This is a review of the Spyderco Slysz Bowie. The video documents taking the knife apart to polish the washers, discussion on the steel, and sharpening the blade.
I've just recently found your channel and just wanted to compliment on the excellent content you are putting up. By far the tests I have seen from you have been the most informative to me, and I feel I've learned more than others I've seen. Hope to see a lot more from you, keep up the good work and know it's very much appreciated.
One of my all time favorite EDC knife out of my collection of 40+ Spydercos. And I did polish the washers as well, and it made a discernible difference...not that it was bad by any means prior to the washer polishing. Great review as usual brother 👊🏻
2500 grit wet dry sandpaper works very well for washers. You can buy a variety pack at Walmart that goes from 1000-2500 grit for about $5. Did the same thing on mine and produces amazing results.
Right out of the gate you got this knife pegged...the Nirvana and Mamba were the two last Taichung blades I have purchased...and they replicate difficult designs with high end materials..the hallmark of Taichung Spydercos, but the Bowie, Techno and the first Southard flipper have the highest level of finish quality I've ever seen in a Spyderco...the beveled edges, cleaness of the g10..wether scale or backspacer, handle stonewash and blade finish.(polished stonewash).....the Slyz Bowie might sit atop of those three ...but Marcin's designs lend themselves to translation into amazing production models ...the Techno and Bowie feel like mid-tech/ custom "special" more than any other Spyderco collaboration IMO
I've been watching Videos on this knife and happened to find one brand new on Walmart online from one of their suppliers so for the price I picked it up for what I thought it was a great deal, especially since the only other place you can find this knife is on Ebay for over $400 used and up to $500 New from Oversea's, So I feel I lucked out... Great Videos you have, lot's of Great info.
The composition of the steel on paper is pre heat treatment. When the knife is heat treated the end result will be different. For example chromium, d2 shows the data sheet with 12% chromium. After heat treat depending on the protocol, chromium could be used to create carbide's or end up in solution for better stainlessness. For example China d2 is not very stainless and USA d2 has better stainlessness (in the case of Carrothers d2, and delta 3v for that matter). D2 is at that 12% between stainlessness on the data sheet, but not after heat treatment when the composition of components react with each other at different ramp times and temperature's. Basically if you have a higher austenitizing temperature, you'll get more stainlessness. But of that 12% some has to goto carbides. So you might get a 9% for stainlessness with 5% carbides. This is also because the carbon is fairly high for this type of composition. This is similar for xhp. Less chromium for stainlessness and more for chromium carbides. That's why Spyderco polished the blade to avoid pitting. I'm not sure why people think its stainless d2 cause d2 is less prone to rust than xhp despite what their data sheets say. Oh cause they don't understand heat treat and what the composition does at different ramping of time and temperature during heat treatment protocols. I wish more people studied this rather than a data sheet at face value. In anycase the .45% vanadium is far too small to create vanadium carbides but it is essential in the heat treatment process to do other things in the composition. This has many functions, one of which helps keep those grains small in this pm steel. While s35vn and s30v have around 3-3.5% vanadium, xhp has 21-22% carbide volume. So while it's not vanadium carbides, its got a lot more chromium carbide volume. Which in return offers similar performance to s30v if not better depending on the heat treatment protocol and hrc.
I love the knife. I could have lived with 204P as the blade steel, but it's still a great knife for EDC. This video has actually been in the works for several weeks.
Awesome content michael! Xhp is the best steel that pushes the hybrid stats of corrision resistance and toughness to a sort of limit thats why i like it so much. I bought lots of cold steel knives just because i like the steel so much and the price is very nice.
Yeah, I have several Cold Steel knives in XHP. They do a good job with it. For the build and use of Cold Steel's knives, I think XHP was a good choice. I also really like that they're using 3V.
Yeah its good idea, what do you think about the swift? I got it for 110 euros on ebay new with the new xs lock system. Btw how big is your knife collection yet? I am curious lol. Regards val
Some great commentary here Mike. I also found that steels with vanadium content do not sharpen or polish as well on aluminum oxide stones. I've moved entirely to silica carbide and ceramics. I have also found that some steels tend to polish more easily than others, I believe this has something to do with the amount of chromium in the steel. ZDP, and 20CV are some of my favorites to polish.
Thanks. I've heard people mention the chromium thing before. The problem with that idea is, 1095 polished easily as well, and that has no chromium at all. I've also found that the edges I get from diamond and ceramics on high vanadium steels are better then the edges I get using alumina based stones. I'm surprised you mention 20CV. I would think that would be difficult given the vanadium.
That's a good point, Mike - I forgot about 1095. I just took a closer look at some steel compositions...from my experiences, it appears that Molybdenum content might be a determining factor.
I could be wrong, but I don't think it's Moly. I think it's just a matter of abrasion resistance, provided that there's not something in the steel to slow the abrasion down, like vanadium. I'm sure large amounts of tungsten doesn't help either. What's interesting, in addition to the observed difference in polish, is the difference in edge quality that I'm able to get from one type of abrasive to another. (But that could be a factor of how I'm sharpening.)
Yeah, I'm not entirely certain either....m390 and S30V have the same amount of vanadium, but I've found that m390 polishes better than S30V. I've also found that I get better edges when I use harder stones on more wear resistant steels. These days I'm using composite (silicon carbide/ceramic) stones to finish before stropping. They seem to polish better than aluminum oxide stones that I've used in the past.
the execution is amazing. this knife is just great, and its probablt kicking a few other high dollar knives out of my pocket, this is spyderco showing off and they show off well
Man your video content is great and super informative. Since you bought this frame lock, is there any chance of you getting a CRK sebenza? I'm curious to hear your thoughts on those knives. Thanks.
Question what do you think about the testing videos that put cts-xhp in the same class as m390? Obviously not a pro but looking at the steel compositions. From what I can tell that shouldn't be the case whatsoever.
So far, the cts from cs is their only steel i care for. Its pretty good. I do notice that out of the box its always chippy as hell. Literally micro chips. The chips seem to sharpen away easily. Once re sharpened the xhp is pretty good quality IMO
You are the first I’ve seen to mention vanadium carbides and their hardness compared to ceramics. Theoretically they should not cut the carbides. That was always a head scratcher for me. I actually had a conversation with a guy at spyderco in Golden he swears they are hard enough. We went back and forth a little. He scratched an h1 blade to show me how hard the ceramics are which is obviously a bad demonstration. I know it seems to work just wanna know why it works.
Michael Christy Yeah i'm completely understand you. It can be pricey "sport", especially when considering buying stones etc. Taxes here in EU are ridiculously high... anyway that stretch g10 will be my next purchase. Great review as always
It's almost time to sharpen my PM2 in K390. I don't have your freehand skill, so I use a wicked edge. For my WE, I have both diamond stones and Shapton Pros. I had planned to use the Shaptons because they stand well proud of the platons, which means I can get all the way to the ricasso. After watching this video, I wonder if I wouldn't be better off with a progression like diamonds, ceramics, then diamond paste strops?
Diamonds to 400-600 grit. Strop with diamond's if you really want too. Maybe 3 or 1 micron. But not necessary. K390 is similar to 10v. Both have large volume of vanadium carbides. So diamond is necessary and a courser grit would be idea. You'll get a shorter hair popping edge retention but the working edge will last forever.
I've seen test results that show a pretty big variation in performance with XHP. I've also heard very knowledgeable people in the knife industry talk about it's performance as if it doesn't have much variation. In my experience from use, it seems to perform around S30V. It might be the case that RC and sharpening method play a big roll in the performance of this steel, but I can't say that for sure.
From my experience, they perform very close to one another. Carpenter compares XHP to other steels, but I can see why people would say S30V. On the subject of silicon carbide, it's rates at 2480 or 2500 on the knoops scale. Vanadium is even higher rating then that. However, silicon carbide is much harder then alumina. I know you get your polished edges to a very high polish. I guess silicon carbide is the way to go if you're trying to polish high vanadium steels. I haven't seen diamond stones that give a high polish.
Yeah but consider RC... XHP can go as high as 64. I don't think Spyderco is taking it high, but that doesn't mean that some production companies wouldn't get around 61-62. That would make a difference in performance.
Looks nice, is $125 cheaper than my Umnumzan, and seems to have decent ergonomic feeling. But the warranty for CRK is outstanding. Now your Spydie warranty is voided? That sucks...
12:38 . Thats why I bought 2 clones $50.00 each . One is worked on the blade drops with little or no side to side .oh yeah they are d2 .one of my favorite steels . I use the sharpening machine diamond stones . 400 - 600-100 then stop with .5 mic diamond paste . Beyond sharp !
@@dalecarpenter8359 they aren't built the same. Not at all. The clone doesn't have the same steel and certainly not the same heat treatment or performance of the Spyderco and the build quality won't be anywhere near the same. You live in a bubble.
Yeah. That kept me away from this knife for a while. It's still a great knife. XHP's overall performance is a good balance. (Considering edge holding, toughness, and corrosion resistance.)
XHP is surprisingly an awesome steel. IMO it's better than s30v in nearly every way. Seems to hold a high sharpness longer (s30v holding a working edge longer), have better apex stability (I've seen it cut through thick extension cords containing copper wire with literally zero damage), and probably better toughness while being more corrosion resistant. AND it's easier to sharpen. XHP is very underrated to me, and the spyderco community has expressed the desire for more of it recently, even amidst the craze over extremely wear resistant steels (Maxamet is coming back and Sal is considering 15v). I hope to see more XHP. If it was up to me, it would replace s30v as spydero's base steel.
You shouldn't have to polish the washers of a high end knife . Those washers should be so shiny that you can see your ugly mug ! I collect clones I got this knife in s30vn for $50.00 free shipping .this knife I would expect to have to polish the washers ! I buy Highly over priced production knives clones . I have a collect .some are even the same material or better . Custom knife go for it with the price . A production knife should be a % over production cost !!!
Michael Christy On the contrary ! Like i said they are every boit as good and as strong and they are great for user knives ! You can get 2 and keep one nice ! .usually the same material or as good in use materials ! You can get crap if you dont know what your looking at . But the clones I have are good knives . And a good production knife isn't high end . Its for using not a shinny thing you keep in the safe ! Not something you're afraid to use because of the price . Many high end knives are shit in use ! That's why they don't make sense to me!!!
Dale Carpenter I use every knife that’s been on the channel. Tonight I sharpened and used a knife that costs over $500. Just because a knife is expensive doesn’t mean you can’t use it. Your clones are not every bit as good as high end knives, and the price is not why I say they’re trash. If the guy next to me is using a $13 Opinel, there’s nothing wrong with that. An Opinel is a good knife. Clones are poorly made replica’s that leave out the important details about the knives they resemble. They’re also used to trick unsuspecting newcomers of the knife community into buying something they thought was the real thing. People who think they’re every bit as good, don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s also theft of the design.
