Reviews > Knives > Folding > Spyderco Delica CombinationEdge > James E. Triplett > Field Report

Field Test Report:

Personal Biographical Information:

Backpacking Background:

I was brought up exploring the woods, primarily West of the Mississippi from Missouri to as far North as Hudson Bay, and have a heavily ingrained appreciation for nature.  In college my recreation consisted of hiking to bouldering areas and rock climbing on the bluffs and trails in Southern Illinois, which ultimately led to continuously hiking the lower 1/3 of the Appalachian Trail.  I hike every day, and backpack when possible.  I am a mid-weight backpacker, experienced hiker and camper, and have had some exposure to longer hikes of 50 to 500 miles (80 to 800 km).  I prefer a tent over a tarp, in fact I love tents, but have not yet tried a hammock.

Manufacturer Information:

Note:  Spyderco lists a number of e-mail addresses on their website, from sales and marketing, to customer service and technical support.  They also have a link to a forum for the discussion of anything Spyderco.

Product Information:

• Blade length 3" (77 mm)
• Blade thickness 3/32" (2.5 mm)
• Cutting edge 2 11/16" (68 mm)
• Length closed 4" (102 mm)
• Hole diameter 15/32" (12 mm)
• Blade steel VG-10
• Handle material FRN

• Delica CombinationEdge Black FRN (this test!)
• Delica PlainEdge Black FRN
• Delica SpyderEdge Black FRN

• CLIPIT - Spyderco's trademarked term for their line of folding knives which feature a pocket clip. A CLIPIT fan is often called a CLIPITEER.
• FRN (Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon) - A nylon polymer mixed with glass fiber that is then injected into a mold for making lightweight knife handles.
• Volcano Grip - Our trademarked name for the waffle texture found in our FRN handled lightweight knives. The continuous pattern of small squares offer better hand grip while cutting.
• Flat-Saber Grind - A knife's edge, ground completely flat without a radius that tapers from the cutting edge to a grind line down the center of the blade. Unlike a Full Flat Grind, which tapers from the cutting edge all the way to the blade's spine the Flat Saber only is flat ground just to the grind line.

Test Environment:
I have used the Spyderco Delica CombinationEdge folding knife for all my daily needs, while at home or on the trail, but never while traveling by air, for obvious reasons.  Outside temperatures have ranged from 10 F (-12 C) to 65 F (18 C).  Outdoor weather conditions have included light snow and light rain, but I have only used the knife in dry conditions.  The Delica has been used inside the house and out, and I have sharpened it twice on the Tri-Angle Sharpmaker (click here for BGT reviews).



Folding the Delica:
I have used the Spyderco Delica enough to unfold and fold the knife with ease.  In fiddling around with the knife I have discovered a few ways to open it.  The simple two-handed method is to grip the case in one hand, and grab the blade by the opening hole with a thumb and finger of the other hand, and pull it open until the blade locks.  The one-handed method, as prescribed by Spyderco, is to lay the knife in the right palm, and pivot the blade out using the thumb in the opening hole until the blade clicks into the locked position.  I have found this to be easy, and the method I usually use (see four-frame picture above).  A third method is probably best suited for knife shows, as it is a little tricky, although flashy.  With the knife in my right hand, the case in my palm, I can touch my thumb and index finger together through the opening hole.  With my palm down I can flip the whole knife up to the back of my hand (think six-shooter style), and then with a very tight grip and a very firm flick, I can open the knife while only holding the blade.  This is really just for show, and is pretty fun, but not recommended for anyone with an aversion to cut fingers (see two pictures below).

 

Folding the knife requires releasing the locking mechanism on the back of the case, and obviously the blade moving back toward the case, which is where my fingers and hand are located.  Because of the proximity of skin and sharp edges, I think I am actually more cautious closing the Delica than when opening it.  I generally release the lock with my right hand and fold the blade in with the other hand.  A variation on this is to fold the knife against my pants leg, the ground, or whatever I happen to be working on.  The one-handed method involves placing a finger near the pivot point of the blade, where there is not a sharp edge  (see the image at the beginning of this report), releasing the lock and flipping the blade inward to get it started.  Then I either use the thumb hole, or wrap my fingers around the spine of the blade (as shown in my initial report), and fold the blade in.  I can do this successfully, but there really doesn't seem to be a point to it.  Once the blade moves to within about 45^o of the case it snaps back in place so I always make sure to use some care when closing the knife.  This snapping action is actually a good thing though, as it means the blade is held in the closed position with some spring action which must be overcome to open the blade, thus preventing the blade from creeping open accidentally.

Using the Delica:
I have carried the Spyderco Delica with me since this test series began.  Initially, I would get it out and play with it whenever I had a dull moment (no pun intended).  The Delica just begs to be held and fiddled with.  As time has passed, I still carry it constantly, but I only fiddle with it occasionally.  Okay, I still play with it a lot.  It is such a cool knife!  I am used to having it clipped to my pocket and rarely notice it is there, but I also know that whenever a knife is needed it will be readily at hand.  And so it goes with pocketknives.  There is a lot of carrying in order to be prepared for the instances when a knife is needed.  My actual trail use has been limited to sharpening some hotdog sticks and doing some whittling around the campfire.  Conversely, my use around the house has been much more frequent.  I have used the Delica to open a great number of packages, both the birthday present kind, and the kind that come in the mail with thick cardboard and heavy tape.  The knife will slice through a FedEx envelope like there is no tomorrow.  It also cuts through those annoying nylon fasteners, which are used to fasten toys to their cardboard backing, without much effort.  I have used the Delica to cut down cardboard boxes for recycling, cut tags off of new purchases, cut apart roots of hostas (a hardy herbaceous perennial, which is prevalent in the mid-west) for propagation and division, and slice and cut fresh rhubarb.  The Spyderco Delica has made these tasks easy as pie.  Rhubarb pie!



Once the Spyderco Delica is opened it is ready to go to work.  Initially I thought that the clip might be a nuisance when holding the knife with a tight grip, but this has proven not to be the case.  The knife is comfortable in my hand, and seems to be a nice balance between a big knife capable of most tasks, and a small enough knife to carry daily.  The CombinationEdge (50/50 - half serrated and half plain edge) works nicely.  The plain edge portion of the blade slices a clean line with minimal width.  It works well for sharpening a hotdog stick, cutting the tape which is holding a box closed, opening mail, stripping wire, etc.  The plain edge also works well when pressing straight down on an item such as a frayed rope which needs to be trimmed back.  By my own definition this is more of a cutting movement than that of slicing.  The plain edge portion of the blade works well for both.  The serrated portion of the blade is nearest to the handle, and at the thickest point of the knife, which makes aggressive use seem natural.  When I was separating hostas, which consisted of globs of about a 3 pound (1.4 kg) mass of plants, dirt, and incredibly tangles roots, the serrated edge of the Delica ripped right through the dirt and roots as if they were nothing.  The serrated portion of the blade, by my own definition, is more for ripping and/or sawing, and is rather impressive if I do say so myself.



Sharpening the Delica:
Using the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, I have sharpened the Delica twice.  The first time was just for fun, to see if I could get it any sharper than it was after some light use and the second time because it actually needed it - a little.  One of the tests for the sharpness of the blade is to rest the sharp edge on your fingernail and see how steep an angle you can hold your finger (or thumb) without the blade sliding off.  I did this test before and after sharpening the knife blade and could definitely verify that the sharpening had an effect.  Then there is the familiar shave-the-hair-off-your-arm test, which is always fun to do in front of less manly hikers.  (Grunt!)  Another test that I came up with is to drag the knife blade over a roll of tissue paper using only the pressure from the weight of the knife.  I found that a seemingly sharp blade will snag the tissue and turn the roll, while the freshly sharpened Delica will not only not turn the roll, but cut through several layers of the tissue.  Using the Tri-Angle Sharpmaker I can get the Delica blade razor sharp.  Even the serrations become sharper.  The blade will then cut paper and do the impressive things in infomercials.  That being said, I have observed that the Delica blade quickly looses the razor sharpness and becomes just really, really, sharp.  I suppose this could be called the "working sharpness" of the blade, and I find it more important as to how long the blade will remain at this level than anything sharper.  The Delica has done well in this regard.  After opening a few boxes or whittling a few sticks, the initial sharpness has worn off the knife.  This I expected.  But continuing to use the knife for many weeks on various and assorted knifing tasks, the Delica blade barely lost any additional sharpness.  This means to me that I won't have to get out the sharpener after every use of the knife, and that it will perform as expected without me having to worry about when it was last sharpened.





Cleaning and Care:
I have gotten the Spyderco Delica dirty, although this seems to have been exclusively with dirt or mud.  I cleaned the knife with water and then dried it, and thought I had it cleaned.  What I observed was that when the knife sat for a while and got completely dry, there was still dirt down in the grooves and dimples of the lovely Volcano Grip (see image below).  This is not a major concern, but I found that getting the dirt out could not be done with my hands, fingernails, or even a soft cloth.  A dry brush did a reasonable job, but brushing the knife under running water was ultimately what got it completely clean.



As far as care goes, I haven't really done anything besides sharpening the blade and cleaning the grip.  I always carry the knife either clipped to the inside of my pants pocket, or all the way in my pants pocket for situations where it is not advisable to have a knife showing.  The result of carrying the knife in this fashion has yielded some paint wearing off on the clip (see image below).  Otherwise there is no real sign of wear.  I would also like to point out that on two separate occasions I had the knife fall out of my pocket.  Actually, it didn't fall out; it was pulled out by my jacket.  With the knife in my pocket the clip is naturally outside my pocket.  The tip of the clip sticks out just far enough that twice, when I was reaching over-head, the upward movement of my arms raised the hem of my jacket, and the jacket pulled the knife right out of my pocket and it fell to the ground.  Fortunately, both times I was on a hard surface and I actually heard the Delica strike the ground.  I will keep a close eye on this as I would definitely hate to loose this knife.

Reviews > Knives > Folding > Spyderco Delica CombinationEdge > James E. Triplett > Field Report