Spyderco Ambitious Lightweight C148SBK Folding Knife

Spyderco Ambitious Lightweight C148SBK Folding Knife

Spyderco’s popular Value Folder family proudly offers all the defining qualities of their revolutionary CLIPIT platform, but in a very affordable format. Sharing common design features and ergonomics, the Value Folders are available in a range of sizes to suit different needs, preferences, and carry restrictions.

The smallest member of this family is the Ambitious. At 24 percent shorter than Spyderco’s flagship Value Folder, the Tenacious, the Ambitious was designed to deliver the same affordable convenience, versatility, and strength as its bigger brother, but in a significantly more compact format. Measuring only 3.58 inches (91 mm) closed and 5.89 inches (150 mm) overall, it is ideal for users with smaller hands and for carry in jurisdictions that restrict blade length to 2.5 inches or less. It is also a great choice for women, as it fits perfectly in the shallow pockets of women’s pants.

The original version of the Ambitious, introduced in 2011, features G10 handle scales with a non-slip peel-ply texture. The scales are supported by full-length, full-width stainless steel liners that are skeletonized to reduce weight. Stainless steel spacers join the liners and create an open-back construction style that minimizes weight and makes the knife extremely easy to clean. The liners also serve as the foundation of the knife’s robust LinerLock mechanism and provide a solid platform for attaching the knife’s four-position pocket clip.

The 2.31-inch (59 mm) blade of the Ambitious is made from 8Cr13MoV stainless steel—a durable and dependable blade steel that provides an excellent balance of cutting performance, corrosion resistance, toughness, and ease of sharpening. Its broad profile, full-flat grind, and satin finish work together to offer low-friction cutting performance while maintaining excellent strength behind the edge. Unlike most Spyderco folders, the Ambitious’s edge also extends the full length of the blade, virtually eliminating the blade’s ricasso (the unground full-thickness area of the blade closest to the handle). This maximizes the knife’s cutting potential and provides excellent control when cutting close to the “heel” of the edge.

To ensure easy carry and instant access, the Ambitious includes a durable four-position pocket clip with a wide triangular base. Offering a choice of left or right-side, tip-up or tip-down carry, this versatile clip design allows the user to easily configure the knife to suit personal carry preferences and deployment tactics. For users who like to customize their knives with lanyards and fobs, the handle also features a lined lanyard hole.

To make the Ambitious even more affordable and versatile, Spyderco proudly presents a lightweight version of the design with injection-molded fiberglass-reinforced nylon (FRN) scales. Molded with their signature Bi-Directional Texture pattern, the FRN scales provide enhanced grip security compared to the fine peel-ply texture of G10 and reduce the knife’s overall weight by almost seven percent. All other handle features, including the skeletonized full stainless steel liners, robust LinerLock mechanism, open-back construction, four-position pocket clip, and lined lanyard hole, remain completely faithful to the original design.

The Ambitious Lightweight blade is also full-flat ground from 8Cr13MoV stainless steel and features an attractive satin finish. For even greater variety and versatility, it is offered with a choice of PlainEdge or fully serrated SpyderEdge (this model).

The Ambitious is an impressively capable folding knife that delivers big-knife performance in a surprisingly compact package. Its lightweight version is even slimmer, grippier, and easier on your wallet—and offers the option of a fully serrated SpyderEdge. Whichever one you choose, we are confident it will live up to its name.

Specifications

Closed length: 9.1 cm

Blade style: leaf-shaped

Blade grind: Full-flat

Blade finish: satin

Blade edge: Serrated

Handle color: Black

Locking mechanism: Liner Lock

Pocket clip: Stainless steel (Tip-Up/Down, Right/Left carry)

Model number: C148SBK

Model name: Ambitious Lightweight