Spyderco Forums

Danke wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:13 pm

Notsurewhy wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:04 am

Disclaimer: I don’t like frame locks, grey on grey on grey knives and I am indifferent to titanium. So skip this post if these are your favorite things, I'm not trying to hurt feelings. Why am I replying to this thread? See username. Also I'm bored.

The Spydiechef is probably the only one I wouldn't sell immediately if it magically appeared in my collection. It’s not to my preferences, but the design is interesting and functional. Tall flat grind, salt materials and designed to be used on a cutting board.

The swayback is pretty, but I don't think the designer understands how a swayback patterns work (or maybe just doesn’t care). A swayback handle is backwards for normal use and this one is too huge to use for paring cuts that swaybacks excel at. Maybe it's designed for folks with enormous hands? If they put a normal handle on it (of course then it wouldn’t be a swayback) or made it smaller this could’ve been a contender. I really like that high hollow sheepsfoot blade.

The technos are weird. They are overbuilt and overthick, yet are tiny little knives. Little knives are fine, but they need to be slicey little things or I have no interest. The 2 is better than the 1 but still a chunky boy. The techno 1 has 4.5mm stock on a 2.5" blade. That’s a little native and a half, nearly 2 dragonflies thick

The Bowie is a solid design, but the Shabazz hype train drove the prices into the stratosphere (not entirely Nick’s fault, and he has actively said the prices are now ridiculous). I could sell it for enough money to buy two to three knives I like better. At least the special edition added some color to the sea of grey, although it lost the blade finish people really seemed to like on the original.

TLDR version: Slysz knives look pretty, but aren’t my favorite in materials, function or price range. I think the spydiechef is the best by a fairly large margin.

I like big knives and I cannot lie

That's a good looking viper.

I don't have a problem with large knives in general(the native chief is one of my most carried knives), I just don't think it works with a swayback pattern. If the Slysz was the size of that viper, I might own one despite the frame lock. If it works for you, I'm sure it's a great knife.

Gray KJ Bowie Its size and shape are perfect for an EDC knife in my opinion. Only the clip could be a little longer...

For me it's the SpydieChef definitely. But I'm wondering, what is up with the SpydieChef 2? Has the design been abandoned? It was shown 6 years ago, so I'd guess plenty of time to figure it out?

I think the Swayback took about 8 years.

przemekspce wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 17, 2024 1:08 pm

Gray KJ Bowie Its size and shape are perfect for an EDC knife in my opinion. Only the clip could be a little longer...

Man I love that knife!!!

przemekspce wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 17, 2024 1:08 pm

Gray KJ Bowie Its size and shape are perfect for an EDC knife in my opinion. Only the clip could be a little longer...

A few questions for you, Señor przemekspce;

1) When I was in grade school, I joined the Astronomy Club, but I had to quit after three days when I realized that I was too stupid to understand astronomy. Is that design on your handle a star map?

2) So, um, how does a KJ anodized blue handle bowie become a "Gray KJ Bowie"?

3) I notice that your location is Poland. The initials of your real name wouldn't happen to be M.S., would they? It's okay. You can tell me.

Thanks.

The star map on his knife is the Scorpius constellation. Also, I’m pretty sure his first name is Przemek.

RadioactiveSpyder wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 19, 2024 7:32 pm

The star map on his knife is the Scorpius constellation. Also, I’m pretty sure his first name is Przemek.

Indeed

Mister Coffee wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 19, 2024 7:16 pm

2) So, um, how does a KJ anodized blue handle bowie become a "Gray KJ Bowie"?

The blue color was removed by sandblasting.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread. I consider it a great success, and I have learned much from your posts. Now, I'll add my reflections.

Swayback: A complete design, beautifully executed. It’s a big knife and a heavy knife, the titanium notwithstanding. The key design idea here is the curve that we associate with the traditional swayback. This curve is gently expressed in the handle, then reiterated with more emphasis in the spine and swedge of the blade. The mirror-polished, stonewashed CTS-XHP blade and the stone washed, titanium handles are signatures of this series by Spyderco, and they are beautiful indeed, but the beauty is muted. The blade doesn’t reflect like a mirror polish. The handles appear matt. The effect is not “over done.” The handles are noticeably rounded (more on this below), smooth and silky-feeling. I appreciate the pinch bevel at the pivot and the broken edges. The wharncliffe blade has never been my favorite, and it kept me from thinking about this knife for a long time. But the wharncliffe is appropriate for a swayback, and Spyderco put a hollow grind on it that cuts like a scalpel. What’s left? The pocket clip. It’s either a hit or a miss. I don’t think there is any in-between. To me, it’s big and noisy, with three ugly attachment screws, but I have no suggestion for an alternative. In sum, the Swayback says, “Here I am. Deal with me.” And it is right to do so. It’s a great knife.

KJ Bowie: The wait was frustrating. The wait was unacceptable. But the Bowie finally became available again, and I bought one. It’s a beautiful knife. It gives you a huge blade on what is an average-sized handle. The Bowie has drama, but not too much. It tells a story. In fact, the blade tells a story unto itself — deep, with a nice drop and a slight clip at the end. Unique and well done. Does it need a mirror-polished, crowned spine? I don’t know. The handle is less successful — or, let’s say, more of a miss. It fits the hand well, but I expected it to be rounded like the swayback. The blue anodized finish is not blue like the pictures [EDIT: It is blue like the pictures until it gets dirt on it, which doesn't take long.] and is not at all pleasant to hold. The lock bar insert is partly visible through the thumbhole. Really? Is this what we’re doing on a $449.00 knife? The wire clip: I like wire clips and the wire clip works well here. All told, I like this knife very much, but every time I pick it up, and feel that blue anodizing, I start thinking about how this knife disappoints me. With this knife, I sense that the design concept didn’t reach full execution. It’s like I’m married to Margot Robbie, but, for some reason, I only want to have sex with her once a day instead of all day long.

SpydieChef: I must say that I was surprised to see that you guys voted for this one above the others. And I agree. This is a design that is as thoroughgoing and complete as the Swayback, but even more so. The key design idea here is: “How can you make a curved knife using mostly straight lines?" It’s funky. It’s messin’ with you. It’s just plain wrong. But it works, and it’s not over-the-top. It’s just right. The scales are dead flat. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be comfortable to use, but it is. There’s a pinch bevel at the pivot and bevels on the edges. The stone washed titanium is smooth, like the Swayback, and even more silky-feeling. The wire clip is perfect for this model. When you open the blade, you have the swooping line of the handles going down and the swooping line of the belly of the blade going up. If that doesn’t make you forget that you own four your Buck knives, I don’t know what will. Having this knife is like being married to Margot Robbie and chasing her around the sofa all night long on Saturday night, and then getting dressed and going to church, like always, on Sunday. The SpydieChef is an accomplishment and a great knife.

I want to say more, but maybe this is enough. ¡Saludos!

none of them do it for me.

spydiechef is a cool concept but too small for a dedicated food prep knife or my general edc preference, and not wild about ti scales or frame locks.

swayback...again, small, slick, and with a lock I don't care for. I also dislike how the top rear of the handle flares up. Swaybacks are often unergonomic because of that handle design, which is odd because most don't need that shape to contain the blade. It may be traditional but it feels awful in use for me.

Bowie, same thing. Too small, slick, and another frame lock. I handled it and a K2 side by side and there was zero interest in the bowie for me. The K2 was neat though, always hoped for a G10 run.

Maybe if he can get away from Ti framelocks I'll find a design from him I enjoy.

This is a question on the original Slysz Bowie in cts-xhp. Where can I purchase all the body and clips screws from that are not anodized?

Future favourites.

It's funny, I wish the chef was bigger and the swayback was smaller.

I want to try a Techno / Techno 2. Fat blades aren't my things but the design pulls me in

For me it’s probably the Techno or Techno 2. Tough call.

If we’re talking about non-Spyderco Slysz designs though, I’m quite fond of a lot of his most recent work.

For example, the “Mini Draken” folder!





I also really like his “ANU Flipper.”





Photos from Marcin Slysz Instagram account - https://www.instagram.com/marcins_desig ... FxeDZjMQ==

GarageBoy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2024 7:40 pm

It's funny, I wish the chef was bigger and the swayback was smaller.

I want to try a Techno / Techno 2. Fat blades aren't my things but the design pulls me in

That's the big Spidiechef proto sitting on top of the yellow box.

Dear Fileros:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

Danke wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2024 7:54 pm

GarageBoy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2024 7:40 pm

It's funny, I wish the chef was bigger and the swayback was smaller.

I want to try a Techno / Techno 2. Fat blades aren't my things but the design pulls me in

That's the big Spidiechef proto sitting on top of the yellow box.

Danke sehr, Danke

Looks like my cup of tea

I only have the Chef and the Swayback, but I am pretty sure I would enjoy the Bowie also.
I love the Chef also because it saved me a lot of money by not lusting so much after a Drunken. :-)

kobold wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 31, 2024 2:46 pm

I only have the Chef and the Swayback, but I am pretty sure I would enjoy the Bowie also.
I love the Chef also because it saved me a lot of money by not lusting so much after a Drunken. :-)

The Drunken is rather pricey. Also, the finishes on the two sides don't match. I don't know how I feel about that.