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**If you were interested in this drop primarily because you wanted a knife with S90V blade steel (and if not, you SHOULD be, that steel is damn incredible), the only production knife, i.e., not a custom piece for big $$$, with S90V available to buy right now, that I know of, is a Zero Tolerance sprint run at BladeOps: https://bladeops.com/zero-tolerance-sprint-run-0095tanblk-titanium-flipper-knife-cpm-s90v-tan-blade/ As you can see, it's a variant of the 0095. I own the earlier sprint run of that model, which also has an S90V blade, but with the ZT tiger stripes. And I love it. The steel lives up to the hype; if it's still around in a week or two after I get a couple layaway paid off, I will definitely be picking up this one. And $240 for a pretty big S90V blade and all Ti body is quite reasonable. There may be other knives with that blade steel out there, but I cant think of any, at least not any for <$400.**
And now begins where I take a piss on the grave of James Joyce:
Damn, apparently this knife was as popular with a broader audience as it was locally. I bought one at my local shop and flipped it for double the price 72 hrs later. I usually dont resell knives that soon; I figure they'll appreciate as time passes. But I also don't usually have multiple offers for double what I paid before the ink is dry on the sales receipt, so...an offer I couldn't refuse, s'pose.
I've said this before, but Spyderco fans are nuts. Part of it probably is that they're quite ubiquitous, Spyderco being a fairly long-established brand whose products have maintained a distinct style for the entirety of their knife-making existence; and also, for knives, they're pretty inexpensive, and could be considered straight up "bargain basement" for knives that can genuinely be classed as collectable.
Those two factors, I believe, account for how fast most Spyderco sprint-runs fly off the shelves (both literal and figurative), but the feature that really does it is that the Spyderco sprint runs are the ONLY place to find many rare and exotic blade steels, and we know how infatuated with blade steel comparisons, characteristics, relative rankings, etc., most knife people are. S90V is actually a rather mundane steel for a Spydie sprint run--I can thing of at least one other company that has produced pieces with it this year. I'd never even HEARD of CPM Rex 45 when I bought a nearly $200 PM3 last month, all I knew was the PM2 had sold out much, much faster than did this Manix 2 sprint run at the local shop, and the Manix was gone before lunch the day it dropped, so I figured I ought to get in on the next one with Rex 45, which I did. Couldnt tell you how the steel performs (though I've learned it is actually HAP40 tool steel forged with the CP Metallurgy process, so...probably pretty decently?); that thing is going nowhere but the rare knife / sock drawer, at least until the Rex 45 sprint runs are finished.
Btw, no offense to Spyderco fans. I mean "nuts" in the most complimentary sense.
For all the knives I've bought in the...let's see...nearly a year; in fact, it's been exactly 11 months since I developed a full-blown knife addiction, which I realized one day while considering an online purchase, and honestly COULD NOT REMEMBER if I already owned the $275 Microtech OTF in question; I had to go through my collection to be certain...
...in nearly a year of constantly buying knives, I've never owned a Benchmade. They're absolutely top-notch for construction, I don't deny, but no matter what the model, it seems like they cost about 20 or 30% too much for what you get. And they're very utilitarian in style, which isnt necessarily bad, but I tend to prefer something flashier, so along with that price-tag (my buddy calls it the "butterfly tax"), I've never found Benchmade to be the best value, and consequently have never owned one.
But maybe that's going to change, because I LOVE S90V. Ridiculous edge-retention in my weekend-warrior backyard tests, better than even CPM 20CV, M390, M4, Nitro-V, HAP40, 51600--everything we tested. And not too difficult to put a good edge on, easier than D2, I thought. So I'd been looking for a reasonably-priced production knife with an S90V blade...it's the 940-1, you say? Ah, I see--the one with carbon fiber scales, and only those scales, as best I can tell. That's a nice looking knife and I'm going to check it out next week when I go to the shop. Thanks for the tip.
"Knife nut" disconcertingly calls up thoughts of anatomy, which is bad enough, but I think is extra unpleasant in this case because of contrast between the mental images of sharp, dangerous knives, and...anatomy. The two make an unpleasant mix, even imaginary.
In this case though, I was saying that Spyderco super fans ARE nuts, which is actually more a description of their behavior. Maybe it's a generational thing, but saying someone is "nuts" is much different than saying "they are a nut". The former means strange behavior, the latter means strange personality, more or less. Again, I think that distinction might only be made by people around my age, and even then it's pretty subconscious. Another example: in the slang I use, to say someone is "nuts" is playful and benign, but to describe someone as "f*****g nuts" implies dangerous, often aggressive and malicious behavior. You'll have a good time out with somebody who is nuts, but if they start to act f*****g nuts, like that time they drank the whole bottle of tequila, it's time to find another ride home.