My Spyderco Sage and Boker Plus Hyper

I got the Boker Plus Hyper for over 1.5 years and Spyderco was from last year.

The Hyper has been my do-everything knife and I really like it. The size is good for a sub 3" blade and the blade shape makes it good for a wide range of task. The handle is grippy but its not very comfortable for extended use (because of the thin profile?) The frame lock is solid and it has no play when locked up. Since it has been used quite extensively, it could really use a good sharpening now.

The Sage is scary sharp out of the box. Nice looking CF handle + S30V blade (Hyper has 440C, that's quite an upgrade, both are just under 3" I think). The handle is longer and more comfortable than the Hyper's. The liner lock feels very solid as well and no play everywhere.

Both are slim in profile and you won't notice it when clipped to the front jeans pocket. The Sage is easier to pull out of the pocket cause the thumb stud of the Hyper sometimes got caught by the edge of the pocket.

One thing about the Sage is that the only option is tip up carry. The sets of pocket clip holes are on both sides but can only do tip up carry possible. I perfer tip down carry myself, but that's no a deal breaker for me.

The Sage is Made in Taiwan, but that doesn't bother me a bit. The build quality and finish are nice, and the price is great for the feature. BTW, the Hyper is Made in China, if that matters. :p Yet, I have no problem with it (build quality and finish, as reflected by the price) or what so ever.

Here are some pix: (I think I've lost the pix that shows the knife when blades opened :( )











Front jeans pocket with Sage


Front jeans pocket with Hyper

EDC-ing the Spyderco Sage (Boker Plus Hyper as a comparison)

With my new incoming Spyderco Sage, I almost never clip my Boker Plus Hyper in my pocket anymore. Here's a pic of the Sage in my front pocket.



And as a comparison, here's the Boker Plus Hyper in the same position. :)



I have to say, though I think both are comfortable because of the light weight and slim profile, the Hyper is still more comfortable because of the width of the knife. The Sage takes up more "real estate" and makes put thing stuff in and taking stuff out of the pocket just a little bit more work.

And since the Sage is a tip down carry, I have to do just a little more work to get the knife to open when I pull it out of my pocket. In comparison, the Hyper is at a much more natural position to deploy when pulled out of the pocket with its tip up carry.

With the thumb open, the Sage is easier to pull out of the pocket because there's nothing to get caught with the pocket. Unlike the Hyper with the thumb stud, which sometimes will get caught with the edge of the pocket.

Getting ready ...

Well, two more watches gone. They are the Casio G-Shock G2310-1V on zulu strap

and Casio Pathfinder PAW1300T titanium

.

I think G2310 is a great G-Shock. It has the reliable ML2016 rechargeable cell, just like the one in the higher end GW200 Frogman. I have used it as my backup watch, so I didn't have too much chance to wear it. One annoying thing about though, is the start and stop button of the chrono and countdown timer is different from the conventional layout.

On a conventional chronograph, the start button is at the lower right corner and the stop button is at the top right corner. In the G2310 (and the G2300 series), the layout is flipped with top as start and bottom as stop. But many other Casio's are designed with the conventional start / stop buttons layout. To me, Casio just miss that little design detail.

As of the Pathfinder PAW1300T, though I like it a lot, its just another watch that doesn't get much wrist time at all. And since I am thinning down the herd, the ones that doesn't get much wrist time gotta go first. The newer multi band 6 Pathfinder PAW2000T is out already.

The good thing about the PAW2000T is that it has a conventional flat lug shape, so I would be able to take off the bracelet (attached by screws to the case) and replace it with a zulu strap if I need to wear it that way (i.e. out side of a thick skii jacket). but I am not in much of a hurry to get one. Its just that I have many other watches that's keeping me entertained. :-) Plus I can use the funds for what's on my shopping list. More on this later ... ;-)

I haven't found a new knife for a while. Partly because the Boker Plus Hyper suits my needs very well. I really like the size, the slim profile and the blade shape. I have used it a lot and it definitely can used a good sharpening. One very minor thing about it is that when I clip it to my front pocket of my jeans, the thumb studs gets into the way when I am trying to take the knife out. Because of that, I have been looking for a folder with a thumb hole for a while. And here comes my new knife, the Spyderco Sage.

It has a thumb hole instead of studs, so that solved my (very minor) issue with the Hyper. Also the Sage has a nicely textured Carbon fiber handle with steel liner, a liner lock, S30V blade (3" in lenght). The blade length is almost identical to that of the Hyper's, but the handle on the Sage is longer and makes it more comfortable to grip. That makes the closed length of the Sage longer than that of the Hyper's. Sage is still pretty slim in thickness and pretty light weight. I would imagine its still easy to carry around. One thing about the Sage is that it only have tip up carry option. I wished it also has tip down carry option which I prefer. I just received the Sage so I have put it through its peace yet, but I am liking it so far.

Another toy I haven't spent much money on lately is flashlights. :D But my recent discovery of the Fenix TK40 finally deemed cash-worthy for me to spend ... LOL.

Look at the spec here: running 8AA batteries (with the option of 4 in case of emergency), Creed MC-E LED, 630 lumen max output ... I stopped there, cause I have read enough of it and my next question was: "Where can I get one?" haha~

This flashlight appears right when I begin to think I should replace my flashlight that takes RCR123 and 18650 with safer and more widely available AA size NiMH batteries. So its only natural that I get the TK40, and then get a few single and 2x AA batteries flashlights. (Which also means I am going to sell of my 123 & 18650 powered lights). Anyway, I am still waiting for my TK40 to arrive. And in the mean while, I will be looking for some enelope (low discharge rechargeable) batteries to power the TK40.

Another light I am interested in (besides the Fenix LD20+), is the Fenix MC10.

It has a multi angle head, signal AA powered, can be clipped on the shoulder strap of my backpack and illuminate to the front. I think the design is great and I have been waiting for something like this for a while. But I am holding out for it cause I want to wait for the review from owners.