Calling all Urban owners, opinions needed.

[awa54]

Hi there,

What was the back spring on the G10 handled Urban like? Was there a difference between the standard version and the wharncliffe?

I know that many here have felt that the backsprings on earlier model slipits were too weak. My only experience has been with a Titanium UKPK, a Pingo and a split spring FRN UKPK, all of which have very acceptable backsprings.

Thanks for your insights!

[Liquid Cobra]

Both my wharncliffe and leaf have strong "lock up".

[caitbwebs]

I have the Wharncliffe and FRN LW, and the LW is much stronger/solid than the Wharncliffe.

[timlara]

I have the most recent FRN LW version and the spring was a little stiff out of the box, but broke in perfectly after about a week of use. Here is another thread where I posted an opening/closing video:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=67032&p=1010399&hil ... n#p1010399" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The tension of the spring, combined with the safety of the finger choil, I don't really see you accidentally closing this one too easily unless you're really doing something you shouldn't. It's a great knife!

[Jazz]

The G10 ones are perfect. The FRN one is ridiculously hard to open. Too bad. If that was fixed, it would be my favorite Spydie, and I have a few. I tried to fix it and ruined it. Very sad.

[Joris Mo]

Only own the FRN version and love it, on mine the tension is ideal it wont open or close too easily but not very hard either.
(all easy going one hand action)

[gbelleh]

I have a wharncliffe and leaf G-10 Urban. They both have very strong springs and lockup. The wharncliffe has the most solid lockup of any slipit I have.

[awa54]

Well, it sounds like the real answer is that the tension was a bit erratic and that folks have different opinions on what ideal spring tension might be

Nobody panned the G10 Urban though, so I guess it's time to grab one before they're all gone!

[Jazz]

Well, this might help...

[SolidState]

The Urban FRN is my EDC. It has a tighter lockup than the Ti-UKPK. It is comparable to the G10 Urbans which IMHO have better positive traction than the UKPKs of a similar time period.

Great knife, and I wouldn't let the FRN stop you. Both are great.

[twinboysdad]

Completely unrelated, but I only bought my orange Pingo due to the great back spring. They had 2 black ones with whimpy backsprings that I passed on but would have preferred black. Point being handing in person is always best

[MarcusH]

I own all variants of the Urban.
Although they share the same design the G-10 and the FRN variant of the Urban are technically somewhat different.
The spring of the G-10s is much weaker, too weak for my taste. The spring of the FRN variant is pretty strong, almost like a Laguiole.
Steelwise they are comparable; VG-10 and the Böhler N690Co, which is pretty much the same as VG-10.
But the half-stop is very different. The G-10 Urbans have the regular 90-degree half-stop, the FRN Urban has more of a 75-degree half-stop.

[phillipsted]

I agree with Marcus. The two knives - G10 and LW/FRN - are two different knives that happen to share the same name and are basically the same size. The construction is very different on the inside. The G10 scales are just flat slabs with holes and counterbores. The FRN scales are fully molded on the inside to simplify assembly. The backsprings of the two knives are also different in terms of their mechanical operation. The LW/FRN version is constructed the same way as the Pingo and Squeak, which are made at the same factory - and they share a common lineage.

TedP

[SG89]

I had the orange g10 urban and it had good "lockup". Had the TI UKPK and it was weaker. Have the TI Squeak and it is very strong but has broken in over 5 months. Miss my urban Although when I got it the clip seemed tarnished or oxidized of some sort. It was rough and discolored and g10 was dirty too even though it was brand new

[Nasgul]

My FRN Urban is the strongest of my slip joint !
Follow the Pingo then the UKPK that is a bit to much the opposite of the Urban... Not strong enough... Well, fine but could have been more.