A good move by Spyderco!

[Sean]

They have finally put torx, adjustable pivots, on the new Salt's coming out. 
So... I grabbed a Salt 1 today.

[jekostas]

Expensive day at Jay's store, huh?  The new Dragonfly FRN also has a wire clip (instead of the crappy molded FRN one) and torx screws instead of rivets.
Spyderco's also releasing a smaller version of the Persistence called the Ambitious (shouldn't it be Ambition?) and a larger version in the family called the Resilience.

[Sean]

Ambition? (I like that)    Yeah I saw it I think in Nutnfancy's shot show '11
at Spydie booth. 
Yeah it was a bit of an expensive day but there really isn't
too much on the radar for purchases for now.

[Zed]

when i got the byrd finch it had rivets so when i got the byrd meadowlark after i was happy to see torx screws  although i did read that the rivets keep good tension, but no adjustment for the future could be a issue 

[gunga]

How good is the h1 steel on the salts?

[Sean]

Zed,  Yes, those Byrd's are great value.  I've several of them and quite like them.
The new generation 2 knives are even nicer in my opinion.  They are flat ground
and have seen new design frn scales, and pocket clips.  Some are actually cheaper
than the originals.
I've a pinned Pacific Salt which developed a bit too much play but I just have it a
shot with a nail driver and peened the center of the rivet and it tightened it up
nicely.

[Sean]

Mike,
H1, is great, and what makes it even better for me, is that they put it in their
older style, Delica 3 scales, without liners, which makes for a very light edc, plus,
you can use this knife, and steel, for mucky jobs and stick the whole thing under
running water, give it a shake, snap it closed and away you go.

H1 seems to hold an edge just about as well as any other steel I have outside of
a super steel, which means, after a day of use in the Restaurant, usually a strop on
leather brings back the edge quite sharp and shiny.

H1 does scratch easily, and as one guy put it on another forum, "just by looking at it"
I call it character.

I've found with the Salt series, such as the Pacific, and Salt 1,
they are very edc'able, thin profile in pocket, sport titianium clips which seem
to be a bit more bend resistant than steel, albeit more expensive to replace.

I guess to sum it up, it's a bit of a specialized knife in some peoples mind but a
knife that carries well, that has good corrosion properties, decent edge retention,
and is liner less is well worth looking into.
Hope this helps.

[Styerman]

Sal's a pretty clever guy , he listens to his end users . A Salt with a Torox pivot is a very tasty piece indeed .I was on W&W's site earlier , they have lots of nice stuff .

Chris

[Sean]

Yes, Sal seems to be doing the right things.   

Warriors & Wonders is a great store.  His ever expanding lineup and is going to be
including the CRKT  lineup pretty quick.
I have some pretty good conversations with him on occasion of being in the area.
As always, there's work to be done.  The one area he needs to focus on and I
really should mention it to him next time around as I'm sure he's wrestling with it
or has perhaps other idea's on it, is "access to view product" is very limited.  A few
years back you could wander about and knives were all behind very viewable
showcases and swords were hung on the walls.  Now, when you walk in it's very
limited walking room, and only about a quarter of product is actually viewable.
I know he relies on the internet to fill the void.

[jekostas]

How good is the h1 steel on the salts?

H1 steel is a very special case, with a few very strange properties.

First of all, it doesn't rust.  Ever.  H1 steel uses a full nitrogen quench for hardening, and Spyderco guarantees that none of their H1-based blades will ever rust or they replace it for free.  All the hardware is made from coated titanium on those knives.  H1 has replaced tallonite/dendritic cobalt for production-level salt water working knives.  Technically, H1 is actually a metallic ceramic because the nitrogen displaces enough carbon in the mixture that it can't be called steel.

Secondly, even at very high hardness H1 doesn't become brittle.  Spyderco, when introducing the Salt series a few years ago, famously had a display case at a SHOT show set up where they'd taken a couple of H1-based knives and bent the blades at 90 degree angles and they hadn't become brittle or shattered.

Lastly, H1 is a work-hardening metal.  The more you work it, the harder you use it, the harder the steel becomes.  In every day use, with sharpening, cutting etc. the effect is generally negligible for end-users, but the work-hardening property has some interesting consequences.  Firstly, H1 can be differentially tempered much more easily than other steels.  In fact, it becomes differentially tempered almost automatically - grinding the blade to put an edge on the knife makes the edges harder than the spine.  Secondly, the more you grind the edge, the harder the edge becomes, so H1 knives with plain edges are normally HRC'd to 57-58 which would put it on the same level of edge retention as say, AUS 8 or 440B/C.  H1 knives with serrated edges regularly hit 60-61 coming out of the factory.  This is better than VG-10 (HRC'd 59-60) and getting in to the realm of the high-end tool steels like D2 and BG-42.  These two reasons are why Spyderco, for example, chose to use H1 when they re-issued the Al Mar Warrior last year.

This is an interesting post made by TazKristi on the Spyderco forums in 2006 when Spyderco was first coming out with H1 blades, and exactly some things they liked about it: http://spyderco.com/forums/showpost.php?p=258981&postcount=2

As to upcoming Spyderco releases, well, the one I'm excited about is Spyderco is releasing a Ladybug Hawkbill in H1 steel this year - the limited production run knives are already out to dealers, I'm waiting for the regular run to get one.

[gunga]

Sean, how do you like the salt vs a delica?

[David]

Good score Sean. I`m glad to see these torx screwed Salts are finally here.      

[Sean]

Thanks David, yes it will be a welcome addition to most.

Mike,
The Delica makes a super every day carry and as well you can get them
in a full flat ground blade, which makes a fine all around slicer, and cutter.
You can also opt for the traditional saber grind as well.
The Delica's do come with liners inside the scales, which adds a bit more
weight compared to the Salt's, but it's so minuscule you probably
won't even notice.  The VG-10 will hold it's edge a bit longer I've found
than the H1, but both are easy to sharpen.  VG-10 won't scratch like the
H1 will.
I guess it would come down to what you really need in an edc?  If corrosion
resistance is quite important, and your going to be using it like me around
food, making my lunches, etc, then I'd opt for a Salt.  If you just want to
carry around a good, small quality folder, to do cutting chores with, at odd
times during a day, then I'd perhaps recommend the Delica, and also in the
FFG, if you can get past those rather horrid colours that they came out with. 

[gunga]

Do you prefer ffg to hollow?  If so (or not), why?

[Sean]

I've a fair number of both, and mostly I prefer the ffg on my Military's, Para Mils,
etc.  They just seem to slice better, at least they do in the kitchen.  Just like a
good kitchen knife, they just seems to slide through with minimal resistance. 
However, some prefer a hollow and other grinds.  Take your Delica for instance,
having the traditional saber grind on it makes for a blade with a thicker spine, and
stronger tip, which for some people, and their applications is a good thing, they
want that more robust blade.  The FFG is thinner along it's spine and tapers
down to a nice sharp point, which probably wouldn't be the one I'd use to open
a paint can lid. 
Personally if your looking for very nice edc, don't want something too big, and a
very user friendly, sort of a working mans knife, and not break the bank while
doing it, I'd lean towards a Delica.  Many other great knives and companies out
there but a Delica is a great place to start.