frustrating as you scratch the mirror polishing badly. Good thing, with some elbow grease it’s back to mirror again. O1 is not stainless. But I did not let a patina to develop but on the handle where the hand leave natural moisture and the steel is now grey.
As I was not planning to use the back of the blade to produce sparks, I have gently rounded the edges and this heresy to the Bushcraft Gods gives me a lot of thumb’s confort when I’m pushcutting into hard materials.
Really the BushcraftUK is the king of my woods.
Why ?
Because it’s compact enough to be pocketed in my coat. So I got it on me. I never had it attached to my belt. I love the leather sheath I never got any issue with it. Mine is still like new as I have been using the brown sheath from my second for a while. Perharps I will try to find a kydex sheath for it as I do transport the knife in my bag more than on myself. Now for the knives works in the wood, the size of the Bushcraft suits me. I’m able to use it for light chopping and batonning without any care. Hence the chipping…. But again, the Bushcrafter has never let me down. Better it’s my favorite in his category.
Since I had ever seen Ray Mears on television back in the 90’s I felt I was not the only one to enjoy little fixed blade for their reliability in the wood. One of my first “bushcraft” was a Glock knife back in the 80’s. Broke the handle. Glue a compass in it…
Things I did not with the Bushcraftuk is: throwing it, cutting concrete intentionally and open oysters… but I have removed nails from wood, batonned through hard plastic, use it in the rain, in the snow, on the sea shore… With a little care I was not able to have rust pits on O1.
The weight and the high sharpness do wonder in the woods. Every chores are quick jobs. And this is exactly what that blade is for: energy’s economy and confort in use.
Back home I usually check the edge and do some leather stropping to have it back to mirror polish. No oil have been used to protect the blade. I use it everyday outside or in the kitchen so I keep it sharp and clean.
I got many kitchen knives. The Bushcraft will not replace them but the scandi grind is great on hard cheese, bread and meat. I rinse it after and dry it immediately. No more no less.

Even if I enjoy the flatness of my Stretch or the squareness of my Southard, on that hard used small fixed blade the rounded ergonomic handle is simply my favorite since I have had made a bokote handle on my Cold Steel Trailmaster. The black G10 after two years of constant use looks and feels like new. G10 is an incredible tough material. But the Bushcrafter is my first “blister proof” knife. Even my beloved H.E.S.T. required the use of gloves but not the Bushcrafter. I have removed the lanyard as I was not able to find something which suited me yet. Especially when I used the knife in the mud, blood… Again lanyard are great on pictures but I don’t like them in use. I don’t like to feel moisture trapped in it.

What would I change ? Sorry Sal but I do not like the hole in the blade. For one reason: I need to clean it and oil it or it’s unhygienic and a rust magnet. I would had prefer some kind of circle, even as big as a folder hole than that. I understand it’s a signature but…I would had preferred something easier to clean.

For two years the BushcraftUK has proven to be unique in my collection. Incredibly confortable in the hand and sharp and tough and strong in the field. It’s all business. The amazing South Fork has not yet been able to kick it out of my bag. I plan to use it with the Stretch and my good old Tramontana Machette as combo. I’m not a lumberjack after all, am I ?

Nemo Bushcraft

bushcrafter Nemo

Bushcrafter

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Spyderco C90CF – Sal Glesser’s gentleman bushcraft folder

08/04/2013 nemosandman 6 Comments

Nemo Stretch C90CF

For twice these last months, I was considering myself being able to announce my best “EDC ever”. After the Sage 2 Sebenza inheritance, the “hard to get razor” rare Spyderco Paramillie in S90V, the megasharp little Michael Walker, the solid and forgiving Gayle Bradley, the wonderfully engineered Native, the minimalist friendly Pointu, the chopping solid Lionspy, the Techno which is a pure flawless stout companion and lately the Spyderco Southard which is such a great flipping friend served by a crapped clip. I love all of them and I considered myself spoiled. My case is closed.

Now what would be Sal Glesser favorite EDC ?
I knew the Stretch was a special project developped by Sal “in house” for his own needs and I was able to notice how the Stretch was continuing to continued into a Spyderco classic, providing one of the best high tech steel into a lightweight package: the discontinuated C90 and C90BL and the new Green Arrow: C90PGRE.
“The C90 Stretch started as a pet-project lockback knife design. Spyderco’s owner and chief designer made it for his personal use, incorporating features he wanted. He wanted high performance blade steel with edge retention super-powers for outdoor cutting: things like wood, rope and anything encountered in the wild. It had to work equally well indoors on cardboard, mail and fingernails. He sized it so it wouldn’t scare non’knife people and made it look slick on the off chance he’d someday have to wear a suit.”
Isn’t it exiting ? The Spyderpapa has invented a knife for his own needs and no one else. Remember, the famous C36 Military has been design for his son Eric for example… But this very C90 has been designed for no one else but Sal. “The Stretch has been a 25 year work-in-progress and we’d like to continue to make it better. The ZDP FRN version finds a lot of my pocket time.”

So I got now the great opportunity to pocket a Stretch. This one is the one with the handle in peel-ply carbon fiber, with a four-way clip, left/right-hand and tip-up/tip-down and a full flat ground blade of solid ZDP-189.
Quoting my friend Wouter: “Stretch II is IMO a perfect knife for the connoisseur. Its looks might be plain, the blade might seem too thin, but for the knowledgeable knife enthusiast it’s a very impressive folder.”

Ah, ZDP 189 ! I like it on my Rockstead Higo but I love it on my C22CF. On both knife I have been able to cure its chipping with ease and to convex gently their edge. Here we got a 3mm thick blade on a very thin handle: pocket easy. Despite his hourglass clip the Stretch could be the father of my Chaparral. A gentleman folder with an outdoors purpose. The Stretch is incredibly thin and oozing quality. No blade play. Smooth opening. Extraflat design. The Stretch got a James Bond’s appeal.
Mine, after twenty strops on my leather belt is now sharp as my Bushcrafter. So time to test it and to fall in love again.

But quoting Spoonrobot: “Writing about a specific hobby always brings some inherent problems, there are only so many ways to praise a folding knife. I recently made the mistake of declaring a knife “the sharpest out of the box I’ve ever seen.” Only to have the next two knives prove to be even sharper. This makes it quite hard to be taken seriously, so in light of this I’ve decided to make slightly less grandiose claims when describing my newest slicey thing.”

Part II: improving the Stretch’s edge.

Folders, Photos

Sprint Run Spyderco Military C36 with M390 Steel

02/05/2012 nemosandman 6 Comments

Imagine a C36 Military with Carbon Fiber handle instead of G10, dual liners when my old Millie in CPM440V got only one and a black aluminium back spacer… now Imagine the chance to test the best steel in the Sprint Runs manufactured in Golden…
Ah, the C36 is available for little time in a limited edition with M390 steel and peel ply carbon fiber… the Cheetah of military folding knives is back with a vengeance.

Spyderco Military with M390 Steel

Lightweight. Incredibly light so you forget it once it’s clipped to your pants.
Lightweight is a luxury. The choice of the materials and the refinements of the design since 1995 has kept the feather weight of this big knife.
Soldiers needs to control how much they carry. The millie is a good friend for them.
And a good friend for the hunter, the bushcrafter and the voyager.

Spyderco Military with M390 Steel

Again the C36 offers you a very pointy blade for a strong blade. This is polyvalence. The point of needle with the power of a big bad full flat ground blade in the best steels available.
No surprise this knife is a classic and even if a Military II will be produced one day, Eric Glesser at the last Minimeet in Amsterdam told me the Original Millie will be kept.
In all my Military I only saw one broken tip. It was the very first one in CPM440V (S60V) we reviewed with Fred Perrin and he was able to reground it.

Spyderco Military with M390 Steel

The big hole is perfect for Spyderdropping. The knife is open with an elegant movement and close in a breeze with or without gloves.

The quillons, created by the choil and the hump behind the hole, give all power to the blade without to go through an handle “interface”. This gives a lot of control. You are able to cut hard and quick. But also by choking up the blade you can whittle and do some precise works. This is where a Millie shines compared to for example my Lionspy which got heft and strong cutting power and certainly a stronger lock.
This is a question of choice. The nested liners in the carbon fiber handle is such a clever invention to keep an extra flat a incredibly solid tool. The balance point is just

Spyderco Military with M390 Steel

All in all, that Sprint Run is a second chance for those who could not pull the trigger on the S90V / Carbon fiber limited edition of the C36 some years ago.
Now S90V is a really strange steel. My Paramillie in S90 V is kept sharp as I don’t want to fight with diamonds to get its razor edge back. S90V do not want to lose any atoms.
One of my C36 Military came with a very keen edge. I think it’s around 20°. I was able to goes to vorpal dangerous sharpness only by stropping it on leather. I would not be able to get the same results with my equipements unless I got a lot of time on my hands.
So IMHO M390 is not S90V but so far it looks like a excellent alloy. Better than S30V in the way it keeps its high sharpness once polished (And I love to polish my edges). More to come later on a longer run. But this steel is going to be a very strong contender in the race to super powder metallurgy steels.

Spyderco Military with M390 Steel

What a pleasure to pocket a C36 again.This is an EDC which knows how to be forgotten until you need it and the range of use of this Classic is wider than many knives even many spydies. A long blade. A long handle. A research in excellence for 17 years by Sal Glesser.

Many Spydies are little big knives: short knives with great power. This one is a long knife which knows how to be light like a shorter folder. And looking at it you can be delighted by its exquisite lines in all its unique engineering details. A must.

Spyderco Military with M390 Steel

Folders, Review

Spyderco Chaparral. – Gentleman extra flat companion.

15/03/2012 nemosandman 11 Comments

The Chaparral is the new true gentleman folder designed by Sal Glisser. Is it destined to be proposed with various handles. The first batch was supposed to be titanium but due to some delays the carbon fiber handle version get released first.

What amazed me on that little jewelry is the flatness of the overall design and the smoothness of the operations.
I read somewhere (I think it was Paul the Deacon who wrote that) the Chaparral was an alternative to the Michael Walker.
It is ambidextrous and even smoother, flatter and its wire clip is much better than the metal one on the C22.
The Chaparral is inobstructive and sleek design. The CF handle give you perfect retention. It’s a joy to operate.
Like all Taichung release this a jewel. No blade play in any direction. A hidden pin mechanism has been added to the pivot to strengthen the lock and can be felt during opening and closing. The knife despite its ultra thin feel very solid.
Compared to my beloved C22 Michael Walker, well it’s almost beats it but on the edge, the steel, the blade to handle ratio.
I would say the Walker is a BMW Series One when the Chaparral is an Audi A3. 😉
Two great knives for sure but with different performance.
The edge on the Chaparral is a little thick for my test when the ZDP of the C22 is thin and hard.
On hard plastic the Walker is even better than my Gayle Bradley and since I have been able to buy a safe queen, my first Walker will be used hard this year.
On hard matters the Chaparral cannot compete with the Walker.
I have deshouldered its edge a bit but it is not as aggressive as that C22.
But for office task and EDC it is perfect. Also I’m certain someone gifted sharpeners like my friend JD or Tom Krein would easily turn their Chaparral into Vorpals.
Overall the Chaparral is pure pleasure to operate. I use mine when I need a discreet companion at the office or in the city. You will forget it is clipped on you and will bring you a big grin when you will use it.
Another great design with and incredible smooth and flat alternative.
This could be James Bond choice. 😉

This is my Chaparral saluted by my two Walkers. Can you identified the safe queen?
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Folders

Gayle Bradley 2 years after – The Workhorse of outstanding performances.

11/03/2012 nemosandman 7 Comments

Two years ago in March 2012 I have ordered and received overseas within 5 working days my Spyderco Gayle Bradley.
I knew at first glance this knife was going to be a hit. You feel it in your hand and in the way it’s operate.
Back then, some people were “blocked” by the fact it was made in Taiwan and were nagging about the fact it was not made at 100% in the USA, simply forgetting that Seki was also importing knives into the USA and since Spyderco’s first success Sal Glesser have been able to build a plant in Golden Colorado to start a local production.
Also some forumites, like myself, have been wasted their time, throwing pearls to the swines, explaining Taiwan is NOT North Korea….
But despites those “retards”, everybody able to hold a GB were going “WOW !!!”
This knife is incredibly smooth and well finished. Oh the gorgeous liners… Some friends who are also in business with Taichung told me each parts of their knives are marked and numbered. We are almost in jewelry.

Two years ago, this is my favorite hard used folding knife: why ?
Answer: outstanding performances thanks to:
its hollow grind is thin and gently convexed. The steel is great. The GB is one the best push cutter in my collection (with the C22 ZDP Walker which is a true state of the art!).
Another great asset: the chunky heavy (I got the first batch more on that later) handle.
This square handle give you a great grip for turning/twisting the edge during the cutting to remove matter, the kind of abuse the Gayle Bradley blade can withstand easily thanks to that great CPM-M4 steel!

On hard materials, the GB is the King. You control the cuts. You feel the blade making constant thick chips of removed platic/wood…. The hidden choil give the control and the “feedback”/feel of the hardware during the hard cutting. Many times you think: it won’t do it but… it does, steady and smoothly separating matters. I have noticed how the edge near the choil is usefull and got a lot of applied force for hard matters cutting. This is the same bonus you got with the small Spydie Michael Walker design. Those “hidden” choil give you a lot of leverage near the axis. You can push with all your weight on that portion of the blade, it will separate matter smoothly.

So after two years of constant use: no rust or pitting on the non stainless steel blade. No blade play what so ever. And the lock is still at the same engagement as new.
I was not able to chip /damage the handle. I was taking care of it enough not to have the liners scratched (the blade is scratched though on its sides but it gives caracter to the knife)
My GB is one of the first batch, the liner of the first version are not skeletonized and it helps a lot to rinse and to clean under tap water. It makes it a little butt heavy but I like it that way… Also the clip was so tigh I was obliged to sand the carbon fiber to have it loose. But since that first adjustement, my GB did not change a bit.
I was even able to keep it sharp with only ceramic and stropping. The edge is thin and is easy to realigned. It’s especially forgiving, like a well tempered carbon steel and with the incredible perf of a high tech alloy. I have also used the handle liners to break glass and I was glad they were exposed that way.
This is the knife I put to the test each time I got something “hairy” to cut, something, I’m not certain I can do it with a knife. And each time the Spyderco Gayle Bradly was able to do it with ease and each time I have try another knife just to check if it was able to do it as “easily” but no. The only contender is the C22 and it’s not a workhorse but a gentleman knife.
Really you can be surprise has how the GB get through wooden knots and with a twist of the handle your break the branch with no damage. The edge goes deep and the blade is resilient. What a knife !

Nemo Sandman Gayle Bradley

Edit of 20th of may 2012:
I have found those words of Gayle Bradley on the Bladeforums some times ago and I really think this is something to read:

“First of all, thank you for your interest in my Spyderco collaboration. I thought I would address some questions I have read on the forums.

I chose a hollow grind because it gives you a thinner edge with less resistance to the material being cut. The blade material (CPM M4) is so tough and strong it will allow for a very thin edge and still have ample strength for a rough use knife. (My competition knives have an edge thickness of about .014 before the sharpening bevel is ground.) The blade has belly from tip to ricasso for better cutting ability in most cases. The tip is slightly thicker for additional strength. The handle is large enough to accomodate any hand size and most types of grips. Some dimensions not covered in the spec sheet are: liners are .068; blade is .120; thickness is .517. Because of the size of the knife and thickness of the liner material, I chose carbon fiber to reduce weight and add furher strength. One last thing about CMP M4, it is not stainless, but I have found that applying silicone to the blade will prevent most corrosion and stains.

Thank you for your interest in my work-horse design and your trust in Spyderco knives.

Stay sharp, Gayle Bradley”
Nemo Sandman Gayle Bradley

Folders

Spyderco Catcherman USN Edition in H1 – Green Power !

29/12/2011 nemosandman 6 Comments

C17 Spyderco Catcherman USN Edition
In my quest for a travelling knife, I’ve been considering a lightweight big folder. I already know and appreciate the Cold Steel Voyager Serie and also I’m a big fan of the Spyderco C36 Military. Then I got the chance to purchase a sprint run (600 ex.) of the Spyderco Catcherman for USN forums. First it was the chance to handle and own one of the most extreme concept ever made by the Golden crew. The C17 Catcherman was designed as “a filleting tool for the serious fisherman” and offered a long and thin AUS 8A Steel blade.
According to the wonderful book “The Spyderco Story” by K.T. Delavigne (“from the vineyard” in French BTW): “… its name was derived from an optimistic reply to the qquestion: “Are you going fishing ?” : “No I’m going catching.” Also this model was designed by one of Spyderco’s Japanese suppliers, the 4,75 inches long blade offers plenty of belly for skinning and filleting fish. With a .07-inch thickness allows it to flex slightly and pass though more easily…”