Recurve Spyders: Their Main Uses? SE?

[JD Spydo]

One fortunate Brother just snagged an older KRIS model and a good friend of mine who I keep in contact with over the years let me know that he recently found a SPYKER NIB. Both of those are recurve folders that have caught my eye and made me wonder what they are designed for. I've been lucky and I used to have the Spyker and wish I would have kept it because I personally think it was the most ridgid, well designed, great handle fit recurve Spyder I ever owned.

Our good Brother Dialex with his ADVENTURA was a nice piece when it was in the main line up and it was sort of popular at one time. My boss just loves the ZULU I snagged for him and this poses a question I've wanted to ask owners and users of recurve Spyders>> What do you all mainly use Recurve Spyder folders for? Do any of you actually EDC a Recurve Spyder? Also I've thought for years that the Spyker and a couple of other Recurve models would be awesome with an aggressive serrated edge. But I've never EDCed any recurve because I've never seen them to be as pragmatic as other designs but on the other hand I've never really put one to a serious test either.

I know that like any other knife design they have their place and excel in some cutting jobs. It does appear that they might have some rope cutting advantages. So what do you all use Recurve Spyders for mainly? Also your thoughts on whether a Spyderedge would enhance some of Spyderco's Recurve models?

[JohnAPA]

I'm pretty sure they are fighting knives. You get more cutting edge relative to the length of the blade.

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[bearfacedkiller]

It gives you the cutting ability of both a hawkbill and a blade with belly. A lot of people don't like them because they can be harder to sharpen.

I think a combo edge could work well with the recurve serrated and the belly plain edge.

[JD Spydo]

It gives you the cutting ability of both a hawkbill and a blade with belly. A lot of people don't like them because they can be harder to sharpen.

I think a combo edge could work well with the recurve serrated and the belly plain edge.

Yeah their tricky to really get a razor edge; no doubt about that. I find recurves just about as tricky to sharpen as plain edged Hawkbills.

Fighting knives>> I guess I'm not that up on tactical hardware like I should be but I had never really looked at recurve blades as being tactical. But now that I think about it the part about the belly always protruding does make sense.

But with as many commercial knife companies who sell and market recurve blades I'm still thinking that there must also be everyday uses for them.

Now if they are used in a tactical manner I would think an aggressive Spyderedge would be an advantage with the belly in cutting mode.

Also what do you all use to sharpen recurves? I would imagine that the 204 Sharpmaker would be the best way to go.

[bearfacedkiller]

I just use the corners of the rods on the sharpmaker. I don't currently have any recurves because I just don't care for them but I do sharpen them for friends. However, I do sharpen a PE cricket and a PE Lil Matriarch on the corners of the sharpmaker rods. My PE Lil Matriarch wasn't quite at 30 degrees and I even gave it a slight reprofile on the corners of the diamond rods and it came out great. You just have to be careful when you get to the tip.

[Jazz]

I find them really quite useless and unnecessarily hard to sharpen. I know - get a Sharpmaker, use rods, or a handy rounded stone. I just don't like them, myself.

[Knivesinedc]

I just use the corners of the rods on the sharpmaker. I don't currently have any recurves because I just don't care for them but I do sharpen them for friends. However, I do sharpen a PE cricket and a PE Lil Matriarch on the corners of the sharpmaker.

Any suggestion on how to sharpen the very tip of a cricket?? My dads has become fairly rounded after lots of work :/ I was told by taking it to a flat stone and doing reverse circular motions I could bring the tip back but that didn't work. Anyone is welcome to suggest something.

[Blerv]

Besides aesthetics, re-curve blades just give a cavity for material to catch without impacting the traditional tip/belly shape. It's a less extreme hawkbill which goes so far as to remove all belly and changing the tip orientation. You can still push-cut, skin, pull cut, stab and all that. Down fall of course is more difficulty sharpening and less efficient cutting board work as half the blade is recessed.

Traditional large fixed blades like kukris and bolos have used recurve and negative blade angle to help them chop well outside of their weight/length class by shifting balance partially or almost completely forward.

For me, the more I carry wharncliffe or even spear-point/leaf-point blades the less I like knives with excessive curvature in either direction. My tasks are fairly light and sharpening skills fairly meager.

Any suggestion on how to sharpen the very tip of a cricket?? My dads has become fairly rounded after lots of work :/ I was told by taking it to a flat stone and doing reverse circular motions I could bring the tip back but that didn't work. Anyone is welcome to suggest something.

You might try very slow and light motions with the 90 degree angle of a bench stone. I have a very small hawkbill with extreme curvature (1") and I slowly push as I arc my wrist. It seems to help at least with getting it reasonably sharp.

[bearfacedkiller]

I just use the corners of the rods on the sharpmaker. I don't currently have any recurves because I just don't care for them but I do sharpen them for friends. However, I do sharpen a PE cricket and a PE Lil Matriarch on the corners of the sharpmaker.

Any suggestion on how to sharpen the very tip of a cricket?? My dads has become fairly rounded after lots of work :/ I was told by taking it to a flat stone and doing reverse circular motions I could bring the tip back but that didn't work. Anyone is welcome to suggest something.

The Cricket is tough because the tip is so delicate. That is what makes it so functional for me but I am very careful with it. Depending on how much of the tip is gone you could try grinding away some of the spine to bring the tip back. That may be the easiest way.

[stalag2]

I own a few recurves and rarely carry them, as i find them quite a chore to reprofile and i don't really feel any advantage in my uses that would offset the pain.
I agree they are sometime handy as it keeps the material being cut from slipping away on the belly.
I find you get the same benefit with a regular bellied blade at a negative angle as on the Millie or the Ayoob.

I was on the fence for the Ulize but i just dropped it due to the recurve and grind.
I somehow stopped to care for extreme belly on my EDC aswell and i like the signature Spydie clip point the most as i often use the tip.

[JD Spydo]

I just use the corners of the rods on the sharpmaker. I don't currently have any recurves because I just don't care for them but I do sharpen them for friends. However, I do sharpen a PE cricket and a PE Lil Matriarch on the corners of the sharpmaker.

Any suggestion on how to sharpen the very tip of a cricket?? My dads has become fairly rounded after lots of work :/ I was told by taking it to a flat stone and doing reverse circular motions I could bring the tip back but that didn't work. Anyone is welcome to suggest something.

Not to veer too far from the intent of this thread.>> but I put up a thread on the OFF TOPIC section of the forum back in January I think it was and I was trying to find out what everyone did as far as sharpening all kinds of knife tips. Because each tip has it's own set of difficulties>> but the tips on Reverse S blades like the Cricket or the Matriarch definitely take some patience and a steady hand. Personally I use the 701 Profiles or the "Cat's Eye" shaped stones from my Spyderco GALLEY V kit to sharpen those types of points.

Now I don't find the points on recurve blades to be as demanding and I find you can get them in pretty good shape on a Sharpmaker. The geometry of the tip of the Dodo was one of the most difficult I had to learn to sharpen and I do the final edge with that same "Cat's Eye" stone. The tip on the DODO and CRICKET both are similar in the angle you need to abrade them and it does take some time to do it right. But a sharp tip on those type of blades do perform well when properly sharpened.

As many Recurve blades as Spyderco has sold and as many people talk about them I'm sure surprised that most of you have degrading comments on them. I'm truly wondering if that style is more or less cosmetic than it is functional because to be honest with you all the reason I put this thread up is because personally I've not seen a job that they excel at. So I wonder why Spyderco has done so many recurve models? But I still think it would be interesting to see how a Recurve blade would perform in a Spyderedge>> because I think it would be a completely different tool all together in Spyderedge.

[twinboysdad]

I have owned an Emerson Mini 15 which is a recurve with a Tanto point. Mine was CE and the teeth were right in the curve. It was a rope cutting beast as the curve pulled rope into the cut and the teeth just shredded the material. I did not keep it very much longer and don't remember why other than I like Spydies better

[JD Spydo]

I have owned an Emerson Mini 15 which is a recurve with a Tanto point. Mine was CE and the teeth were right in the curve. It was a rope cutting beast as the curve pulled rope into the cut and the teeth just shredded the material. I did not keep it very much longer and don't remember why other than I like Spydies better

I"ve never owned an Emerson knife but I've looked at quite a few of them at Gun Shows and so forth. I do believe they make a decent product for sure>> but I agree with you and much prefer Spyderco's products. I also know that Kershaw has a couple of Recurve blades that look impressive and the Spyderco SPYKER recurve model was a collaboration of Spyderco & Kershaw and I believe it was the only one they ever had as far as I know. Oddly enough the SPYKER was my favorite of all of them.

Now the ULIZE to me is one of the more impressive recurve models and being it is marketed as a Police blade to me it would only make sense to offer it like the other Spyderco POLICE model and make it available in SE & PE both. Because Police officers and other first responders often need the aggressive cutting power of a serrated blade. I do think that all of Spyderco's recurve blades would be a completely different animal in SE.