Spyderco Knives

What Spyderco makes for hunters and campers

On this site, Spyderco covers two product types: folding knives and fixed-blade knives. The folders make up the larger share of the grid. The fixed blades range from tiny neck knives to a camp blade longer than most hunting knives.

The grid filters by type and changes as listings come and go. So I'll write about the groups and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this week. Nearly every spec here comes from an Amazon listing, and the grid marks those values. A blank in the listing shows as a dash.

Spyderco's about page says its first knife, the C01 Worker of 1981, brought two things together: a round hole in the blade for opening and a pocket clip. Some forty-five years later, the grid still looks like that. The hole is the brand's trademark. The first time I saw one, I assumed somebody at the factory forgot to finish the job.

Spyderco knives with lockbacks

The lockbacks are the classic Spyderco folders. A rocker in the handle spine has a lug that hooks a notch in the blade. Spyderco's locking-mechanisms page says you release it by pressing the back of the rocker down. The listings describe:

• Delica 4 Lightweight: a 2.9-inch VG-10 blade, polymer handle, in several listings and colors
• Dragonfly 2 Lightweight: a 2.28-inch VG-10 blade and a polymer handle
• Manbug: a 1.96-inch VG-10 blade in a 4.46-inch knife overall
• Cara Cara 2, Cara Cara 2 Lightweight: 3.77-inch blades in 8Cr13MoV, partly serrated, with steel or polymer handles
• Cara Cara 2 Rescue: a 3.91-inch sheepsfoot blade, fully serrated
• C07 Police Model: a VG-10 blade in a steel handle, 5.375 inches closed

The "Lightweight" in a name means a polymer handle in place of steel or G-10. Spyderco's about page says the company made the first lightweight clip-carried knives with injection-molded handles. My jeans have opinions about heavy knives, and they agree with that idea.

Spyderco liner locks with G-10 and polymer handles

The second big folder group uses liner locks: a flat spring in the liner slides behind the blade. Spyderco's page says you push the liner off the ramp to release it. The listings describe 8Cr13MoV stainless on all of them:

• Tenacious and Tenacious Lightweight: 3.3-inch blades, G-10 or polymer handles
• Resilience and Resilience Lightweight: the long ones at 4.25 inches
• Astute: a 3.02-inch blade, G-10 handle
• Ambitious Lightweight: a 2.31-inch blade, the smallest of the group
• Persistence Lightweight: polymer handle; the listing leaves the rest blank

A black-oxide Tenacious adds a partly serrated edge. Closing a liner lock means pushing the lock bar aside with your thumb, so keep the rest of your hand out of the blade's path. More on locks across brands is on the pocket knife page.

The Spyderco Para Military 2

The Para Military 2 is the Spyderco knife people search for by name. Spyderco's history of the model says the Military came first in 1996, the Para Military followed in 2004 at about 17 percent smaller, and the Para Military 2 arrived in 2010.

The maker lists a full-flat-ground blade in CPM S45VN on most versions, G-10 scales over nested steel liners, and a four-position clip for tip-up or tip-down carry, either side. The grid has two versions:

• Para Military 2: a 3.45-inch blade in CPM S45VN with a G-10 handle
• Para Military 2 Salt: the same blade length in MagnaCut, per its listing

How the Compression Lock works

The Compression Lock is a Spyderco design. The maker's locking page describes a split liner that springs sideways and wedges between a stop pin and a ramp on the blade's tang. The release is a tab on the spine of the handle. Spyderco's history page says that placement lets you close the knife without putting your fingers in the path of the edge. Here's the thing: that's the whole selling point for a cold-handed hunter. Learn the motion at home before you try it in gloves.

Other Spyderco folders

Two more folders sit apart from the groups above:

• Manix 2 Lightweight: a 3.37-inch CTS BD1N blade and a polymer handle; the listing doesn't name the lock type, so the grid shows "other"
• Bug: a slip joint with a 1.27-inch 3Cr13 blade and a nickel-silver handle

The Bug is a key-ring knife. It's the only folder here that doesn't lock. It also has a blade shorter than my thumb, so it's for opening mail, not deer.

Spyderco fixed blades for hunting and camp

The fixed blades split into field knives and small carry knives. The field knives first, per their listings:

• Moran Drop Point and Moran Upswept: 3.92-inch VG-10 blades, flat grind, polymer handles
• Bow River: a 4.36-inch trailing point in 8Cr13MoV, full tang, G-10 handle
• Enuff 2: a 3.95-inch leaf-shaped VG-10 blade, plain or fully serrated
• Temperance Lightweight: a 4.6-inch CPM Cru-Wear blade (a tool steel, per the listing), flat grind, polymer handle
• Shelter Cove: the longest at 5.7 inches, 8Cr17MoV, trailing point, G-10 handle

A trailing point curves up at the tip. It gives you more belly for long slicing cuts, which is why it shows up on knives sold for skinning. The Moran Upswept has that shape too. Shapes across brands are on the skinning knife page and the hunting knife page.

Small Spyderco fixed blades and neck knives

The compact fixed blades are short and mostly ride in molded sheaths:

• Swick 5 and Swick 6: 2.7-inch LC200N blades, full tang, G-10 handles; one Swick 5 comes fully serrated
• Subway Bowie: a 2.8-inch LC200N clip point, saber grind, in plain or black ceramic finish
• Ark: a 2.56-inch H-2 clip point in a 4.98-inch knife
• Enuff Salt: a 2.75-inch hollow-ground blade with a kydex-type sheath
• Stok FB50: a 2.9-inch drop point in 8Cr13MoV with a G-10 handle and kydex-type sheath

Bigger utility blades round out the group: the Street Beat at 3.5 inches and the Street Bowie at 5.05, both VG-10; the Ronin 2, a 4.08-inch wharncliffe (a straight edge with the spine curving down to the tip); and the Jumpmaster 2, a 4.47-inch leaf blade in H-2 with a kydex-type sheath. The Stok Bowie Reveal 12's listing names only its G-10 handle.

The Enuff Salt and the Para Military 2 Salt carry the maker's "Salt" name, and several small knives list H-2 or LC200N steel. I'll leave the claims about those steels to the maker's own pages. Whatever the steel, dry the knife after a wet day. Small fixed blades across brands are on the fixed blade knife page and the boot knife page.

How to choose within the Spyderco lineup

Pick folding or fixed

A folder goes in the pocket and lives there. A fixed blade needs a sheath and a place on your belt or pack. If you want one knife for camp chores and opening the mail at the cabin, start with the folders. If it's for field dressing, start with the Moran, Bow River or Enuff 2.

Then the lock

Lockback, liner lock or Compression Lock. Each closes differently, and that matters more than the steel when your fingers are cold. Pick the one you can close by feel.

Then the edge

Spyderco's edge page names three formats:

• PlainEdge: one continuous edge, which the maker says is easy to sharpen
• SpyderEdge: fully serrated, one large scallop and two small ones, repeated
• CombinationEdge: part plain, part serrated

Spyderco says the SpyderEdge pattern adds up to 24 percent of working edge length and cuts fibrous material like rope well. A plain edge is the usual pick for game. The grid's edge field tells you which is which.

Then the size

Blades run from about an inch on the Bug to over 5 inches on the Shelter Cove. Most of the pocket models sit around 3 inches. For everyday carry across brands, the everyday carry knife page and best EDC knife have more.

The Sharpmaker and sharpening a Spyderco

The Tri-Angle Sharpmaker came before the knives. Spyderco's about page calls it the company's first knife-related product, the one it focused on after settling in Golden in 1978. The maker's product page says the base sets the stones at 30 degrees (15 per side) or 40 degrees (20 per side), with medium brown stones and fine white stones, and aluminum safety rods to protect your hands. For serrated blades, it says to use the rounded edges of the stones with a looser grip. The Sharpmaker isn't among the Spyderco listings in the grid; the knife sharpener page covers rod and stone sharpeners across brands.

Jess's take: "Quick math: 20 degrees per side is 40 inclusive. Uncle Walt will still hold it at whatever angle feels right."

My one opinion on this page: touch the edge up often, a few strokes at a time. AKTI's guide says frequent light sharpening is easier than restoring a very dull edge, which removes more steel. Spyderco's warranty page also lists improper sharpening as an exclusion, so go easy.

Care for the whole Spyderco lineup

AKTI's maintenance guide covers it in a few lines:

• Clean dirt out of the handle with a toothpick
• Oil the pivot of a folder you use often, lightly
• Dry the blade after rain; water harms even stainless
• Store it somewhere cool and dry

Cut away from your body. Keep your fingers out of a folder's closing arc. Never use a knife as a pry bar.

Spyderco brand facts

Here's what I could verify from the maker's own pages:

• Founded: 1976, by Sal and Gail Glesser
• Home: Golden, Colorado, since 1978
• First knife: the C01 Worker, 1981, with the round hole and a pocket clip
• Manufacturing: resources in the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, Italy and China, per the about page
• Warranty: defects in material and workmanship, for the life of the product

Wipe it, oil it, put it back in the drawer. That's the whole program.