Spyderco FB50 Stok Drop Point review

Earlier this year, the Spyderco FB50 Stok Drop Point was released. It’s an impressive small fixed blade design by ‘newcomer’ and fellow Dutchman Sjoerd Stok. I say ‘newcomer’ as it’s the first design he did that I know off, but he has been an avid knife user and collector for a long time. The FB50 is a really nice compact utility fixed pocketknife, or neck knife, for everyday carry.

Spyderco released the FB50 along with the FB49 Stok Bowie, which features a saber ground bowie blade design. I’m not really a fan of the saber grind, so I immediately gravitated towards the full flat ground drop point design. The drop point design on the FB50 might ‘look’ a little different from other Spyderco Drop Point blades, such as the UK Penknife drop point or the Stretch designs. However, look twice and you’ll definitely see the resemblance. More importantly, Spyderco rarely takes on a design by looks alone, and the Stok Drop Point certainly checks that box. It’s not a ‘looker’ to most, but hold it in your hand, carry it, cut with it, and you’ll ‘see’ the appeal.

Blade

The edge is nice and thin, and very slicey sharp out of the box. At least online, many have voiced their disappointment with the choice of 8Cr13Mov, as they would prefer a more high-performance steel. Sure, I too would have preferred a different steel but that would have made the knife probably 3 times more expensive. A change of steel often means a change of country of manufacture and the Stok fixed blades by Spyderco are made in China. And although Spyderco has recently started shipping CPM S45 to China for use in some runs of the value line of folders, the basic steel choice for Spyderco Chinese made knives is still 8Cr13Mov. Now, the good part -next to value- of this steel is that it is very stainless. This is not an unimportant feature of a neck knife or a pocket fixed blade, as it could pick up sweat etc.… Also, 8Cr13Mov is very easy to sharpen and its edge-holding is good enough to last me a few weeks. Plenty of time to get to my Sharpmaker for a touch up.

Looks

The size is not only easy to carry but also friendly to the eyes (and laws) of many non-knife people. I took my FB50 along on my summer vacation trip and at public picknicks it was a great performer, and nobody batted an eye. It’s like taking out a little paring knife from your lunchbox to cut up your fruit.

Handle

The handle design features a very ergonomic profile and works well for my average sized hands. It is not quite perfect -to me- though. The 50/50 choil leaves very little tang to grip with my thumb and index finger. And I think the cusp of the little blade ramp (right below the thumb in an edge-out point forward grip) is a bit sharp. Normally, I would consider rounding off that sharp corner. However, I think that might negatively affect the lock-up in the Boltaron sheath. The G10 handle scales are not as aggressive as the G10 on USA made Spydies, but it’s fine for me. And I love the fact that the Stok knives come in these olive drab-colored handles, anything other than black is fine by me.

Sheath

The sheath design is very nice. I like the square profile, as it prevents the knife from twisting when carried as a neck knife. Incidentally, I set up my Stok Drop Point as a neck knife. The knife fits very tight into the sheath. In fact, a little too tight, as I had trouble withdrawing the knife the first few times. The FB50 doesn’t slid in its sheath with that satisfying ‘snap’, but it certainly stays in very well so far. Withdrawing the knife has become easier after a few cycles, but I am careful to note if some of the sharp corners on the blade will eat away at the Boltaron over time. So far, the lock-up in the sheath is still very good.

Overall

Overall, I am very happy to see Spyderco putting out a compact fixed blade like this. Something that could truly be carried inside a pocket. This is a subgenre of fixed blades that has worked well for many knifeknuts. And brands like Bark River have been offering many variations of this style of compact fixed blade. The Stok drop point certainly is a winner for me, and I look forward to seeing more designs of Sjoerd Stok and Spyderco.

See more details of the FB50 Stok Drop Point on SpydieWiki, or check out Sjoerd’s video with Eric Glesser, by Knives and Tools, on YouTube.