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Pros: Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Pocket Clip, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness
Cons: Weight
Versatile utility & emergency folder
* The most important consideration is pricing. Now that Spyderco has figured out how to make Seki City quality pocket knives is much less expensive China, Spyderco rivals Cold Steel in terms of value. Mind you, the Cold Steel Pro-Lite is still half the price, not to mention Essee and Ontario RAT's come in at a lower price point, but Spyderco is now "in the hunt".*Spyderco downright excels in two areas: the best opening mechanism short of automatic (that big hole) and the best serrations (Cold Steel's are a little fragile and clog more).* This particular Tenacious is "right sized" for both utility and emergency use. 4" is my preference - kitchen paring knife size - but 3.38" is workable.* There's ample, easily resharpened, plain edge. Enough for Amazon boxes and cutting apart a Costco chicken if you pull the joints open.*The mid to rear blade portion is serrated for emergency seat belt removal, emergency rope cutting etc. I tend to "stay off" the serrated portion since it is difficult to impossible to resharpen. It has a long use life, but I want it in tip top condition for emergency use. If I need the cutting power of serrations, I will carry a fully serrated utility knife from Sypderco, but that means carrying two - one optimally sharp, and one getting slowly worn down.* FFG - full flat grind, the only grind I like now.* Dual edge bevels: normal wedge on the plain portion, and chisel grind on the serrated portion (the side opposite the serrations is FFG, not beveled where the serrations are - like Emerson). The serrations face to your left if you are righthanded (like Emerson) meaning shaving a stick isn't optimal on the serrations side of the edge.* Arrived "flimsy long In-n-Out receipt" slicing sharp - cleanly sliced the receipt edge with no drag on plain or serrated edge portions. The skin of a plump tomato will slice not dimple.* Deployment is NOT smooth until you clear the safety indent. On the other hand, the ball-bearing detent keeps the blade safe in the handle better than most liner/frame locks.* Rock solid side to side and up and down - no wobble. If you loosen the pivot you might have easier deployment at the expense of some side to side wobble.* 4-way pocket clip ships in my favorite pocket position: clipped against the outside seam of rear right pocket. As with all modern "easy open" folders, there is a risk of accidental opening if kept loose in a pocket, so pocket clipping blade-to-seam or full-sized sheath or half-height drop in sheath (I use part of an old bicycle tube are the safest carry.* No accidental opening from thumb stud or disk catching on pocket while withdrawing the pocket knife for use. Yeah I know that "snag and open" is actually a FEATURE these days on most Emersons, but I like tip down and nothing to snag so the knife opens when I want it to, not when IT wants to.* I've tried them all - Emerson, thumb studs, lock backs, liner locks, Axis locks, frame locks. I'm less in love with a particular locking system (but props to Tri-Ad) but being able to easily open without fumbling the pocket knife is important. Sypderco is THE most dialed-in, in terms of nuances, of all the brands. The scales or handle are always grippy, the actions are always smooth (or smooth enough in this case), the pocket clip on the finger grip size gives something to index to and hold onto while opening (and the handle is wide), and the big hole never fails - it's always in the right position, while other companies fiddle with the thumbstud or thumbdisk location and and the leverage and positioning feel wrong. Short of a fixed blade, you are least likely to drop a Spyderco.* Negatives: I'd like to see Spyderco study the pocket clips on the new FRN handled Buck 110 and match their deep carry. [I was about to complain about resharpening but I just learned something while double-checking the Spyderco website - Spyderco will resharpen even serrations for free, just $5 for return shipping, up to 4 knives at a time - WOW.]
