The Spyderco Pacific Salt: a Knife that will NEVER Rust!

Do you hate when your knife blade rusts just because you left it setting in a puddle for ONLY A FEW days? Does it bother you when you can’t cut something just because you haven’t EVER sharpened your knife? Well boy have I got a knife for YOU!

Obnoxious infomercial intro aside, this article will focus on the Spyderco Pacific Salt. I’ll paint you a full picture of the knife, and tell you why it excels in certain realms of use.

Materials and Specifications

The Pacific Salt is part of Spyderco’s Salt line of knives. The Salt line is purpose designed for use in marine environments. Specifically, it is comprised of knives with extremely rust resistant steel and design elements that lend themselves to uses like boating, fishing, and diving. The Pacific Salt follows suit, with H1 steel. H1 steel is a precipitation hardening steel with .1% Nitrogen, taking the place of much of the carbon found in most steel alloys. This unique makeup allows H1 steel to be heat treated to 57-58 hrc for admirable edge holding, while providing near absolute oxidation resistance. My specific knife is fully serrated. The internal hardware is also treated to resist rust, including a black coated titanium pocket clip. The handle is made of fiberglass reinforced nylon (FRN for short) which is a lightweight and durable material, and it does not have liners. The blade is held in the open position with a classic Spyderco mid-lock, which is just a slightly modified back lock. The Pacific Salt’s blade is 3.81″ with a cutting edge of 3.375″, so it’s not a small knife. The handle is 4.938″ closed. The blade is .125″ thick, pretty standard for modern knives but not as thin as many Spydercos. Still, despite being a relatively large knife in size, it weighs in at a lean 3oz, so it won’t weigh down your pocket. All told, the Pacific Salt is a relatively large knife with function driven materials.

Design

The Pacific Salt is very similar in design to the well known Spyderco flagship model, the Endura, with a few modifications. The blade is a modified drop point with a gradually curved belly and a straight portion, which lends it well to both all kinds of cutting. However, the Pacific Salt’s spine has a more abrupt downward curve to the tip at the end, making for a kind of modified sheepfoot / drop point hybrid. This is another design element chosen specifically for the intended use, as it makes the knife less likely to puncture something inadvertently during use (for example, if your hands are wet and slippery or if you’re on an unstable boat). With the fully serrated, or “spyder edge”, my Pacific Salt is best used with pulling cuts (rather than push or rocking cuts). Spyderco offers all of the Salt series knives in a fully serrated blade because they posit that a serrated edge is better suited to cutting rope and for aggressive cutting. The Pacific Salt’s handle is also similar to the Endura’s, with a finger guard and three finger scallop areas. However, I find the Pacific Salt’s handle to be MUCH more ergonomic because the center scallop is longer than on the Endura, which allows me to fit my middle and ring fingers comfortable into that scallop and my index and pinky fingers into the others (whereas on the Endura my middle and ring fingers land directly on the bumps between the scallops, which makes for a less than intuitive and comfortable grip). The Pacific Salt has a slightly smaller finger guard than the Endura, but I didn’t notice that in use. Both the blade and the handle are taller than those on the Endura, making the Pacific Salt a less slender knife that is a little more noticeable in the pocket. Speaking of in the pocket, the Pacific Salt has an ambidextrous tip up only clip. I actually really like the clip Spyderco uses on the Pacific Salt (and some of the other older FRN models) because it can be removed or switched without any specific tools (just two coins). The FRN handle has Spyderco’s bi-directional injection molding, and although it isn’t the same pattern as the Endura (and isn’t quite as grippy) it definitely adds traction. In keeping with the form follows function theme, the Pacific Salt has an enlarged Spyder hole for easy one hand opening and closing, even when wearing gloves or with wet hands. The Pacific Salt’s design culminates in a purpose driven knife that closely resembles the Endura if it were overhauled for marine environment use.

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Build Quality

If my knife is an indication of the model as a whole, the Pacific Salt lives up to Spyderco’s high quality standards. Mine is well centered, has no blade play, and can be opened and closed very easily with one hand. It isn’t quite drop closed smooth, but that can’t be held against it; it’s a linerless and washerless knife, and drop closed action isn’t a practical feature. It’s also a pinned knife, rather than a screw construction knife, meaning it can’t be taken apart. Some modern knife enthusiasts dislike pinned knives, but being that I am comfortable carrying and using traditionals that are almost universally pinned, I don’t mind it one bit. I’ve had several Spyderco pinned knives and haven’t had any issues with them loosening significantly, and they’re easy to clean with a little soap and water and an ear swab. So although the Pacific Salt isn’t made to be a flashy knife to surf the current trends and tastes, it is certainly a well made knife ready to be used and worthy of being depended upon.

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Usage

So, obviously the Pacific Salt is designed to excel in marine environments. Its rust resistant steel makes it great for any use where it might get, or stay, wet. It’d be a great knife to keep in your tackle box for fishing, whether you fish with worms in a little creek every now and then or are a professional deep sea fisherman. It’d also be a great option for someone who participates in watersports like canoeing, kayaking, rafting, surfing, diving, etc. I have personally carried it on a rafting trip clipped to my personal floatation device and, although I didn’t need to use it in an emergency, I felt reassured knowing it was there if I did need it. Speaking of which, I don’t think I’ve mentioned the very noticeable color! My Pacific Salt is bright yellow, like many of Spyderco’s Salt line (although some models also come in black and / or orange), which makes it extremely easy to see and difficult to lose. I have also taken an Endura, which has VG10 steel, on canoe trips and although it’s a good knife and a good steel it definitely can start to rust by the end of a long float. H1 steel can be in the water for a full day, and probably more, without breaking a sweat (or rather breaking out in oxidation?). I also think the Pacific Salt would make a great gardening knife. Because a knife can often get and stay wet while being used for gardening, the Pacific Salt’s H1 steel could definitely come in handy. I also find a fully serrated edge to be helpful in gardening uses because it allows for more aggressive pull cuts, making for quicker work trimming branches and such. Finally, I think the Pacific Salt would be a good knife for someone who just doesn’t want to worry about maintaining their knife. Some people don’t want to have to wipe down their knife after each use and such, and with H1 steel that’s totally fine! I also think a fully serrated blade is well suited for someone uninterested in taking the time to sharpen their own knife. That is because a serrated blade can continue to cut, or rather tear, even after the edge has dulled. So as it turns out, the Pacific Salt might prove appropriate for more users (and uses) than you might think: outdoor enthusiasts, gardeners, and anyone who doesn’t want to have to maintain their knife to keep it in working order!

Conclusion

I wrote this article because I think the Spyderco Pacific Salt is a cool knife with some interesting features. If you would like to get one for yourself you can use my Amazon Affiliate links below. If you purchase through them it doesn’t increase the price for you at all, but helps me out by giving me a small portion of the sale. You can find the fully serrated Pacific Salt at this link and the plain edge Pacific Salt at this link. You can also get it for a great price at Northern Knives at this link, and get free shipping with code: KNIFETHOUGHTS. Tell them I sent you!