Let’s face it, you don’t have to break the bank to get a quality knife (from a quality manufacturer) anymore…
Many great knife manufacturers are producing high value knives (with very cool designs) at very reasonable prices…
One of these manufacturers is Spyderco, and right now, two of their most popular value knife designs are…
| Image | Products |
 | Spyderco Tenacious (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
 | Spyderco Persistence (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
So in this Spyderco Tenacious Vs Persistence article, we’re going to examine how these two great knives compare in the following 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 reveal to you if I prefer the Tenacious or the Persistence, and you should have all the information you need to make an informed decision regarding which knife will work best for you…
Lets start the comparison!
Blade Steel And Materials…
Spyderco Tenacious
The Spyderco Tenacious is one of Spyderco’s Chinese produced value knives. These knives are typically less expensive than a lot of other Spyderco knives…
…but they still feature pretty high quality materials and excellent build quality. Now the blade steel on the Tenacious is 8Cr13MoV…
8Cr13MoV is considered a mid-range blade steel. It’s a Chinese produced steel, and it’s a great steel for a budget-priced knife (it’s great value for your money)…
I like it because it does a pretty good job at resisting rust and corrosion, and it can also hold an edge fairly well too…
In addition to that, it’s very easy to sharpen, so when you do wear down your edge it won’t take much effort to get it razor sharp again…
Now the handle on the Tenacious is made from a G-10 laminate, and it has skelatined stainless steel liners…
I really like the G-10 laminate handle because it’s a very strong material, and it feels extremely comfortable in your hand…
It also gives you a great purchase on the knife when you’re using it, and the skeletonized stainless steel liners help keep the weight of the knife down as well, so its more comfortable to carry…
All in all, I like the 8Cr13MoV blade steel and G-10 laminate handle on the Tenacious, and I think it’s a smart knife materials combination made by Spyderco on this value knife.
Spyderco Persistence
The Spyderco Persistence is actually a slightly smaller version of the Tenacious, and because of that it features many of the same materials…
For starters, just as with the Tenacious, the blade steel on the Persistence is 8Cr13MoV. Again, I really like 8Cr13MoV blade steel for a budget knife because it does a good job at resisting rust and holds an edge reasonably well too…
Again, its just a really great steel for the money, and I like that Spyderco chose to use it on this particular series of knives…
In addition to that, the handle materials on the Persistence are also the same as those on the Tenacious. Once again, the G-10 laminate handle is comfortable in your hand and gives you a good purchase on the knife…
…and the skeletonized stainless steel liners help give the knife strength and also help keep the weight down so that its comfortable to carry around in your pocket.
Blade Shape And Handle Design…
Spyderco Tenacious
The Spyderco Tenacious has a version of a drop point blade. It has kind of a leaf-like shape to it, and I think it’s a pretty attractive looking blade…
It features a full flat grind, which is my preferred grind on a utility knife because it makes the knife a great cutter and slicer…
…and you can get the Tenacious with a Plain Edge, the Spyder Edge, which is Spyderco’s version of a serrated blade, or the Combination Edge which is a half Plain Edge and Half Spyder Edge blade…
Personally I prefer the Plain Edge version because it will end up being easier to sharpen when the time comes…
…but I like that Spyderco offers the SpyderEdge and CombinationEdge for those out there who like a serrated blade.
The blade on the Tenacious also has the traditional Spyderco deployment hole which allows you to easily flick open the blade with one hand…
…and there’s jimping on the spine of the blade which helps give you more control for precise cuts. Now like I mentioned earlier the handle on the Tenacious is made from a G-10 laminate…
It’s very ergonomic and comfortable in your hand, and you get a really good purchase on the grip when using the knife as well.
Spyderco Persistence
The Persistence also has a version of a drop point blade, and because the Persistence is a scaled-down version of the Tenacious, it has a very similar leaf-like blade shape… its just a little smaller.
You also get a full flat grind with the Persistence which, again, I think is excellent because it makes the knife an amazing cutter and slicer and keeps the blade strong at the same time…
Now as of the time I’m writing this review, the Persistence only comes with a Plain Edge. That’ll probably change in the future…
…but as I mentioned earlier, I prefer a Plain Edge on all my folding knives because it makes them much easier to sharpen. So, for me, that’s not a problem at all.
The Persistence also features the traditional Spyderco deployment hole which allows you to flick open the knife with one hand very easily…
And, like the Tenacious, it has jimping on the spine to help give you extra control over the blade when you need it…
Now the handle on the Persistence is also made from G-10 laminate and is very ergonomic and comfortable in your hand…
You also get good traction when gripping the knife, and overall, I think the Persistence’s handle is done well…
All that being said, I prefer the blade length and handle length on the Tenacious over the Persistence…
We’ll get into the numbers later in this comparison, but I prefer the longer blade on the Tenacious because it gives you just a bit more cutting power/ potential than the smaller blade on the Persistence…
And I like the slightly longer handle on the Tenacious because it’s just a little bit more comfortable than the smaller handle on the Persistence…
I do like both knives, but I give the slight edge in both of those areas to the Tenacious because it fits me a little bit better.
Locking Mechanism…
Both the Tenacious and the Persistence feature the Walker LinerLock locking mechanism. The Walker Liner Lock is a pretty simple and effective locking system…
It was developed by custom knifemaker Michael Walker, and it incorporates a leaf-like spring that splits off from the liner and wedges against a ramped portion on the tang of the blade…
It’s a very simple locking system, and it’s easy to use. So I think it’s a good locking mechanism choice for these value knives from Spyderco…
And it’ll be able to handle any of the typically cutting tasks that an EDC knife is put through.
Size And Dimensions…
Spyderco Tenacious
Like I mentioned earlier, the Spyderco Tenacious was the first in the value series that includes the Persistence, the Resilience, and the Ambitious…
It’s the second largest knife in the family, and I would say that it’s a medium-sized knife. Now the blade measures in at 3.39 inches long…
And the handle measures in on 4.38 inches long. That brings the overall length on the Tenacious to 7.77 inches long when the blade is fully deployed.
Spyderco Persistence
Like I mentioned earlier the Persistence is basically a slightly smaller version of the Tenacious. It has a blade that measures in at 2.75 inches long, and a handle that measures in at 4.05 inches long…
That brings the overall length on the Persistence to 6.80 inches long when the blade is fully locked out. So when we compare the two knives…
…the Persistence ends up being around 0.97 inches shorter than the Tenacious when both of their blades are fully deployed.
As I mentioned earlier, I prefer the slightly longer blade and handle on the Tenacious because you get more cutting potential and the longer handle is a little bit more comfortable for me…
But on the flip side, the smaller Persistence is a just a little bit more comfortable to carry around in your pocket because of its smaller size.
Pocket Clip And Carry Position…
Both the Tenacious and the Persistence have a pocket clip that is fully adjustable. On both knives, you can set your clip up for tip up or tip down carry…
…And both knives allow you to swap the clip to either side of the grip as well. Personally, I prefer tip down carry, but I know that tip up carry is incredibly popular, so I’m glad that Spyderco gives you the option on these designs.
In addition to that, I like that you can swap the clip to either side of both of these knives as well because that means you can optimize your carry set up for left handed or right handed carry…
Now, neither knife features a deep carry clip, so there will be a little bit of handle that sticks up out of your pocket…
But that being said, both knives still sit relatively low, and because they both have a slim design, they’re both very comfortable to carry around in your pocket all day long.
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately, in the price comparison I won’t be able to give you exact numbers because the prices of these knives are known to fluctuate as the market changes…
That being said, in general, you’ll usually find that the Persistence is around 5 to 10 bucks less expensive than the Tenacious…
That makes sense to me because the two knives use similar materials and the Persistence is a little bit smaller than the Tenacious…
So even though it’s not a huge difference in price, if you’re on a budget and trying to keep the cost of your knife as low as possible, you’re probably going to want to look more at the Persistence.
Spyderco Tenacious Vs Persistence – Final Thoughts…
So to sum it all up, in the Blade Steel And Materials category, both the Tenacious and the Persistence use 8Cr13MoV blade steel, which is a great blade steel for the money because it resists rust well and holds an edge reasonably well too…
In addition to that, both knives also feature G-10 laminate handles that are comfortable and give you good traction when you’re using your knife…
In the Blade Shape And Handle Design category, both the Tenacious and the Persistence have a version of a drop point blade with a full flat grind, which makes them both great cutters…
And both have comfortable G-10 handle that I find ergonomic, but because the handle on the Tenacious is a little bit longer, I find it a little bit more comfortable…
In the Locking Mechanism category, both the Tenacious and the Persistence use the Walker Linerlock locking mechanism, which is a solid locking system that is also easy to use…
In the Size And Dimensions category, the Tenacious is around 0.97 inches longer than the Persistence when both of their blades are fully locked out…
In the Pocket Clip And Carry Position category, both knives feature a pocket clip that can be set up for tip up or tip down carry and that is swappable to either side of the knife…
And last, in the Price Comparison, the Persistence is around 5 to 10 dollars less expensive than the Tenacious…
So which of these knives do I prefer? I prefer the Tenacious…
Click The Button Below To Check Price On Amazon And See Customer Reviews:
I prefer the Tenacious for a couple of reasons… First of all, I prefer the longer blade that you get on the Tenacious because it gives you just a little bit more cutting power…
It’s more capable in more EDC cutting scenarios, and I like to have that extra cutting potential (even though I think the Persistence is still very capable)…
In addition to that, I like the slightly longer handle that you get on the Tenacious. For me, it’s just a little bit more comfortable than the handle on the Persistence, so I like it just a little bit better…
Now if you don’t mind the slightly smaller blade and handle on the Persistence (which are still very capable and comfortable), and you want to save a few bucks…
Then feel free to go with the Persistence because it’s still a great knife…
Click The Button Below To Check Price On Amazon And See Customer Reviews:
Both of these knives are very similar, and whichever one you choose will probably be dependent on the size of the knife that will fit you and your everyday carry system better.