Only One!

 I inadvertently rubbed that strange brass lamp, and the Genie promised me only one wish, not three.  I guess inflation gets everyone.  But there is a catch; magic has a price.  "The price," the Genie solemnly announced, "is you can only have one automatic knife for the rest of your life."

I can work with that.  Here's my choices.

A.O.S.  by Les Adams

Les Adams makes an A.O.S.(Always-On-Safety) automatic knife.  He makes the carbon fiber handles himself, and since the knives are actually made for LEO and military use, each one has a unique serial number.  It's a well-made knife with a 154CM stainless steel blade with 59-60 Rockwell hardness, C scale.  He claims the stainless coil spring has twice the spring force of any auto knife.  I believe it.  The knife opens with a jump, and the blade locks open with a resounding 'clack.'  But you must pull the safety back and hold it in the unlock position while pressing the opening stud.  Same for closing.  It's cumbersome.

Benchmade Mini-Reflex

The Benchmade Mini-Reflex has a lot going for itself.  The one I have is a pre-production model from 1998.  It hasn't changed much since then.  The small 3.25-inch flat grind blade is held in an aluminum handle.  I was told this one is epoxy-coated, which is something Benchmade stopped very early in production.  The knife has a safety on the spine and a recessed area for the release button.  The button does extend above the handle.  The spring in mine isn't as strong as the A.O.S..  If the blade is stopped after an arc of 90 degrees, the spring doesn't have enough stored energy to open and lock.  A flip of the wrist solves that.

Puma Medici Switchblade

I also have a classic Italian stiletto switchblade made for the German market in the 1970s-1980s.  Made by Puma Medici, it has some interesting features.  The blade features a classic stiletto shape with a single factory-sharpened edge.  It has a nail nick, which may reflect an expectation of a weak spring in the future.  Or perhaps it simply means these blades were available from another project and used.  The blade is stamped rostfrei and is most likely 440C steel.  The spring is a double, side-by-side leaf spring and doesn't appear to be easy to replace.  I typically store this knife open to prevent spring fatigue.

Pro-Tech SBR

My Pro-Tech is more of an art knife than a user.  It's their SBR pattern with a "…unique micarta top, variety of colors, blade treatments, and inlay buttons." SBR stands for Short Bladed Rockeye, and the designer is Les George.  The release button is inlaid with mother-of-pearl.  There's no safety, but the button sits in an indent, so the top of the button is flush with the handle. 

Microtech's 2021 Blade Show knife

I have a Microtech from the 2021 Blade Show.  It's an OTF with a double-edged dagger blade.  The 3.3-inch blade is ground from M390.  M390 is another great stainless steel, enriched with chromium, vanadium, and a touch of tungsten.  Double-edge knives have the advantage of having two edges that can be sharpened.  That is also a significant drawback in a working knife.  You can't use your other hand to apply additional pressure to the back of the knife.  At least not more than once.  The other flaw is OTFs are famous for pulling stuff back into the mechanism, creating problems.  It's not hard to disassemble the knife, clean it, and carefully lubricate it before reassembling.  The lubrication tends to hold on to the crud the blade pulls in.  Again, not a major problem, except that you need a small, special socket with a triangular opening to disassemble this Microtech.

Spyderco's Autonomy 2

Last on my list of possibilities is Spyderco's Autonomy 2.  It's an auto knife made at the request of the US Navy for their rescue swimmers.  Its wide, leaf-shaped blade is made from LC200N.  This is an extremely rust-resistant steel.  It has good toughness and edge retention.  The release button is a large ring for gloved users.  The safety is just beneath the release and has well-defined edges to grab gloves.  I like the arrangement of safety and release.  My thumb can operate the safety and release without having to change my grip.  It's a nice knife, and at one time, only the overruns to military contracts were available to the public.  Sal has well-defined ideas about how and who should use his knives.

So, which knife did I tell the Genie to bind me to?

Behind the metal cap is Autonomy's spring.  Easy to get to.  Easy to oil. Easy to clean.

The Spyderco Autonomy 2, of course.  It's a well-made knife, and more importantly, if you turn it over, you'll find a metal cap with four holes in it.  Under that cap is the knife's coil spring.  Water drains from that spring cavity; you can oil the spring from there, and you simply unscrew the cap to replace the spring if needed.

 

Now, if the Genie's binding was different, that I could only have one knife, I'd…

However, that's a story for another day.

Sunday Blade at Spyderco

         Sunday, the last day of the Blade Show, is always a day of mixed emotions. Everyone must leave and for many dealers that means packing up and making flight connections. Some, like Pro-Tech, are completely sold out. For knife fanciers, like myself, it's a sad day. My wife and I are leaving a community, even as temporary as the Blade show, and reentering a world of people who don't carry a knife, don't understand about knives, and if they own one, they have owned it for thirty years. It is as if an invisible wall is erected between me and them. We don't speak the same language,

The upside is my visit with Spyderco. I really want to thank Kelly Towers, the Director of Sales and Marketing, for taking the time to talk with me.

Spyderco is still in the final stages of building and enlarging manufacturing facilities in Golden, Colorado. They have been at it for some time. The COVID epidemic and the shortages that followed put a damper on their progress. The exciting thing about their expansion is that they are expanding the manufacturing areas, not office space. The difference is that manufacturing space makes money, not office space.

To my surprise, much of Spyderco's new production space will be set aside to develop new knife lines made solely in Golden. I have always associated Spyderco with Japan. Many of their knives are still made overseas, but things change. Don't be surprised to see more knives stamped "Golden Colorado U.S.A. Earth" on their tangs.

I always carry one of these, incase I get kidnapped by aliens, at least they know where to return me

Their value folder line, which serves as their introduction line, is still made in China. If you're a knife person and you aren't aware that China is a huge player in the knife industry, well, you better get caught up. Spyderco makes many of its fabulous knives there, as well as in Italy, Taiwan, and Japan. The Tenacious is one of their better sellers, but a blue titanium-handled Tenacious will be released later this year. https://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details/C122TIBL/Tenacious-reg-R-I-L-Blue-Titanium/2554

Titanium Tenacious

The blue Tenacious is fantastic. And at an MSRP of $170, you're going to want one.

Spyderco is known for their sprint runsd, short production runs of new steels combined with unusual handle materials. One sprint run you should watch out for is the Micro-Melt PD#1 series. It's the next super steel. It contains about 7% chromium, over 1% carbon and a whopping 2.3% vanadium along with other elements. Carpenter Technology describes their steel as "…an air hardening cold work die steel possessing wear resistance superior to that of conventional grades such as AISI D2, while still maintaining excellent toughness. This steel can be considered … where a combination of excellent wear resistance and good toughness is required. Many of the benefits realized including … greater wear resistance, and increased toughness."  Carpenter Technology attributes these properties to "smaller, more uniformly distributed carbide particles and a finer grain size.”

The run will feature a black, non-reflective TiCN coating and dark burgundy grips. Look for this steel in many of your favorite knives, Delica, Eldela, Police, Stretch XL and others. Woo Hoo !

I casually mentioned to Kelly that Spyderco likes dealing with different steels and struck a nerve. Kelly told me that one fan sat down and tabulated all the different steels various knife companies use. Spyderco topped the list at 64 different steels currently in use. The next biggest user fizzled out at 9.

Speaking of steel, I fell instantly in love with their CPM Rex 121 steel line with their bright orange handles. I know black is tactical cool, but this bright orange is a cup of hot coffee on a rainy morning. You wouldn't believe me telling you about the wild mix and amounts of elements this steel has. Check it yourself!

https://www.crucible.com/eselector/prodbyapp/highspeed/cpm121.html

The initial run is limited to just the Sage with a $400 MSRP.

Still no word on expanding their lines of automatic knives. Spyderco makes a limited number of autos, chiefly the Autonomy and Autonomy 2, at the request of the US Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. The Swimmers needed a knife that could be deployed with a single gloved hand, tolerant of salt water, and cut like the devil. Their answer was the Autonomy. But that doesn't mean Spyderco wants to make them. 

The Autonomy

What’s new? Even as you read this, knives are making their way to retailers. I'd check out the new Manix 2XL in canvas micarta. The steel is CPM Cru-wear, and I'll let Crucible Industry brag about it. "CPM CRU-WEAR is an air-hardening tool steel, heat treatable to HRC 60-65. … CPM (Crucible Powder Metal) (is an) upgrade to conventional Cru-Wear and D2, it offers better wear resistance, much greater toughness, and higher attainable hardness. Both D2 and CPM CRU-WEAR contain carbides for wear resistance, but CPM CRU-WEAR has more vanadium carbides than D2."  

Manix 2XL with canvas micarta handle.

If you're a knife guy, you know vanadium carbides are harder than chromium carbides and provide much better wear and strength. This steel has a little secret sauce (tungsten and molybdenum) contributing to a secondary hardening response. D2 doesn’t do that. While Cru-Wear steel isn't strictly classified as stainless, there may be sufficient free chromium to help you with that. I'd run a little oil over the surface and in the pivot, just to be sure. Spyderco has a little product sheet included with the knife warning you to stay away from acid food and use a little oil on the blade. Check it yourself. MSRP is under $300.

https://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details/C95MCW2/Manix-reg-2-XL-Brown-Canvas-Micarta-CPM-CRU-WEAR/2507

It’s a great time to be a Spyderco fan!