Last year it seems like I was the only knife dude not riding the Shaman train.
Which sounds like something out of a lost book of Jim Morrison’s high school poetry.
RIDING THE SHAMAN TRAIN.
He’s so deep.
But a North of 5 ounce knife with a three inch cutting edge, didn’t really sound appealing.
Lot of people loved it though.
My military has nearly 3 and 3/4 inch cutting edge and weighs an ounce less.
So all this means is that means I’ll probably review a Shaman in 6 months.
However for a while I’ve been waiting for the Spyderco Caribbean- the new rust free
series of knives from Spyderco that promises to cost approximately 1/3 the price of an
actual Caribbean vacation.
It has a larger blade than my Para Military 2, looks really sassy, gots a compression
lock, and weighs only a fraction more at 4.09 ounces.
Having a rust free knife is going to be great because I can just leave it outside for days
in puddles or wet grass- like I did my Dewalt drill 2 days ago.
And now the goddamn LED light won’t turn off.
And while I sit and contemplate how forgetful I’m going to be when I really get old, because
I can’t keep my stuff together at 38- let’s look at the dimensions of this beer, machete,
whatever it is the hell we’re doing right now.
Like the overall length and weight.
It’s like a fish or a tiger or a tiger fish.
Blade size and cutting edge.
Do you like half an inch of blade being taken up by a choil- like the shaman?
Handle size and grip area.
I mean I’m really asking… who prefers holding a knife with a choil versus just the
handle?
Spine Thickness and handle thickness.
I always thought that was wasted cutting edge- and adds weight.
Tallness.
I’m not saying I’m right and you’re wrong.
What if I said it this way… I’m not saying I’m right and you’re wrong.
Passive Aggressive Knife Bro.
The Spyderco Caribbean, is a new for 2018 knife from the Spyderco Knife and Tool company
made in Taiwan which is an island in the Caribbean.
Advanced Geography Bro.
A lot of my nicer Spydercos are made in Taiwan, and I have seen little evidence in manufacturing
between their USA, Japanese, Taiwanese, or Chinese manufactured knives and I own all
of those.
The Spyderco Caribbean comes in 4 blade styles, 2 are serrated and 2 are plain edge- 2 are
sheep foot and 2 are not.
2+2+2+2+4.
I chose the “leaf shape” non serrated, because it has a pointier tip than the sheepsfoot.
I like pointy tips for piercing packages of other knives I’ve purchased, although the
sheepsfoot might be better for slicing and chopping if you hold the tip of the knife
like a TV chef Mario err uh Guy Fiere.
The Caribbean features a blade made from LC200N which is a rust free stainless steel- not
to be confused with a stainless steel which can still rust.
Off the top of my head Spyderco has used the H1 rust proof steel in many of it’s salt
line of knives for years- the LC200N is a different formulation of rust proof steel
said to have better edge retention and cost more.
Meaning longer between sharpens and less money.
Now it must be noted…
the advantages to a rust proof steel would be better represented on a fixed blade knife…
just steel and the handle scales.
The Spyderco Caribbean uses a stainless steel liner, and screws- none of which are claimed
to be rust proof- so if you treat your knife like your spare time watching Youtube- like
garbage- and leave it damp don’t be surprised to see rust pop up in the areas made of stainless
steel.
Make sure you have your shots.
The blade has a similar style to the Spyderco Tenacious and also a full flat grind, but
larger and on the blade you see the stylishly written SAL, which I assume means soft screws
and Locktite.
And someone’s like “thats a stretch.”
I’m serious I bought a Stretch and stripped out the pivot without even trying.
Behind the edge my crappy calipers say a .32 mm.
This is thinner than my para military 2, which I’m getting about .58 mm.
This should make the knife very slicy.
Deployment is by the spyderhole.
Middle finger or thumb.
I prefer the middle finger deployment because my middle finger is better placed.
It’s easy right?
Smooth consistent deployments as the blade pivots on phosphor bronze washers.
It looks nice now, but out of the box, deployments were slower and harder to get every time.
I needed to adjust the pivot slightly so I could deploy and close easily.
Compared to what it is now, it’s action sucked out of the box and I almost threw it
right in the trash.
It doesn’t pop out quite as snappily as my Yojimbo 2, which seems to have a better
detent- but it’s about as good as my well broken in Para Military 2.
It is possible to fling the blade downward to get it to open.
And yes, like a lot of spydercos, and the joke alluded to earlier- the screws are soft-
so be careful man.
Lockup is handled by a compression lock- and if you don’t own any it’s sort of like
a liner lock, not exactly but a similar idea to- so it’s patentable I guess.
Sal needs to eat.
Before you explain the differences to me, I’ll just link the Spyderco forums thread
down below- and say I read it.
Compression locks are nice because to disengage in theory or I guess in practice- I dunno
you may be horrible at closing knives… you have to move your fingers out of the way of
the closing blade.
So a good broken in lock you press and flick to close.
If you get it times well you can flick it close perfectly.
So a compression lock might be said to make a knife safer to close for idiots.
That might be a leap though.
The handle.
It is something to behold.
It’s machined and milled G10.
Alternating layers of faded yellow and black when you view the cross section, and on the
surface there’s raised and polished black G10 stripes, and recessed yellow G10.
It gives a fair amount of grip in the hand without feeling obnoxious.
Some people hate the look, I really don’t care because it works for me.
It has ocean dwelling vibe, and would look at home on the ocean floor, for when you eventually
drop it over the side of the boat while fishing.
If you look inside you’ll see a liner that is not only nested and skeletonized, but the
round cut outs in the liner for weight saving also have the G10 raised to where it’s flush.
That means less chance of pockets of filth or fish slime- making it easier to clean.
If you look at my Endura 4, you’ll see what I mean- those round liner holes hold guts
much easier
The pocket clip.
The pocket clip is the classic functional style like on my Endura, except it’s made
out of bead blasted titanium here, because people would bitch if it wasn’t on a $160
knife.
It’s not deep carry and nearly 3/4 of an inch sticks out, so people technically will
still have something to bitch about.
Don’t worry I would assume someone already has a $30 deep carry pocket clip in the works
that should do you fine.
The clip is tip up, and reversible to the right or left side…
Out of the box it came positioned perfectly.
Comparisons.
Let’s do a shot of other spyderco knives I own that give you a good idea of the size
of this knife, and my spending habits.
The Caribbean is one of my bigger Spydercos- not stupid like the K2 but a reasonable larger
every day carry.
First the Caribbean.
It’s a bit too early to tell- depending on how I like the steel over time but I think
this might be my favorite Spyderco in a while.
I see this getting more pocket time than my Para Military 2.
It’s larger, has a larger handle, almost imperceptibly heavier, and just as fidgetable.
It’s a more unique looking knife- and I could see a whole future of sprint runs in
different colored G10 and different steels, that people can buy up and flip for more on
the secondary market.
Sounds great!
The Para Military 2.
This has been my favorite Spyderco for a while.
I do like the Military for its larger size and light weight, and the Endura 4 because
it’s an old favorite and still under $100.
But this knife has improved on the PM2 because it’s larger proportions without increasing
much weight.
Remember bigger is always better- no exceptions.
Both are fidget friendly.
A square might prefer the looks of a para military 2 and the smoother handle.
I like the texture on the Caribbean, but some might not.
Now the Benchmade Fact.
Another favorite knife, this is light and has a long blade and handle.
The handle on the Carribean is nicer in the hand, although the Fact is way more tactical.
I’m gonna have to go with tactical bro.
Spyderco Endura 4.
Lighter, cheaper- maybe easier to sharpen as the cutting edge doesn’t go quite as
close to the handle.
Slower deployer and a harder close.
Benchmade 940-1.
Very light, smaller handle and blade, but a more muted look.
Some might even say classy like a hood on a Civic and some gold rims.
I am feeling pretty strongly about the Caribbean though and it might be my most preferred carry
at the moment- and I haven’t been drinking.
Much.
Ok let’s wrap it up- provided this one is over 10 minutes.
The carribean is a cool knife, cool like.
Youtube channel.
Just because other people don’t like the looks doesn’t mean I have to.
It has a nice long blade… an excellent utility and food prep knife because of it’s rust
free qualities…
although it must be stressed…
just because the blade is doesn’t mean the liner and hardware is.
A great knife, with a textured handle that even maintains grip in the wet- pig blood,
moose urine, and horse- all tested.
Oh yeah, I guess separately those all sound weird.
I’m in a Satanic death cult- I hope that clears it up.
I mean rubber handles might work better- but it’s still nice.
The long thin slicey blade might not hold up as a harder use blade- because in theory
thinner edges sometimes need more maintenance- but again we’ll have to see how I like the
steel over time- and how often I need to sharpen it.
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