First some basic photos:
It's a really pretty design I think. The flipper tab doesn't jump out at you and scream "flipper!". The carbon fiber is a little muted which I like. The blade is not gimmicky. And it's quite light.
There's a bit of a incongruity here. The blade is thicker and stouter than you'd expect in a small "gents" knife. The wire clip I think makes zero sense for a dressy knife. But this was originally an expensive knife and the handle is not something you'd really want to scuff up in, say, outdoor use.
The main complaints I've heard so far are:
1. Issues flipping.
2. Issues unlocking.
3. Hotspots from the clip.
4. S30v
I'll take those in order. (1) On my particular sample it took about 50 flips to break in. It flips perfectly now. (2) Those 50 flips were murder on my thumb due to the unlocking. That's getting better. I think the main issue is it's hard to tell when it's unlocked. You don't have to push it very far. There are a couple mods that can help with that but I'm opting to leave it as-is right now. (3) And then the clip... oh that clip...
(4) Oh, and the steel? I'm not that interested in steel in a pocket knife. This is fine. If the highest end steel du jour would add $5 to this knife I'd rather have my $5. One thing I will say however, the blade is not impressively sharp. I haven't touched it up yet but it's on my todo list.
Did I mention the clip? It works, and I know there are tons of rabid wire clip fans. But look at what it does to this knife:
It just makes the whole thing feel gigantic. If you take the clip off it feels amazing. Really, really amazing. Best Spyderco I've ever held. With the clip... it's just a little be awkward.
I'm going to include some side by side photos with another knife. I know we don't often post non-Spyderco knives here but I think it actually makes for a nice contrast. This is a Boker Mini Kwaiken (Lucas Burnley collaboration). I think it's in the same rough genre of knives -- something you'd expect to use indoors but something you wouldn't rough up if you could avoid it. This isn't meant be a review comparison but just some alternate design choices that I thought were interesting. I very much like the Kwaiken, I think it's a very focused design. Would be nice to see a Burnley collab from Spyderco at some point.
The flipper tab is I think better on the Positron than the Kwaiken. Both work, but the the Positron's has a nice edge to catch your finger. However, the CF scale texture really slows my finger pad down if I let my finger drag the handle as I'm flipping and that messes the flip up. It may be well-understood proper form not to do that. I'm not a flipper expert. But the Kwaiken is more forgiving in that aspect (smooth metal slips easier). I have to say though, aesthetically, that rounded flipper on the Kwaiken is pretty nice looking.
The lockbar is a clear win on the Kwaiken. That little indentation catches your thumb perfectly. The large jimping on the Positron lockbar doesn't appear to do anything good. If anything it reduces the amount of lockbar your thumb contacts, making the unlocking more iffy than necessary.
Did I mention the clip?
Look at that clip on the Kwaiken. Small, simple, fairly cheap to produce. The Positron has a very rounded scale which probably makes fitting a clip a challenge. And Spyderco for probably cost reasons opted to not do a custom clip for this one knife. I get that. Personally, I think it would have been better off with either a smaller wire clip or a small hourglass clip as is used on the Delica. There may be space reasons why that wouldn't work.
With all that complaining about the clip I have to say, with my fairly large hands the clip doesn't bother me too much.
So, after all that, would I recommend this knife? Am I keeping it? Would I buy again? Yeah, I think think I'm very pro-Positron at this point, at least as this price point. I don't think I would have been disappointed at the original street price but I just don't generally buy knives that expensive.
My real complaint, which nobody has touched on that I've seen, is that a serrated version would be very, very interesting. I'm not sure there are any serrated Spyderco flippers, are there? I'm a huge Spyderedge fan and feel a little naked with a bare blade.
Well, thanks for reading my ramblings, hope this has been useful to anyone sitting on the fence on this knife.
