Spyderco Tenacious G-10 Black Mid-Sized Folding Knife - LinerLock Lock Type - C122GP

First off, I want to give a good idea of what I use my knives for so you know exactly where I'm coming from in this review. The most common chores I call on my folders for include cutting open letters and packages, food preparation on the go, and cutting through zip ties. Occasionally, I'll need to break down a cardboard box or two.Blade Steel - This knife uses 8cr13mov, a Chinese steel commonly found on less expensive knives. From my experience so far, it's surprisingly quite good. The edge holds pretty well for my light usage, and usually gets no more than a stropping or a touch up on a fine stone. I have seen some discoloration on the blade, but really nothing more than that, and it came right off with a bit of baking soda and a toothbrush. I'd recommend keeping this steel clean and dry, especially in the pivot. Blow it out with an air compressor, and give it a bit of oil, and you'll be fine. What I like most about it is the incredible edge it takes without much effort. I'm no expert, and even I can get it razor like in no time.Blade Shape - It has a nice, broad leaf shape, flat ground all the way to the spine. The full flat grind contributes to how well this knife slices. There's a decent amount of "belly" in the blade, but not so much that it adds any learning curve to resharpen. I find the tip pierces through fruits and packages alike with ease. The cutting edge is nearly 3 1/2 inches long, and extends all the way to the handle (unlike most knives, which typically leave an unsharpened portion at the bottom). I love having the longer edge, but it does seem to make it pretty easy to hit the end of the knife's handle against your sharpening stone, which is really the only resharpening annoyance I have with the knife.Ergonomics - The handle is long enough to fit my entire hand, and has some nice curves to it to make it a bit more comfortable. The G10 is beveled around the edges, which also adds to the comfort. It has jemping both on the thumb ramp and finger choil, which is actually pretty sharp (in a good way). The G10 offers a fair amount of grip. It's not the most aggressive I've felt, but it definitely offers some traction, and really aggressive G10 tends to devour pockets anyway. Overall, it feels quite nice in my hand.Lock/Lockup - The Tenacious uses a liner lock. I've read a lot of bad things about the liner lock's strength, and while it may not be the strongest thing on the market, it's definitely more than strong enough for my tasks, and has actually become one of my favorites. It's not, by any means, an ambidextrous lock (lefties often get the shaft with liner locks), but, with practice, I have managed to close my Tenacious left handed without cutting myself. That said, I'd still definitely recommend lefties close with two hands. The knife actually has pretty decent lockup. There's no blade play at all back and forth, no matter how hard I tug on my knife. There is, however, a tiny amount of play side to side, which doesn't go away no matter how hard I tighten the pivot.Opening/Detent - As with all Spyderco knives, the Tenacious has a round hole for opening your knife. The hole is plenty large enough to make opening a breeze, even while wearing gloves. Also, unlike the locking mechanism, the opening hole is a completely ambidextrous way to open a knife. The bronze bushings in the pivot really help the blade fly open. Also, from my experience, the detent has always held the blade closed (the knife is always clipped to my pocket, never free floating around my pocket or in a backpack, so I'm unsure how well it would hold up like that).Portability - The Tenacious weighs 4.1 ounces, which would actually be quite a bit higher had several holes not been drilled out of the steel liners. It's a bit under 4 1/2 inches closed, and is incredibly thin (Spyderco always makes very thin knives, and this is no different). The broad blade does factor in to its overall portability, and is a knife that I always know is sitting in my pocket when I've got it despite how thin it is.Cleanability - Although it voids Spyderco's warranty, this is a pretty easy knife to disassemble and reassemble, which makes doing deep cleanings easy as pie. The simplicity of the liner lock is what makes reassembly so easy, and is one of the reasons I love them so much. One issue I have is the hex screws that the Tenacious is held together with. My experience with Hex screws have led me to really hate them. They strip out easily, which could potentially ruin your knife, so be careful! The good news is that I've seen torx screws on some of the newer Tenacious knives, like the one with the blackened blade and the sprint run with blue G10 scales, but I'm not sure if they've upgraded the hardware on the classic satin blade/black handled Tenacious.Looks - The blade has a satin finish, which is polished, but not so much that it shines bright. The G10 makes for a nice looking handle material, and looks very utilitarian (a good thing in my eyes). It's by no means a gentleman's folder, though, and I feel looks great with jeans, but not a suit. While I like the looks of the knife, I've been told by some that it looks "scary", so I do hesitate to pull this one out around people more than I would with some of my other knives.Wrapping up - The Tenacious makes for an incredible beater knife. I don't have to worry about damaging it because it's extremely affordable, and if and when I do finally kill this one, I'll gladly buy another. Also, don't let the fact that this was made in China fool you. Where a product is made doesn't matter, especially when you're buying from a company with such high standards for quality control, and Spyderco does have high standards. Spyderco also still has their factory in Golden, Colorado, and another in Seki-Japan, where you'll find even higher quality knives, so don't fret when you see that an American company is producing something in China. They haven't abandoned American made products by a long shot. Personally, I've been extremely pleased with my Tenacious, and I think you will be, too.

I owned and carried this knife for 11 years and it never let me down.I’m in the military and I own a homestead and this knife was used daily with absolutely zero complaints. It sharpens very nicely, has a great weight, and really fits into your hand.My wife bought me a Benchmade Bugout a few years ago but I still opted to carry my Spyderco because it didn’t even begin to compare.I’m writing this review as I close the chapter on this knife because I lost it at work a few weeks ago but I am replacing it with the Delica 4 because I’ve never owned a Spyderco outside of my Tenacious… I didn’t need another one.If you’re on the fence, just buy it, you won’t regret it.

Perfecto por su precio.

Very sharp, great EDC choice. Steel quality is very decent. not too hard to sharpen, and overall the build is fantastic. Great knife to own.

I just got my Tenacious today, I don't have any long-term results yet so I will update as necessary. However I like this knife so much I felt the need to write down a review for it ASAP.First off, WOW! I am blown away at the amazing knife I got for only $32. I did a lot of looking around, reading reviews, checking out hundreds of youtube vids (big thanks to nutnfancy and cutlerylover for the wonderful knife reviews and insight!) and I figured I should give the Tenacious a try due to all the rave it gets around the net. I will say this, those rave reviews are not inaccurate! This thing is simply a LOT of knife with top notch quality for a unbelievable price. There is a few downsides though, one in particular with has soured the excellent experience I have had thus far, but overall the tenacious is worth well over the ~$30 it sells for. In fact this knife could easily sell at two or three times its cost and still be worth it (would need better steel at a higher price point though).But anyway, here is the pro/con breakdown.Pro:- Cheap, cheap, cheap! ~$30 is the kind of knife you will actually use and not worry about beating up. Doesn't really matter if you lose/break it, sure it will stink, but for $30 you won't lose much sleep over it.- Great lockup. Out of the box the Tenacious had ZERO blade play in either direction, and even after flipping it open with great authority all day long (and I really mean whipping it open hard) it still locks up TIGHT! The liner lock is also rock solid, and I can't imagine it failing under normal (or even beyond normal) usage of the knife.- Loving the Spydie thumb hole! If you are used to thumb studs, this will take some getting used to, but once you get the motion down you really start to love that thumb hole. In fact I now prefer the Spydie hole over a thumb stud, much easier to use and doesn't turn the tip of your thumb into a well tenderized piece of meat like the studs do.- Relatively lightweight. I personally don't mind a heavier blade (I EDCed a original Cold Steel Recon 1 for almost 2 years) but this blade isn't heavy at all. Weighing on my scale, it comes to 4.2oz (Recon 1 is 6.6oz). Not as light as something similarly sized like the SOG Aegis (3.2oz), but not a big deal for me at all. It is light enough to forget that it's in your pocket, but feels solid in your hands. Also note that the steel liner in the handle is skeletonized.- Blade shape, style and size. Oh yes! Love that big bellied, plain edge, full flat grind, drop-point leaf style blade! I am telling you, this is a sizable blade! This isn't a toothpick style blade like most other EDC blades from Spyderco, SOG, Benchmade etc etc, this thing is FAT and has authority. Of all the blades I researched within the $70 or less range, the only blades (that I could find) that are like this are the Tenacious, Resilience and the SOG Aegis. All the others generally are long and skinny type blades, and very seldom have a FFG.- Wonderful and practical jimping. The jimping on this blade is perfect, your thumb sits perfectly in the ramp and it holds your finger in place! The liner jimping is Ok, nothing special but it gets the job done when combined with the top blade jimping.- Feels great in hand. I love how this knife feels in my hand, not as good as the Aegis, but for what the Tenacious has it does very well. The knife feels solid and combined with the jimping you feel as if you have a very study grip on it. The handle is long enough for me that my pinky sits just about a 1/4 inch from the end. Very functional.- G10 handles baby! G10 is definitely one of my favorite handle materials, very strong and looks great. However I must say that the overall grip of the Tenacious G10 is actually pretty weak. It's quite smooth, and is nothing like the G10 scales on a knife like the Recon 1. But the thing is, while the grip is not that grippy, it still feels great. Its got this smooth gritty texture that won't dig up your skin or chew up your pants when you put it in your pocket, and honestly it feels very "cool".- Great pocket clip tension. So far the Tenacious has had the best clip tension I have ever had in a pocket knife. It grips very well but is not too powerful, easy to put in your pocket and easy to take out. Plus it actually sits pretty low, so only as small part of the knife is exposed outside of your pocket. Granted it's not as deep as a SOG clip, but its pretty close. Although I would have preferred the clip to be black.- Wonderfully smooth opening action. When I first unboxed the Tenacious it was pretty stiff, but that is not a bad thing. I know with some older Tenacious models the blade would have a tendency to pop out with very little movement. Seems like Spyderco fixed this as I was only able to get it to pop out by smacking the knife really hard. The opening/closing process is quite smooth too, not as buttery smooth as my Recon 1, but it blows away the Aegis. Phosphor bronze bushings makes for a nice action!- Near perfect blade centering when closed. The overall blade centering while closed is quite good, its not dead center, but is only a faction off in one direction. No rubbing against the liner whatsoever when closing/opening.- 4-way pocket clip integration. Great concept where you can move the clip to any side (left/right, top/bottom) of the blade. However there is a HUGE downside to this function which I will explain in the cons.- Best sounding "snap" of all my folders. You know that snap you hear when you flick open your folding knife? Well let me tell you, the Tenacious has a very strong and loud 'crack' when you fling it open. Much more pronounced than my Aegis or Recon 1. Almost sounds similar to the racking of a handgun. Also the Tenacious is VERY fast when you get the flick just right. Blows away my Aegis (which has assisted opening) and my Recon 1 by far.Now for the cons.Cons:- Default clip position is tip-down, which most people do not like. Come on Spyderco, what genius decided that the default should be tip-down? It is probably a 9/10 ratio of people who prefer tip-up to tip-down, and with all the things Spyderco got right with this knife, this is the one glaring mistake that they shouldn't have missed. Sure you can move it, but see the next con to understand why tip-up should have been the default.- The biggest con of this knife, BY FAR, is the bolts used for the clip (and likely for the rest of the body as well). They strip out VERY easily. I personally do not like tip-down carry, so I was thrilled that the Tenacious clip could be moved for tip-up carry. However upon trying to turn the very first bolt, I heard several distinct snapping noises which was the bolt stripping with only LIGHT turning pressure. Second bolt, same deal, started to unscrew only to have all the grooves in the bolt snap like off plastic. I managed to unscrew the third bolt just fine, but the first two are now completely smooth on the inside. So now I am stuck with tip-down carry, which is a HUGE letdown for me. It is the only reason I did not give this knife a perfect score, heck I was even thinking about lowering it to 3 stars because of this (I really like tip-up carry).One solution to the stripped bolts is to use a dremel to do a straight cut across the top of the bolt so it can be removed with a regular flat head screwdriver. Also note that I believe the Tenacious clip screws are M3 x5mm. (See UPDATE at end of review for further details on screw size)- The last con of this knife is the blade steel, which is 8CR13MOV. I for one don't mind a softer steel, as this makes it easier to sharpen and touch up. However this blade will rust quite easily. So make sure to keep it oiled or do some kind of rust prevention on the blade (Eezox for example).Other than that, this knife is practically perfect. It may be made in China, but the quality and craftsmanship is amazing (aside from weak clip screws and tip-down default of course). And for $30 or so you cannot beat this knife, that is a fact. No other blade in this price point even comes CLOSE to the Tenacious in terms of dollar-to-dollar value and quality. This knife is built like a tank and I have a feeling it will last me many many years of hard use.If necessary, I will update this review with any new info as I use the knife.UPDATE 7/30/11 - Really not much of a update, I originally wanted to put this in the review but forgot. As I mentioned I also had a SOG Aegis which I sort of compared the Tenacious to a few times. The Aegis and Tenacious (whoa, say that ten times fast!) are pretty similar in terms of blade shape, blade size and overall design (like I said I love these fat FFG blades!)However notice I wrote "had" a Aegis, I actually got two of them (one was a replacement) because the first one just didn't cut it in terms of quality, so I ended up returning them to Amazon. Both my Aegis knives came out of the box with blade play, which only got significantly worse as I opened and closed the knife a few times. There was also a few other problems too (uncentered and rubbing blade on liner, rough opening/closing etc etc). But without getting too detailed, I loved the features on the Aegis and I still think it is one of the best looking folders out there (I got the digi camo version with TiNi blade coating, absolutely beautiful). So while the Aegis looked amazing and had some really cool features (SOG deep pocket clip design, TiNi coating, lightweight) the Tenacious is by FAR the better knife IMO. I spent $70 on the digi camo Aegis, and both the original and replacement had several quality issues, mainly terrible blade play. So you can understand why I was absolutely blown away with the high quality $32 Tenacious.So if you are similar to me and love the fat FFG blades and are deciding between the dirt cheap Tenacious or the Aegis, hands down the Tenacious is the better pick. It may not have the looks, but it has the quality (although I actually love the way it looks, just not as fancy as the Aegis).This also brings me to another point, hey Spyderco, if you are reading this please release an all black version of the Tenacious with TiNi coating on the blade!(please, no Teflon). I would buy another one (maybe two or three more for friends/family) just for a blacked out version. Not sure why you haven't done this yet, this knife is definitely a value flagship knife for Spyderco and is probably your overall best selling knife, so how about you guys release some different options already? It would be a safe bet that most of the people who currently own and love the Tenacious will likely buy another just because it's all black and different. Oh and make the pocket clip default tip-up carry while you are at it.UPDATE 8/1/2011 - Ok a small update. I managed to get my stripped clip screws off by using a 1/16th hex. I originally used a 1.5mm hex which seemed to fit at the time (not snug enough I suppose). When I used a 1/16th hex I managed to get all but one screw (which was truly stripped). I got the fully stripped screw off with some crude work with a old beater knife I had lying around (I just stuck the knife tip in the screw, pressed hard so it could bite the head, then managed to get it loose enough to get out).So today I went to my hardware store to get replacement screws, which strangely enough I managed to find (despite the rarity of the small size). They have pretty big heads, but work just fine.At least with my Tenacious the clip screw size and threading are as follows.Diameter - M3 (metric)Thread - 0.5Length - 5mm (6mm works if you are doing tip-up carry, as the screws can stick out a little without hitting the blade or any other important moving part of the knife. The ones I got were 6mm in length. However I wouldn't recommend 6mm for a tip-down carry, as it will poke into the blade/bushings. You may even want to get a 4mm as well, if you can find some, in case 5mm is too long).So you are looking for M3-0.5 x 5mm if you want to replace the Tenacious clip screws. I lucked out that my hardware store had these tiny screws, but the most likely place to find them is some kind of hobby shop that deals with RC cars and things of that nature.Also if you are curious to how big the heads are on my screws, check out the Tenacious customer pictures, I have uploaded a picture or two showing that.UPDATE 8/2/2011 - Yes I know, too many updates, but any info I can share that may help somebody, I will share.Anywho I recently sent Spyderco a email about my situation with the stripped clip screws, today I got an email back from them. It was short and to the point, they wanted to know my address so they could send me some replacement screws. How's that for customer service! Amazing! So if any of you have problems with stripped screws for any part of your knife, go to the Spyderco website and use the contact form to tell them your situation. They will probably just send you new parts, no questions asked.I gotta say I am really starting to love Spyderco, so far my experience has been amazing. High quality products, great prices and wonderful customer service. What more could you ask for?