Spyderco Delica

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Why I don't leave home without my Spyderco

I've carried a Spyderco knife every day for the past 15 years. I've had a Spyderco Clipit on my person while wearing a tuxedo in several weddings, hiking in Italy, and riding the Tokyo subway.

My daily companion is my Spyderco Delica, a small, lightweight pocketknife that excels at cutting chores. The Spyderco Delica has been the workhorse knife of the Spyderco lineup for more than a decade. But many defensive tactics experts know the Delica to be an excellent defensive tool as well. As far back as the early 1990s, entire self-defense systems were designed around the Delica, most notably the famed "Northwest Safari Clipit Class" in Seattle.

Small enough for legal carry, with a serrated blade that cuts well enough for self-defense, the Delica is a great everyday carry knife. It's relatively cheap, compared to "fighting folders" like the AFCK, Emerson CQC, and Cold Steel Voyager. If you lose one, you can easily pick up another. I have four--including a left-hand model that positions the opening hole for the left hand.

These stats are for the latest revision of the Delica--Spyderco has refined the design over the years to include VG-10 steel for the blade and a redesigned handle, this time with a metal clip. The photo above is of an older model, with the discontinued Black-Ti coated blade for corrosion resistance. I use the knife often when fishing, either to cut up bait or to clean fish, and the coating makes it easier to clean off the blood and guts.