Spyderco Endura Vs Police [Which Is The Right Knife For You?]

spyderco endura vs police

Large knives are pretty cool…

And as long as they’re designed well, they’re actually pretty fun to carry around…

Spyderco is one of the knife manufacturers that really knows how to design a large knife that’s comfortable and highly functional…

And right now, two of their most popular large knife designs are…

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Spyderco EnduraSpyderco Endura (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!)
spyderco policeSpyderco Police (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!)

So in this Spyderco Endura Vs Police article, we’re going to see how these two knives compare in the following six categories…

  • Blade Steel And Materials
  • Blade Shape And Handle Design
  • Locking Mechanism
  • Size And Dimensions
  • Pocket Clip And Carry Position
  • Price Comparison

In the end, I’ll tell you if I prefer the functional Endura or the classic Police, and you should have all the information you need to determine which knife will be right for you…

Let’s start the comparison!

Blade Steel And Materials…

Spyderco Endura 4

The Spyderco Endura is a larger version of the Delica, one of Spyderco’s most popular knives, and like the Delica, it uses high quality materials…

For example, the blade steel used on the Endura is VG-10. VG-10 is considered a high end blade steel.  It was first developed in Japan for use in the knives of Japanese chefs, and it’s very similar to 154CM steel…

spyderco police vs endura

Eventually, knife manufacturers like Spyderco saw its potential for folding knives, and it’s a steel they use in many of their designs…

I like VG-10 because it does a good job at resisting corrosion, it’s strong, and it holds an edge pretty well. It’s also not too difficult to sharpen, which is an important feature for me because some knife steels take a lot of effort to re sharpen…

Now the handle on the Endura is made from Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon or FRN, and it has stainless steel liners…

I think FRN is a great handle material, especially for an everyday carry knife because it’s strong and extremely lightweight…

It also feels great in your hand and allows you to get a good purchase on the knife when you’re using it. All in all, I think the VG-10 blade steel and FRN used on the Endura’s handle are great materials choices by Spyderco. 

Spyderco Police

The Spyderco Police is probably one of the most famous folding knives ever produced. It was developed in the early 1980’s, and designed from the ground up to be a self defense tool for law enforcement professionals…

At this point, it’s considered a Classic, and part of the reason it’s stood the test of time is the high quality materials that are used in the design…

spyderco police vs

For example, the Police use the same VG-10 blade steel that is found in the Endura. Like I said earlier, VG-10 is a great knife steel because it’s strong, it resists rust well, and it holds an edge well even though it’s not too tedious to sharpen…

Now the handle on the Police is made from a satin-finished stainless steel. That means it’s going to be substantially heavier than the FRN handle on the Endura, but it’s also going to be a lot stronger as well…

All in all, I think the materials used on the Police are just as high quality as the materials used on the Endura. 

Blade Shape And Handle Design…

Spyderco Endura

The Spyderco Endura has a long and elegant looking drop point blade that I think is very attractive. It is a simple blade with the classic look of a Spyderco knife, but I think that’s a good thing because it performs exceptionally well…

Now the grind on the Endura’s blade is called a saber grind. A saber grind allows the blade to remain very thick, which makes it extremely strong…

spyderco endura vs

At the same time though, the Endura’s blade is a very good cutter, and it comes to you razor sharp right out of the box…

In addition to that, you can choose between a Plain Edge, the Spyder Edge (Spyderco’s version of a serrated blade), or the Combination Edge (a half Plain Edge half serrated edge blade) when selecting your Endura…

I personally prefer the Plain Edge version because it’ll be easier for you to re sharpen it when the time comes, but there are a lot of guys out there who like serrations on their knives…

So I’m glad that Spyderco offers all three Edge variations because it allows you to pick out the type of edge that’s right for you…

The blade on the Endura also features the traditional Spyderco deployment hole which allows you to easily and quickly lock out the blade, and the jimping on the spine of the blade gives you a little extra control when you’re trying to make finer or more precise cuts…

Now as I mentioned earlier, the handle on the Endura is made from Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon (FRN), and it features bidirectional texturing that really locks your hand on to the grip of the knife…

It’s also a very comfortable and ergonomic grip that feels really good in your hand, and the FRN is a great material for an EDC knife because it’s strong, it’s lightweight, and it can handle the outdoor elements like rain or snow.

Spyderco Police

The Spyderco Police has a very interesting and recognizable blade shape. Like the Endura, it’s also a drop point blade, but it has a few more features that make it really unique…

Now it’s important to note that the Police was designed as a self defense tool and that had a major influence on the design of the blade…

spyderco police model history

So like I said, the blade on the Police is a drop point, but it has a swedge that helps bring it to a very fine point…

In addition to that, it has a hollow grind which keeps the blade thick and strong, but still allows you to get a very sharp edge on it (its also razor sharp right out of the box)…

The Police can also be had with a Plain Edge, the SpyderEdge (again, Spyderco’s version of a serrated blade), or a Combination Edge (again, half Plain Edge and half serrated edge)…

Just as with the Endura, I like the Plain Edge version because it will be easier to sharpen, but the other versions definitely have their uses as well…

The blade on the Police also has Spyderco’s traditional deployment hole, which allows you to quickly and easily open the blade…

And even though it doesn’t really add anything in terms of function, I think the label of “POLICE” on the blade just adds to the cool factor of the knife…

Now like I mentioned earlier, the handle on the Police is made from stainless steel, so it’s very sturdy. It’s also very comfortable and ergonomic…

And even though it doesn’t have the bi-directional texturing of the Endura’s FRN handle, it feels really good in your hand. 

Locking Mechanism…

Both the Endura and the Police use the Back Lock locking mechanism. It’s a system that incorporates a rocker arm that pivots with a lug on it that engages with a notch in the tang of the blade…

It’s a very common locking mechanism, and its found in many folding knives. Part of the reason its so popular is because it’s simple and it does a good job of locking out the blade securely…

In addition to that, both the Endura and the Police feature the Boye Dent on their Back Locks. This is a small cutout or indentation on the release bar…

It was created by a knifemaker named David Boye, and the purpose of it is to help prevent accidentally unlocking or disengaging the Back Lock just by gripping the knife too tightly…

It’s basically an extra safety feature that helps prevent your blade from unlocking when you don’t want it to, and overall, I think it’s a nice addition to the Back lock systems that Spyderco offers on these two knives.

Size And Dimensions…

Spyderco Endura

As I mentioned earlier, the Endura is the larger version of the Delica (and the Dragonfly is an even smaller knife in the same Spyderco series)…

It has a relatively large blade that measures in at 3.78 inches long (on most versions of the Endura), and the handle measures in at 4.98 inches long…

spyderco endura 4 scales

That brings the Overall length on the Endura to 8.78 inches long when the blade is fully deployed. And just for comparison’s sake, the Endura is around 1.63 inches longer than it’s little brother, the Spyderco Delica.

Spyderco Police

The Spyderco Police is also a pretty large folding knife. It has a blade length of 4.15 inches long, and the handle measures in at 5.32 inches long…

spyderco police 4 lightweight review

That brings the overall length on the Police to 9.47 inches long when the blade is fully locked out, and it means that the Police is longer than the Endura by around 0.69 inches.

Pocket Clip And Carry Position…

Both the Endura and the Police give you a lot of options when it comes to the position of your pocket clip. In fact, they both have four position adjustable clips…

So you can set both the Endura and the Police up for tip up or tip down carry, and you can also swap the clip to either side on both knives as well…

Personally, I prefer tip down carry, but I really like that the clips on both of these knives are totally adjustable and allow you to carry the knife exactly  how you prefer…

spyderco folding knives

I also like that both knives have clips that can be swapped to either side of the knife as well because that will allow you to optimize for left handed or right handed carry…

Now neither of these knives has a deep carry clip, so the end of the knife will stick up a little bit out of your pocket…

But that being said, they’re both still fairly discrete, and they both sit comfortably in your pocket as well.

Price Comparison…

Unfortunately I won’t be able to give you exact numbers in this section of the comparison because the prices of these knives are known to fluctuate as the market changes…

That being said, you’ll usually find that the Endura is around 50 to 60 bucks less expensive than the Police. That’s not a huge difference, but it is significant if you’re limited in terms of your knife budget… 

So if you are on a tight budget, and you’re trying to keep the price down as low as possible, the Endura is going to be the less expensive option for you. 

Spyderco Endura Vs Police – Conclusions…

So to sum it all up, in the Blade Steel And Materials category, both the Endura and the Police use VG-10 blade steel which is a great steel…

However, the Endura has a Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon (FRN) handle and the Police has a satin-finished stainless steel handle…

In the Blade Shape And Handle Design category, both the Endura and the Police have a variation of a drop point blade, but the Endura has a saber grind whereas the Police has a hollow grind…

In the Locking Mechanism category, both knives feature the Back Lock system (with a Boye Dent) which is easy to use and locks out the blade securely…

In the Size And Dimensions category, the Police is longer than the Endura by around 0.69 inches when both of their blades are fully deployed…

In the Pocket Clip And Carry Position category, both knives have four position adjustable clips and both knives sit comfortably in your pocket…

And last, in the Price Comparison, the Endura is around 50 to 60 dollars less expensive than the Police…

So which of these knives do I prefer? I prefer the Spyderco Police…

spyderco police

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I prefer the Spyderco Police for a few reasons. First of all, I love that the Police is such a classic knife design. That makes me want it for no other reason than to have it in my knife collection…

In addition to that, I really love the blade design in terms of a self defense knife. It’s very strong, it gets razor sharp, and it can penetrate very well (all aside from the fact that it looks really cool).

Now if you’re looking for a large EDC knife, or if you want to save a little bit of money,  then I recommend you go with the Endura because it’s much more suited for that purpose…

Spyderco Endura

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Either way, I hope I was able to show you the major similarities and differences between these two great knives from Spyderco.