A premium fixed-blade from one of the industry’s noted knifemakers, the Harsey Clandestina from Spartan Blades hits the mark for tactical knife connoisseurs
by Dexter Ewing; photos by Marty Stanfield, Marty Stanfield Photography
The Clandestina is the latest fixed-blade offering from the dynamic duo of Spartan Blades and knifemaker/designer extraordinaire Bill Harsey. This new model joins a very impressive lineup of fixed-blades manufactured by Spartan Blades and designed by Harsey. For the Clandestina, the goal was to create a midsize fixed tactical that is agile, easy to carry, and highly useful. I think they achieved all that with this exciting new offering.
The blade length is 5 ½ inches long with an overall length a little over 10 inches. The blade is made from ultra-premium CPM Magnacut high-performance stainless steel for the ultimate in edge retention and corrosion resistance. The blade tapers nicely to an acute point, giving the Clandestina a somewhat stabby appearance. The blade is offered in two PVD-coated finishes — black and FDE.
The Clandestina’s handle is partly where the magic happens. Harsey is a tactical knife designer well known for his handle designs, applying ergonomics and a firm understanding of the human hand grip as applied to knife handles.
You’ll notice there is not one but two finger grooves. Most manufacturers offer only one finger groove to help index and lock your grip onto the handle. Why does Harsey’s designs use two? The strongest finger of the human hand is the middle finger. By incorporating the middle finger in grip retention, you leverage the strength of the finger to further increase gripping power for cutting tasks. You’ll notice other Spartan models that Harsey designed also incorporate two finger grooves. When you wrap your grip around the handle, you can feel your middle finger pull in more on the handle.
In addition to the two finger grooves, there’s also an integral double guard that helps to keep your hand from sliding forward. And the back end of the handle has a butt end that tapers down to an obtuse point, forming a skull cracker pommel.
Handle scales are your choice of one of two micarta colors — black or multi-color camo. Personally, I like G-10 or micarta for handles of hard-use knives because of the way they can be finished, leaving a slightly tactile grip that helps in grip traction and retention. The scales are not flat; they have a rounded contour to them to make the entire handle fit your hand comfortably and without any crisp edges to create any hotspots.
Overall length of the Clandestina is a little over 10 inches, making this an ideal length for a midsize blade. It’s big enough to tackle sizable cutting chores, but small enough to carry easily in a belt sheath.
Speaking of sheaths, you also have a choice of sheath types for the Clandestina. There is the pancake-style Kydex form-fitting sheath or the MOLLE-compatible ballistic nylon sheath. The Clandestina sample that Spartan Blades sent to us for this review was the FDE-coated blade/camo handle with the ballistic nylon sheath. The nylon sheath is made in the USA for Spartan Blades by First Spear. It is a heavy duty, sewn construction and features an adjustable retention strap with a button snap. There is a hard plastic liner that gives the sheath its backbone and protects the nylon material from the sharp blade cutting or poking through. What’s nice is the inside is felt-lined, so the knife slides in and out quieter and does not rattle when inside the sheath. That’s a genuinely nice extra touch that not all sheath manufacturers offer. Finally, there’s an integrated leg tie if you wish to tie off the bottom of the sheath to your thigh to prevent it from flopping around.
Use wise, the Spartan Harsey Clandestina is agile in the hand thanks to its overall slender profile. The gentle sweeping curve of the cutting edge from tang to tip allows the Clandestina to undertake a variety of cutting chores easily and makes it highly adaptable to any task at hand. The flat-ground blade gives the cutting edge tremendous bite, and the factory edge out of the box is superb. Honestly, it’s one of the better factory edges I’ve seen on any knife recently. I like how the blade’s profile tapers to the tip. In fact, the Clandestina is quite pointy for a non-dagger profile. Piercing tasks are easy! The tip penetrates efficiently, and the handle’s design features do a great job at keeping your hand seated and in place no matter what.
I noted how comfortable the handle is with the rounded edges and the double finger grooves. The double grooves make a lot of sense once you put the knife to use and feel how secure the handle fits in your grip.
Magnacut being all the rage now as a high-end factory steel, you are ready to go as far as edge holding power and corrosion resistance are concerned. Expect less time fooling with maintaining your blade — which can be bad news if you are one who likes to sharpen! All joking aside, Magnacut really does live up to its hype.
Spartan Blades’ Harsey-designed Clandestina is made in the USA at Spartan Blades’ facility in Southern Pines, North Carolina. MSRP starts at $360 and goes up to $395, depending on the options you choose.
