Rorschach’s House O’ Spyders

Me and my daughters getting ready for a Sunday walk.
The blue Baby-G is the most accurate non-atomic watch I have ever seen. (probably because my daughter wears it 24/7)

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Much anticipated, these blades are little-big, G-10 scales, reverse clip, go-anywhere, and also… my namesake. I give you the Spyderco Urbans.

I do not regularly carry slipjoints, but I can see one of these replacing my Pride model on certain business trips where locks are not welcome. I had to get both, as the Wharncliffe version is my favorite blade shape and the leaf version is slightly more versatile.

The clips are pretty tough the change out, as the barrel holds the tension on the slip joint arm. Woe to he that takes the barrel all the way out. (yes I did that, and it took me 30 min to get it back in, and I had to use a plastic ended jewelers hammer.)

The slip lock is nice and stiff, and interestingly the wharni version is even stiffer to close than the leaf blade. The lock makes them much more secure than, for example, the T-Mag, and therefore suitable to 90% of what I need to use a knife for during the day.

But lets face it, slipjoints are a compromise compared to a locking folder. The Urban is Spyderco’s way to address changing laws and changing market dynamics. Honestly, I can’t really imagine an officer looking at this knife any differently than one of my locking Spyderco’s, but a JUDGE would. And I suppose that’s what this is all about.

Personally, I will likely more often reach for my CF Caly3 or FRN models before the Urban, but I do intend to take it on some trips to big cites and international destinations where it could keep me out of magisterial trouble.

Pros:
+ slip joint is stiff enough to do some pressure work
+ fit and finish are top notch (SEKI)
+ clip is reversible and lefty friendly
+ Good old VG-10 steel
+ G-10 scales really make this one feel “little-big”
+ DEEP carry clip

Cons:
- expensive (no 2 ways about it, these were painful to buy in this economy, esp for slipjoints)
- clip reversal is difficult at best
- the slipjoint makes me a little sad and makes me wish for a wharncliffe lockback version instead

In all, happy I got them, but for average folks they may want to wait for a cheaper FRN version.

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