PSA: Go Buy a Dragonfly II in ZDP-189
The Spyderco Dragonfly II in ZDP-189 (DFII) is my favorite knife ever made, my regular recommendation in my annual Best Knives, and one of the best all around EDC knives ever. But Spyderco dropped it on the 2021 discontinued list along with many of the other ZDP-189 blades. For the entire list, go here. I am sad to see it on the list, but I understand why it is on there.
ZDP-189 is a weird steel (here is Knife Steel Nerd’s take on it). Its kinda stainless, but not really. It seems like it shouldn’t work like it does based on the chemistry, but it does. And it is crazy hard. When it debuted on knives in 2001 it was the hardest knife steel used by production companies (with a few rivals).
But beyond weird, ZDP-189 is just difficult. It is the knife steel equivalent of the person that barely passes the crazy-hot scale. It is one of very few steels that is either subject to an outright ban on exportation or is closely limited by Japanese regulations (if someone that speaks Japanese can decipher their steel regulations, let me know). It is also difficult to make because the chemistry is, as Larrin noted, strained. The chromium is really high to offset the high carbon and the result is a knife that should be stainless (20% chromium by content), but isn’t. Finally, ZDP-189 is an absolute misery to sharpen. The rewards are there, for sure, unlike, say S30V, where it is hard to sharpen and yields pretty mediocre results. But it is not a steel I look forward to throwing on the sharpener (like, say, D2, INFI, or CPM154; Spy27 is likely to be added to that list as well).
In the end, it is a connoisseur’s steel. Like a angular and technically complex hyper car (say, the McLaren Senna), its not a steel for most people or a steel most people like, but man, does it run the table when used in an EDC knife. Its edge retention and amenability to stropping make it great. In the DFII form, the combination is intoxicating. It will likely be a long time until we see a such a good combination on a knife again.
I’d rejoice for a Spy27 DFII, but that is unlikely to happen as Spyderco’s Seki OEM is pretty committed to using Japanese-produced steels. I’d also take an S90V DFII, but that presents the same problems. The K390 and REX45 DFIIs were good, but I am not a fan of insta-tarnish steels, no matter how hard they are. The only real steel that would work, given how Seki makes knives, is SG2 (aka SGPS). Problem is SG2 is older than ZDP-189 and they have yet to use it on a Dragonfly. Spyderco did do an exclusive run of Delicas with SG2 for Drop, so there is hope.
In the end, there isn’t really a good replacement. Seki doesn’t use a steel that works as a replacement and none of the other Spydercos are quite as compact as the DFII. I guess the CF or FRN version of the Chaparral is the replacement for the DFII in ZDP-189, but really there is no replacement. At least for now.
I’d also recommend some knives in SG2. The ultralight Fallkniven U2 is a very good knife with many of the same positive attributes as the DFII in ZDP-189 (light, hard steel, compact size, hand-friendly design). There is also the new Al Mar Hawk TFF, another small knife with a great design, but this time with a real step down in steel in the form of D2. There is always the William Henry ZDP-189 knives. They just happen to be 5 times the cost of the DFII in ZDP-189.
I am sad to see my favorite knife go. I also totally get why it has to get the boot. But there will be a hole in the EDC knife pantheon now that it is gone. If you want one, now’s the time to pull the trigger. Other OOP ZDP-189 knives have gone nuts on the secondary market. Ebay prices on the Caly3, a similarly great knife, are getting silly and the prices on the ZDP-189 Walker are positively insane. You have been forewarned—get while the getting is good.
Amazon Links
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and, maybe for the last time, the Spyderco Dragonfly II in ZDP-189.
BTW, that little flag on Amazon telling you how many times you have bought something is super annoying. It tells me I have bought the DFII in ZDP-189 7 times. Yes, I get it, I am a bit obsessed. Shut up, Amazon. I guess Google placing my review of the knife at the top of search results is a decent consolation.