A very small knife can pack a big punch…
That’s something I’ve discovered time and time again over the years. And aside from being very capable cutters, small knives are generally pretty easy to carry…
Right now, two of the most popular super compact knives available are…
| Image | Products |
 | Spyderco Manbug (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
 | Spyderco Dragonfly (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
So in this Spyderco Manbug Vs Dragonfly comparison, we’re going to see how these two great knives stack up to each other 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 super-small Manbug or the more traditionally compact Dragonfly, and you should have all the information you need to determine which knife is better for you…
Let’s get started!
Blade Steel And Materials…
Spyderco Manbug
The Spyderco Manbug is a more masculine version of Spyderco’s best-selling Ladybug. Like the Ladybug it’s an extremely small knife design (it’s small enough to fit on a keychain), but it’s still a very capable cutter…
You can get the Manbug is a variety of different blade steels, however, the most common is definitely VG-10…
VG-10 is considered a high end blade steel. It originated in Japan and at first, it was popularly used in Japanese Chef’s knives…
Once folding knife manufacturers saw its potential, they started incorporating it into their designs, and today, Spyderco uses VG-10 in many of their most popular designs…
The reason why is because VG-10 is relatively inexpensive, but at the same time it does a good job at resisting rust and corrosion, and it holds an edge pretty well too…
It’s also not too difficult or time consuming to sharpen when it eventually wears down, and overall, I think it’s a great blade steel…
Now the handle on the Manbug is made from fiberglass reinforced nylon or FRN. FRN is a great handle material for a utility knife because it’s extremely lightweight…
…but at the same time it’s very strong and comfortable in your hand. So all in all, I think the materials used in the construction of the Manbug are pretty impressive, especially for such a tiny knife.
Spyderco Dragonfly
The Spyderco Dragonfly is basically a slightly smaller version of the extremely popular Spyderco Delica, and it’s from the same Spyderco series as the Manbug, even though it’s a little bit bigger knife…
Because these knives are from the same Spyderco series, it should come as no surprise that the Dragonfly also uses VG-10 blade steel and comes with an FRN handle…
Again, I think VG-10 is a great blade steel for a utility (or EDC) knife because it will maintain a fine edge well, and it’ll resist rust and corrosion…
In addition to that, the FRN handle on the Dragonfly, even though it’s a little larger than the handle on the Manbug is still very lightweight and strong…
And I should note that because it’s a little bit larger, you have more to grab onto when you’re using the knife, which makes it a more comfortable handle in your hand.
In the end, both the Manbug and the Dragonfly have VG-10 blade steel (which is a great knife steel), and they both have very lightweight FRN handles.
Blade Shape And Handle Design…
Spyderco Manbug
The Spyderco Manbug has a version of a drop point blade. It’s a pretty traditional looking as far as Spyderco blades go, and I think it’s pretty attractive looking…
It features a full flat grind, which is my favorite grind on an EDC knife because it keeps the blade strong, but also makes the knife a very capable cutter and slicer…
The blade on the Manbug comes with a plain edge, which is always my preference because it means the blade will be easier for you to sharpen when the time comes…
And it has the traditional Spyderco deployment hole which allows you to open the blade quickly and easily with just one hand…
Last, the Manbug has jimping on the spine which I think is an important feature considering just how small the knife is because it will give you a little more traction and control when making cuts…
Now Like I mentioned earlier, the handle on the Manbug is made from FRN. It’s fairly comfortable considering how small it is, but it is difficult to get your whole hand on the handle…
Part of that is just the give and take of compact size versus usability, so if the small handle is a problem for you, the Manbug is simply not the knife for you…
On a more positive note, the Manbug does come in a variety of handle colors including: black, blue, green and yellow, and overall, I like the blade shape and think the handle performs adequately considering its small size.
Spyderco Dragonfly
Now like I mentioned earlier, the Dragonfly is basically a smaller version of the Delica, and because of that, it has a similar look to it…
The Dragonfly also has a version of a drop point blade, but it has a little bit of a leaf-like shape to it. It also has a full flat grind which, again, I like because it makes the knife a great cutter and slicer…
…and the jimping on the spine of the blade and on the finger choil mean you can choke up on the knife to really control the blade.
In addition to that, you can get the Dragonfly with either a Plain Edge or the Spyder Edge (this is Spyderco’s version of a serrated blade), and again, I prefer the Plain Edge version because it will end up being much easier to sharpen than the serrated blade…
Now in addition to the standard drop point blade, you can actually get the Dragonfly with an Emerson blade, a Hawkbill blade, or a Wharncliffe blade…
I prefer the standard drop point, but I really like that Spyderco gives you these other blade shape options for this design…
…And last, the Dragonfly features the traditional Spyderco deployment hole which allows you to open the blade easily and quickly with just one hand.
Now again, the handle on the Dragonfly is made from FRN, and because it’s larger than the Manbug, it’s much more comfortable…
It also has great texturing, which gives you a really solid purchase on the knife, and overall, I much prefer it over the handle on the Manbug simply because the larger size is a better fit for my hand…
Last, the Dragonfly’s handle also comes in a variety of colors including: yellow, black, orange, green, gray, and others, and again, I love the color options because having a knife in your favorite color just makes it a little more special.
Locking Mechanism…
Both the Manbug and the Dragonfly feature the Back Lock locking mechanism. The Back Lock system is a very popular locking system, and you can find it on a number of different popular knives…
The reason why it’s such a popular locking mechanism is because it’s very simple (so not much can go wrong), and it’s very strong…
It works by incorporating a rocker arm that pivots. At the end of the rocker arm there is a lug which engages with a notch in the tang of the blade and locks it out…
Again, it’s simple, but does a great job at locking out the blade when it’s deployed. In addition to that, both the Manbug and the Dragonfly feature a Boye Dent…
A Boye Dent is a scalloped portion on the release bar, and it’s basically an extra safety feature because it helps prevent you from unlocking the blade if you accidentally grip the handle too tightly…
It’s not the flashiest feature, but it’s nice to have on a Back Lock system, and I’m glad that Spyderco chose to include it on both of these knife designs.
Size And Dimensions…
Spyderco Manbug
Like I mentioned before, both the Manbug and Dragonfly are knives that fall into the same Spyderco series as the Endura and the Delica…
…but the Manbug (like the Ladybug) is an extremely compact design. The blade length on the Manbug measures in at 1.97 inches long and the handle measures in at 2.50 inches long.
That brings the overall length on the Manbug to 4.47 inches long when the blade is fully locked out. In addition to that, the Manbug weighs in at a very impressive 0.635 ounces…
So overall, it’s an extremely compact and lightweight knife design.
Spyderco Dragonfly
The Dragonfly is also a compact knife design, but as you’ll see it’s a little bit larger than the Manbug. The blade length on the Dragonfly can vary depending on which version you choose to go with…
…but the most common version has a blade that measures in at 2.28 inches long. In addition to that, the handle measures in at 3.33 inches long.
That brings the overall length of the Dragonfly to 5.61 inches long (on most versions) when the blade is fully locked out…
So when we compare the two knives, the Dragonfly is around 1.14 inches longer than the Manbug with a longer blade and handle…
In addition to that, the Dragonfly weighs in at 1.2 ounces. It’s around 0.565 ounces heavier than the manbug, but even though that’s the case, it’s still a very lightweight knife design.
Pocket Clip And Carry Position…
Spyderco Manbug
Like I mentioned earlier, the Manbug is a very compact knife, and because it’s so small, it actually doesn’t even feature a pocket clip…
Rather than a pocket clip, it has a keychain hole, so you can attach it right to your keychain or attach a little bit of paracord to it…
Personally, I prefer an EDC knife that I can carry around in my pocket, but if you want a super compact knife that attaches right to your keychain, I think the Manbug is a great option.
Spyderco Dragonfly
The Dragonfly features a wire-style pocket clip that sets you up for tip up carry only and can be swapped to either side of the knife…
Personally I prefer tip down carry when I can get it, but I’m fine with tip up carry if that’s the only option available to me and Iike the overall design of the knife (which is the case with the Dragonfly)…
In addition to that, I like that the clip can be swapped to either side of the knife because that means you can optimize it for left handed or right handed carry…
Now the wire clip on the Dragonfly is not a deep carry clip, so the end of the knife will stick up out of your pocket a little bit…
But that being said, it’s still pretty discreet, and because of the small and slim design, it’s very comfortable to carry around in your pocket all day.
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately I won’t be able to give you exact numbers in the category because the prices of these knives are known to change as the market fluctuates…
That being said, in general, you’ll usually find that the Manbug is around 10 to 15 bucks less expensive than the Dragonfly…
That’s not a huge difference, but if you’re on a tight budget and really trying to keep the price down on your knife, just be aware that the Manbug is going to be the less expensive option for you.
Spyderco Manbug Vs Dragonfly – Conclusions…
So in the end, in the Blade Steel And Materials category, both the Manbug and the Dragonfly use VG-10 blade steel which is a great steel because it does a good job at resisting rust and holds an edge for a long period of time…
In addition to that both knives have FRN handles, which is very comfortable in your hand and helps keep both knives extremely lightweight…
In the Blade Shape And Handle Design category, both the Manbug and the Dragonfly feature a drop point blade, however, the Dragonfly’s blade is larger and a more capable cutter than the Manbug’s blade…
Additionally, the handle on the Dragonfly is larger than the handle on the Manbug, and because there is more to grab onto, its more comfortable in your hand…
In the Locking Mechanism category, both the Manbug and the Dragonfly use the Back Lock locking system which is a very simple and strong locking mechanism…
In the Size And Dimensions category, the Dragonfly is around 1.14 inches longer than the Manbug and around 0.565 ounces heavier…
In the Pocket Clip And Carry Position category, the Manbug has a keychain hole in place of a pocket clip because it is intended to be carried on your keychain or with a small lanyard…
However, the Dragonfly has a wire clip that sets you up for tip up carry and can be swapped to either side of the knife…
And last, in the Price Comparison, the Manbug is around 10 to 15 dollars less expensive than the Dragonfly…
So which of these knives do I prefer? I prefer the Dragonfly…
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I prefer the Dragonfly for a few reasons. First of all, I prefer the larger handle on the Dragonfly. For me, it feels a lot more comfortable in your hand simply because there is more handle to grip on to…
In addition to that, I prefer the larger blade that you get on the Dragonfly because it’s more useful in a variety of EDC scenarios than the very compact blade on the Manbug…
Last, I much prefer the traditional pocket clip set up that you get on the Dragonfly over the keychain carry set up that you get with the Manbug…
I enjoy clipping a knife into my pocket everyday, and I usually try to keep my keychain free from bulky items as well. So for me, the pocket clip on the Dragonfly is a far better system…
Now if you want an extremely compact knife, you like the idea of carrying it on your keychain, and you want to save a few bucks…
Then feel free to go with the Manbug because it’s still a great knife…
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Whichever knife you choose, I hope I was able to help you understand how these two great knives from Spyderco are similar and how they’re different as well!