Not Sharp

John Watson · #1

You get used to getting knives from Spyderco that are shaving sharp out of the box. It really spoils you when you get another brand and find out that not every company sells knives that actually come that sharp.

I have taken a shine to the old simple stag slip joint knives lately. I picked up a Case Pocket Worn Trapper from my local gun store. It has SS blades and I was expecting them to be able to shave. Not so. It actually took a bit of work on my very, very old Sharpmaker set to get the two blades to shave the hair off my arm without any effort.

All I can say is, Sal, keep up the good work and please make a set of stag slipjoint Spydercos.

Alan2112 · #2

Hey John, I'm fond of slip joints as well. All our Case SJs except one have CV blades. They perform quite a bit better! I'm partial to the stockman, large Texas Jack, and moose patterns with bone or stag handles. I just ordered my first sowbelley with stag handles, I can't wait for it to arrive! RKBA!

John Watson · #3

Hi Alan, I just received a Queen Trapper stag in D2. I am looking forward to seeing how the D2 holds up. The Queen Trapper is larger than my Case Trapper. My wife bought me a damascus Parker Edwards Trapper with stag scales years ago and I never carried it cause I worried about it rusting. The damascus is a pain to sharpen though.

Alan2112 · #4

You'll really like Queen's D2. I have a coco bolo gunstock jack, and a fairly new stag bone #9 large stockman, which is now my favorite SJ! D2 is also now my favorite steel for SJs.

Jimmy_Dean · #5

John, I heard so many thing about the damascus steel, including that it's hard to sharpen, but what about the other properties of the blade like edge holding, sharpness and stuff. Since you have one, could you tell me about it a bit?

-Dean

John Watson · #6

Jimmy, I am sorry to say that I pretty much kept the damascus in the knife roll and haven't used it much. My particular knife has a really hard steel so sharpening is a bear so edge retention should be fine. I haven't has as much success getting it razor sharp as some others, which could be a factor of the hard steel being harder to get a good burr going.

As I told Allen, I was alway worried about rusting the blade down here in southern Louisiana with the salt air and high humidity. We sweat all year round.

Wish I could have imparted better information for you. Of courd YMMV depending on the maker of the damascus and heat treating.

Jimmy_Dean · #7

That's alright, I'm sure I'd do the same with such a special knife. I use knives more than I collect them but when you pay this kind of money, it's sujet a question of common sense. Thanks for the inputs.

-Dean