Perrin designs: Emerson LaGriffe & Spyderco SPOT

[cyberspyder]

A brother on another forum I'm part of gifted me this for a big gift swap I just organized...gesture was much apprecated. Just finish cordwrapping/skinning the handle and retrofitting a paracord sleeve over the ball chain to silence it. It's a sick, tiny FB for backup and EDC purposes...the hawksbill really helps in cutting and the hole guarantees it'll never fall off accidentally. The only thing I have tiny, minuscule gripes about is the chisel grind, otherwise, first-rated knife.













Merry Christmas to all!

Brendan

[cyberspyder]

A friend bought this for me at the Spydie Factory sale recently, and it just had it's sheath completed (where it will be wrapped up and given to a family member). Compared with the Perrin design above, the La Griffe, the choils were a bit 'limiting'. It felt like the fingers HAD to go there, even when it's unnatural. IMO, I prefer a Perrin design without the choils (like the LaGriffe).

I believe the reason on why it's second was probably due to the unfinished inside surfaces of the handle cutout---otherwise, everything's perfect, including the hair popping edge. Skinned the SPOT immediately with some 550 paracord sheath, and had a sheath made by James McGowan (paracord sheath-covered ball chain). The skinning part was harder than the LaGriffe, primarily due to the choils and the fact that I couldn't get a nice flowing wrap.

Now, some pics:

















In-hand pics:




Standard grip




Reverse grip

Brendan

[cyberspyder]

A bit of my own opinions on the two:

While somewhat similar, the uses of the two differ by quite a bit. The SPOT is an excellent utility knife...the belly/recurve makes chopping/slicing a breeze, but other than that, the blade can't do much. The hawksbill is not pronounced/long enough, thus it can't cut what other hawksbill can. The LaGriffe on the otherhand was designed for slashling and a bit of thrusting. Slicing up things are a breeze, but really, without some sort of belly, it's limited to 'rip' cuts.

All in all, both are solid knives, and both have vastly different uses.

Brendan

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I really quite like that Spydie

Bet it would be a bugger to sharpen unless you had a sharpmaker though

[David]

cyberspyder looks like you`ve got a couple of good knives there. I`ve used the Emerson La Griffe years and find it to be an excellent knife for its purpose. I also like the Perrin La Shark. I get on quite well with the chisel grind. No experience with the Spyderco Spot.