Spyderco's Cru-Wear Stretch XL Keeps Winning Converts
Some knives get attention for their locks and some for their looks. The Spyderco Stretch 2 XL gets neither, which is why a Cru-Wear example turning up on r/knifeclub is worth writing about: it is one of the best full-size users Spyderco makes, and almost nobody talks about it.
The Stretch line comes out of Spyderco's Seki City production in Japan and is built around a back lock in textured FRN. The XL version stretches the handle and blade to full-size proportions — roughly four inches of edge — while keeping the ergonomics that make the smaller Stretch comfortable in a hammer grip. The back lock is the important detail: a mid-back lock with a Boye dent is the most reliable locking mechanism in production cutlery, it is fully ambidextrous, and it does not care about pocket lint.
CPM Cru-Wear is what makes this specific version interesting. It is a non-stainless tool steel with high vanadium content — closer to 3V than to S30V in behaviour — and it trades corrosion resistance for toughness and edge stability. In practice that means it holds a fine edge through abrasive material better than most stainless, it resists chipping, and it will patina if you leave it wet. Spyderco has run Cru-Wear in several sprint and exclusive models, and it is consistently one of the steels its customers ask for by name.
Who it is for: people who cut a lot of cardboard, rope or agricultural material and do not mind wiping a blade down. A four-inch FRN back lock with a Cru-Wear blade is close to the ideal working folder — light, ambidextrous, easy to sharpen on a bench stone, and cheap enough to use hard. It is not the knife for someone who wants a fidget flipper or a titanium frame, and it is not the knife for someone who leaves gear in a wet bag.
Availability is the catch. Cru-Wear versions tend to be sprint runs or dealer exclusives rather than catalogue standards, so the secondary market is where most of them change hands, and prices reflect that. If you find one at a reasonable number, the steel alone justifies it.
Verdict: an unglamorous knife that outperforms most of what gets posted weekly, and a good reason to look past the flipper-and-titanium default. Buy it to use. Thread: r/knifeclub.