Some small talk...Spyderco Bug Knife

This is one small knife (the specifications are at the end). The first time I held one I thought what a great small folding knife for a keychain. At less than half an ounce, it won't add any significant amount of weight to the keychain that most of us carry, you know, the one that has about 20 keys on it, 10 of which we don't know what lock they fit and/or don't use but once a year or so and one or more of those keys we use to open packages that we receive in the mail or to break down boxes at work. 

You don't want to add another knife to your keychain because it is crowded enough?  Make a necklace out of the Spyderco Bug.  You can buy this knife here at National Knives for only $6.49 plus shipping.  We also have other members of Spyderco's Bug line like the Honeybee and the Grasshopper.  These are all part of Spyderco's Slipit Group of knives that have no mechanical lock, but instead relies on resistance pressure at the pivot joint to hold the blade open.

The specifications of the Spyderco Bug Model C133P:

Blade Length: 1.3125" 

Blade Material: 3Cr13 Stainless Steel
Blade Style: Flat Ground Plain Edge
Blade Thickness: 0.0625"
Rc Hardness:
Lock Style: Non-Locking Slip Joint
Closed Overall Length: 1.625"
Open Overall Length: 2.875"
Handle Material: Stainless Steel
Pocket Clip: N/A
Sheath: N/A
Weight: 0.40 Ounces
MSRP: $9.95
Special Features:
Smallest Knife in Spyderco's Lineup
Lanyard Hole
Made in China

Rob

Knife Rights - Home

Knife Rights - Home

Knife not big enough...Spiders

Funny thing happened to me on the ...... yeah, you probably don't want to read yet another article/blog/email/etc that starts off with that, so I will tell you that my wife, daughter and myself all went to Tahquamenon Falls this past Saturday.  We haven't been there in a couple of years and made the day out of it which included hiking part way to the upper portion of the falls which is 4 miles one way of hiking through different types of terrain of medium difficulty.  Typically, this wouldn't be much of an ordeal, but my wife had surgery that involved her hip about 2 months ago and it not quite fully healed so we only made it in about about a mile or so before we turned back due to her discomfort.  It was beautiful day and fun filled.

So what about the spider?  Being a blog about knives and carrying Spyderco brand products, you would think that maybe what I am referring to, but you would be wrong.  On our ventures down that trail, we came across the largest spider I have ever seen in Michigan outside of a zoo or pet store.  My hands are of average size and from leg tip to leg tip, that spider would fill the palm of my hand which is a good 3.5" to 4.0" across.  Did I mention that I don't like spiders, especially big spiders?  Ironically, I was carrying a Spyderco knife, but it just didn't make me feel safe at all.  This is the actual picture of the spider:

Not good enough?  You say that only video will suffice?  You're in luck!  You can hear my daughter giving me directions and her start to yell "butter noodles!" towards the end, which is a lot easier on the ears then what I was thinking of saying...

I was tapping on the tree with my sunglasses (the expensive 2.99 pair from our local hardware store) and standing off to the side so I didn't have a clear view of the spider.  Before this, I had attempted to show the size of the spider in comparison to a $10.00 bill and the spider attacked the bill!  When I retracted the bill, rather quickly I might add, the spider retracted into the crevice in the tree as you can see in the video.

My first thoughts was that this spider was a wolf spider based on it's appearance, apparently Michigan is also home to a water spider and based on what Googled, that is what we happened upon.  I hope it is the last one I see.

I don't want any of you to have nightmares about this spider, so I included this photo of a Primrose moth, which until a couple of weeks ago, I didn't know existed, especially in Michigan:

This picture was taken at the Pendills Creek National Fish Hatchery near the water fountain where there were several of these hanging around on the wall and fountain.  The picture doesn't do this justice.

Rob

Knife Chit Chat

When it comes to knives, whether it be kitchen cutlery, hunting blades or every day carry (EDC) pocket knives, I don't consider myself overly picky.  I carry a Spyderco Native C41PSBBK (see pic below) that I might have to retire after I snapped the tip off doing something I shouldn't have done (cleaning out a paper shredder).  I like the Native a lot and I know there are a number of people out there that don't care for Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon (FRN) handles and/or back locks, I am not one.  I started carrying this knife after I received it from a distributor with wear marks on the pocket clip.  Instead of returning it or selling it at a discount, I decided to make it my EDC knife and with no regrets.

When comparing FRN to a more "grippy" material like G-10, I have found that, at least in my case, that the FRN slides in and out of my pocket easier.  This does not mean that I don't like G-10 or won't carry it, in fact I would prefer G-10 if/when I am using my knife in a manner that may be more aggressive like cutting cardboard.  That extra grip that G-10 offers may make the difference in a trip to the hospital or to the medicine cabinet.

The locking system of a folding knife is designed to safely keep the blade in an open position.  Cutlery connoisseurs have vastly differing opinions on what type of lock style is best.  I am not going to go into the differing styles in the post, each style has a purpose which can range from ease of use to safety or to abide by a law.

I have to tell you that it is now 5days in a row that Sault Sainte Marie, MI has received rain.  Blah!  At least it's not hot and muggy, the last time I checked, the temp. didn't even hit 60 degrees F makes me wonder if I should get the snow shovel out of storage....

Rob

3 straight days of rain in the Soo, not just any stainless, need H1

Yep!  That's a lot of rain, thankfully it is mostly sprinkling throughout the day.  What's interesting is this rain started Monday and is supposed to go through Friday.  Combine that with the water table and basements and I can see a run on sump pumps, wet/dry vacs and blower rentals. 

Think we have it tough with flooded basements?  What about the people that have to work outside in weather like this, like the construction workers, road crews, police, fire, EMT, Coast Guard, etc?  This kind of weather can be demanding on their equipment.  For those that choose to have a knife as one of those tools they should consider a knife with a H1 steel blade.


What's H1?  H1 is a stainless steel made in Japan by Myodo Foundry.  This remarkable steel is not just rust resistant, but rust proof or at least as close to rust proof steel can be.  Spyderco uses this steel in it's Salt line of knives like the Atlantic Salt as well as special use knives such as the Warrior line. 

H1 stainless steel is a precipitation hardened steel containing nitrogen in place of carbon that gives H1 it's amazing resistance to oxidization (rust).

Rainy Monday morning a great day for stainless steel

Stainless steel does not mean your knife blade won't rust.  What it does mean is that it will be more resistant to rust than a carbon steel.  Why?  Chromium content is the primary difference between stainless and carbon steels.  Steel, according to The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), must contain a minimum of 10% chromium to be considered stainless.  The chromium forms a layer of chromium oxide on the steel which aids in preventing oxygen and moisture from interacting with the steel which would cause the iron in the steel to form iron oxide, also know as rust. 

So on rainy Monday's (or any other day of the week), choosing a knife like the Spyderco Persian C105GP2 with a stainless steel blade would be ideal.  National Knives carries a wide variety of cutlery made with stainless steel and I would be more than happy to have you stop by my website and take a peek.

In future blogs, I will be discussing the different types of stainless steels as well as other materials used by knife makers and manufacturers.

Rob

First Blog Post

Welcome to my blog.  My name is Robert (Rob) Glowacki and I own and operate National Knives.  I live in beautiful Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan on the northern end of I-75.  We (my wife, Ruth and daughter, Nikita and of course me) moved up here in October/November of 2010 from Battle Creek (Cereal City), Michigan.  My hobbies are many and ever changing, but I really love the outdoors and like to bicycle, hike, hit the beaches (Lake Superior beaches are my favorite) and now that I live in the Soo (Sault Sainte Marie), watching the freighters go by.  I do like my knives.  I carry a Spyderco Native C41PSBBK.  The knives I personally take pride in ownership, other than the Native, are a Spyderco Kumo FB11P, Spyderco Phoenix C114WMP, Dozier KM-12 Bowie and my  wife confiscated a William Henry Quarterly Release after she found out that I used personal funds to pay for it....how does that work out?  I have many other knives that I have gathered over the years, some new in box, some lightly used, some barely recognizable as a knife anymore, most of them are not much to rave about but there is one in that pile that deserves a mention and that is a shotgun shell knife, you know the ones I am talking about, the one I have is made from wood and metals, no plastic and in the shape of a 12 gauge shotgun shell.  It was a gift to me from my oldest brother before he passed away from a long battle with cancer on his 31st birthday (December 2, 1990).  God rest his soul.

I started www.NationalKnives.com in 2005 with the intention of bring my customers an assortment of quality merchandise, fast delivery (most purchases go out within 1 business day and ship (USPS Priority mail) and great customer service.  Being that I am a one man operation, email is the best way to contact me.  I carry a growing assortment of cutlery products including pocket knives, folding knives, hunting knives, collectible knives and more.  My current focus it the Spyderco line and will be expanding beyond this as time progresses.  If you have a suggestion, please don't hesitate to contact me.

You can also follow me on Twitter @National_Knives and on Facebook as National Knives. 

Thank you very much,
Rob