Spyderco Tenacious Review

As I have written in the past, I have carried a pocket knife everyday for well over two decades. I love having a pocket knife handy for many of life's chores. Much of those two decades have seen a Spyderco in my pocket.

Last time, I wrote about the Spyderco Stretch, a knife I have I carried everyday for a 7 year period. Since that writing, I have found that the lock back has loosened creating too much vertical blade play. That discovery has set about a search for a new EDC. One great thing about being in many knife groups on Facebook is you get to see a ton of knives that are out there. In the past two years or so, I have carried an Ontario Rat 1, a Cold Steel Pro-lite, and a Spyderco Tenacious. If you sense a theme here it would be cheaper level knives.  A few years ago, My wife and I have bought a house and there are some repairs so I haven't had money to purchase more expensive knives.

After about almost two years of having those three in my carry rotation, the Tenacious found its way in my pocket more than the others. Just a quick note, both of the others knives are excellent for the money and they still have a place for me in specific activities, such as the Rat is great for yard work and hiking; but a little too large for daily carry and typical knife chores; the Pro-lite is my designated kayaking and travel knife because it is cheap but very strong. It is a great choice for that and that Tri-ad lock is one of the toughest locks on the market.

Left to right: Ontario Rat 1, Spyderco Tenacious, Spyderco Endura, Spyderco Stretch, Cold Steel Pro-Lite, Kabar Kharon

One of the main reasons why I like the Tenacious is the ease of opening. Especially compared to the Pro-lite, which is a bear to open. It made the Tenacious feel like a slippy-slide. I was also surprised by 8cr13mov steel. At first I was really disappointed in this cheaper steel, mostly because of haters in knife groups, but after months and months of hard use, doing tasks like carving feathersticks in all types of wood, cutting boxes, opening packages, I have not had to do any kind of extensive sharpening to it; just a few swipes on a ceramic rod or a honing steel and it was back to hair popping sharp. Now, I prefer it to AUS8 for sure and I think it is comparable to Ontario's D2.

Another thing that added to my liking of the Tenacious was when I just started carrying it, we had a plumbing incident and when our plumber got out from under the house to fix our pipes, I noticed he had a knife in his pocket. We started chatting about knives and he took his out and it was a Tenacious. So we compared stories and he said he has been EDC-ing his on his job for over a year (See Pic below) and it has held up really well for him.

At $50 dollars, the Tenacious is hard to beat. Usually in knife groups, the Ontario Rat 1 is one of the highest rated knifes for under $50. I agree, the Rat is tough and cheap. If I can only have one folding knife, under $50, it would be the Rat 1. That said, for an everyday carry knife I often recommend the Tenacious. Both are great knives.

Any knife review would be remiss if I didn't give some of my criticisms. So here goes!

My biggest issue with the Tenacious is blade play. Mine doesn't have the vertical blade play my Delica, Stretch, and Endura have, but it does have side-to-side play. The blade is wobbly, so wobbly that I had to put Loctite to prevent the pivot from coming loose and the blade is still wobbly. 
This is where this review has to go into Spyderco's Customer Service Policy.

NOTE: Loctite on the pivot pin has stopped the lateral blade play on the Tenacious. 

I am really disappointed in the amount of blade play my Tenacious has and I considered sending to Spyderco, but their customer service policy is extremely limited, which is still true! It is so limited that I have decided to move my loyalty to Benchmade because they have a life-time warranty policy. Even though, I prefer Spyderco's opening mechanism and some of their designs more than many of Benchmade's, their policy sucks. Benchmade's policy makes it a much better deal. I will still carry my Tenacious but it is not going to be my main carry anymore. I recently bought a Benchmade Bugout and it is now my main carry. For the record it has ZERO blade play. 

Another issue to discuss is the type of locking mechanisms. The Tenacious has a liner lock, which are great for closing with one hand and the liner protects against vertical blade play, which is the worst kind in my opinion. Vertical blade play means that when you are cutting an apple and pressing down there will be a slight give to pivot. Lateral blade play isn't as bad but it makes the knife feel cheap and means that the machining tolerances are low. Many of my knives have no play at all, like the Ontario Rat 1, or the Cold Steel Pro-lite, it can be done affordably. Unfortunately, all my Spydercos have unacceptable levels of blade play. Since the posting of this article, I have purchased a Manix, with a ball bearing lock and I have to say that is a very good lock with less blade play than Benchmade's axis lock. I have to admitt that Spyderco makes knives that I am really excited about and I will continue to carry them more than any other brand. With that said, I will not purchase any knife of theirs with a lockback.  

In sum, I still carry my Tenacious and it is a great knife for the money. I still recommend it for a cheaper level knife that can be used hard for tasks you might not do with more expensive knives. My plumber would agree too! 

This article has been updated on 9/2/2020 to reflect my continued experience with the Tenacious and other knives I have owned since May of last year. I carry my Tenacious more than any other folder. The Bugout is a great knife but it is too small for my hand to be carried regularly. It does make a great back up knife in a mini-survival kit (MSK).