Just when I thought I had most of the chronology of C09 CoPilot production figured out, another variety has surfaced that is causing me to reconsider the timeline!
Up to this point, I was under the impression that all brass-lined CoPilots were produced in a single run of 1200 pieces when the model was introduced in 1987. I had also thought that the blades on those knives were marked "SPYDERCO" on one side and "SEKI-JAPAN" on the other. I recently purchased the knife below for my CoPilot collection and it is an interesting piece.
The knife is new-in-the-box and has brass liners. But the real kicker is that the blade is marked "SPYDERCO G-2 STAINLESS" on one slide and "SEKI-CITY, JAPAN" on the other side. I had thought that the marking on steel type on Spyderco blades didn't begin until the early 1990s (since the first Delicas and Enduras did not have their blade steel type marked on them). So was this brass-lined CoPilot made during the first run of CoPilots in 1987, or is it a later production from after blade steel markings were added in the early 1990s? Was there a second run of brass-lined CoPilots at a later date? Any light you can possibly shed on this knife would be most appreciated and helpful! Thanks in advance.
Photos of the knife:
><> The most important blood trail leads to the Cross <>< C09 CoPilots My Specialty Integrity is Being Good Even if No One is WatchingTM
Looking for: C04 Executive plain edge, C09 CoPilot plain edge with brass liners and a G-2 marked blade
When we began marking the steel on the blades, we wanted to show that there was a difference in the steel. Gingami I (GIN 1) was the Exotic" steel at the time.
Pete Gerber was making a premium model in Seki at the time called the Silver Knight. He was using gingami I and had put it on the blade of of some the variations using the steel. Pete was a good customer of this particular maker and Pete is also a friend of mine.
The maker said that he wanted to honor Pete and said he would use the steel for our knives but we couldn't put Gingami I on the knife. We thought it was really good steel and wanted to use it so we had to put something on the knife.
In my "humorous" way, I decided that the steel ws really good sh*t so we put G2 on the blade and put the chemical compostion on our marketing information. G2 stood for Good sh*t also.
Do you think that any more than two runs of brass-lined CoPilots were made? Any idea if the second run was a full production on 1200 pieces?
><> The most important blood trail leads to the Cross <>< C09 CoPilots My Specialty Integrity is Being Good Even if No One is WatchingTM
Looking for: C04 Executive plain edge, C09 CoPilot plain edge with brass liners and a G-2 marked blade
