Spyderco Kevin Wilkins Leaf Storm Knife

Reviewed by corwin99 on October 31st, 2009

One of the latest knives from Spyderco that I’ve just had to have is the Spyderco Leaf Storm designed by Kevin Wilkins. Formerly a Graphic Designer from Germany, Kevin Wilkins has become one of the premier new knifemakers to hit the scene, with a full selection of kitchen knives in addition to the usual sporting varieties.

As usual, I picked up the Spyderco Leaf Storm from Wizards and Warriors, my local dealer. They have good pricing very similar to what you’d pay online, and I’d rather support my local guy. They have tons of stock, so I never worry about them running out. The Leaf Storm came shaving sharp in the usual Spyderco Box.

I noted that the pricing for this model was considerably higher than other models utilizing the same materials such as the Chokwe. The Chokwe has identical materials but is manufactured in Taiwan (as opposed to USA for the Leaf Storm), allowing them to build a larger knife for the same price, but not to the same standards. While the Chokwe exhibits no blade play and has excellent lock up, it does has thick washers, indicating that it is not built to the same tolerances.

The Spyderco Leaf Storm is extremely well built, and works well for my as a three and a half finger knife, because I have small hands. I think this knife would not work well for individuals with large hands, however. The translucent natural G-10 handles look very cool and the solid Titanium Lock side is machined very precisely and bead blasted giving it a clean design. The Titanium slab is thinner than the G-10 side, which is something I don’t like about this knife, and my only complaint. While it is a minor issue, it still makes the knife thinner and lighter than I like. This may actually be the reason they elected to use thinner titanium, but I would have rather had matching thickness to the G-10.

The Titanium and G-10 sides are both beveled very nicely, and finish is generally high for a Spyderco. The street price of this knife is around $170US, which is very high, and quite a bit of knives are available at this price point. While I really like this knife and do not regret it’s purchase, I feel that there are a lot better values out there to be had. This knife will mostly appeal to Spyderco Collectors and fans of Kevin Wilkins that cannot afford or are not yet ready to purchase his custom work. For the money, a Spyderco Paramilitary or Military seems a better buy.

Specs:
Overall Length: 6 1/6″
Blade Length: 2 1/2″
Weight: 2.6oz
Handle Material: G-10
Blade Steel: CPM-S30V

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