I have the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker too. And I've never been any good with mine. It takes me FOREVER to sharpen anything. Plain blades that is. I don't have any serrated pocket carry knives. OK, one Cold Steel "Ready Edge" or something like that, but that one doesn't count in my book. That Ready Edge convinced me that serrations were a waste on small blade knives. It's got like a 1 or 1-1/4 inch blade and it's useless for cutting anything. The serrations hang up and bind your cutting motion on every cutting task. I DO like my serrated kitchen knives though, but we're talking more like 8 inch blades on those.

But I still can't use my Sharpmaker worth a dang on straight blades. So I bought one of those "assisted angle" jobbers. Mine is made by Gatco, very similar to the Lansky competition. The best $17 ($19?) I've spent. It was mismarked terribly on the price, but the store volunteered to sell it at the erroneous price, which I gladly accepted! Real knife people will surely laugh at me for needing something to help me maintain the correct sharpening angle, but my results have been very very good with that device.

Now that I have the Spyderco Native, it's only a matter of time (short) before I go for the Delica 4. When that Native locks open, it is such a nice solid (and loud!) click. I can see how you say some people may be disturbed by the solid click. I can envision a reaction like someone hearing the noise of the slide being racked on a quality pump shotgun. One of those "straighten up and be more alert" reactions. When I bought the Native I never gave a thought to what other people would think being near it. But now I see how the blade shape and solid lockup click could scare some people, so I'm discrete when I use in front of others (a well-timed "cough" covers the click nicely!)

In the past, the look of Spyderco knives has somewhat turned me off. I didn't really care for the trademark hump and the pointy-to-the-extreme tips. Throw in those serrations I don't like and some of Spyderco's really weird blade shapes, and I was just turned off - despite knowing they were quality knives. However, the Delica 4 is changing that feeling. The tip is not quite so pointy, and that hump is getting more and more appealing every day. If it locks up anything like the Native it's got to be a winner (I've seen Delica 3's in person, but no 4's yet - only pictures).

I also like the look and feel of the Benchmade Mini-Griptillian with the sheepsfoot blade. That one's probably going to be added to my (small) collection in the future too.