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Spyderco DK Legal Version II - Jack of all trades.
When first this most recent DK legal Spyderco was revealed, it was to be no secret, that I was somewhat apprehensive.
I had been vehemently advocating a variation of the Chaparral for Denmark for a while. A leaf shaped blade, a decent steel for the blade, wire clip and a not to outlandish handle of slim proportions would be right up my alley.
A handle not protruding too much over the blade and preferably in a tan/desert/dark earth color would just be a bonus.
(I mention the handle part, as I examined the Spyderco DK Penknife and it looks like the handle is a mite too big for the blade. It looks like a too big handle was used. I like a sleek low profile look of the handle. The smaller handle of the DK Legal Version II seemed better proportioned for its blade size).
I was also apprehensive, as I had just bought a Böker COX prior to receiving the Spyderco. For a knife, which I had so eagerly been anticipating, the Cox was a huge disappointment. I repeat; I had seldom been more ready to embrace a knife design, as when I unwrapped the Böker.
The new Spyderco DK Legal Version II has a blade a bit like the Cox albeit with a less pronounced curve. Small wonder considering the design DNA.
The Syderco also reminded me of a diminutive Rock Lobster – again, small wonder considering who designed it.
So, I was holding what looked like an amalgamation of the Rock Lobster and the Cox. First impressions.
Made in Italy. Seems a very good choice. Knife is certainly of very good quality and materials.
Handling of the knife is super smooth and just very attractive. Ones WANTS to handle the knife. I have certainly handled and/or used the knife every day since I got it.
Though it doesn’t seem so or maybe isn’t transmitting through pics (always better to handle a knife and draw ones own conclusions), the fit and assembly of the knife is very good.
Though it certainly does not seem so in this pic, the smooth transition between the spring and blade is excellent. As is the fit of both parts in relation to the handle.
Too big a curve to the handle and too much of the blade exposed (for DK Legal EDC), was my immediate thoughts when looking at the overall lines..
The curvy handle makes the handle not very ergonomic and too much blade exposed making it much easier to grab hold of the blade and opening it with one hand. Further more, the backspring on my example of the knife was not tight enough. It is very easy – too easy – to open the knife with one hand. In fact, it came natural to most people who handled the knife.
Biggest complaint from the test panel of knifemakers, knife geeks, hunters and outdoorsmen, was the very exposed blade and the shape of it.
Handle
Initially, I did not care for the handle shape, though it has since grown some what on me.
The very pronounced ‘bulge’ (circled in red on pic below) on the underside of the aft part of the handle is not very comfortable, but of course serves to ‘hide’ a (too small) part of the blade….after a fashion.
I used the knife to open a lot of envelopes and cardboard boxes, which amongst other things, is the chief tasks for which I utilize an EDC knife.
I found, that when one grabs the handle of the knife with the index finger on the jimping, the middle finger and ring finger on the handle, the handle works to keep the knife in a straight line when aiming at a cardboard box ‘target.’
But when one adds the pinky to further grab hold of the handle, the little finger inevitably lands on the bulge on the underside of the handle and the knife dips a little as a result – something one has to keep correcting for. A detail, but still worth mentioning IMO.
Ironically, I found that the best way, that the hand fit the handle in the best ergonomic fashion, was with a reverse hand hold. Considering the limited use which ‘civilians’ have for a reverse grip, Im fairly certain, that this hold on the knife, was NOT what the designers intended, when they put their collective minds to designing this knife.
As previously mentioned, the handle curve does hide some of the blade, but still leaves too much blade exposed to grab hold of and open with one hand. Again, a problem further compounded by the fact, that the spring makes the blade open easily and smoothly.
As for smooth opening; the knife is obviously a quality product and finished to a surprisingly high degree for what I assume (and hope) is a knife made to be relatively reasonably priced in the land of ultra high taxation (Denmark, in case anybody was in doubt).
The blade opens very smoothly indeed and the overall impression is very nice and simply one of quality.
FRN
Im a huge fan of FRN as the choice of material for the handle of this knife. The handle is thin, just as I had envisioned it for the (hopefully) future SpyDK - which might be the third knife for the Danish market from Spyderco (thanks Syderco).
The FRN makes for a light weight strong handle, which has the inherent quality, that its slim without being flexible (as in it wont warp and/or deform when handled, though its as slim as can be).
A further ingenious feature, is the horizontal resistance to skidding. The pattern of the FRN helps preventing one from skidding forward on the handle when gripped firmly in use and when/if ones hand is covered in sweat or in my case other less desirable fluids (more on that subject later).
The pattern is clearly made to resist horizontal movement (along the length of the handle and thus helping to prevent ones fingers sliding along the edge). Vertical movement on the handle is much easier, so there is clearly some thought behind this. Nice.
Wire Clip
The clip is nothing less than a Godsend. IMO its perfect. Its thin, strong, low profile and its held by one fat screw instead of the usual three tiny screws, as is so often seen on other folder clips. The subject of wire clips is highly subjective and this is of course just my opinion. Opinions may wary.
I prefer the wire clip, as its unobtrusive and works 100%. During my knife ‘trial,’ the knife didn’t move an iota more than expected when in a trouser pocket or side pocket of as rucksack.
The only clip in my possession, which could be characterized as being more positive, is the NiteIze eClipze, which has two ‘barbs’ and a spring. It bites into the pocket material. Very positive for keeping a knife from unintentionally being dropped, but some times annoying in use (depending on trouser material), as the knife clip sometimes bunches up thick material like that of jeans thus making it quite a chore to remove the knife from the pocket.
The Spyderco wire clip has just the right amount of strength to keep the knife in the pocket without making one work for it when taking out the knife, like one sometimes have to with the NiteIze eClipse. It works perfectly for my use and is everything, I could ever wish for in a clip.
Just as I like it, the clip makes for the deep deep DEEP pocket wear, which I prefer both for practical reasons (not inadvertently dropping the knife out of the pocket) and also for the ability of the wire clip to ‘fly under the radar’ so to speak. Low profile is a good thing in my book.
NEVER change the design of the clip and the single screw which holds it, please.
Its simple, its beautiful, it works.
Blade – or saving the best for last (with some reserve)
The steel is Böhler Uddeholm N690Co and the choice of that steel type and the slim light weight FRN handle is quite simply a match made in heaven.
The N690Co is not unlike my Spyderco Perrin and Spyderco MoranVG10 knives in charactaristics; the Spyderco DK Legal EDC is easy to sharpen with my Lansky Diamond Sharpening Set (but then a demented monkey could achieve a keen edge on almost any knife with the Lansky).
The Spyderco came with the proverbial hair popping edge and stayed that way for a good long time and during some moderate to heavy use.
Super easy to sharpen with a little work on the Lansky. I also used a leather strop to bring the edge up to speed again at times.
The N690Co is a fine steel, which takes a great edge and holds It for long enough to satisfy most owners, Im sure. A perfect choice of steel for the use IMO.
The N690Co steel is the perfect knife steel to satisfy the most users IMO. Plenty of reistance to rust whilst also retaining a (very) decent edge for a good long while.
I mentioned the excellent knife steel of the Moran and the Perrin. Like the Spyderco Moran, the Spyderco DK Legal knife is actually a pretty versatile knife which shares some of the features of my trailing edge Moran. Im a big fan of the versatility of the Moran, but some of the use to which I put the Spyderco, was surely not what the design team nor Spyderco had intended for a DK EDC knife.
I used the DK legal Spyderco for minimal food prep, whittling, the aforementioned cardboard box and envelope opening and subsequent shredding of same. All activities for which it worked fines, though I find that when working around a cutting board, one has to use some not too comfortable angles, as the curve of the blade and the handle forces you to hold the knife at a somewhat steeper angle, than you would, had the knife had more of a ‘Santoku’ knife shape.
Food prep may of course not be the main task intended for this knife, I realize that.
What, jimping and no choil!?
Okay, so you guessed it, Im a big fan of choils and would have liked to have seen a choil on this Spyderco also (on most knives of this type actually). No, I don’t care what length the blade has (or don’t have as the case might be).
The blade has jimping on the underside of the blade but none topside.
I would have preferred a choil instead of the jimping. A choil is also nice in a small slipjoint, as it goes some way towards preventing the knife blades from slamming back on your fingers, should the knife inadvertently close half way.
Some of the work I do with my knives makes me choke up on the blade. I like working that way, as it makes for more control during fine work.
The Spyderco-Moran is more than just holding it by the handle. There is more than one way to hold it.
The Spyderco for the Danish market is about as versatile as my Moran in the trailing point version. You can work with the knife in a multitude of hand holds.
As mentioned above, I found a use for the Spyderco DK EDC Legal which most likely was not on the agenda of the designers nor Spyderco, Im sure.
You can hold and work with the Spyderco in several ways. You can use it with a normal hand hold or you can choke up on the blade:
Some hunters will already now be able to see, where Im going with this.
I found that the Spyderco is a very good small folding skinner. With the above hold, its perfect for caping and other fine work.
Using this hand hold.....
……………the curve of the blade and the ability to use two fingers as a guide so as not to poke into the guts, makes it great for ‘opening the zipper’ on a deer (I’ll spare you the gory pics).
The blade point not being too pointy was an advantage in this respect.
You would usually use the two fingers of your other hand when skinning, but please bear in mind, that I had to take the pic and had no hand to spare.
Further more, I will add, that the pic is NOT meant to be a rude gesture (as the two-finger salute is in some countries)!
Ruminations on blade shape
I have for years been a big fan of Wharnclif(f) and Sheepsfoot shaped blades and have modified several knives in order to experiment with a shape, which worked best for me with the intended use as a DK Legal EDC in mind. Several cheap and defenceless Opinels number 10 and twelves have been cut down and experimented with and then changed some more.
My intention was to achieve a workable blade shape, which would look (relatively) harmless, so as not to scare sheeple and at the same time be useful for my use – mainly opening cardboard boxes and cutting them apart, opening envelopes, peeling an apple and the occasional general food prep in a pinch during my frequent kayak trips.
I know I know, the latter is a tall order, but Ive found, that although Im often the only one carrying a knife here in the current hysterical anti-knife climate and although other people with whom I go kayaking turn to me for their knife needs as they never carry themselves, its simply a nuisance to carry a bigger (more useful) knife.
Even though I can do so legally for camping/hiking/kayaking (proper cause like camping/kayaking is reason enough to carry a larger non-folder).
Its just that some are aghast and react with incredulity when being presented with anything bigger than a SAK + you have the hassle in the back of your mind, that you have to go straight home with no detours or risk the full wrath of the law. Simply often not worth bothering with thus I often find myself ‘undergunned’ and carrying a small knife to do the job of a bigger blade (the smaller knife being either a SAK Spartan, U1, COX or Leatherman Juice or something in that vein).
The blade shape, I ended up using was this:
In my mind, it looked as far from the tacticool look wich might prompt an unwanted reaction from a LEO or bystanders.
Some don’t agree; I sent the knife to a moderator of a fairly large knife forum for testing. Being a competent knife geek, he looked the knife over, but thought the knife shape too much ‘gangster,’ so seems the jury is still out on that one. Maybe that goes for the EDC legal Spyderco too?
To me, it signals anything but tacticool design (a good thing), but to others, that may not be so. To each his own.
I found the straight edged Opinel Wharnie/sheepsfoot design perfect for annihilating card board boxes.
Likewise the blade of Spyderco. The broad(ish) point is a bit tricky to maneuver into the slit of envelopes when opening but very good for opening cardboard boxes. One just has to take into account, that the curve of the Spyderco blade in combination with the shape of the handle makes you bend your wrist more in order to cant the knife a bit further forward than you would with the straight blade/handle combo of for example my modded Opinels.
Conclusion
Knife steel, FRN handle material, (lack of) heft and the wire clip are great choices IMO.
I found, that I could use the knife for various tasks and I was certainly prepared to like it after being familiar with the shape of the blade after having owned the Cox and having converted several knives to the same general shape a while ago.
This knife will work fine for EDC, but the people I asked to handle it, were not big fans of the blade shape over a more conventionally shaped blade.
In my opinion and also to those who tried handling my example of the Spyderco DK Legal knife, it was far too easy to grab hold of the exposed blade and open it with one hand. Again, that is at least how it is on my knife.
Spring not tight enough and too much blade exposed.
The opening was smooth and though its possible to open the knife with one hand, it still held open perfectly fine under normal use. So in that regard, there are certainly no complaints.
The knife works for most common EDC tasks demanded of a folder and even some jobs, that are not usually within the scope of an EDC folder in DK i.e. skinning..
It would be a perfect companion knife for a bigger hunting knife when not using it for ‘normal’ EDC use, as I found out thus making it maybe even more versatile than intended.
One thing, I did find after prolonged and heavy use of the knife, was that the spine of the blade is very sharp. This is of course most likely intentional in order to make a ‘sharp’ looking knife. The angular and sharp profile of the blade spine is a natural continued line from the back spring. It is how ever still sharp when working on the blade.
Further more, it might over time be a pocket eater.
No biggie; though it cosmetically looks better with the sharp angular spine, I took care of it by simply (very) lightly chamfering the spine of the blade with a Dremel.
A detail, but maybe still worthy of some thought..
While this knife can work for EDC and then some, its my belief, that it needs a stronger spring or some other solution for it to be considered EDC legal.
The knife works fine for most tasks, but in a perfect world we will get a down-to-earth DK legal archetypical Spyderco with more Spyderco and less outlandish design influence next.
Hopefully a Chaparral-like leaf shaped knife with slim FRN handle, the same wire clip and tan handle.
Ohh please, let us have tan.
Less is more.
