Spyderco Caspian Salt mini-review

[openhelix]

First of all, I haven't dove with it yet... It just arrived this evening. It's a little smaller than I expected but fits well in my hand. Curious how it will feel with gloves on. The knife itself looks solid and arrived very sharp.

The sheath has a locking "button" and fits VERY tight. It came with nylon straps. I think rubber straps would have been a better choice... I'll likely take them off and ziptie it to my BC or pick up some rubber straps.

 

[Cairns]

I just came here to provide my own input on this knife. I dove with it this weekend but never unsheathed it underwater as I never needed it, and one other problem. Even though I pulled the straps tight, it's still not enough at depth due to compression of your wetsuit/body. It just fell down and stopped at my fin. Thus overall the straps are completely useless, you need to replace them with rubber if you intend to mount it on your leg.

I also rinsed it but the #1 on the "H1" symbol was rusted the next day, I suppose because it's engraved into the steel, but no other rust anywhere.

Despite these failings, it's very ergonomic even with my gloves. I'd be able to hold onto the knife with one finger through the hole and still be able to do other things with that hand. For now I'll replace the straps and try it again.

 

[openhelix]

Good to see someone else with it! I dove with mine last weekend and no rust anywhere on it... including the H1 symbol. I agree it needs rubber straps. I zip-tied it to my BC. The OEM straps are useless. You'd think a reputable company like Spyderco would have figured that out.

 

[fnfalman]

When I saw the Caspian, the first thing I did was emailed Spyderco about the straps. The customer service lady said that she would forward my input to R&D.

So, tell me more about the retaining button. I'm not convinced that it's a good idea either. Seems hard to deploy and reengage, not to mention becoming looser with use.

 

[StSumwhere]

I also rinsed it but the #1 on the "H1" symbol was rusted the next day, I suppose because it's engraved into the steel, but no other rust anywhere.

Happens to all of them. It's not the knife, it's from the tooling used in manufacturing. Just use your thumb nail to scrape the rust off and you'll be good to go. I've had mine for two summers and it has NEVER been rinsed off (just to prove a point).

Also, I had to replace the factory straps with rubber ones and everything's fine. Great knife. Thanks to Sal from Spyderco for another great blade.

Cheers,
Hector

PS I found my thread regarding this knife from 2008: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/knives-cutting-tools/225085-spyderco-caspian-first-impressions.html

 

[fnfalman]

Hector,

Your old thread link didn't work. Would you enlighten me about the retaining device? Do you like it? Does it work for you? Would it work when you wear gloves?

 

[StSumwhere]

Hmmm. Link fixed, sorry.

I'm a warm water diver; not even a rash guard or wet suit, so I can't comment on gloves. In my original thread I comment on its small size and that it may not work with gloves.

You might go over to the Spydie forum and post the question there: Spyderco General Discussion - Spyderco Forums

 

[fnfalman]

Looks like the finger hole is a hair small for people that have to wear heavy gloves (cold water diving or lobster hunting). I wrote to Spyderco customer service and asked them if they would consider making a simple but positive retention strap that's secured with Velcro or a rubber ring ala Riffe knives. Supposedly they sent my suggestion to their R&D deparment for evaluation.

Benchmade also makes a fixed blade dive knife as well in a similar nitrogen-impregnated steel alloy.

It's more of a curiosity than anything on my part. I dive with a set of Dive Rite trauma shears and a Spyderco H1 folding knife for backup. I haven't found the need for the folding knife yet but that trauma shear sure comes in handy for cutting abandoned fishing lines.

 

[StSumwhere]

Interesting... How well does the folding knife work with gloves? I know the hole on the Caspian is much larger than that on my Caly3.

 

[fnfalman]

The folding knives (Atlantic Salt and Pacific Salt) work pretty well with heavy gloves. The hole is big enough for me to open the blade up with my gloved thumb. Or just grab it with the other hand's two fingers and open it up. I haven't found the need to use the folding knives yet but I did try to deploy them underwater for just in case I lost my trauma shears, which did happen once when I was cutting some abandoned fishing lines and when I sheathed it, I didn't actually put it back in the sheath like I thought and it was gone the next time I reached for it.