I got my hands on a Spyderco Polestar at the Outdoor Retailer show last summer. The knife has been with me, riding in my pocket every day since then and I plan to continue with it there. I carry a pocket knife with me every day and I cannot remember when that was not the case. My every day carry knife may not be put to use every day, but I use it for everything. The Spyderco Polestar does its job great and it is very sharp still even after these months of use.
The Spyderco Polestar has a leaf-shaped blade and it uses American-made CTS BD1 stainless steel. The knife came from the factory razor sharp and the blade held its edge well for months. I used the knife to cut cordage, cardboard, plastic and the Polestar saw some time whittling sticks and wood. If a knife leaves the factory sharp like the Polestar did, you can be pretty sure it will sharpen well, and the Polestar does just that. The Polestar‘s blade features a Spyderco trademark round hole for one-handed opening. A liner lock holds the blade open which I found easy to push to the side and close the knife. The knife is very easy to open and close one-handed, so you can hang onto things and get the knife out.
The leaf shaped blade of the Spyderco Polestar works great for lots of tasks. The sharp tip makes precision tasks easier and it also makes good longer cuts. The cutting edge extends the full length of the blade, so there‘s no finger choil. The top of the blade maximizes the usable length of the cutting edge and allows powerful cuts with the heel of the blade. A ramp for the thumb with nice jimping helps with grip.
The handle of the Spyderco Polestar is shaped well to fit in the hand, and its open-backed design doesn‘t trap dirt and trash. A textured G-10 material makes up the scales of the handle. The scales mount to fully skeletonized stainless-steel liners. The handle has a nice soft feel and it offers plenty of grip. There‘s a bit of a hollow spot around the blade lock but I barely notice it while gripping and it makes getting to the lock easy. The knife feels very solid and the blade operates smoothly. A four-position hourglass clip lets you carry the knife tip up or tip down on the right side or left. A good-sized hole at the end of the handle makes an attachment point for a lanyard.
Closed, the Spyderco Polestar is 4.51 inches long. It‘s on the larger side of knives that I usually carry but it disappears into the pockets of pants well. Opened, the knife measures 7.81 inches and the blade is 3.3 inches long. The thickness of the blade is just over 1/8 inches and the knife weighs just under 4 ounces. In everyday use, I haven‘t come across a job for the knife that was too big.
Spyderco says the Polestar is designed for the budget conscious user and I agree. The Polestar has an MSRP of $99.95 but with a little searching on the web, you can get one for a lot less. I haven‘t carried anything else since I got the Spyderco Polestar. It‘s going to take a really spectacular knife to take the spot in my pocket. Check out the Spyderco website HERE.
I‘d like to thank Spyderco for providing the Polestar for testing and review. We have budgets just like everyone else. Being able to pass along information helps us to pay it forward in a way to benefit everyone.