Spyderco Pacific Salt: Knife Review
Ultimate folding water knife? In many ways that's what this relatively new offering from Spyderco claims to be. Well lets see how it fares. First to the general stats on the blade: The steel employed, H-1, substitutes 0.1% Nitrogen instead of Carbon during the hardening process and is able to achieve a Rockwell hardness of 57. Weight is 3 oz. Open length is 8.68", closed length is 4.87", blade length is 3.8". Blade shape, is a modified sheepfoot. The handle and lockup are standard Spyderco fare. Spyderco did enlarge the Spydie hole to 14 mm for easier opening while wearing gloves. If you are familiar with any of their knives, the same ergonomics will transition to this knife seamlessly.
The Good: Foremost, the knife is rustproof. In 8 months of using it in and around water, I have not had a single problem, nor from what I have seen from other's tests has anyone had problems with rust. Fresh or saltwater, this knife holds up. This is a knife that is a great tool if you spend a lot of time around the water like me. If you forget to wipe it off or it spends time sitting in water at the bottom of your boat, its just not a problem. The H1 Steel is really phenomenal stuff. Secondly, the handle really has a lot of grip to it, especially when wet and even in gloves, I was really impressed with this. Third, and this may seem an odd point, but I am really glad Spyderco went with a bold yellow color for the handle. Many times when fishing I would set down the blade for a moment, forget about it momentarily, but then see it out of the corner of my eye again very quickly. The yellow color saved me from losing it. Opening and closing is simple and easily preformed with one hand. The blade was easy to sharpen and held its edge moderately well, but does dull faster than other higher end steels.
The Bad: I honestly had a hard time coming up with much in this category at all. Yet, with an MSRP of $124.99 the blade is a bit price prohibitive for some budgets (if you shop around, you should be able to find it for around $70). Also the blade shape, while great for most jobs around the water doesn't make the greatest filet knife, not that its designed to but for those looking for a "fishing" knife that can do it all, you can filet with this but its not going to be the prettiest job, as I can attest. A sheepfoot style blade is just not the tool for that job. Other than that, I cannot think of a job in or around the water that this knife wouldn't be appropriate for.
Verdict: 9/10 I am very happy with this knife. It functions as my primary knife any time I am around water. While it won't dazzle your friends with glitz, this knife functions perfectly as it is intended, a hard working, robust tool; well designed and functional.
2 Comments:
nice review. I was aware of their H-1 line for the water, but havent bought one. I have some Spidercos, but not in h-1. I've heard it is hard to sharpen, but can hold an edge quite well. quality production company, great knives. made in Seki city? I'm attending a yearly Knife show at the Hilton in Mystic today, great place to see all the stuff I can't afford. (autos, customs) great place to meet the artists, and see lots of great knives. Only once a year.... Check it out. the raffle is at 2 or 3 and they give away $2000 dollar knives!!!
Awesome thanks for the information. As far as sharpening I haven't had much trouble. I run it through a set of 5 stones and it gets pretty sharp. Edge retention is the greatest but not poor either. And yes, made in Seki-City
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