Back where I started. Lil Temperance.

[Archimedes]

I am guessing around 10 years ago maybe longer. I bought a Spyderco Lil Temperance folder. It was love at first sight. It was a serrated edge model and I carried everyday for what seemed like forever. It became a little loose and beat up. That launched me into a search for stronger folders. That launched me into a search for customs. I kind of went on a search for something. I never really found it. At the end of my search, I felt profound disappointment. Ten years gone in some ways, In other ways I had knowledge. More knowledge about knives than I had ever imagined. It was from this knowledge I new what I longed for.

In that time, I had good days and I had bad. Life has a way of taking your time and breaking you down. Loved ones died, loved ones struggled with addiction, and all the things that life can throw at you. It changed me. Age has a way of giving you wisdom.

Wisdom and knowledge brought me back to Spyderco. It is that simple.

That serrated edge Temp was long gone, until I was up visiting my brother at the family cattle ranch. I had given it to him years ago. I had forgotten.....to many life changes. He pulled it out along with another Temp I had gifted him. My face lit up. He traded me for a H1 Salt Saver I had in my pocket and my old Temps were mine again. It felt good. In some way it felt like a fresh start. A new beginning. Those knives came back to me. In a way I can't believe it and I am so thankful I did not sell them. It was a sign.

I guess that search is over and I am back where I started. I found what I was looking for.

Sure it is only a knife, but it is my knife and one I had when I started my journey. I feel like I am home again.

I carry my old beat up SE Temp all the time now. What a knife. It harks back to better times.

My old Temps with some others I picked up along the way.

[Halfneck]

Nice collection of Lil'Temps. You're going to like the new one if it stays true to the prototype I handled.

[Bradley]

I got goosebumps reading this. It's always nice to hear of growth in someone's life. Congrats on the temps, I'm looking forward to the sprint (or regular productions hopefully) to come back around, during which time I'll snag my first. The lil temp was before my time, but owning (and losing) a meerkat has taught me there is much to be desired from Spyderco's little big knife lineup.

[JD Spydo]

Hey ARCHIMEDES I distinctly remember you being a big fan of the Lil Temperance back in the mid 2000s. I also remember that you and Dr. Hannibal Lecter MD both got me interested and I developed a sincere love for the Rhino Horn Lil Temperance>> but they never made a serrated Rhino Horn model at least that I'm aware of.

I bet your dad loves his Temperance 1 fixed blade>> it's still one that I used almost daily. I've tried in vain to get Spyderco to consider bringing back the Temp 1 fixed blade in H-1 blade steel for the Salt Series>> but so far no cigar It was one of the only outdoor type fixed blades that they made in Spyderedge>> I have both the PE & SE versions and they both see action fairly frequently.

I know the serrated leaf blade model you're referring to and it is probably the most stout serrated folder they ever made. I'm sort of surprised that they never brought back the original Lil T.

[Reject]

:) Great little knife.
Is that correct, :eek: that there wasn’t a SE trailing point put into production?

[StuntZombie]

It's interesting that the serrations on that middle Lil' Temperance are at an angle to the blade, rather than perpendicular like most of Spyderco's SE knives.

[tvenuto]

I find it interesting that to many of us, pocket knives have a way of absorbing memories and reminding us of times in our life. They're just tools, but by they feel a bit more like constant trusty companions, and in a way are party to our good and bad times.

I don't have any tattoos, but I've been told that people always remember what was going on in their life when they got a particular tattoo. It's clear that for knife knuts, the humble pocket knife can have the same effect.

Congrats on being united with an old friend, hopefully better times are ahead of you as well as behind.

[Archimedes]

Hey ARCHIMEDES I distinctly remember you being a big fan of the Lil Temperance back in the mid 2000s. I also remember that you and Dr. Hannibal Lecter MD both got me interested and I developed a sincere love for the Rhino Horn Lil Temperance>> but they never made a serrated Rhino Horn model at least that I'm aware of.

I bet your dad loves his Temperance 1 fixed blade>> it's still one that I used almost daily. I've tried in vain to get Spyderco to consider bringing back the Temp 1 fixed blade in H-1 blade steel for the Salt Series>> but so far no cigar It was one of the only outdoor type fixed blades that they made in Spyderedge>> I have both the PE & SE versions and they both see action fairly frequently.

I know the serrated leaf blade model you're referring to and it is probably the most stout serrated folder they ever made. I'm sort of surprised that they never brought back the original Lil T.

It is amazing JD that you remember that my father has a SE Temperance 1 fixed blade. It was his work knife for years at the ranch until it fell off his ATV and was lost. He found that knife years later in the fields still in great condition. He now is using it again.

I also gave my brother a Temperance fixed blade which is in Mint condition new in the box. Maybe I can get that back one day.

I have gone to the Jumpmaster for my serrated edge fixed knife. What a knife. I agree, a Temperance one in SE H1 would deliver!

[Doc Dan]

I am guessing around 10 years ago maybe longer. I bought a Spyderco Lil Temperance folder. It was love at first sight. It was a serrated edge model and I carried everyday for what seemed like forever. It became a little loose and beat up. That launched me into a search for stronger folders. That launched me into a search for customs. I kind of went on a search for something. I never really found it. At the end of my search, I felt profound disappointment. Ten years gone in some ways, In other ways I had knowledge. More knowledge about knives than I had ever imagined. It was from this knowledge I new what I longed for.

In that time, I had good days and I had bad. Life has a way of taking your time and breaking you down. Loved ones died, loved ones struggled with addiction, and all the things that life can throw at you. It changed me. Age has a way of giving you wisdom.

Wisdom and knowledge brought me back to Spyderco. It is that simple.

That serrated edge Temp was long gone, until I was up visiting my brother at the family cattle ranch. I had given it to him years ago. I had forgotten.....to many life changes. He pulled it out along with another Temp I had gifted him. My face lit up. He traded me for a H1 Salt Saver I had in my pocket and my old Temps were mine again. It felt good. In some way it felt like a fresh start. A new beginning. Those knives came back to me. In a way I can't believe it and I am so thankful I did not sell them. It was a sign.

I guess that search is over and I am back where I started. I found what I was looking for.

Sure it is only a knife, but it is my knife and one I had when I started my journey. I feel like I am home again.

I carry my old beat up SE Temp all the time now. What a knife. It harks back to better times.

My old Temps with some others I picked up along the way.

Well, you'll be happy to know they are coming out with a new Lil Temp and I am pretty stoked about it.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Cool story and knives, very circle of life kind of stuff! Cheers, Radioactive :)

[JD Spydo]

I've looked around at all the commercially made knives including all the models that Spyderco has made over the years. And I've never seen any folder even remotely like the Lil Temperance model. Plus it's one of the few models they made with two distinct blade styles>> leaf blade and trailing point (Rhino Horn). It's definitely a Spyder that truly deserves a second go-round.

As far as the TEMP 1 model>> that knife was intended to solely be a user>> I don't believe that knife was ever intended to be a collector piece. I only had one that I didn't use at some point and that was the black-bladed variant. The reason I bring up the TEMP 1 is because I do believe it was the inspiration that gave us the LIL T. The extremely stout blades and the blade geometry is close to perfect for overall daily use. Like I've said many times I can't go through a week without getting out my Temp 1 model for kitchen and other duties. I also take it everywhere I go on outdoor ventures. Function is the bottom line with both models and both models function really well IMO.

And the Lil T gives you virtually the same functions as the TEMP 1 does with the convenience of a folder. The Lil T model is capable of extreme roughthouse work and there are only a handful of Spyders I would do that with.

[Sequimite]

The Lil' Temp was my third must have Spydie.

My first Spydie, a Delica convinced me that Spyderco made functionally fine knives. The first that grabbed me aesthetically was the Caly Jr. I had to buy one and found it worked as good as it looked. Then came the Kiwi. I ended up buying two with different MOP handles. My judgement of it's beauty was confirmed by my wife who swiped the first and my daughter who swiped the second.

Then came the Lil' Temp whose ergos looked perfect. I had to work up to this one as I'd never spent that much on a knife.(seems funny in retrospect). I ended up with a few and one, the second production run of the PE leaf blade, is in my permanent rotation. It is a knife that perfectly fits my hand, gives me the most blade possible while in 3" legal limit territory and is a favorite aesthetically.

[tvenuto]

Then came the Lil' Temp whose ergos looked perfect. I had to work up to this one as I'd never spent that much on a knife.(seems funny in retrospect).

Ha, I'm convinced every knife afi goes through this at some point! For me, it was getting over spending $100+ on a knife. My first Delica was so good at under $60, it just seemed indulgent to spend more. Suffice to say, I'm squarely over it.

[skatenut]

Archimedes,

nice collection, it looks just like mine. I've always loved these stout, well made little knives. Found all of mine on the secondary market, had to jump through some hoops, such as using Western Union, which I don't really like. Met a fellow countryman on this forum of all places, who wanted to swap his Li'l Temp for mine, eventually bought it from him, we were both happy. That was the end of the Li'l Temp grail search for me.

I'm really looking forward to the new model.

[jabba359]

Sorry for the old thread bump, but I ran across this last week while working on the Spydiewiki page. I noted that the Lil' Temp 2 was listed as available in serrated in the catalog, but may not have actually been produced.

Fast forward a week, and the latest Spyderco Byte email features the Lil' Temp and history. In it, it mentions the change from 440V to S30V, then goes on to say that both versions (Lil' Temp and Lil' Temp 2) were made available in serrated.

So what do you think? Does the serrated Lil' Temp 2 actually exist, or is the Byte email in error?

[ZrowsN1s]

I don't know why I never knew these were self defense blades. After reading the Spyderbyte, I'm going to need to give the Lil temp another look. I wish there was a store around here that actually stocked more than just Delicas and Enduras. Unfortunately the only time I get to see what these models are like is after I buy them and have them shipped to me, which causes me to occasionally dismiss a knife based on the looks and proportions of a photograph. The Delica is the best example I can think of, I had written off the Delica as the one Spyderco I would never own, then my buddy let me try his FFG delica 4, and now the Delica is one of my favorite designs of all time.

[sal]

The 1 and the 2 had different blade shapes.

sal

[jabba359]

The 1 and the 2 had different blade shapes.

sal

Hey Sal, since you stopped by, I thought I'd pick your brain just a little more, if you don't mind. As seen earlier in this thread, people have reported never seeing the Lil' Temperance 2 "rhino horn" with a serrated edge. I saw it was listed in that configuration in the catalog for a single year (2003), but after my various internet searches, I can find pictures of the plain and serrated for the leaf bladed Lil' Temp 1, but I've only seen plain edge for the rhino horn bladed Lil' Temp 2. Did the the Lil' Temp 2 actually get a serrated version, or was it listed in the catalog and never got produced?

[sal]

Hi Kyle,

I don't know that we ever made one. I'll check tomorrow and see if anyone knows for sure.

sal

[DougC-3]

I had planned to leave this one off my urgent want-list, telling myself it's just a shorter choil-less version of my Superleaf -- but it really looks nice with that black clip in the March Spyder Byte. The question is now which one do I buy first? Lil' Temp 3? Back Lock Manix 2? Q Ball? D'Allara 3? Police 4? :confused: :p