Review of the Spyderco Sage 2

I’ve had my eye on the Spyderco Sage 2  for quite some time, and finally pulled the trigger and purchased one recently.  The Sage line from Spyderco is an “homage” line from Spyderco which celebrates famous knife designs and their designers.  In the case of the Sage2, it is an homage to the Chris Reeve Sebenza line – it’s a titanium handled integral framelock, with a full flat ground S30V blade:

The Sage 2 is far from a Sebenza clone like the Bradley Cutlery Alias  – it’s more accurate to describe it as the Chris Reeve Sebenza concept done the Spyderco way.  The gorgeous brushed finish, leaf shape blade complete with the trademark “Spydie hole” and wire pocket clip are just some of the design cues which insure this homage knife remains distinctly Spyderco.

Like the Sebenza, The Sage 2 incorporates phosphor bronze washers at the blade axis point which insures a premium feel along with smooth, fast blade deployment.  I’ve owned a Chris Reeve Small Sebenza, and currently own a Bradley Cutlery Alias II – in terms of relative deployment smoothness and speed, I’d place the Sage 2 right between the Alias II and the Small Sebenza, with the Alias II being the best of the bunch in this regard.  Clearly the Sebenza is a step up in its fit, finish, and tolerances (as well as price), but the Alias II and Sage 2 are close to one another in this regard, and not far behind the Sebenza.

In terms of size and weight, the Sage 2 measures 7.25” in total length, with a blade length of 3” and weighs 3.5 oz.  This places it in between the small & large Sebenza.  The Sage 2 is light enough that once you place it in your pocket, you quickly forget it’s there.  Here’s a size comparison with the Sage 2 and my Bradley Alias II, which is almost identical is size to a Small Sebenza:

As much as I love titanium handles, you can see in the above photo that regularly carrying my Alias II has resulted in some noticeable scuffs and scratches to the finish.  I fully expect that the handles of the Sage 2 will eventually exhibit similar scratches.

One of the nice things about the Sebenza-like design is the simplicity and light weight.  The titanium handles are “open” with three spacers set in between.  The knife is very easy to clean and disassemble:

Ergonomically, I much prefer the Sage 2 over both the Alias and Sebenza.  The Alias II really is strictly a “tool” knife – great size and weight for EDC (every day carry) and utility/food prep cutting tasks.  But the knife doesn’t inspire much confidence in the self-defense category.  However, the curved handles of the Sage 2 along with the extra size definitely gives the impression it would be a much better choice (though perhaps neither ideal) if pushed to the role of self defense.  Here’s another comparison photo with my Spyderco Manix 2, and as you can see it’s not that much smaller, which really surprised me:

As a supplement to my written photo review of the Spyderco Sage 2, I’ve also recorded some video footage of the Sage 2:

The retail price of the Spyderco Sage 2 is $264.95, but like most Spyderco knives can be found for a considerable discount online.  I found the best price available for a new Spydero Sage2  was on Amazon.com:

Spyderco Sage 2 Titanium Plain Edge Knife On Amazon

 Overall, I’m quite pleased with the Spyderco Sage2.  It didn’t come as sharp out of the box as I’m accustomed to seeing from Spyderco knives, but I did improve the sharpness by using the fine and super fine stones on my Spyderco Sharpmaker at the 30 degree setting.   I actually like the Sage 2 so much  so much that I’m strongly considering trying to pick up a Sage 3.