Astute Poll

[thewoodpecker]

Bumping this thread for this stunning mod from another thread...

The tenacious is my normal value line knife that I give as gifts. It’s a good gateway into the Spyderco world. But up until this past week, I had never owned a value line Spyderco myself.

My wife bought be the Astute, and I’m blown away by the quality for the price. So far anyone I’ve shown it to that isn’t a Spyderco person, has thought it to be a much more expensive knife.

It’s hard to believe they can pack an edge that is as long as the PM2 into a handle smaller than the delica.

I polished the G10 on mine, as well as smoothed over the liner lock bar a little. I’m loving it, and it makes a really nice dress knife, for very little money.

I know the tenacious gets a lot of love, but there are a lot more value series knives out there that don’t get a lot of publicity. Thought it might be neat to have some pictures and thoughts on your favorites. Maybe some mods as well. So what are your favorite value knives, and why?

And a few pics:







PM2 and delica comparison:

[Coastal]

I really admire the Astute as is, but I have a few complaints/wishes: 1) It's not "too heavy," but it's too heavy for its size. I'd love to see a linerless FRN version. 2) The steel is adequate, but not great. I like my S35VN Resilience so much that I wish Spyderco would follow suit with the Astute. In FRN, either lined or linerless. 3) I'm really, really tired of black knife handles of any material. Replace them with anything. 4) Deep-six the lanyard hole. The design is too compact to leave a logical location for it.

I have no wish for an Astute XL, because I have tons of larger knives. To me the whole point of this model is a lot of edge in a small package. That said, I'd buy one as soon as it dropped.

[skeeg11]

Me too!

[vivi]

Would have voted for XXL (4" blade), but I would try out an XL version. The design looks really nice with the amazing edge to handle ratio. The Resilience has made me seek out other designs with the edge up to the handle and no index choil. It makes so much more sense for me as I rarely utilize index choils on models that have them.

[cjk]

other: S35VN steel with forest green G-10. or BD1N with forest green G-10. or just forest green G-10.

[Michal O]

Taichung with CL.

[Ranger_Ike]

While I am intrigued at what a higher quality material Astute would be like I tend to lean towards wanting it to stay in the value line. There are plenty of more expensive models. Although, contoured g10 like the shaman would be really nice.

I would like to see more g10 color options mostly. Gray would be great. Heinne Haynes red would be absolutely amazing.

As for the steel, I think it’s perfectly fine. For me, this isn’t a hard use knife. It’s not something I would be using for big jobs. More an office carry. BD1N maybe, but I wouldn’t really want the price increase of a high end steel.

I think it’s sitting where it needs to be. I would just like to see other colors available. I would probably own every color it would be released in. And I would prefer it to stay g10.

If there’s one thing I would say to upgrade, above all else I would say mill the liners to reduce weight.

[Bemo]

Honestly I'd be good with FRN and maybe color options on the G10.

[skeeg11]

As I've said a few times before, I'm really impressed with the quality of my S35VN Resilience so my question is, "Is the Astute made by the same company that makes the Tenacious/Resilience family?"

[vilePossum]

I voted other and astute XL, cause for me I would need about a 1cm more grip length to hold it comfortably.
Of course I wouldn't scoff at any steel upgrade either.

[eventhorizon]

I would be all over basically any steel upgrade... I still think the Astute is one of, if not the best designed knife Spyderco introduced in recent years.

Still need to find a nice replacement clip, though, the stock one is just overkill on this knife.

[aicolainen]

I haven't payed much attention to this knife.. in a world of options I tend to dismiss Chinese made G-10 models up front.
This model may be proof that this rough filtering method isn't perfect.
Or maybe it is.
While this thread has opened my eyes to this model, there's a limit to how many knives I can commit to trying. In a way, that's a similar dilemma as Spyderco is facing with regards to how many models and variants they want to produce and what the opportunity cost is for any variation you decide to pursue.

Though I wouldn't ask for it, a LW FRN version with skeletonized/drilled liners would probably tip me over.
If such a configuration turns out to be popular, it might also make sense to offer it up in a S35VN as part of an organic growth process.

[aicolainen]

I really admire the Astute as is, but I have a few complaints/wishes: 1) It's not "too heavy," but it's too heavy for its size. I'd love to see a linerless FRN version.
8< -------

While that could kind of be achieved with partial liner(s), I don't believe a linerless liner lock is a design and/or production challenge you want to take on for a budget focused product.

[eventhorizon]

No idea how anybody could think of the Astute as particulary "heavy"... while sporting more cutting edge it is still a whopping 20% lighter than a Para 3.

[JesterXL]

The Astute is my first value line Spyderco. I bought it purely because of its design. IMO Spyderco’s most beautiful non-Glessar model. I’m happy to say it feels as good as it looks in the hand. They could be doing so much more with this model- I picked XL, Taichung, and all of the above.

[aicolainen]

No idea how anybody could think of the Astute as particulary "heavy"... while sporting more cutting edge it is still a whopping 20% lighter than a Para 3.

It’s probably light enough for most, well balanced and suited for its intended use.

For my use weight is important, so I always want to see how low it can go. Balance is secondary.
With a move to FRN for scale material and drilling/skeletonizing the liners (unless already done), it would be interesting to see how much of a difference that would make.

As far as moving to a single and/or partial liner, that would almost make it a new design and seems like step too far for this model.

[Frozenspyder]

I was amazed when I first got the Astute. A steel upgrade might put it in the running for my favorite knife of all time. I think it would be a great knife to have in a slip joint, but sadly, I don't think that would work without losing some edge length and ruining the knife's design.

[Bemo]

The Astute is my first value line Spyderco. I bought it purely because of its design. IMO Spyderco’s most beautiful non-Glessar model. I’m happy to say it feels as good as it looks in the hand. They could be doing so much more with this model- I picked XL, Taichung, and all of the above.

I'd be willing to bet this is a Sal design. I don't know why folks think the value or Byrd line aren't either Sal or Eric designs. Heck my Tenacious and Persistence actually have Eric's maker's mark.

[Mushroom]

The Astute is my first value line Spyderco. I bought it purely because of its design. IMO Spyderco’s most beautiful non-Glessar model. I’m happy to say it feels as good as it looks in the hand. They could be doing so much more with this model- I picked XL, Taichung, and all of the above.

I'd be willing to bet this is a Sal design. I don't know why folks think the value or Byrd line aren't either Sal or Eric designs. Heck my Tenacious and Persistence actually have Eric's maker's mark.

The Astute was designed by Gábor Szakonyi. He also designed the Spyderco Hungarian.

[Bemo]

Oh cool, thanks for the edge-ucation! I didn't know that.