My perfect "tough" folder is this:
Tall blade (sharpening lifetime)
Stout tip (I've broken off too many millie/pm2's)
Full liners
Large stop pin within those liners
Large diameter pivot barrel
Large pivot screws
Larger phosphor bronze washers than spyderco offers
Tri-ad lock (spyderco backlock is fine too).
You are basically describing my Chinook 1 after I replaced the original Teflon Washers with Military PB washers (which are larger than for most other Spydies, BTW).
Bloke, at the end of the day we all view knives EXTREMELY differently.
For all I know there's a boxcutter forum somewhere where they call all pocketknife fans a bunch of weirdos.
It all depends on what kind of life you live.
Maybe spyderco simply isn't the brand for me. I refuse to believe it, but several of the people here seem to be pushing me in a different direction.
Hey Hitch, we all view everything differently. It’s the nature of the beast and I’m certainly not trying to rubbish or influence anyone’s view.
I’ve been a shiny arse office worker for the past nineteen years but in a past life I was a rigger for over twenty years and certainly understand that different professions can be extremely taxing on knives as yours obviously is.
I’m not too sure I can say much more on the subject. I simply feel that choice of blade material and edge geometry are far more important for the task at hand than anything else mentioned on this thread is all. :)
A day without laughter is a day wasted. ~ Charlie Chaplin
My perfect "tough" folder is this:
Tall blade (sharpening lifetime)
Stout tip (I've broken off too many millie/pm2's)
Full liners
Large stop pin within those liners
Large diameter pivot barrel
Large pivot screws
Larger phosphor bronze washers than spyderco offers
Tri-ad lock (spyderco backlock is fine too).
You are basically describing my Chinook 1 after I replaced the original Teflon Washers with Military PB washers (which are larger than for most other Spydies, BTW).
Roland.
Unfortunately spyderco doesn't offer large washers that I know of. I have a strong suspicion that this is what has created blade play in my knives despite using loctite. In a perfect world I'd like a strong pivot that took some of the stress off the lock in certain times of stress.
To be honest spyderco has the smallest washers on the market, or their sect within that is.
A lot of companies play the tough knife game and Spyderco does a few models, but generally doesn't play that game. I used to carry a Manix 2 with full liners and now that's heavier than anything I want to carry.
On the weekends when I'm wearing jeans, I can opt to carry a heavy folder, but usually don't.
-Brian A distinguished lurker.
Waiting on a Squeak and Pingo with a Split Spring!
An entertaining thread, but not all that useful. The lack of any rigorous definition of the terms “tough” and “abuse“ allowed the discussions to go off in all sorts of random directions. I think there is some good information in many of the responses but basically this is so open ended that evaluating folders in any meaningful way is impossible.
If all Spyderco folders were equally beat, hammered, frozen, twisted and bent and the one suffering the less damage was declared the winner then that would tell us which one could withstand the most damage. That would be a curious fact but of little interest or value.
Using each folder hard but within its design intent and constraints would be of more value.
But it’s been interesting to know how some people do abuse their knives.
Overheard at the end of the ice age, “We’ve been having such unnatural weather.”
Wish I could add to the conversation......I have a NIB Chinook 3 that I swear will cut my old 154CM saber grind Manix in half......couldn’t imagine what a Chinook 1 or 2 would do?
