I have the Southard that inspired this Spyderco. I ordered a Spydie when they were released, thinking it would be a lesser quality knife with the same geometry as the Southard. I thought it would be an acceptable tradeoff as a user knife and I could then keep the Southard in really nice shape.
I was astounded when the Spyderco arrived; it is the best production knife patterned after a custom that I’ve ever seen. It’s fit, finish and action are superb; I have several custom knives that cost quite a bit more than the Spydie that aren’t made as well. I’d expected it would be 60-70% as good as the Southard; in reality it’s closer to 95% as good.
As for the angles; I don’t think he could get it locked in at 15 degrees without hitting the vise with the stones. I don’t know if I’d want this knife at 15 degrees per side; I went with 16 initially (32 inclusive) and found it was dulling very quickly. I went to 20 (40 degrees inclusive) and it’ll top arm hair all day long and I am touching it up once a week instead of daily
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