You need to hurry up and buy this Spyderco Delica 4 special edition with glow in the dark FRN handles.
This knife, C11FPGITD, is described as a sprint run, which means Spyderco only produced a limited supply. KnivesShipFree has some in stock, but it likely won’t last long.
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In a nutshell, this is what you need to know about the Delica 4:
Blade: Made from VG-10 stainless steel, a good mid-grade alloy.
Blade Length: 2.875″, which would lead me to classify this knife as “compact EDC.” I tend to prefer ~3″ folding knives, since it makes the knife big enough to be useful, but small enough to comfortably carry. The Delica 4 blade is 2-7/8″ long.
Blade Lock: This is a lockback knife. It’s easy to open via large “Spydie hole,” and easy to close.
FRN Handle: Fiberglass-reinforced nylon has a plasticky feel to it, but it’s light it weight and the texturing gives it good grippability.
Value: No, you don’t need to spend close to $100 on a pocket knife. If this would be your first EDC knife, look elsewhere. With this knife, you’re spending extra on its collectability and uniqueness. If you want a better value, buy a different Delica 4 in a different color. Or, there are other versions with different handle material or blade steel options.
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So why do I say “hurry up and buy it?” 1) Because I want one, and if Knives Ship Free sells out fast, I don’t have to feel bad about not springing for one, and 2) If you do want one, it’ll surely sell out quickly.
Price: $94.25
Any questions? I don’t own this one, but I do have a different Delica 4.
Several readers have emailed in recently, asking if we’ll be publishing more knife reviews soon. I have a bunch of knife reviews that are just waiting for my workload to ease up a little (photo editing is incredibly time-consuming). Tell me what kinds of knives you want to see reviewed, and it’ll help me prioritize the order (yes, there are that many).
Jon
I’ve gotten in to folding pocket knives pretty heavily over the last year. I just want to note that Spyderco does many sprint runs, some are done regularly and some are basically one-offs. They often (but not always) command a premium on the secondary market (if that matters to you).
Stuart
A few years ago I bought an odd design, the Spyderco Meerkat, in a kind of red-brown color. It took a very long time before I saw it again and that was for a blue sprint run. From this I learned that if you see a sprint run you like, buy it and don’t look back.
Mikey
Some people have laughed at me when I said older Gerber knives from the 70’s through the 1990’s depending on the model number, series , design and of course the condition. This is especially true for the bolt on series and Gerber Touche.
This knife may or may not be valuable to collectors in a couple of years, but one can never truly know for certain. For some reason, KnivesShipFree does omit information that if you are going spend a considerable amount with knives, listing the country of origin would be a big plus.
Stuart
Other knife retailers also omit the COO, but that could be because it’s not included in Spyderco data. Spyderco does have COO clearly listed on their website for every product.
If you ever have questions about other knives, I’m sure KnivesShipFree can help. For this one, I checked Spyderco’s website but they don’t have a listing up, and so I generalized from what I know about other Delica 4 models.
Jim Felt
I’ve got a number of Getber knives I was gifted in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s.
Never used. With sheaths.
I wonder where I might best get them into the hands of someone who’d care?
eBay? Someplace more specialized?
Curious.
Koko The Talking Ape
Hm. Well if it would make you feel better about not buying one, it is kind of ugly. And I can’t ever recall a time when I thought to myself, “Damn, if only this knife had a glow-in-the-dark handle!” Maybe if you want to keep one in the nightstand?
Ryan Price
Doesn’t even come close to as good a knife as DLT’s exclusive spydie para3 lightweight with M390 for $129. I’d never pay a hundred for a Delica.
Stuart
I like the Para 3, but haven’t made my mind up about the Para 3 Lightweight yet.
Paul.
I bought the para 3 lightweight – and yes it was the dlt exclusive in m390 w/red handle. It’s really slick. Great handle. Nice that they moved the lanyard hole with the lightweight from its location on the original para 3.
Blade shape is super useful. Not a gentlemen carry. But it is a great worker.
Only gripe is it to be a little longer.
steve
For anyone reading that’s not familiar with Spyderco, any knife with a large “spyderhole” that is not obstructed when closed (as with the delica above) is an EXCELLENT knife to use when wearing gloves.
EC
Over priced. After spyderco got popular with that big hole, they raised price on everything. A $40 knife became $100 (with the same metal and plastic handle).
Stuart
Prices went up since I bought my first Delica 8 years ago. But the same is true for many brands. Look how much a Leatherman Wave will cost you today vs. 8 years ago.
OhioHead
I know I paid $85’ish to $105’ish for Delica in 2001 @ a B and M retailer.
Big fan of the Sypdie hole.
Benchmark (do not own), Spyderco (I own) are worth the $$$$’s.
Just my $0.02.
Andy
$100 bucks for VG-10 is a bit steep. I keep buying delica, losing them, replacing them, and finding. Not sure what’s wrong with me. Anyway, I doubt I’ve ever paid more than $70 bucks. And this 1 is ugly as hell. Still night buy 1 though. I repeat, not sure what’s wrong with me.
OhioHead
^ eBay for used Delica’s to save a few bucks?
MT_Noob
Out of stock… My pocket book is grateful I didn’t see this sooner.
Bryan
The pocket clip is a scratch & sniff btw.
Stuart
I don’t understand what this means.
Joatman
It’s just sarcasm aimed at the “glow in the dark” feature.
On a side note, I’ve been eye-balling Spyderco knives for a couple years but just cannot pull the trigger. Would love to have the Chapparal but cannot justify the price. I actually settled on a Knife made by their sister company, the Spyderco Byrd Finch 2. I bought this for my keychain for about $20. The G-10 handle feels great. I don’t like the FRN handles. They feel too plasticky to me.
I do like this knife you posted……along with the glow in the dark handle. If it was about $40 I’d probably get one.
Here’s a link to the Spyderco Bird Finch. It’s not meant to replace your EDC, but handy to have on a keychain.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ivb1yIDppW0
Adam g
My most recent knife purchases were an umnumzaan, a rick hinderer xm-18, and quite a few reate knives. Spyderco is a great gateway into the world of what higher end knives have to offer. It’s where I started and I still have a few but have moved on to spendier knives in general.
Stuart
I’ve been testing some of those too.
My gateway was a Kershaw, and then my second was a Benchmade, chosen over Spyderco. By the time I bought my first Spyderco I was in must-explore-more and it’s-okay-it’s-for-review mode.
Adam g
I’d be willing to ship you one or two to try out and write a review if you want to.
Stuart
I appreciate it, but my backlog is very full and will be for a while.
Gregory
I’ve got few multicolored Kershaw Boa’s 1580mc and 1580mcst. Love their look, and they are quite handy.
Billy-Bob
Would this knife be good for picking food out of my teeth?
Stuart
No??