Spyderco Tenacious
Spyderco product page1. Construction and Measurements
2. Ergonomics & Carry
3. Lock & Grip Security
4. Fit & Finish
5. Steel Performance & Sharpening
6. Daily Use
7. SummaryConstruction & Measurements
The Tenacious is constructed of 8Cr13MoV bladesteel, G10 scales and full length skeletonized steel liners. The knife features a liner lock with open back construction and a 4 position pocket clip. The knife is held together by hex screws. The blade is fully flat ground from 3mm stock with a 13mm blade hole. The knife is 112mm long with the grip being 91mm, 42mm wide at it's widest point and 11mm thick. The blade length and cutting edge measurements are essentially the same, measuring roughly 87mm. The knife weighs in at 116.9 grams. Unfortunately I forgot to measure initial sharpness.
Ergonomics & Carry - The Tenacious features a choil free handle. The handle profile bears a
strong resemblance to the Military model. The handle is quite comfortable in hammer and sabre grip, as well as reverse grip edge in or edge out. The lack of deep contours in the grip allow for the knife to be used in a variety of less standard grips without experiencing hot spots. The G10 texture provides adequate grip without being abrasive to the hands or pocket. The pocket clip is in a silver finish and bears the more rounded shape that recent Spyderco models offer which increases grip comfort. In tip-up carry mode roughly 2cm of knife shows above the pocket line with slightly less being visible using tip-down carry. It's comfortable for pocket and IWB carry, more so in tip-up configuration. Also, much to Mr. Stamps approval, the inner corners of the liners
have been rounded enough to remove any sharp edges.
Lock & Grip Security - The knife utilizes a standard liner lock. The liner engages just shy of it's full width, which provides a good compromise of security and longevity in the lock. The liners are both skeletonized, though the lock side liner has all the holes
placed behind the part of the liner that engages the tang. The liner retains its full thickness throughout rather than utilizing a cut out like many frame locks and thicker liner locks. The lock was tested for security by applying increasingly greater loads of force to the spine with the knife open and locked, as well as spine taps throughout the time the knife was used. The lock has remained stable, completely free of play and has shown no movement at all across the tang during use or lock testing. The detent, which I initially felt was a little weaker than I prefer, provides an excellent balance of security and ease of opening that I've come to really appreciate. It's a small detail that makes a big difference in liner / frame locks. The handle shape and scales provide good security without limiting possible grips very much. Full strength stabs in hammer and reverse grip were free of any security issues even with wet hands or a grip numbed by cold weather. Doing the same with gloves on showed no security issues though the grip felt short with thick gloves on. Fit & Finish Fit and finish on the Tenacious is very good. There are such details as the mentioned rounding of the liners, well centered blade, bronze washers for the pivot, radiused tang where the liner engages, full screw construction, skeletonized liners and an overall polish on all metal parts. The attention to detail exceeds the expectations set by the Byrd line.Steel Performance & Sharpening - The full flat grind comes to a relatively thin cross section behind the edge, which came ground at an acceptably acute angle. The overall profile is robust enough for a wide variety of tasks, but can be thinned out some if the user doesn't cut damaging media often. The factory profile allows for slicing through aluminum cans, cutting through thick speaker wire or opening canned foods without any detectable damage to the blade to the naked eye or fingernail test and results in an insignificant amount of blunting. After slicing through 5 cans and making over 20 cuts through the speaker cable the knife could still shave, though it wasn't nearly as smooth as the freshly sharpened edge. I've been familiar with the steel used in this knife for some time now having owned multiple Byrd knives. To summarize, it sharpens very quickly, resists excessive burr formation, holds an edge a little better than most steels used in similarly priced knives but falls behind some when it comes to corrosion resistance. It will dull considerably more quickly than Spydercos higher end offerings such as S30V, but the edge can be brought back to an acceptable level of sharpness using common objects like jeans or cardboard as a strop. For instance, I could sharpen it to a hair popping edge, cut cardboard until it couldn't scrape away arm hair without considerable agitation to the skin, then strop it on the cardboard and bring it back to a hair popping edge. For more specific measurements of edge retention, the knife was used alongside a knife in S30V, CPMD2 and 13C26 in cardboard cutting trials. The results will be listed below. Daily Use - The knife was used to cut a variety of media, ranging from but not limited to drywall, cardboard, breads, facial hair, onions, carrots, apples, plastic pallet wrap, fingernails, mild steel, paper, soft and hardwoods, wild vegetation, cloth and various meats. The edge profile works well for general utility. It offers more belly than a lot of popular Spyderco knives which is useful during certain applications. The factory grind had respectable cutting performance, though dropping the edge angles will improve cutting ability. Summary - The Tenacious represents an outstanding value for the price it sells for. The combination of high cutting efficiency, quality materials, solid ergonomics and excellent blade to handle ratio make it a respectable entry level Spyderco.1.2008
