The Spyderco Manix 2 is a robust, highly ergonomic EDC knife designed by Eric Glesser. It is made in Golden, Colorado and is available in a range of steel, handle, and lock variants. This specific variant is the G-10 model in CPM S110V steel. CPM S110V is a highly corrosion resistant and wear resistant steel produced by Crucible in the U.S. Spyderco’s standard production S110V knives come with dark blue handle scales, which brings some additional variety to the company’s U.S. made product line.
This Manix 2 uses Spyderco’s own caged ball bearing lock. The lock is made up of a few components. The steel ball bearing sits in a cage, which provides traction to unlock it. The cage also enables it to be pushed forward by a small coil spring to lock the blade open. As the knife opens, the ball rolls along the tang of the blade and is pushed into a shelf formed by the blade and the steel backspacer. The result is a smooth action and a sturdy lock up. Releasing the lock can be accomplished with one or two hands and is best accomplished by gripping the cage on both sides.
Once the lock is released, a small flick of the wrist easily swings the blade shut. This also keeps the hand safely away from the path of the edge. The lock also provides a strong, crisp detent that keeps the blade stored in the handle. Our Manix 2 locks up perfectly and while the spring was stiff out of the box, it has broken in nicely without the need for any adjustments. Those with smaller hands might have to revert to closing this knife with two hands as the size can make one handed closing a challenge in some cases.
The 3.37" (86 mm) blade of the Manix 2 is leaf shaped and tapers to a fine point. It arrived sharp out of the box and the shape performs well in a range of EDC tasks. It easily pierces thick tape, cardboard, and other materials. The full flat grind takes the 3.2mm thick blade stock down to a fine edge for slicing. The blade features only a few markings. On the front side is Spyderco’s bug, the company’s name, and the steel type. The back of the blade features Eric Glesser’s maker’s mark and the place of origin, which in this case is Golden, Colorado. CPM S110V is known for its wear and corrosion resistance and it is living up to those expectations so far. We will update this review with our thoughts as we continue to test CPM S110V.
Jimping is present both on the spine and the finger choil providing sufficient traction and control. It is aggressive enough to prevent slipping without excessively wearing on the hand. Slightly softer and rounded jimping is present on the steel liners next to the backspacer as well as on the bottom, rear portion of the handle. This lends some visual appeal and a bit more traction. Some may find this excessive, but we never found it to be uncomfortable in our testing.
The G-10 used seems to be the standard texture found on many of Spyderco’s other U.S. knives. It prevents slipping even with sweaty hands and the dark blue color looks great. The edges of the handle subtly glow in the light, which further enhances the look. Unlike the other standard G-10 versions of the Manix 2, the S110V variant features skeletonized liners, which help to reduce the weight while retaining strength. It is a wide knife and it carries fairly large, but it is well suited for anyone looking for a knife that looks and feels solid.
The clip is a standard Spyderco hourglass design with a polished finish. It is certainly not as low profile as some of the company’s wire clips, but the design easily accommodates a range of pocket materials without concern of stressing it. It can be set for either left or right side, tip up carry as the cage of the ball bearing lock would interfere with a tip down position. Its positioned right at the rear tip of the handle which helps to sink the knife down into the pocket. This leaves only a small portion of the knife sticking above the pocket, which we find to be acceptable as it makes it easy to retrieve the knife from the pocket without being excessive.
Overall, we continue to enjoy using the Manix 2 and it has earned a place as one of our EDC favorites. With that said, the size/weight and the color of the scales on this variant might not appeal to everyone. Those looking for something compact and lightweight may not end up liking this particular model. However, we tend to prefer the robust build style of this knife and find that the dark blue G-10 offers something a bit different from the usual black.
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