Spyderco K12P Chef Knife

[Noodle Soup]

I'm about a afraid to ask this crowd but what do you think of the new Spyderco K12P Chef knife? Fairly narrow 180mm VG-10 blade. Sal likes VG-10 and it seems to be well profiled for cutting. Its too short and narrow for my taste in a gyuto but it looks like it should make a useful utility cutter. I'm going to be putting my 180 Shig on the bench for a while to evaluated the Spyderco.

 

[WiscoNole]

I think there are 100 knives I would rather buy at that price. No soul, no mojo, just boring.

 

[Noodle Soup]

Given no one sells at MSRP something around $130 doesn't sound bad to me. Boring? Its a knife. I suppose a faux Damascus coating would give it more soul and mojo?

 

[panda]

i'd be interested if they released it in monosteel blue super like their pocket knives. full flat grind = it's a base so you can tweak it to your liking as a project.

 

[Noodle Soup]

Did they make a line of blue super folders? The new knife is flat ground for sure. I cut up a poultry fryer last night with it. The blade cuts like a razor, very sharp but the Corian handle is a little on the slippery side with chicken fat on it. I'm the kind of person that would rather have wood but that would probably raise the cost.

 

[PappaG]

I'm curious how easy or hard it is to sharpen.

 

[panda]

try sanding some cross hatch patterns into it. slippery handles are dangerous

 

[Matus]

Just a kitchen knives for Spyderco fans, nothing wrong with that, but I have zero interest finding out whether the geometry makes sense

 

[Dr_Jones]

One of my colleagues says the same thing every time he passes through an airport shopping area: "A Montblanc watch? Who the hell would buy a 4000 Euro timepiece that's made by a pen manufacturer?"

I guess the above comments are similar: In that price range you can get knife from a "real" kitchen knife manufacturer.

That said, I must admit that the ergonomics looks interesting. It sure looks like a knife that feels great in pinch grip.

 

[Noodle Soup]

If you mean Spyderco isn't a real "kitchen knife" maker I should probably point out this knife is made in Japan by a large company that probably also produces some of knives you do approve of. And to say Spyderco isn't a knifemaker would be taking it a bit far. Along with their Japanese, Taiwan and Chinese imports, they have a factory in Colorado.

I used the knife again last night to make a Mexican style meat pie. As before, the blade cuts very well but I find the handle a bit on the slippery side.

 

[Ruso]

If you mean Spyderco isn't a real "kitchen knife" maker I should probably point out this knife is made in Japan by a large company that probably also produces some of knives you do approve of. And to say Spyderco isn't a knifemaker would be taking it a bit far. Along with their Japanese, Taiwan and Chinese imports, they have a factory in Colorado.

I used the knife again last night to make a Mexican style meat pie. As before, the blade cuts very well but I find the handle a bit on the slippery side.

I would not call Spyderco a kitchen knife maker at all. I like Spyderco and I own several of them and gifted several more, but lets be honest, thier forte is folding knives and fixed camp knives to an extent - even tho for the money of thiers camp knives there are many well rounded options....

 

[Noodle Soup]

But the company in Japan that makes these for Spyderco also makes many of the other kitchen knives that come out of that country.

 

[Ruso]

But the company in Japan that makes these for Spyderco also makes many of the other kitchen knives that come out of that country.

Blackberrys and iPones are made in the same factory.

 

[Matus]

Blackberrys and iPones are made in the same factory.

... in China

 

[Dr_Jones]

I just think that the fact that Spyderco have to outsource the production just proves the point that kitchenware is not their main expertise...

 

[Noodle Soup]

And how many knife companies are there in Denmark these days? Almost every American cutlery company produces at least part of their line in the far east. That is just a fact of life in the modern world. As for Japan, I know more than one company that thought they were having knives made there only to find out later the Japanese had outsourced them to Taiwan. From the very start Spyderco's better models were made in Japan.

None of this really has anything to do with my original question about if anyone but me had tried the new Spyderco.

 

[Matus]

I just think that the fact that Spyderco have to outsource the production just proves the point that kitchenware is not their main expertise...

Only small part of Spyderco knives are made in US. Those made in Japan and Taiwan are often quoted as to be made to the highest standards within the Spyderco models. So no, that is not a proof.

 

[btbyrd]

I have several Spyderco folders. They make some excellent folding knives. But they're obviously not a kitchen knife company, and I don't think these knives are intended to appeal to kitchen knife enthusiasts. The K12P is a small knife, and it's perhaps overly generous to call it a chef's knife. It's sort of expensive for what it is, and I'd probably rather have a Fujiwara FKM for the same (or less) money. But I'm curious to hear feedback from people who know what makes for a good chef's knife (or utility/line knife).

And the nationality of the Spyderco isn't really super relevant. I have baller Spydercos made in Taichung, Seki, and Maniago. Nothing from Golden just yet, but it's only a matter of time. That they "outsource" their kitchen knives isn't really anything new. I just wish they'd gone with a more interesting design. Or just made it bigger. Or made it in super blue.

 

[Paraffin]

Just my opinion here, but there are two things that turn me off about that knife:

The hole in the blade is just product branding; it's non-functional and something else to trap food and have to clean. The other thing is the slight recurve profile of the spine. That dip in the spine would make it more difficult to flip the knife over and use the spine to scrape product on the board. You want a straight-edge spine for that.

 

[chinacats]

The other thing is the slight recurve profile of the spine. That dip in the spine would make it more difficult to flip the knife over and use the spine to scrape product on the board. You want a straight-edge spine for that.

FWIW, imo flipping to the spine is only important when using soft hrc knives that can roll...I scoop with the edge all the time with no detrimental effects on J-knives.

I don't see myself buying/using one of these but in general seems to be a lot of hate for something no-one here has tried other than the op. When I think of Spiderco I generally think quality and don't see them putting out a pos knife.

 

[Paraffin]

I don't see myself buying/using one of these but in general seems to be a lot of hate for something no-one here has tried other than the op. When I think of Spiderco I generally think quality and don't see them putting out a pos knife.

Yeah, but that hole in the blade that serves no purpose at all, except branding? Hard to justify that, I think. Maybe it's just me.

Also, just a pet peeve of mine... it's not "hate" when someone posts a dissenting opinion in an Internet forum. There is a large range between "raised eyebrow skepticism" and actual "hate." No need to jump to the most extreme adjective when someone doesn't like something.

 

[Dr_Jones]

And how many knife companies are there in Denmark these days?

I only know one, Raadvad. However, they were acquired by Fiskers a couple of years back. I don't see myself buying a Raadvad, though. Because I don't think that the nationality of a manufacturer is particularly relevant.

If Raadvad were to venture into a new area where they weren't as experienced - let's say hunting knives - then I wouldn't jump to their rescue just because they are Danish either :tease:

 

[chinacats]

Yeah, but that hole in the blade that serves no purpose at all, except branding? Hard to justify that, I think. Maybe it's just me.

Also, just a pet peeve of mine... it's not "hate" when someone posts a dissenting opinion in an Internet forum. There is a large range between "raised eyebrow skepticism" and actual "hate." No need to jump to the most extreme adjective when someone doesn't like something.

Sorry, only quoted you because of the spine flip thing...hateful comments was directed more at the entirety of the thread.

 

[Noodle Soup]

Yeah, but that hole in the blade that serves no purpose at all, except branding? Hard to justify that, I think. Maybe it's just me.

Also, just a pet peeve of mine... it's not "hate" when someone posts a dissenting opinion in an Internet forum. There is a large range between "raised eyebrow skepticism" and actual "hate." No need to jump to the most extreme adjective when someone doesn't like something.

You are right, the hole is strictly a copyrighted trademark on this knife. Trust me, Sal isn't going to give up the Spyderco trademark just to make the knife look a little better to a handful of people on this forum. I'm not sure where this particular blade design came from but most all of the newer Spyderco models are the product of someone with credentials in the industry. I will try to find out next week at SHOT. And I said from the first post I thought the knife was a little small and narrow for a good chef knife. It does serve very well for kitchen utility.

Made Palm Royale's minced meat stew last night using mostly the Spyderco. Minced the meat with my Sugimoto No. 7. Both knives worked very well for the task.

 

[Interapid101]

I have not tried, but as a huge Spyderco fan, I am interested. Interested in the bread knife, too, but it was too short for me to take the plunge.

FWIW, Regarding the “nationality” of the knives, it seems that nowadays the most complicated Spydie folders are always made in Taiwan, and fewer models hail from Japan or USA. IME, the USA models have worse blade to blade variability than Japan or Taiwan. I have seen some pretty questionable edges on a couple recent paras. In fact, Taiwan seems to be their best and most capable source of production at the moment.

The notion that you won’t get a bad spydie is incorrect IME. The Byrd folders are crappy, and even the Spyderco -branded knives from China they launched a few years back have serious QC and material integrity issues. The hardware is not even stainless steel as claimed. At that price point, the cheap Kershaws blow away Spyderco in quality and performance. My enthusiasm about Spyderco was quite diminished after the launch of their Chinese folders, and I reported this to them at a knife show. Buncha empty apologies and hand waving was all I got.

 

[btbyrd]

Yeah, but that hole in the blade that serves no purpose at all, except branding? Hard to justify that, I think. Maybe it's just me.

Yeah, there's no point to it. Spyderco introduced round holes on their folders to facilitate rapid deployment (sorta like thumb studs). Obviously, these serve no functional point on fixed blades, so Spyderco made the hole smaller and use it for branding; they call it a "trademark Spydie hole." It bothers me on kitchen knives. It's not on their inexpensive santoku. It's something else to get dirty, and it adds another step (and presumably some cost) to the production process. There's gotta be a better way to brand them.

Edit: looks like those above beat me to the punch on this.

The notion that you won’t get a bad spydie is incorrect IME. The Byrd folders are crappy, and even the Spyderco -branded knives from China they launched a few years back have serious QC and material integrity issues. The hardware is not even stainless steel as claimed.

True. They've sort of debased the brand recently. It was understandable that they'd roll out a line of cheap Chinese crap knives under a different name (the Byrd knives) but it made zero sense to launch cheap Chinese Spydercos -- especially since the Byrd knives already fill the void that the "value line" Spydercos are supposed to fill. The classic FRN line is as "low" as they should have gone and still called it Spyderco, and the FRNs are classics.

 

[Noodle Soup]

From the start, Spyderco has fought a never ending battle to retain their trademark hole. Sal feels that is really important to the company. If you ask to design a new model for them, one of the first questions is where does the hole go? I don't see where this small hole affects the knife one way or another.

 

[parbaked]

That looks like a useful kitchen knife especially for a boat, RV, cabin, BBQ or camping. It would be cool if it had a sheath so one can throw it in a bag and go. It seems good size, all around blade if you're only using one knife.

Here's my understanding of Spyderco & kitchen knives.
Spyderco actually dabbled in kitchen knives before Sal invented the tactical folding knife category. It's can be argued that he introduced the first Santokus to the US market in the early 1980s.

The original Spyderco business was traveling to gun and trade shows selling two products that Sal invented: the "Portable Hand", a spider shaped 3rd hand tool to help jewelers and hobbyist assemble small things, and the Tri Angle Sharpmaker. It was while selling at these shows that Sal saw the need for tactical folding knives for the Serve and Save community. Something between the gentlemen's slip joint and the folding hunting knives (Buck 110) that were the only folding options for hard core use. His big ideas included the hole to allow one hand opening and the pocket clip, neither of which had been done before. He just had to figure out how to make the knives...

Al Mar and other friends introduced Sal to manufacturers that could execute his designs. The Japanese knife factories he visited were stamping out western handled kitchen knives for the emerging Japanese market. Sal recognized that these thin, stamped blades performed really well and were a viable alternative to what was available in the US, so he imported some. The knives he imported included the model K08, the first commercially available Santoku in the US. He stopped importing kitchen knives when the folding knife business took off.

Spyderco got back into the kitchen knife business because its key retailers (Blade HQ, Knifeworks, Knife Center etc) all sell kitchen knives and created the demand.
In addition to the new kitchen knife designs, they reintroduced the original series including the K08 Santoku. That is why those knives don't have the Spyderhole. The design predates the trademark issues.

I don't think Spyderco is marketing the kitchen knives to kitchen knife enthusiast. It's more about giving Spyderco's core customers an alternative to the crappier kitchen knives they'd buy otherwise. I'd say they pulled that off pretty well...

 

[Dr_Jones]

I don't think Spyderco is marketing the kitchen knives to kitchen knife enthusiast. It's more about giving Spyderco's core customers an alternative to the crappier kitchen knives they'd buy otherwise.

I absolutely agree. Thanks for the history lesson