The Spyderco Pacific Salt Pocketknife in H1 Steel : The Full Nick Shabazz Review

[@feralgrandad4429]

I have 2 Spyderco Salt knives. Don't normally like Serrated blades but with the H1 it makes sense. Super sharp, stays sharp, no rust issues after kayaking, fishing, scuba diving and many other crazy water related adventures. Even lost it overnight in the snow in the Atlas mountains not even a spot of corrosion. Great Spyderco model :-)

[@CedricAda]

Nick, your output and quality is excellent! I aint the biggest fan of the sabre grings on spydies but like the little drop on the blade tip.

[@kornyish]

I loved it😊 you sound like a cartoon salesman. Like buggs bunny with human hands and a testosteron shot but no offense i digg it😜 great review. subscribed

[@thefinder8087]

That steel testing video sounded really interesting! If you get the urge to make more "testing" type videos, I for one would definitely be interested. You're doing great work, thanks for the vid.

[@BingCherry11]

I have the Dragon Fly and it has retained its sharpness over 2 years of 6 days a week of use. I used it to cut open Food Bar Wrappings, Chip Bags, Raisin and Nut bags. I used it cut the plastic that holds the Large Boxes of Tissues together. If I get honey or agave syrup on it ... it wipes right off. Trust me my co-workers prefer I use this method to using my teeth! Lol!!!! I throw out my phone books intact without cutting them up. So my phone books won't cause any trouble for Dragon Fly. If I have to cut up a box I will use a box cutter with a safety blade that collapses back into the handle if my hands slips. And the blade has no point so I can't stab myself either.. This is very nice indeed!!! P.S. Great review!

[@giovanidiamonds]

BingCherry11 I think blade sharpness is a relative term. What one person considers razor sharp may be laughable to someone else. It either cuts paper or it doesn’t. People loveeeeee to knock 8cr13mov steel but Spyderco heat treats it to the point that the average laborer wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between it and s30v

[@DavidWilesKotch]

Thank you so much! I was about to pull the trigger on this model for marine use, and your videos warned me away and helped whittle down my options in LC200N. Your Disassembly and Maintenance videos are fantastic, too! Reminds me of a pointed version of one of my other favorites, Tackle Advisors, with his Teardown videos.

[@JustIn-op6oy]

H1 is a work hardened steel so in the serrated edges the steel on the cutting edge is essentially differentially hardened to as much as 65. It's also one of the easiest blade materials to get screaming sharp, so if you don't mind sharpening the plain edge is also compelling.

[@Doorgunner50]

Thanks for the review. Hope you don't mind me adding my 2 cents. The salt 1, Pacific salt and older delica 3 all use the same style pocket clip screw and it's a much simpler and more elegantly machined design than the newer delica4 and salt2 with 3 tiny screws that protrude from the handle. The salt 1 and delica 3 are discontinued so this is the last knife spyderco produces with this excellent clip design. I personally have been through a half dozen diff. Spyderco knives for edc and settled on the salt1 as my perfect carry knife, I'm basically a handyman/property manager. My brother has larger hands and loves the Pacific salt as he is a landscaper and opens a lot of salt bags in the winter. Even compared to my zdp189 caly3, I don't find H1 steel edge retention to be an issue. It sharpens real quick and works fine for me.

[@Russianbro777]

Spyderco is a awesome knife company and doesn't want to ban guns like other knife companies. I still have my 1st Spyderco and if is super sharp. My H1 Ladybug cuts decent cardboard and even my armhair.

[@ericthorpe5670]

I feel like LC200N steamrolled H1 when it came into use more frequently for blades. Love my Caribbean.

[@AlohaBlade]

Not nearly frequent enough! Need more models with it!

[@ericthorpe5670]

@@AlohaBlade Totally agree! They would sell loads of LC200N PM2s and Manixes and Shamans. I think it's comparable to s30v, but with rust and corrosion resistance like nothing else. Anything Spyderco does in s30v could and should totally be done in LC200N as well.

[@yaady2366]

I love this knife, got it because i kept losing neck knives to the ocean while fishing, this thing is super easy to sharpen and not worrying about rust is HUGE i dont feel bad taking this thing anywhere, whereas most of my collector folders are just office knives, this one is a real user that can be EDC as well.

[@wyojohn5213]

a very good review. However you are correct on your statement of the steel, but I disagree. I disagree, but i will go ahead and say your the one thats right on it. what i mean by this is that yes it doesnt hold an edge long, but it takes a sharp edge very easily. I bought an atlantic salt fully serrated two months ago, ive carried it everyday and sharpened it twice a week. it sharpens in a couple minutes with the fine and ultra fine sharpmaker rods. but why i say youre right is because peoole dont buy a spyderco cause its easy to sharpen, they buy it for the steels that hold an edge long, and are very hard to sharpen. i prefer an easy sharpen steel so this has been the only spyderco i really love.

[@T-Bone-nk1ng]

Some days I can listen to him. Some days my head feels like it may explode when he says Ontario Rat Number 2. Such good content though.

[@adrianlongarms8481]

Because you know......when you need to cut cardboard underwater....

[@thisismebram]

apparently it work hardens... so the more you sharpen it, the harder it gets

[@jeffreymliss]

hehehe....sounds like something else that behaves that way.

[@davidk6665]

It may work harden, but only very slightly hardens, from what I hear. Basically goes dull very quickly. But a rust proof blade has value if you are in a corrosive environment, despite the poor durability of the blade

[@troyounce3295]

It doesn't get harder from sharpening, only from heavy grinding and that's still an annoyingly unproven sales/sal's pitch.

[@SuperLenny555]

thank you for the straight talk and the great sense of humor

[@gjohnson5342]

The serrated H-1 is much harder and holds its edge much longer than the non-serrated. You did a disservice by not telling people that. You could have found this out by going to Spydercos’ website and talking to them, or simply trying it. The main uses of this knife are cutting rope, fishing lines and netting, hence the serrations are much more popular as it easily rips through these items. It could be a lifesaver if someone swimming becomes entangled in netting. Crappy review, Nick.

[@NickShabazz]

Yes, but now with LC200N, H1 doesn’t really have much of a purpose. I agree that H1 is better when serrated, but that doesn’t make it great

[@gjmichaels5472]

G Johnson He showed his limitations reviewing this knife. I have found the sharpness of the H1 serrated blade to last as long, or longer, than CTS BD1 steel AND is easy to sharpen with the Sharpmaker. He also made a comment about it being too big as a “bad” yet it comes in a smaller size. So why is this a bad? He picked the larger size. He is such a dweeb when he reviews anything bigger than his Delica.

[@marcod204]

If anyone is considering buying this knife, I urge them to get it with serrations. If you work around water, or if you are around water, boats, or fishing enough, sooner or later you may have an emergency where you have to free someone, (or something) from rope, netting, twine, kelp, etc. The serrations can rip through nylon netting in seconds, not so for the non-serrated, it takes a lot longer and is a lot more work. The difference could be lifesaving, depending on the situation. I have had one such situation three years ago, where I used this knife to free a dolphin stuck in a net, drowning 10 feet from shore. Someone else helped, too. It was a lot of satisfaction to see it swim away. I recently used it to cut away from my propeller about 100’ of fishing line that someone thoughtfully left in the water. Fishing line is tough, similar to nylon, but the serrations made easy work of it. The knife has held up well, with no rust. I do oil it occasionally, but also know that often I put it away wet, and have had no issues.

[@tikkidaddy]

The serrated version IME holds an edge longer than the PE. I have the AquaSalt PE and the Pacific SE. Bought the Aqua for kitchen duty and fishing and this one for stoooopid hot summer days in the South, when you get home and your clothes are soaked, regardless of what you do. Maybe they'll do them in LC200N...Id snap that up in a minute.

[@bonydanza7046]

A buddy of mine keeps one on his suit as a dive knife. Edge retention on the h1 leaves a lot to be desired but that knife's gotten him outta trouble at least once. After his first close call with some kelp, me and him made a slightly oversized kydex wave for it, secured with an aluminum rivet. It's a niche knife, but a knife is an indispensable tool for folks who work in the water. If spyderco could add one thing to make it the perfect dive knife, I think it'd be an Emerson wave and a partial blade serration option

[@Biblicalgiants]

Hey mine has an all square clip. Like where your clip is round on the end, mine is totally squared off? And is the clip screw supposed to be made of titanium like the clip? Thanks.

[@londiniumarmoury7037]

I don't think it's a detriment that this knife is not good for regular land lovers EDC needs, it's good that spyderco make specialized knives for all people in different enviroments. I can't really see anybody complaining about this not being good for the average dry land dweller, because this knife is not meant for them, why would anybody get this when you can get an endura, which was meant for dry land. I say thumbs up for this marine friendly tool, yeah most of us won't bother getting it, we will just get an endura instead, and that's fine because most of us aren't crab fishermen, but hey if you are a crab fisherman, then this will be great for you.

[@bowfin9553]

This has been my edc for the last 2 years, whether I am fishing or not. They stopped producing this model you can only find it on the secondary market

[@londiniumarmoury7037]

@@bowfin9553 seems like a good fishing knife.

[@JustIn-op6oy]

The salt series definitely needs more love from Nick... especially serrated H1 blades.

[@swagtasticallyhayden]

This is also a very useful knife if you sweat excessively at work which causes stainless steels to rust in as little as a day. You can rinse junk off of this in a sink and continue to work without a second thought. However, it is a bit soft so keep that in mind usage wise. Overall, I quite enjoy it.

[@jelteghtc]

it's not a bad thing that it's a specialized tool. that just means it's specialized. also, I've heard that H1 gets harder after usage / sharpening, don't know if it's a myth though

[@sadbucket]

Jelte Goemans /HannahBB13asvvga3/ I can verify that, my aqua salt was meant to be jst for boating, but its my go to fixed blade now (granted it did take quite a while for that). I'm looking into getting a spyderco ark as a neck knife

[@OLMmedic]

Good vid. H1 sucks for edge retention for sure. The serrated h1 is totally different. I have had both. Thats why i carry alot of serrated spydies. I found that all spydies serrated have a linger lasting edge. For me thats fine. Most of my cutting doesant need to be fine cutting. Down here in south florida, most of my cutting is cardboard, ripping open packages, cutting rope and string and dead palm branches that stab me while walking down my driveway. Lol. Good review bruddah !!!!

[@NickShabazz]

Yep, it takes a lot to make a serrated SpyderEdge not tear stuff up. Good call.

[@rustytygart405]

I had the pacific salt and I was very disappointed in the h1 maybe I had a bad batch from heat treat or something but it just did not want to hold an edge

[@scoggzap]

I just got this same knife but in a complete Serrated blade version. It's very flat in the pocket and very light. I work on the water for 28 days at a time which means I'm totally on the water for 9 months out of the year. That's the main reason I went with this one. Hopefully the steel lives up to the hype. I have a Spyderco Delica 4 with the Emerson blade and the screws came completley loose out of my clip and the clip was lost on a barge somewhere forever. That's also another reason I chose this one. Looks like this single fastener may last longer without Loosening.

[@swagtasticallyhayden]

I have both a Pacific Salt and an Endura. The fit and finish on the Salt is far better and I find that when sharpened at the same time and carried for the same amount of time, the edges really hold up about the same. And honestly, I find the flat grind and sabre grind to cut and slice about the same. However, if the Endura had better build quality, I would certainly enjoy them equally.

[@winstonzeb2842]

It's a great boat knife! Also blade length is perfect for food prep, and you can just rinse with water and let dry without worries! Hell I've put mine through the dishwasher

[@twai8036]

Would the frn survive going through the dishwasher?

[@jasonz777z]

Is the lack of steel liners really a bad, though? Or I think it at least deserves a bad with an asterisk as the lack of liners are justified in its schtick.

[@NickShabazz]

+Jason Ng There's often "bad" which isn't so bad. That's the difference between "bad" and "ugly". Something can be bad but perfectly reasonable given X Y and Z. Ugly is just ugly.

[@asullivan50i]

Good unbiased review as usual, thanks Nick!

[@sputumtube]

Given that the blade steel is water-proof, are all the screws, back-lock etc made of the same stuff?

[@asdfgidji879]

yes, all the metal on the knife is H1

[@sputumtube]

Thanks for responding ASDFGidji - appreciate that it was kind of a stupid question but I had to know..Lol..

[@asdfgidji879]

paul greenwood never hurts to be informed. Though I am a bit late

[@swagtasticallyhayden]

paul greenwood yes, but in testing, the screws typically rust the fastest due to smaller surface area. However, they still take a long time.

[@glenmones351]

I own a Lady Bug salt...Salt ..& Pacific Salt ..they go with me snorkling & diving ..fishing ..NO RUSTING

[@mattmoose2890]

Awesome review! Thanks for touching on edge retention. Sub’d because of this awesome review!!

[@joeallen2354]

I fail to understand how not being great for edc for most people is ugly in a highly specialized tool that isn't made to be an edc tool for most people.

[@TeddyRoooosevelt]

More great content, thanks, Nick. Shame about the lost footage; would have been interesting to see. If you ever get a knife in LC200 N (which I understand is a rust-proof steel with better edge retention that Spyderco is using in some mid year releases) I'd love it if you'd test it out for us!

[@NickShabazz]

+TeddyRoooosevelt I'm very curious about the Slysz Spydiechef in that steel!

[@ReticentSparrow]

That seems to be the trade-off: corrosion resistance for edge retention. When it comes to rust, I seem to have better luck with "lesser" steels, such as AUS-8 and 8CR13MOV than S30V.

[@travismarx2800]

Figured id had my two cents 2 years late for those looking for an edc. I bought an Ontario rat 2 awhile back for opening boxes in a kitchen enviroment going in out of walkins freezers whatever, and I noticed after awhile the hardware inside the blade had started rusting. Ive never submerged this knife in water at the most I had gotten my pants wet, so I tired contracting customer support through amazon and their website and didnt hear a peep. Ontario Rat is 30 ish on amazon, and a lady bug salt h1 is 50. I personally rather have a knife that I know that the hardware inside the knife will still work even when i havent even gotten it wet but moisture differences in walkins and freezers. Which is a shame because i loved the rat for the price.

[@WhiteKitta]

Gosh I LOVE this color so much..... bright colors always look so amazing on knifes.....

[@NikkoF71]

+1 for serrated H1. Amazing edge holding, even more so than my fully serrated VG-10 Stretch

[@myalternatemeswordofthefor4928]

h1 is awesome. a real super steel. Knives are meant to be used and used as knives. No offense to collectors and guys who buy tiny knives and only like tiny knives. But it seems like that would only really be good for opening more knife packages lol which is all good however a bigger knife saves your hands in the woods. Trust me. I day camp all the time in winter and drink so sometimes i forget to clean my knife after and even if i dont forget its kind of annoying after hiking and building forts, trudging threw snow etc to have to maintain my knives. H1 sounds awesome to me and im gonna get the aqua salt and maybe the pacific in black cause it looks way better. These knives will save me alot of hassle and also they look cool in black especially with the serrations. rawr. I also want that spartan george dagger v14, have u seen that? not h1 but wow, shes nice.

[@hgncbdfx]

H1 steel is work hardened after use, sharpening for a long time, you'll see a real difference. Out of the box and factory new you'll see poor edge retention because of the Nitrogen softening the steel. We love you Nick, but i'd like you to try a used pacific one for your self to prove me wrong.

[@NickShabazz]

This test was actually done with a used knife! But I'm wondering whether this particular knife was simply poorly treated or something.

[@hgncbdfx]

Then your precious and we will always treasure you.

[@JohnFrumFromAmerica]

I think you will find that the nitrogen is allowing the steel to get hard

[@sheepborg]

The thing you gotta know about H1 is the steel itself is _very much_ dependent on work hardening, so a brand new edge will not do you what you want it to do. Dont get me wrong, it is in that 8cr range, but the traditional put a fresh edge on it isnt the way to do.

[@NickShabazz]

+sheepborg Yeah, perhaps I underestimated that. So I should have kept using, then steeling, then using and so forth?

[@sheepborg]

In essence yeah. freshly sharpened h1 is something stupid soft. If I recall correctly almost into the high 40s rockwell? But the edge can work harden to be much more than that of course. That is my understanding anyways

[@NickShabazz]

***** Honestly, I love the fact that so many people are commenting here about this. This means that people will see my Good, Bad and Ugly up there, and see that, well, it might be better with work hardening, once they look down here. I don't know that I could do this for a short term review on a loaner knife, but there's always a role for "Your mileage may vary". And at the end of the day, my verdict stands: Even if it's not as bad as I feared, it's still a steel you don't EDC unless you need to resist rust every day.

[@sheepborg]

They do have it pretty well work hardened from the factory. Your boy Nick here just had to go and sharpen it. :P For a majority of people not knowing about this factor who are just into knives enough to sharpen them, it is a good critique. I have a buddy though (owner of one of the few custom dragonflies I did) who EDCs a tasmin salt because it is nearly impossible to beat for cutting grape vines according to him, and he can tell you the work hardening is VERY significant compared to other steels, and the reason that in certain use cases that require serrations especially, H1 is actually _incredibly_ capable. In plain edge format it is going to on average function in a very 8cr sort of way with variance for how it is begin used, making it better or worse. How nick treated it is pretty much the worst on h1.

[@rhubarbpie2027]

Didn't know that the lovechild of Ordinary Sausage and Gilbert Gottfreid did knife reviews. EDIT: wonder if the locking bar and associated hardware were equally resilient against rust.

[@oneisnone7350]

I could be wrong on this, and I'm to lazy to research it, but I seem to recall that H1 is actually not a "steel". It's an alloy. The edge apparently gets better as you use it and resharpen it. It gets tougher with use as the molecules compress. Has anyone else heard this?

[@NickShabazz]

+Bernard Eck Yep, that's apparently a factor here (see some of the other comments). Sharpening didn't help here, but apparently this test was a worst-case scenario!

[@Tigerbricks11]

I thought steel was an alloy

[@annieetc.563]

i like the way nick says scuba

[@collinwilliams9510]

If you had to pick between two of Spyderco's knives, would you pick the yojimbo 2 or the h1 in this video?

[@adamcarrell]

My H1 Dragonfly DOES have corrosion(superficial discoloration) on the blade, BUT that is the result of my using it daily to open containers of swimming pool acid over a period of several months. Swimming pool acid contains sulfuric acid. So it wouldn't be fair to say that H1 NEVER corrodes in any situation. That said, my other H1 knives have been spotless in salt water conditions and various weather conditions for about 4 years now. Just don't get sulfuric acid on it and it should be fine. At least in my experience.

[@tampablackwing]

Is this guy's accent real?

[@jadennorman9515]

I think its to hide his identity

[@scoggzap]

Great review btw. Liked & subbed

[@Hunglikeagrimsmo]

4 years later it's now $145 knife and the only way to get a plain blade edge is to get it in black

[@johnmcclane3085]

Nick - How do you remove the fasteners on the PS? I have one that I want to attempt to mod. You can't exactly call them screws. Any idea on how I would remove the 2 of them?

[@SettleNow]

Any thoughts on the Tasman Salt? This would be for marine use. Plain edge or serrated?

[@NickShabazz]

+SettleNow Not sure. But consider the SpydieChef :)

[@dinodevan5727]

I think you would like the kershaw knockout I love mine go it yesterday

[@CaptainBuzzcooler]

Is the entire knife rust proof including the pivot, clip, hardware, etc.?

[@johnhanson2156]

I have a serrated Pacific Salt in H1. I dive with it about once a week. I do not oil it or rinse it. Not a speck of rust anywhere.

[@clydemoreno7330]

I just purchased this knife today, It was not loaned to me.

[@powerplay4real174]

A good knife for rainy days maybe, but at that price maybe not.

[@bigvisk1125]

i use this exact knife when going to the ocean, which in NC i do often, the steel is inferior in all ways to most steel, except it does not rust, which makes it great for taking to the ocean which can rust most knives.

[@mccrimmon574ify]

like to see what you think of the new benchmade axis flipper as its there first

[@mitchelldelmar9682]

Nice that Spyderco has a number of specialized utility knives - lots of professions have need of very specific blade shapes and materials. EMT's, boaters, and, uh, obsessive-compulsive knife collectors should be grateful for Sal (and Eric) Glesser's vision.

[@BX138]

If you live in Phoenix, probably not the knife for you.

[@Russianbro777]

armchair.Why is that?

[@dubglock2312]

love ur reviews!!!

[@JosheyG34]

Hey man, why would you ever measure anything with ounces? It is almost 2019 man lol use metric.

[@NickShabazz]

Alas, the bulk of my viewers are in the US. :(

[@UndergroundDubstep01]

Where are you from? New York or something?

[@ryanc248]

I'm subbing to this guy just for his voice

[@grumpyoldwizard]

I had a problem with mine. It didn’t come sharp and was hard to get a good edge on it. I have the fixed blade version. My major problem is the hardness/durability of the steel. I accidentally dropped mine and it hit my rubber sandal. When I picked it back up, the tip had literally bent into a “U”! Unbelievable. I guess it was the temper but I wont buy this steel anymore.

[@jackalcisneros8385]

Your right I had it for edc my housekeeper stored my but I like it a lot

[@audiefortuna2093]

It’s my swimsuit edc.

[@butre.]

h1 is pointless. slightly better corrosion resistance than 420j2 with about the same edge retention? just give me 420. I only take cheap knives on my boat for their price and corrosion resistance. I don't have to worry about a 420 knife corroding on salt water and don't have to cry when it inevitably falls off the boat. a fully serrated knife will do all the tasks necessary on a boat.

[@jefftreadaway4823]

what clip is on that pm2?

[@themawsjawz_9491]

Jeff Treadaway a decently ugly deep-carry aftermarket clip.

[@TrilobiteTerror]

Jeff Treadaway, aCasey Lynch deep carry clip. I ordered one from him and it's great quality (it even came with a handwritten thank you note from him). TheMawsJawz TM, learn about the subjectivity of design.

[@failure2flinch876]

New channel name idea… Knives and dad jokes EDC

[@dionysus6892]

"Throw it in the ocean and come back a few weeks later and its fine." The blade maybe, the rest weeeell

[@TrilobiteTerror]

All Salt series Spydercos have H1 hardware etc. as well.

[@nikkoataylar6486]

Watch the video that blade hq made about this knife

[@bicimn]

Is this filmed in 60 fps or something? Quite unpleasant

[@dionysus6892]

Also, its called Pacific Salt and is rust proof. Kinda like its eluding to being used in somewhere like California. I'd be scared to see the reaction of one of those Knife scared liberals seeing that knife. Since its not a little boy.

[@udornyc]

I AM A LIBERAL and an ACLU volunteer (as a photojournalist)... and a mountaineer, hiker, backpacker and 30 plus years as a full contact martial artist (competitor and coach)! I already own the black blade/black handle Pacific Salt... I am about to receive the yellow Pacific Salt this afternoon, including RIT Dye. I am dyeing the yellow handle orange and will exchange the blades, switching the black blade from the black Pacific Salt into the orange handle, because it will look awesome! You have no clue how or what "liberals" think!

[@pauliej4208]

@@udornyc To be fair, he did refer to "Knife scared liberals (sic)." Spelling might be his forte, but he was specific in his statement.

[@Balisong-jh7zs]

well just bring a compact sharpener you'll be fine.

[@lesainte2101]

Ceramics are so much more useful than H1.

[@PapaWheelie1]

So I scuba every day...

[@mccrimmon574ify]

not my kind of knife good review

[@wyojohn5213]

a very good review. However you are correct on your statement of the steel, but I disagree. I disagree, but i will go ahead and say your the one thats right on it. what i mean by this is that yes it doesnt hold an edge long, but it takes a sharp edge very easily. I bought an atlantic salt fully serrated two months ago, ive carried it everyday and sharpened it twice a week. it sharpens in a couple minutes with the fine and ultra fine sharpmaker rods. but why i say youre right is because peoole dont buy a spyderco cause its easy to sharpen, they buy it for the steels that hold an edge long, and are very hard to sharpen. i prefer an easy sharpen steel so this has been the only spyderco i really love.