- the best version of the Tenacious?
I usually don't revisit models I've already reviewed. But every now and then, it happens because significant changes have led to improvements.* Or because they are just so different that they deserve their own chapter. This was the case for the Spyderco Para 3, which was released in lightweight format.
Today's topic is another Spyderco classic that has been given a new look, the Tenacious. The original was the subject of one of my first knife reviews almost 12 years ago. Although it wasn't brand new even then, it was an exciting addition to the catalog as it represented what Spyderco chose to call the "Value Line" which was intended as a budget alternative to the existing range.
A lot has happened from that model to this one with the long name Tenacious Lightweight CPM S35VN. One obviously has to do with the steel as Spyderco has chosen to include the entire designation in the name. What remains to be seen is whether it makes as much difference as one might hope for?
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| Spyderco Tenacious Lightweight CPM S35VN |
Already in the introduction of this knife, I pointed out that the original suffered from a couple of drawbacks that were linked to the price point. A slippery handle, simple steel, and perhaps not the best finish for a Spyderco were some of them.
In this case, a couple of those areas have been addressed with certainty. One question that then arises is whether it is the same knife, especially since the price point is completely different. Another is whether the finish has been raised to a corresponding degree? I intend to find out here.
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| Ytterligare en Spyderco-modell som fått lättviktskostym |
Short version: Spyderco Tenacious LW CPM S35VN, a really nice knife with a long name and some identity problems.
Blade
The blade design is identical to the original. This means a slightly leaf-shaped blade, typical of Spyderco, with a hump to house the blade hole. The blade is also tall and measures 32 mm at its widest point. When combined with a very sharp tip and an almost straight back, you get the typical Spyderco look that some knife enthusiasts like and others hate. But basically, it is a kind of drop point.
The length is 86 mm, which means that Tenacious is not a completely small knife. The thickness of the blade is a well-chosen three millimeters. The finish is a glossy satin and the marking consists of the Spyder logo on the blade and the name printed together with the blade steel on the ricasso. On the opposite side, the order "China" is found written in extremely small letters. Those with good eyesight can also distinguish the Glesser mark on the blade.
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| The blade shape is one of Spyderco's basic variants |
The factory edge on this knife wasn't exactly top-notch, to be honest. It wasn't one of the sharpest Spyderco knives I've come across, but above all, the edge is unbalanced. The left side's bevel is wider than the right, especially towards the tip.
However, this knife is thinner behind the edge than the original. Here about 0.4 mm, which together with a full flat grind and durable steel makes the knife cut very well.
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| As is often the case with modern Spyderco knives, the blade is fully flat ground. |
And Tenacious cuts well. It did that from the start and this version does it both better and above all for a longer time. Better because at least this example is thinner behind the edge, which improves the geometry that is already capable thanks to a three-millimeter blade with a full flat grind.
Longer because the steel is significantly more durable. At the same time, it is about the same rust resistance. Better in other words, just as promised. This is a very competent blade on all parameters.
Handle
The handle on the Tenacious is spacious. The entire knife measures over eleven centimeters closed and most of the handle can be used for a solid four-finger grip. This means that all hand sizes can fit, even if you happen to be wearing a pair of thinner gloves.
The thickness is 12.4 mm and the height is around 29 mm. This, together with the shape, makes the handle as comfortable as a handle with a ninety-degree back and flat sides can be. If you want to go up another level in the ergonomic stratosphere, the handle needs to be shaped in all dimensions and be a little fuller.
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| What is called "bi-directional texture" provides incredibly good grip |
The construction is recognizable and has not changed significantly. A robust steel frame with a thickness of 1.5 mm forms the basis. To prevent the knife from becoming too heavy and, above all, unbalanced, it has been provided with a series of internal holes. Something that was not always common for budget knives when Tenacious was young but is now standard for most brands.
The knife is open at the back and that is where the first sign of where money has been saved is found. Three completely straight spacers without any particular finesse. There is also Spyderco's solution for the lanyard hole in the form of a steel tube and a stop pin for the blade. Overall, a robust construction.
Another area where they skimp is the quality of the screws. The ones that hold the frame together certainly have flat heads, which is a plus. Both the six screws plus the three found for the clip are of size T6 while the adjustable pivot screw is a T8. What they all have in common is that they are made of soft cheese. Be careful when adjusting or disassembling your knife and make sure you have quality tools that grip well, otherwise, you will be left with round screw heads without grooves in them.
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| Tenacious is open at the back, revealing the sturdy frame that is not recessed at the sides. |
One of the big changes besides the blade steel is of course the handle material and it is also what has given the knife its epithet, "Lightweight" although that is debatable. After all, the knife weighs only nine grams less than the original with G10 handles.
But that is not the biggest change that comes with the material change from G10 to FRN. The latter is one of many fiber-reinforced plastic materials, nylon in this case, that are available on the market. Spyderco injection molds the material which allows them to get any surface they want and they use something they call "Bi-directional Texture". These are simply small bumps where the direction changes around the molded Spyderco logo in the middle.
The pattern provides an extraordinarily good grip for those who appreciate it. It literally eats into the skin if you grip the knife tightly. But you won't slip, whether you're at sea filleting a pike or gutting a deer in the forest, or performing any other sticky task. The knife stays in your hand anyway.
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| The handle shape is fairly simple but works well. This is especially true in the hammer and saber grips. |
In hand, the Tenacious is as good as it has always been. As I wrote above, about as good as a knife with this type of handle can be. All grips work especially the two most common ones. When the knife is held in a saber grip, in addition to the excellent grip on the sides of the handle, you also have a substantial thumb ramp to provide an even more secure grip.
When the knife is held in a regular hammer grip, you can use a little force behind the cuts as the edge is drawn close to the handle in this design. That's also a big plus in my book.
Similarly, pinch grips are good as the sides of the handle are not excessively thick. Even in reverse grips, such as when carving towards yourself or holding the knife with the tip down to chop, the handle works excellently. It may not be Spyderco's best handle, but it is more than alright.
Opening and Lock
How a Spyderco knife opens will come as no surprise to anyone who knows anything about modern pocket knives. Here, the blade hole has also been slightly oversized to be even more easily accessible. It measures 12.5 mm in diameter. It is also positioned exactly right. This makes use, provided you know what a blade hole is used for, very intuitive.
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| The blade hole is both oversized and correctly positioned, making it easy to reach and use. |
The actual feel of the opening is a bit dependent on what is expected. In an era when more and more knives are equipped with ball bearings, it is not good at all. Especially not when it was new. I have had the knife for a year now and it has worn in a bit even though I don't use it every day.
The blade runs on bronze bushings and they have the advantage that they become smoother and softer over time. But the feel of this knife does not come close to the best. Not even the best with bushings. It is not an MCusta. It feels like a Chinese-made Spyderco.
The advantage is that they are practical and do not let in gravel as ball bearings can in extreme cases. However, that risk should not be exaggerated either. But this solution always works regardless of the surroundings and environment where the knife is used.
One more complicated thing, however, is that this knife requires that you have the pivot screw very well adjusted. Too tight and the movement feels a little jerky. Too loose and you have play in the blade right away. Ball-bearing equipped knives are not nearly as sensitive to that detail.
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| The lock is simple and works well. |
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| The lock bar is also easily accessible. |
The liner lock is very well made. It is solid due to a strong frame combined with a fairly high lock bar which provides a large contact surface against the blade base. This is then combined with correctly executed geometry and the result is that no play in any direction can be felt. If the pivot is correctly adjusted as I pointed out above.
The lock bar is easy to reach thanks to a substantial recess on the opposite side of the handle. Good design at its best. Especially when it is made so that the handle comfort is not negatively affected.
To Carry
Well, what can you say about the Tenacious Lightweight in your pocket? First of all, it's not that much of a lightweight that its name suggests, 108 grams to be exact. But on the other hand, it's not overly heavy either, considering the sturdy blade and long edge.
Then it can be said that it's quite tall in your pocket. Over four centimeters in fact. No matter how you twist and turn it, it's "Spyderco tall". The knife simply demands its space.
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| One of the older Spyderco clips, here in the "China edition" with too much tension. |
In this specific case, it is also something that feels more than usual as part of the wide surface found in the pocket consists of a grater. So, if you have to reach down and look for the car key, which I happen to keep there, you have to be careful with how you remove your hand from the pocket if you love the skin on your knuckles.
One advantage of the pattern, however, is that it makes the knife very easy to draw. Just put your thumb down in the pocket and let it land against the handle side while letting your index finger rest against the indentation in the clip on the outside and you have an exceptionally good grip to pull out your knife.
It is almost as easy to put away again thanks to two clever details from Spyderco. One is that they provide all their knives with this pattern with a logo in the middle. In addition to being good advertising, they have the function of providing a flat surface for the fabric to rest against when it is squeezed by the clip. Something other manufacturers should follow suit. I'm thinking of you Cold Steel!
Another thing that makes it easier to carry is that the ramp on the clip is very large. The model is one of Spyderco's oldest versions of the clip, the spoon model. It works as usual in a budget version. It holds the knife in place, and has, as I said, a good ramp, high tension, and a decent amount of space underneath.
But it is also extremely visible, shiny, and large as it is. In addition, a full 2.7 cm of the knife is visible when it is in a pocket. The clip is mounted with three screws in a triangle, which means that it absolutely cannot wobble sideways.
The clip is not only movable between right and left but can be placed in all four corners. Something that Spyderco usually boasts about and no one takes advantage of. Sure, it gives options, but it also makes the handle look like it has been attacked by termites.
Or maybe it just feels plot-rich, here on one side, a pivot screw, a hole for a lanyard, three screws for the handle, and six holes for the clip. In addition to the pattern itself and the logo, then.
To Conclude
That Tenacious as a model has several qualities should be beyond doubt as it has survived since 2008, an achievement in a time when new models both pop up and disappear in a never-ending stream. But the model has always rested on a solid foundation. The design itself is good and with it comes a Spydercowithout a "forward finger choil" a recess in the blade itself for the index finger which is a detail that acts as a watershed. I am one of those who do not need such.
What you find on the plus account is what has always been there. It is a quality knife from a brand that stands behind its products. The blade is well-shaped and practical, the steel is excellent and the problems with the handle have largely been solved and what remains is a reasonable ergonomic handle with an excellent grip. A trimmed workhorse is what Spyderco calls it on the website and I can agree with that.
Of course, there are also the disadvantages. It is a wide knife that takes up a lot of space in the pocket. In addition, the new handle sides act like graters against the knuckles sometimes. But there are also details such as fairly simple straight spacers in the back and a clip of a simpler kind that also shows quite a lot of knife in the pocket. Then it can be added that opening and closing is not particularly smooth at all. It is noticeable that this is a simpler knife fundamentally.
But the biggest stumbling block is found elsewhere.
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| A supercharged workhorse Spyderco claims. Yes, I say, at the price of a thoroughbred |
Spyderco Tenacious is in this version a very nice knife but in my opinion, it has clear identity problems. For a budget model, it is no longer if it ever was in Sweden. The problem is for us Europeans that all Spyderco knives have a tendency to jump up a couple of notches on the price ladder on the way here. So when Americans talk about budget knives and what is affordable, that topic is a bit complicated here.
Of course, this edition of the Lightweight version has also changed the price range, especially since the steel is significantly better and therefore more expensive than the original. But here it gets more complicated as the knife is still made in China, which suggests that it would be simpler than Spyderco's Taiwan- and US-made models, while the material in the handle sides is simpler than what was previously the case. FRN is not a step up compared to G10, possibly equal.
The problem is that the basic model of Tenacious Lightweight costs around 800 SEK/72$. But if you want better steel, the price tag starts at 1650 SEK**/150$, and the "MSRP" in Sweden is about 2000 SEK/180$. It is hardly a budget knife.
It should be compared to other knives made in China with the same blade steel from brands such as Civivi, CJRB, and QSP just to name a few of the best. However in some cases it can be difficult to compare directly as Spyderco is one of the few manufacturers that puts such fine blade steel on a knife with a plastic handle and a simple liner lock in steel. The other manufacturers reserve that steel for knives in titanium or carbon fiber and with more advanced locks.
But in addition to being cheaper, their manufacturing quality is significantly higher than Chinese-made Spydercos.
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| With this blade steel, the Spyderco Tenacious LW is a really good knife, but hardly a budget knife. |
Since so much is the same as the original model I reviewed at the beginning of the blog's existence, opinion remains. I recommend the knife but not without reservation. You still have to pay a certain "Spyderco tax" but you get a competent knife for the money. What has happened with the Spyderco Tenacious Lightweigt CPM S35VN is that everything has been moved up a level. The materials are better but the price has also been raised, unfortunately perhaps more than the quality.
Specifications:
Length Overall: 197 mm
Length Folded: 111 mm
Weight: 108 g
Blade Length: 86 mm
Blade Thickness: 3 mm
Blade Steel: CPM S35VN
Handle: FRN
Lock: Liner lock
Produced by: Spyderco, made in China
/ J - still not totally convinced
* Another example comes from Al Mar where their latest T36 version of the SERE Folder model is a significant upgrade.
** At the time of writing, late 2024.
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