Tell me about your favorite Spyderco model.

[Janfrederik]

And explain why. Maybe some experience with it, past jobs you've done with it, etc.
If you can't choose only one, feel free to choose more! :p

[jackknifeh]

And explain why. Maybe some experience with it, past jobs you've done with it, etc.
If you can't choose only one, feel free to choose more! :p

I've owned quite a few Spydercos in the past 4-5 years. I started by wanting one good quality knife. After many Spydercos and some others I've settled down to owning these. Since I kept them I'll call them my favorites but I've sold or traded many GREAT knives that others call their favorites. Here are mine.

Chaparral (either model): Possibly the perfect EDC knife. Not too big, not too small. Pretty enough to carry in dressier dress. Thin blade and an excellent cutter. XHP is great steel

Bradley Folder: GREAT harde use folder. Beautiful enough for the dressy clothes also. But VERY durable. M4 is great blade steel.

Sage4: VERY sturdy knife. Feels great in my hand. so does the Sage1 but it is one of the great knives I let go.

Dragonfly2: Great little knife. Fits well in my hand. Capable of harder use than it's size suggests. Available in VG-10 or ZDP-189 blade steel. Very good and very different blade steels for variety.

Manbug (either model): Absolutely my favorite small knife. Just barely small enough to be called a keychain knife IMO. Capable of much harder use than the size suggests. Especially the G-10 version because it has liners. Also comes in VG-10 or ZDP-189.

NOTE: I have a kydex neck sheath to carry the D'fly or Manbug. Having a knife hanging from my neck is the best possible way to carry a knife regarding ease of access. Not quite the fashion statement (or maybe it is) however. When I go into public I usually drop it under my shirt but sometimes I forget and I don't remember even one strange look from NKP. I just put red bone scales on my Manbug so maybe I'll wear it exposed in public to see if it gets noticed.

With the Spyderco's I listed I have about any type knife I need for any type cutting job. By carrying between 2 and 4 knives for different uses I'm always prepared even though I don't need every one every day. But the way I see it is I bought the dang things. I might as well at least carry them. :)

Jack
PS
Great knives I've sold or traded. BTW, I sold to fund another knife or traded for another knife. :)
Sage1
Stretch ZDP (blue handle) Really wish I still had this one.
Couple of Delicas
Endura
Native lightweight
Michael Walker Really wish I still had this one too. I loves this knife or a "carry in pocket" knife. But it had an open back and coins would get into the handle posible dinging the edge. If I still had it I would now make a solid back for the handle from some nice material. THAT would be awsome for this knife.

[Holland]

Chaparral 2: incredible f&f, way more durable than one would think, very nice looking, love the thin blade and XHP steel is a nice bonus. And as Jack said, perfect size, not to big, not to small

Caly3 SB: possibly the most ergonomic knife I have ever felt, great blade shape, SuperBlue is a joy to use and sharpen. Overall a great knife

Gayle Bradley folder: excellent f&f (like all Taiwaan models), feels very solid in hand, M4 steel is by far my favourite steel and works incredibly well with the GB's hollow grind. Great ergonomics and incredibly solid lock up.

Southfork: very ergonomic and amazing steel. Great size for a fixed blade

[demoncase]

This is a supertough question- I'm on 50+ Spydies at last count.

In truth, the one that stands out is the Squeak- it's UK Penknife Law compliant. The blade is more 'fat seed' than 'pointy leaf' which doesn't mean much to us but looks much less threatening around Non-Knife-Peeps and other 'fraidy cats, meaning I can use the thing without ending up under a pile of large Polizie-type gentlemen.

With it: I've stripped wires, opened my lunch packets than I care to mention, removed staples, cleared paper jams, trimmed craft projects, redacted sentences from documents, opened shells on the beach, whittled, trimmed bandages and sticking plasters, drained a septic hangnail, done all kinds of little jobs on my cars...If I sit and think about it, it's probably had more pocket time than any other knife, and has hence been the one I've used most.

Oh- and Bohler N690? Yeah, it's seriously good. Edge retention is great too. The only complaint I had was lending it to wife and finding her using it for digging stuff out of the beach with it (!). Words were had. By the time we got home I had some little dark oxidation spots which polished off and haven't returned. Getting sand out of the action was less fast...and probably slowed by muttered oathes about my own stupidity (Last time the wife asked for 'a knife' I handed her my beloved first Delica. She used to de-ice the freezer. After 2 hours of chipping ice it ended up rather blunt)

[bh49]

During years of my Spyderco addiction I EDC about 20 knives. Most of them gone, some of them still carried often, some rare.
My currently most used knife is Native5. I three N5 in use for over a year. I always loved ergos of Natives and consider Native5 to be cream of the crop. New lock and FFG blade significantly improve rating of this knife in my book. I always prefer EDC with 3.5" blade, but I find out that N5 has enough blade and handle for my tasks. The knife feels perfect in my hand.
Runners-up:
Caly3.5/Caly3 in VG10/G10. I carry this family since September 2006. Great ergos, thin grind. Fantastic knives.
Original C83 Persian. I carry the knife since August 2006. Great ergos. Probably the best looking Spyderco ever. Nice hollow grind.
Kopa Cocobolo. My favorite gents knife. Carried since March 2007. Also great ergos. Great looking small knife with big capabilities.
and of course the best key-chain knife - Jester is always on my key chain

[Holland]

Have u ever held or considered trying a chaparral bh49? It's got very similar ergos to the N5 but in a much thinner lighter package

[senorsquare]

Have u ever held or considered trying a chaparral bh49? It's got very similar ergos to the N5 but in a much thinner lighter package

I personally prefer the N5 and the way it fills the hand better than the Chaparral. I had a Ti Chap and it is a very fine knife, but the ergos just didn't do it for me so I let it go.

[Holland]

I personally prefer the N5 and the way it fills the hand better than the Chaparral. I had a Ti Chap and it is a very fine knife, but the ergos just didn't do it for me so I let it go.

the chaparral 1 definitely fills the hand better than the 2. but still not as much as the N5

[Syncharmony]

the chaparral 1 definitely fills the hand better than the 2. but still not as much as the N5

Are the specs different between the Chap 1 and 2? I thought it was just CF vs Ti scales? Is it a grip thing where the improved grip makes it feel like it fills the hand more?

[Holland]

the titanium model is a bit thinner than the CF model

[RanCoWeAla]

The Caly 3.5 is by far my favorite Spyderco. I like everything about it from the ergonomics to the extreme deep carry clip. I just wish there was a liner or frame lock version but maybe if we can talk Sal into making the Caly 3.75 a reality it could be made in one of those.

[bh49]

Have u ever held or considered trying a chaparral bh49? It's got very similar ergos to the N5 but in a much thinner lighter package

One of my local knifenut-friends own Chap and I was able to handle this knife. Something didn't clicked, but possibly I will get one, when Spyderco produce bolstered variant. Actually I love that Native5 is thicker and heavier. Feels better in the hand.

[ljg]

Chaparral 1: I love how this thing cuts.
When I first got mine, I thought it was too sharp on all the non-cutting parts. The liners were too sharp, the lockbar was too sharp etc. So I took it apart and sanded all the workings of the knife. Once I reassembled it, it hasn't left my pocket.

I actually found my old Small Regular Sebenza that has been lost for the last 5 years and I thought was gone forever. The Chaparral still sits in my pocket, the Sebenza (which was my daily carry at the time) sits on my desk at home.
I love the Chaparral. Looks nice, cuts like a dream (more 2mm blades please). I have the S30V version, and have no complaints!

I use it for: Food prep (a lot), and daily cutting tasks (crafts with the kids, opening parcels, processing cardboard, cutting tree branches etc). It does them all without complaint!

[Carboni]

This entire year I have been extremely loyal to my Yojimbo2. Not only does it perform like a champ, it kept me going back for some strange 'fun factor'. An oversized wharncliffe blade, in thick stock, that whips out like a para2. In the pocket, it is light enough to forget about.

That finally changed last week, when I received a Military in cruwear steel. It's another shockingly light knife that does not sacrifice any stoutness/rigidity. What keeps me coming back to all my spyderco's is the real world application. These knives are actually edc'able and offer a ton of utility.

[dgebler]

Sage 1 with Caly 3.5 a close second.

[ChapmanPreferred]

Military CPM S90V CF scales. I have used it with very little interruption since it came out. It has plenty of blade length and edge holding for any of my EDC duties. The hardest task I presented to the knife was cutting the bulk feed hose from a abrasive media holding tank that is used to blow the media into the primary feed tank on the commercial blaster. The hose was about 8" diameter and was 1" thick in the wall. The interior was starting to gum up and held too much abrasive in the hose so it would clog. I cut the cast iron end fitting off the old hose so it could be cleaned up and installed on the replacement hose. When I finished the cut, it hit the 2b stone yard and put a little ding in the blade. The knife was still sharp and earned my loyalty. It has also carved a number of feather sticks for fire prep. It has hiked most of the PA portion of the Appalachian Trail with me as well as portions of the Mid-State trail. It is always my backup when hunting so I can keep my Moran FB edge for field dressing duty. With practice and understanding, this knife will do anything I need a knife to do.

[addylo]

This is an easy one... Sage 1, hands-down.

CPM-S30V goodness, carbon fiber scales, liner lock, wire clip, perfect size for EDC, clips deep in the pocket, buttery smooth action, quality fit and finish, feels great in the hand... what's not to like? :cool:

[twinboysdad]

Caly 3.5 and I have had a few others come and go but because I work in outside sales in biz casual clothes, I am amazed by this wolf in sheep's clothing. The deep carry wire clip basically gives a benign "maybe a pen" look, the knife itself is almost a Delica in handle and almost an Endura in blade. Grab it by the handle and you have a capable blade, grab it by the choil and you have a technical instrument. Handles everything I have throw at it. No other knife I own has the exclusive replacement policy...if I lose my C3.5 I immediately get another one with no questions asked. The blade is almost Wharn but has enough belly for everything. It has the regal savage characteristics of the Doberman Pincher

[Episteme]

Right now:
1. Breeden Rescue model. I am a very big fan of the sheepsfoot blade. A TON of cutting power in this type of blade. And, it is about as PC as a blade can get (it's called a Rescue tool).

2. Lil Matriarch. Great classic design scaled down to the perfect size for EDC. A handsome blade.

3. Tasman Salt Plain edge. Another classic from Spyderco. Very useful design that looks great.

4. Yellow Salt Saver. Same reason I like the Breeden Rescue-- the sheepsfoot is a cutting machine. With the full serrations, this knife packs about as much horsepower as possible in a 3 inch blade.

I probably have 50-75 spydercos... These are my current favorites.

[Cheddarnut]

1. Delica zdp sprint- the only thing i cant do well with this knife is cut watermelon.
2. Paramilitary 1 D2 sprint- i like the idiosyncracies of this knife, too small blade, cramped handle, rusting pivot area and jimping...its got character.
3. Native frn black- my first knife and the deepest cut, i lost it but compare everything to its memory. First knife with a choil, thought i couldnt live without it.
4. Yo2- love the build and f&f of this knife, to the point where i dont hardly use it because its still reasonably 'fresh' and when i want a fondle its my go to.
Basically the more you use a knife the more your experiences become part of that knife and it becomes more than a knife.