My Spydercos - Part Three

 

My Spyderco collection started years ago, driven by the need for my activities.  I have always been interested in surviving with a knife, but survival has many definitions, including self-defense.  You must ask yourself, which came first, the blade or the trainer?

C10SBK - Endura

Endura - No Boye Dent

The first Endura was released in 1990 with a thin molded plastic clip.  This went through a variety of changes that culminated with a switchable metal clip in 1998.  This was a milestone.  A bent clip could be removed and straightened or replaced.  The barrel screw holding the clip could be tightened or removed with a coin and it had a lanyard hole in the middle of clip.  I always preferred a dime as the right thickness and curvature.

The plastic clip had a following.  They didn't mar object if you brushed into them. 

Eventually, threaded metal inserts were molded into Enduras and many other lines so the clip could be moved to tip up or down and right or left.  I honestly don't know who was the first to incorporate this design, but in my opinion, it is a major milestone for knife users and a goal for many of the newer knives introduced in the last ten years.

Initially, the Enduras were snapped up by law enforcement and military.  What was not to like?  The GIN-1 blade was 3.75 inches in length.  The open length was 8.5 inches, and the Endura weighed 2.75 ounces. 

I got a plastic clip Endura in 1998 with a full serration.  It maybe one of the last ones made with the plastic clip. I had come to the decision that if I’m going to carry two knives, one should be a full serration.  The cutting power and jagged wound path were the best options for self-defense.

But any examination of knife evolution at Spyderco shows nothing is ever perfect.  Steels evolved, and Spyderco tried different colored handles only to discover tactical black was the winner.  Later, it was supposed that by using some funky inverted, sideways grip, the user could, maybe, unlock the blade and injure themselves.  The solution came in 2002 when the David Boye Dent was placed in the lock bar.  This reduces the chances of accidentally unlocking the knife during use.  Most Spyderco with a spine lock still have the Boye Dent, there are a few exceptions. 

C10TR - The Endura Trainer

Here a Endura trainer, complete with Boye Dent and reversible metal clip

The same year the Dent was introduced, Spyderco released a red handle trainer with an AUS-6 blade.  The blade edge is squared off and ground to give the weight of an actual knife.  The Endura and Delica trainers continues to be available in the 2025 Catalog.   I would suggest, if you are thinking self-defence, a trainer might not be out of line, especially the Endura.  At worse you can use it to spread peanut butter.

So, the answer to the question I asked at the beginning is the live edge comes first, followed by the trainer.

The blade was deeply ground out so the edge would remain thick to minimize injury 

I bought one for the firearms class I was running and for training purposes.  But Spyderco insiders tell me most of their sales went to dealers who used them to show customers how to thumb open a Spyderco without cutting themselves.

C11FPK390 Delica in K390

Spyderco loves steel.  They are very much like smaller shops and can pivot nimbly around changes in the steel environment.  K390 is one of these steels.

Delica in K390 steel.  By now you could move the clip to four positions on the knife.  Note Boye Dent

K390 steel is produced by the Böhler Uddeholm steel company.  This steel is the result of powdered metallurgy, which results in excellent grain size and uniform composition distribution.  The carbides in the K390 mix are fine and uniformly sized and distributed evenly throughout the matrix.  This is an important property of high-performance steels. 

IMO Knife pictures with out a headstamp loss value.  Yeah- I'm talking to you Italian Switchblade posters!

Making steel is somewhat like cooking.  You can’t just add the elements to a furnace and expect a great outcome, especially with all these elements:

Carbon 2.47%,  Chromium 4.2%,  Cobalt 2%,  Manganese 0.4%, Molybdenum 3.8%,  Tungsten 1%, and a kiss of silicon.  The rest is iron.

I suspect most, if not all, the Chromium is tied up with carbon-forming carbides, so this steel isn't stainless.  In fact, Spyderco includes a card warning you not to cut citrus fruit and to protect the blade from moisture and acid skin oils.

K390 has excellent wear resistance and high compressive strength but is difficult to grind, finish, and sharpen.  Once it is sharp, it will stay sharp for a long, long time.

My Delica has a flat grind, which I wasn’t sure about.  Was it just another gimmick?  I’m wrong.  Today’s flat grinds have proven to make cutting much easier than a saber or hollow grind.  I love the blue handle and have been told it's reserved for K390 steel. 

C41PBK – Native

I like the deep false edge and how the thumb hole is submersed in the blade  Note Boye Dent. 

The Native has always been an interesting knife.  First is the unique shaped blade. 

The Native has a broad blade completely incorporating the Spyderco open hole, with no bump as in the Delica or Endura.  It's a drop point a with a deep ground false edge.  The blade has always reminded me of an arrowhead.  I don't why, it just does.  Spyderco designed it with two choils.  The first choil is located where the blade and handle meet.  This allows you to choke up on the blade for more control but puts you closer to the cutting edge.  The second positions the hand farther back on the folder, farther away from the business edge of the knife.

The clip and barrel screw from this Native  Word of advice: Loctite.

My Native is from 2002 and has a Boye Dent and the metal clip with a barrel nut.  It doesn't have the volcano grip but has a set of lines and curves radiating outward, like a spider web from a central logo. 

The steel is 440V, aka: CPMS60V.  The tang stamp on one side says Spyderco 440V.  But the back side is the cool tang stamp.  It reads Golden Colorado USA Earth.  Yeah, that’s way cool.

The cool tang stamp.  Allen abduction?  With this knife they know where to return you.

The Native has undergone many iterations in size, steel, and handle material.  It remains another of Spyderco’s top ten best sellers because it was a great design and has kept the features that made it so interesting.  You can find a nice, if not slightly outdated, discussion of the Native's history in Knife Magazine, Jun 2017.

The biggest problem IMO:  The 12 mm hole is partially obscured when closed.

I have a later Native to show you, but that’s for later.

 

 

Spyderco K390 steel

It an Endura, one of Spyderco’s top selling knives. But this one is a little different . It has the new K390 steel blade. The flat grind blade is quickly becoming one of my favorite configurations. I grew up with saber and convex grinds but I’m won over by the flat grind. The absence of shoulders makes for easier cutting. If you’re slicing a wedge of Swiss cheese, you may want the shoulders as they push the materials apart and away from the knife. But you also encounter drag. Drag just means you have to put more force on the blade, and for most applications, forcing a blade is never a good idea. So I’m running some test because K390 steel sounds like a step backwards.

It’s not stainless. In fact a product insert warns you to protect the blade.

Bohler-Uddeholm list the following reasons to use their K390 Microclean steel:

1. Good machinability because of uniform mechanical properties,
2. Excellent grind ability even with deep engraving in the tool & die center,
3. Uniform low dimensional change during heat treatment,
4. Non sensitive against overheating or long soak times.
5. Optimal EDM characteristic due to uniform carbide distribution.

EDM is Electrical Discharge Machining and it is becoming industries’ favorite machining and milling tool because it is efficient, economic, fast, controllable and computer-driven. Many of these steel properties, like dimensional stability are a big draw for knife makers.

The Chemistry also looks interesting.

•  C  2.4%,
•  Cr 4.2%,
• Mo 3.8%,
• V   9%, 
• W  1%, 
• Co  2%.

I should also note, new steels aren’t simply made by dumping elements together. Tempering, stress relief and hardening cycles have a major part in any production metal. Still, I find these numbers amazing, especially the 9% vanadium and 2.4% carbon!

Strictly speaking chromium levels should be around 11% to be classified as stainless. Chromium forms carbides that stabilize the microstructure, so in ordinary steels you need an excess of chromium to react with carbon and still have enough to protect against rust. Here you have vanadium to form carbides. So is there enough chromium to form the transparent chromium oxide barrier?  I don’t know.

Let’s play.

I’ve been cutting cardboard all week, I haven’t noticed any loss of sharpness. Today I cubed semi-frozen beef for a future chili dinner. I thought the knife handled better than many of the larger chefs’ knives or the smaller utility knives.

I sliced up some lemons and limes for summer drinks and the knife worked fine.

Tasted pretty darn good, too!

Afterwards I noticed the acid fruit left a start of a faint patina. I could lightly rub it out with a fine metal polish, but I think I’ll keep it. I like a working knife that looks like a working knife.

I increased the contrast slightly so you could see the patina. I'm wondering if it will wear away on it's own.

I think the K390 steel is going to be a winner. I haven’t had to sharpen it yet, but I have no doubt my Spyderco Sharpmaker is up to the job. I understand you’re going to see K390 steel in a lot of other Spyderco products. I also think you’re going to like it.