Spartan Blades Poros Review [Tested]

The Poros takes a beating and keeps on cutting.

The Poros by Spartan Blades is a great feeling folder. The flipper design is spot-on for hand placement.

Company co-founders Curtis Iovito and Mark Carey are excellent to work with and built Spartan from scratch. Both are retired from Special Forces and have a lot of pride in workmanship. The Poros is their field-grade-version linerlock. It might not have the fancy material and looks but the performance is top shelf.

Poros Light Cutting Duties

Initial slicing of 20-pound copy paper was excellent. The Poros was very smooth and aggressive. The blade shape really helped slicing paper, especially when I employed a roll cut. The flat-ground blade sliced straight with no curling of the paper.

The Poros easily devoured single-walled cardboard. As with the copy paper, the blade sliced it both forcefully and effortlessly, resulting in nice, straight cuts. The slices were extremely quick with no resistance felt.

The folder was quite aggressive again in the 8-ounce leather slice. It was very easy to control the thickness of the skiving—I just needed to move my fingers faster. I had two fingernail nicks after the skiving. The edge remained sharp.

Poros Medium Cutting Duties

It was time to do a fire stick. The flat grind produced excellent curlicues. It sliced the wood incredibly fast and I had to slow down for more control to keep the curlicues on the stick. The handle was comfortable while making the deeper cuts. It was awfully simple to whittle with the knife.

For the next exercise I used 1-inch manila rope. The Poros crunched to 197 cuts before I ran out of rope. The edge was still good. The handle was very comfortable during heavy use. There were no issues with the blade lock. Nicely done, Spartan.

Poros Heavy Cutting Duties

I split kindling into smaller pieces to check lockup by doing baton work. There continued to be no issues with lockup or edge retention. The knife can handle a beating for sure. It’s not that I recommend baton work with a folder but if you have to it can be done with the Poros.

To push the knife a bit further, I grabbed my trusty whitetail deer antler. After 30 hard whacks on it, the edge was still sharp with no rolling or chips, indicating spot-on heat treatment.

The last test was back to the copy paper slice. The Poros continued cutting smoothly and my arm was tired. Outstanding job, guys!

Final Cut

The Poros folder is worthy of riding in anyone’s pocket. It’s well designed, sharp and easy on—and comfortable in—the hand. I really don’t know what I’d change on this one, though I would love to see an A-2 tool steel version.

Poros Specs
Maker: Spartan Blades
Knife type: Flipper folder
Blade length: 3 7/8”
Blade steel: 154CM stainless
Rockwell hardness: 58-60 HRC
Blade finish: Black PVD
Handle: Carbon-fiber-patterned G-10
Lock: Linerlock
Closed length: 5 1/8”
Country of origin: USA
MSRP: $190

Check Out More Knife Reviews:

• Iron Sapper Forge Carver Review
• Peltonen M07 Ranger Review
• Doug Ritter RSK MK1-G2 Review
• First Degree Forge EDC Fighter Review