Question about D'Allara Rescue handle change

[DougC-3]

Recently I acquired a used D'Allara Rescue, and it has turned out to be one of my favorites. It does have particularly grippy FRN though, which tends to grab the cloth strongly when clipping it in the pocket :)









A few days ago I noticed that the FRN scales on most of the D'Allaras I see pictured have been made in a mold which has been modified to prevent pocket shredding. They have a smooth oval on both sides in the under-clip area, as shown in this picture from the Spyderco website. (Please let me know if I wasn't supposed to have copied this this pic to the forum.)



I went to the spydiewiki and couldn't find any mention of this change. The first thing that came to mind was the exciting (to me) possibility that I might have stumbled upon a prototype. I don't know if prototypes have any monetary value to collectors or not, but, if they're made in very small numbers and passed around to special people, as when Paul (Deacon) got to try out the new G-10 Stretch 2, then a prototype would be something I would prize very highly.

I googled D'Allara Rescue and clicked "images" though and turned up several pics of the ones without the smooth area, so I decided it was probably just an example of CQI.

Does anyone have any information about when and how this FRN change came about?

Edit: It just dawned on me that any prototypes would probably have preceded the expensive FRN mold stage and been clad in slab scales.

[yablanowitz]

Actually, I think the prototypes are called World Trade Center knives.

All three of mine (one Rescue and two Drop Points) have the smooth oval like the stock photo you posted. I can't tell you when it happened, but I'm pretty sure it was before the drop point version came out, and I seem to recall Sal mentioning it was a response to complaints about shredded pockets/hard to draw from the texture.

[tvenuto]

I haven't pulled out my box, but I have the drop point and I have the smooth oval.

[Donut]

The Rescue one I got in a trade, has the large oval.

[sal]

Hi Doug,

The first mold was made as the World Trade Center project. Then we changed the mold to prevent any more than the planned amnount for the project and created the mold that you have. Then we changed the mold a 2nd time to create the version with the oval. Then we changed the mold to make the handle thinner. Now we're making a run with the pattern modified (narower) and we'll use G-10 to make a slab version to test the changes, then we'll change the mold again to create the next version.

sal

[DougC-3]

Hi Doug,

The first mold was made as the World Trade Center project. Then we changed the mold to prevent any more than the planned amnount for the project and created the mold that you have. Then we changed the mold a 2nd time to create the version with the oval. Then we changed the mold to make the handle thinner. Now we're making a run with the pattern modified (narower) and we'll use G-10 to make a slab version to test the changes, then we'll change the mold again to create the next version.

sal

Thanks for the information, Sal. It's amazing how many changes a single knife model can go through. Multiply that by a few hundred models and it would probably be a full time job for somebody to try to keep up with it. I'm glad to have an example of the first one after the WTC model and will be looking for a drop point example similar to it or the first model with the smooth oval. I really like these big hefty handled ones, but I'll also be keeping an eye out for the narrower G-10 slab version.

Doug

[spyderHS08]

A g-10 d'allara with a non rescue aka normal style blade would be amazing!!