I was under the impression that a particular hand size as well as sufficient grip strength could cause difficulties in opening the Spartan. Mine was relatively easy. An acquaintance acquired one that you could drive a semi over and it'd steadfastly remain shut. Sorry for the wishy-washy response but this knife seems to have many personalities.
while at work its still the sog flash 2 (i just cant kill that thing) and the sog powerlock. while not at work i usually carry my sog mini x-ray vision.
Well right now the knife that is residing in my pocket is a CRK&T Ken Onion Ripple with the black scales. It is a pretty new knife and the blade rides on ball bearings, this makes it one of the smoothest opening and quickest opening knives that I have ever carried. I really like the blade shape and the fact that it is so thin and weighs only 2.9 oz. So until I find that next perfect knife this one is my edc.