Spyderco Moran Featherweight?

[Dan1982]

Was just having a look at the spyderco folders on www.heinnie.com when i stumbled across a fixed blade called the Bill Moran featherweight. it looks to be a nice versatile, reasonably priced knife and is available in two blade styles. Anybody seen or used these before??

 

[British Red]

Never handled one but given Moran had a knife grind named after him I rather suspect he knows what he's doing

Just had a shufti on the net (not on Heinnie since they are always price heavy on US knives these days)

With a kydex sheath and VG10 blade that seems a pretty decent design for under £40

http://www.fernknives.com/spyderco/bill-moran-drop-point/1476/index.html

Can't think it would cost more than £10 to ship too.

Hmmmm

Interesting!

 

[Dan1982]

maybe i have unearthed a gem??

 

[British Red]

Dunno - the whole kydex and teklok thing is a bit "tacticool" for me. That said though rather than as a Bushcrafter, I'd be tempted to go after the other blade shape. It'd make a great (and probably commercially legal) skinner / game knife. Being stainless and all synthetic sheath / handle the whole shebang is non porous so wouldn't absorb blood and fluids and you could chuck the lot through a dishwasher. Might make an interesting canoe knife too - easy to attach to a PFD etc.

Certainly got potential - I don't normally gor for Spydercos but I wouldn't mind looking at one of those

 

[sam_acw]

I've seen it in a group review with scandi bushcraft knives and it came out well - even in the woodcarving department.

 

[firebreather]

It looks like one mentalnurse on here had to swop the other day. In this post might be worth a look.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27421

Greg

 

[Rebel]

I was interested at one point in getting one of those knives as they are quite inexpensive for Spyderco. Spyderco are a quality brand and they stand behind their products. I found I could get them quite cheap on a certain online auction site. However. . .

I read up about them on various forums because it's quite difficult to tell from pictures how it really feels and how it is to use. The consensus of what I read is that the blade is too thin for a lot of outdoor type tasks. The handle was a bit of a point for debate as to whether it was good or not. The blade material (VG-10) and cutting edge were widely praised.

There are two knives in the series, a drop point and a bowie style. They are flat ground and should hold up well. Personally I didn't buy one because I wasn't quite sure it was what I wanted, I bought a Kershaw instead which some people might think was an odd choice too. If they made one with the spine a bit thicker (for the same price) I'd be tempted.

BTW The spine is 3mm.

 

[British Red]

Thanks Greg - I've pm'd mental nurse to see if its still available.

Rebel - for me a 3mm spine is plenty thick enough - its as thick as a Mora at the end of the day

I must have a play I think

Red

 

[Dan1982]

i just googled for images of the knife and in one of the photos the blade shines like a mirror.(not that it makes a blind bit of difference performance wise, apart from possible signalling capabilities), but i do like shiney things. lol!

 

[British Red]

Well if you get one Dan let me know how it works out!

 

[Dan1982]

will do Red!! if i go for one it'll be the drop point but i'm sure the build quality etc... will be the same. shame about the sheaths that come with them though!

 

[Jedadiah]

Hey Dan,

keep your powder dry and have a look at this

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48576

This is the upswept one, but he say's he's got the drop point and that will be for sale soon as well. Might be an idea to get in there and be a little 'proactive'!

 

[Dan1982]

cheers for that jed. appreciate the help.

 

[Aliwren]

If you are looking for a spyderco I can highly recommend Charity (Cchimni) over on British Blades. US dealer sends really quick and is a fraction of the UK prices. I have bought 2 UKPKs from her recently which worked out around half the usual UK price and arrived within a week.

 

[Burnt Ash]

Was just having a look at the spyderco folders on www.heinnie.com when i stumbled across a fixed blade called the Bill Moran featherweight. it looks to be a nice versatile, reasonably priced knife and is available in two blade styles. Anybody seen or used these before??

I bought the original model with the trailing point soon after Spyderco introduced the model. I bought the drop point model some time later. I reckon the latter is about as good a deer knife as you can get. I hate the adjustable locking bracket belt loop thingy, though, and never use mine. The Kydex sheath is a particularly secure fit on the Moran and they're compact and light enough to have round your neck on a lanyard, or slipped into a pocket. They come about as sharp as a factory knife gets and for gralloching you want something that is easy to field clean and to proper clean (back home). I've heard some say that they don't like the feel in the hand. I love mine. Excellent knives, IMO.

Burnt Ash

 

[British Red]

Well Dan, today I got my hands on a Spyderco Moran featherlight (the drop point model) - cheers mentalnurse . - Heres my initial thoughts

Spyderco are known for making a good folding knife (although they aren't to my taste). This knife is for sale in the UK at around the £60 mark - or in the US for around $60 - enough said. With a little effort you should be able to get one in your hand for about £40.

Okay for those that care.....

The knife is designed by Bill Moran (the granddaddy of US custom knives).

Length 8 1/16" (205mm)
Blade 3 7/8" in VG10 (stainless) steel. Flat ground with secondary bevel.
Handle - FRN (synthetic) with kraton (soft grippy) inserts
Sheath Kydex with Tek-Lok system

Rather than "bang on" lets do it with pictures

This is the "Moran" with the ubiquitous Mora and Clipper. As you can see its comparable in size - a little shorter if anything

Here's a close up of the handle - you can see the grip inserts as a grey colour. These are both comfortable and secure. The handle is really anatomical and fits my hand very well. I checked though and its easy to choke up on the blade and still have a comfortable grip. A nice touch is the fact that there is another Kraton insert at the top for a "thumb on top" grip. Its important to note that the knife is symmetrical so as good in the left hand as the right.

Heres the blade. Note that the blade is much deeper than a clipper of Mora with a much more pronounced belly. You will also see a very pronounced choil between the cutting edge and the handle. This makes a very convenient point to hook the index finger into when "choking up" on the blade. It also makes a nice thumb rest when holding the blade underhand (cutting edge uppermost). A nice touch for game work.

The Moran is a "Full Flat" grind (tapering from spine to cutting edge) with a secondary bevel as opposed to the Scandinavian grind on the Mora and clipper. This speaks volumes as to purpose to me. The Moran is game oriented although comfortable in the woods whereas the Frosts are designed more around wood uses although useful on game. Both could go through the dishwasher I suspect (if using a stainless version of the Frosts - mine are carbon). An important point also is that the synthetic handles are not porous to fluids. Given its intended purpose, this makes real sense on the Moran.

Lets look at the spines. Note how thick the Moran is compared to the Mora. It is also fully tapered from handle to point which is a nice touch. If you are happy batoning a Mora, the Moran will clearly work

Okay lets look at sheaths. All are synthetic. All have a "click home" feature. Belt attachment is the real difference. The clipper has a silly "hook" to attach to a belt - this never feels safe to me. The Mora has a pass through belt loop thats too flimsy for words. Both of the knives shown have "aftermarket" leather sheaths since I like the knives but detest the sheaths. The Moran sheath is proper Kydex - it has a fantastic Tek-Lok arrangement to attach to the belt or the holes allow it to be be worn as a neck knife (its very light and wouldn't be uncomftable to carry). Personally I'm not keen on the "tacticool" look of the kydex, Tek-lok etc. but its unquestionably a far better, more secure and more flexible carry system. Its also dishwasher safe which is important for game work.

So lets have a look at the Tek-Lok

Big old lump isn't it. Its very flexible though - it clicks open and shut to secure the knife over the belt and then "lock" shut so you can put your knife on and take it off without undoing your belt - a plus in the UK I feel.

The big plus though is that the entire Tek-Lok unscrews. Like this

If you want a neck knife, just take off the Tek-lok and add a breakaway chain. Want a left handed sheath? Just screw the Tek-Lok to the other side of the sheath (its symmetrical) and you are good to go. There are in fact a number of Tek -Lok holes that allow all sorts of carry options

Some of those carry options may look a bit odd but its nice to have choices. If you wanted it would be very easy to carry the knife inverted on a rucksack strap and snap it onto your belt when making camp for example

Thats it really - my opinions at this stage are:

On the up side
Tapered VG10 blade - nice shape - good for game and bush work
Great contoured handle - might not work for "hands like shovels"
Tek_lok carry options and quality sheath

On the down side
When carried "handle up" it rides too high - would foul a bergan hip belt or dig you in the ribs
"Tacticool" looks
Not wild about the secondary bevel or from the box sharpness

All in all though it seems great. For me personally, this is the knife the Falkniven F1 should have been and wasn't. I now need to see what it can do in terms of slicing, batoning, edge retention etc.

I have already put a tiny convex on the cutting edge to lose the secondary bevel and given the blade a good sharpen and polish. Here it is now

Thus far, I would say if you can get one in the £40-£45 price bracket, this makes a good step up from a Mora and offers a good steel, comfortable handle, good corrosion and wet resistance and a very good sheath. Not bad at all for that money

Red

 

[Dan1982]

Great mini review Red. i do like the look of this knife.
one of my reservations was that from the previous photos i had seen i thought the blade may have been a little thin. turns out its a bit of a beast!!

May get me one of these!
Dan

 

[Dan1982]

P.S. Red. Let us know how you get on performance wise when you get a chance to try it out.

 

[mentalnurse]

hope you enjoy it mate, glad its gone to someone who will use it more than i have.

carl

 

[British Red]

Well, the fire was going tonight so I picked up a scrap of kindling to try the knife out (yeah like you never whittle in the living room)

Nice tight little feather sticks are an absolute breeze with the knife - no easier than a nice sharp scandy but not harder either. I know if I was trying I could easily do "human hair" sized curls to catch straight from a firesteel.

Pass