Spyderco Ark Salt Fixed Blade Knife with 2.56" H-1 Corrosion-Resistant Steel Blade and Premium Injection-Molded Polymer Sheath - PlainEdge - FB35PBK

I run outside early in the morning and often when its still dark. I was interested in the Ark because it is small, light, and rust-proof. However, I was hesitant to purchase it based on reviews commenting on the small handle, poor sheath, and short chain.I was pleasantly pleased upon receiving the Ark from Amazon. The sheath has supposedly been improved with an integral retention tab, and the one I received has this sheath. The knife clicks into place and is secured unless you push the tab with your index finger and draw the knife.The chain is a tad on the shorter side, but I do not have a small head and was able to get it over my head without unclasping. I am over six feet tall and it does sit up a little high on the chest, about four inches above the belly button. However, I have not found it difficult to reach the knife when it is necessary.The small handle is what concerned me the most because I have large hands. However, I have not had any issues holding the knife. The handle material is good and does not feel at all slippery. Also, with my index finger on the groove and thumb on the top of the knife, I can easily get a good grip on the knife.I love how lightweight the knife is and I can barely feel it while I am wearing it. It arrived razor sharp. I hope that the rust proof claim will prove to be true.If you're looking for a fixed-blade edc that doesn't break the bank, you can wear in any weather condition, that is lightweight with no print under your clothing, I would not hesitate to try the Ark.

Great kneck knife. Love the solid retention on the sheath. Knife will not fall or pull out without pushing the release lever. Extremely light weight and does not print through the shirt. Easy to sharpen. H1 steel is soft, but tough, so use a steel or stone after honing, to take off the burrs. It came sharp, but now it's razor sharp. H1 is also extremely rust resistant; more so than any other tool/blade steel that I know of. I removed the ball chain that came with this knife and replaced with a 3mm black coated Titanium-Stainless ball chain and cut it to the length that suits me. I also threaded a piece of paracord through the lanyard hole for a 4 finger grip. The only manufacturing improvements that I would have appreciated is some jimping on top, just forward of the grip, and rounding off the bottom index finger choile edges. No big deal though. This is primarily a back-up to my pocket EDC. I may occasionally use for opening boxes, bags, and other small tasks. Spyderco make excellent knives. This is my 2nd Spyderco.

I purchased this knife after doing the EDC boogaloo too many times. I work in the firearms industry and have to carry a bunch of stuff but wear normal guy pants which limits me to what items I can carry. A hand gun goes on the beltline, spare mag in the left front pocket, cell phone in the right front pocket and keys and wallet in the two back pockets. some of my pants have a small utility pocket that will rock a flashlight. Any cargo pant pockets are taken up by small medical items like a TQ, combat gauze, ect. This creates a problem that has commonly forced me to keep a folding or fixed blade at home instead of on my person. I originally bought the Boker Neck Bit and loved it. however after extended use and carry, the 440A steel would corrode from body perspiration, and the sheath had no locking device making working out on an aerobics ball dangerous.At this point I realized how viable a small neck knife actually is and my hunt to find the perfect neck knife began. After doing research I was beyond excited to find out that one of my favorite knife companies made a neck knife, it had a locking sheath and best of all, made of H1 steel. I have experience with H1 from spyderco in the form of the tasman. I loved the tasman but after a few small box cuts, the H1 steel was as sharp as a spoon. So I knew sharpening it after every other use was going to be a standard operating procedure. I promptly dropped my order in when I saw amazon was selling this for about 10-15$ less than everyone else.Initial Impressions; When I opened the box and pulled the knife out I was immediately surprised with how light this knife is. It literally felt like a 3D printed item of similar size. I attempted to bend the knife as its weight immediately made me concerned this knife would bend with any moderate use. I was pleased to see I could not flex the blade more than a standard fixed blade (about as much flex as a mora knife). Next was sheath orientation. I intended this knife to be used by my left hand and found if I put the lock face up and activated with my thumb instead of index, I felt much less likely to keep my thumb on the lock prompting a nice cut when drawing the knife out. To date I have not cut my self with this knife but more on that later.At first I was hesitant with the confidence in drawing this knife under stress but after practicing with it the last few weeks, I fell much more confident I can deploy under duress. That is, if the sheath has not twisted and changed orientation, which from time to time, it has done under my shirt. This is kinda serious so yea, make sure you put it on in the morning the correct way.Next is the H1 steel. Its sub par in hardness so Do not buy this knife if you do not have a sharpener, or do not know how to sharpen. Plain and simply, you will be sharpening this lil guy a lot. I have documented three to four slices through paper before the edge starts to dull and cause tears when stroking through paper. Cutting things like vegetables should be fine for a while but precision cuts are few and far between. The blade is also mated to Spyderco's FRN handles, which are fine for their use. I have read a lot of reviews that stated the blade dulls when inserting/removing from its sheath. I'm not going to echo that as I cannot confirm since if you ride the spine insetad of the edge into the sheath, It appears the edge has enough clearance to not make contact with the sheath. Knowing that, you should know you can still rub the edge on the sheath upon insertion and extraction. Given this with the less than normal edge retention of H1 I can see how claims of dulling with deployment could be viable. I have heard the surface of H1 Steel hardens with use, but in the month I have had it, I have ran it on the spyderco sharp-maker sharpening system about every other day, and have seen no improvement in edge retention. If you have this sharpener, it seems the 30 degree (back bevel) angle puts a better edge than the 40 degree (edge) angle.Summary; This knife has been an acquired taste, but has pulled its weight a couple of times. The locking retention, light weigh, and hollow grind H1 blade make a good slicer, but edge retention is an abysmal failure. The knife is rust proof so getting sweaty in AZ and taking a shower with it are good to go. Another benefit is since it is so light you forget you have it on you, and several times I have needed a knife only to remember I have one around my neck and save the day. The sheath is high quality and does not flex or feel cheap like the Boker Neck bit I was using previously. Long story short is I was going to give this knife a 3 star due to the price and edge retention, but given this is still a "everymans" knife that can still shank the eff out of a rapist, it can be hidden under a shirt while passing a pocket pat down, cannot rust, is so light you can forget you are wearing it, and sturdy materials make it a 4 star for someone looking for a knife to fit the bill I described. If you don't have a need for a neck knife and have enough pocket space for a folder with all your edc gear, you may get better use out of a standard pocket knife like a griptillian, paramilitary, zt, Cold Steel (just kidding, Cold Steel knives are trash) etc.

I'm a retired Police Officer and always carried a neck knife on and off duty. This knife is AMAZING!!! It checks all the boxes for me. Lightweight, concealment, quality and the sheath is great!! No worry about it ever falling out. Great purchase. Got mine in and immediately ordered another!

I purchased the Spyderco Ark to wear as a neck knife and was not disappointed. The blade and the sheath are lightweight and feel no heavier than a necklace with a couple of dog tags on it. The H1 steel assures that this blade will never rust so you can wear it when you go swimming or boating with no worries. I have medium-large hands but found that the design of the blade still allows me to get a good grip on it despite its small size. I like the safety tab on the sheath which keeps the blade securely locked for carrying and with a little practice it is easy to use. The quality and reputation of the Spyderco brand stands out with the Ark knife. I highly recommend it.

I am an avid collector and user when it comes to knives the asking price for this knife is entirely too much for what you are getting im very disappointed with spyderco and this build granted the ad does show measurments until its in your hand its a mystery the profile is a good thought but the size overall and lack of material is a disappointment this review is very hard because I am a hard-core spyderco fan thanks..