Spyderco C09 CoPilot Varieties

[The CoPilot]

Hi there from Down under,
Here's my pic of my favorite co-pilot. I believe it to be a Santa Fe Stoneworks custom in Black Jet and abalone. Could someone please confirm and provide a rough time stamp for it?
Thanks Bytey

I believe you are correct with the identifications of the stones used. With the blade marked GIN-1 Stainless, it would date to approximately 1995-1998 or so. Nice piece!

[Bytey sharp]

Thanks The Copilot. I also have, and I know it's the wrong place to post it but, I have a Delica 2 with the exact same pattern as kankryb 's post of his copilot. Same multi abalone or MOP in the pattern. I have been wondering for a while where it came from and the post about cutlery shoppe may give me a clue.

[The Deacon]

Thanks The Copilot. I also have, and I know it's the wrong place to post it but, I have a Delica 2 with the exact same pattern as kankryb 's post of his copilot. Same multi abalone or MOP in the pattern. I have been wondering for a while where it came from and the post about cutlery shoppe may give me a clue.

The "web" is one of Santa Fe's most common patterns on Spyderco knives. Over the years they've used with a number of different stones and shells on pretty much every stainless steel handled Spyderco and even as a replacement for G-10 on things like the Civilian and original Manix. There are some current examples of it on a Delica, Harpy, and Police on this page of their website.

Some of the very early ones were made for and sold by Spyderco both directly and through dealers, some of the ones in the late 90's were sold by the Spyderco's retail and catalog outlets Golden Edge Cutlery and Ironstone. Santa Fe also sold, and still sells, directly as well as through a number of brick and mortar and online dealers.

[bh49]

CoPilot,

Great job. Thank you for sharing.

[SpyderNut]

Welcome back, The CoPilot. It's been a long time. I will have to dig out my old Copilot and see what info I can find regarding its origin.

Thank you very much! It has been a long time, indeed.

Please do dig out your CoPilot and post a picture of it here for everyone to enjoy. That is what this thread is for.

Hi CoPilot,
Here is a picture and info regarding my CoPilot. As you can see in the picture, it has a date of 1/29/02 and features ATS-55 blade steel. If my memory serves correct, I believe I purchased this model around mid-2002. Apologies for the cruddy cell phone picture:

[Bytey sharp]

So nice the Stoneworks I wish I had more than the few I have. Love the web pattern, would like to find an early police with the straight web pattern, not many of those around. Thanks Co pilot, but I actually meant this pattern here.


Please excuse me posting this here, but like I said, that post of kankryb is the only other time I've seen this pattern. It's probably pretty common, or not. If that co pilot matching it came up somewhere, I'd want it. Bottom of page 2 for the model co pilot. It's an old post from 2009.

[The CoPilot]

Hi CoPilot,
Here is a picture and info regarding my CoPilot. As you can see in the picture, it has a date of 1/29/02 and features ATS-55 blade steel. If my memory serves correct, I believe I purchased this model around mid-2002. Apologies for the cruddy cell phone picture:

As near as I can tell, CoPilots like this one are from the final production run that took place in January 2002. That is a very nice piece that represents the "end of an era."

[SpyderNut]

Hi CoPilot,
Here is a picture and info regarding my CoPilot. As you can see in the picture, it has a date of 1/29/02 and features ATS-55 blade steel. If my memory serves correct, I believe I purchased this model around mid-2002. Apologies for the cruddy cell phone picture:

As near as I can tell, CoPilots like this one are from the final production run that took place in January 2002. That is a very nice piece that represents the "end of an era."

Thank you, sir. This particular CoPilot was one of my favorite carry pieces back in the early days of my Spyderco collecting. It now enjoys a well-earned retirement alongside many of its kin. On a different note, I think it's high time for a CoPilot Sprint. :) It is an excellent design and I think a lot of folks would greatly enjoy an updated version.

[SG89]

Ditto for copilot sprint

[The CoPilot]

If Spyderco were to do another Sprint Run of the C09 CoPilot, what blade steel and handle material would you want to see?

[SG89]

Hap40 with smooth/polished white g10

[The Deacon]

So nice the Stoneworks I wish I had more than the few I have. Love the web pattern, would like to find an early police with the straight web pattern, not many of those around. Thanks Co pilot, but I actually meant this pattern here.


Please excuse me posting this here, but like I said, that post of kankryb is the only other time I've seen this pattern. It's probably pretty common, or not. If that co pilot matching it came up somewhere, I'd want it. Bottom of page 2 for the model co pilot. It's an old post from 2009.

That Delica was probably sold by Cutlery Shoppe. Not sure if it's ever been determined who actually did the work, but definitely wasn't SFSW. They're a lot less common that the SFSW knives, as they were made for a shorter time and may have been made exclusively for Cutlery Shoppe or by them.

[SpyderNut]

If Spyderco were to do another Sprint Run of the C09 CoPilot, what blade steel and handle material would you want to see?

That is an excellent question. If it were me, I'd love to see a Co-Pilot Sprint offered with an Elmax blade coupled with an orange-peel textured titanium scales (a la the Advocate). The blade would be hollow-ground like the original and the blade thickness would be at 2.5 mm. I would keep the lanyard hole and add an ambidextrous wire pocket clip. Realistically, however, Elmax is not a likely choice if the Sprint were made in Seki City. In that case, VG-10 or ZDP-189 would work just fine.

I also like SG's suggestion for HAP40 and polished white G-10. That would be sweet too. :)

How about you? What would you like to see on a Sprint?

[The CoPilot]

As a fan of VG-10 blade steel, I've always thought that the 2006 Sprint Run C09BKP CoPilot was an ultimate form. The Almite aluminum handles were a nice lightweight alternative to stainless steel. If I could remake the CoPilot for another Sprint Run, I think I would keep VG-10 for the blade steel and do the handles in anodized Titanium. I might even try to figure out a way to try to work brass liners back into the handle sandwich just because they looked so darn classy on the original CoPilots.

[Bytey sharp]

Thank you Deacon, I shall hold onto that one.
Handle, blade for redesign? I was actually asked that question not long ago about the Dragonfly. Anodized Titanium and superblue blade would be my choice. It would make a sharp, nice knife. And look good doing it. Not sure how it would go corrosion wise though. ;(

[The CoPilot]

Been a few years since I have kicked this thread “back to the top” so I figured I would give it another boot. Probably lots of new users here who are not all that familiar with this remarkable little knife. Go all the way back to the first post of this thread and enjoy the walk down memory lane.

Regards,
The Copilot

[The CoPilot]

Here is another after-market custom-engraved brass-lined CoPilot. It is the work of gemstone artist John Bailey and was done in 2019.

Here is the information on it from the artist's webpage. I believe it has been sold or is otherwise no longer available. I dug up the descrption from a cached version of the webpage.

EK-002 Hand engraved Spyderco Copilot
$679.99

The Spyderco Copilot model, designed by Sal Glesser, and first produced in 1987, was “airplane legal” until after the 9/11/2001 hijackings – after which year the Stainless Steel version of this great little knife was no longer produced.

This is the most collectible variation of the Copilot (the original C09) – from the original production run – with integral lockspring, stainless steel handles, and brass liners. The GIN-1/G-2 blade bears no stamp other than “SEKI-JAPAN” and the Spyderco branding.

This copy was originally purchased by me the first year it was available, carried briefly without any serious use, then stored until 2019 when I hand-engraved it in the classic basket-weave pattern.

Overall Length: 5 ” (127mm)
Blade Length: 2 ” (50.8mm)
Steel: GIN-1/G-2
Closed Length: 3″ (76mm)
Edge Length: 1.75″ (44mm)
Weight: 1.7oz (78g)
Blade Thickness: .093″ (2.5mm)
Handle: Stainless Steel
Clip Position: RH
Tip Carry Position: TD

[The CoPilot]

I talked earlier in this thread (see the fourth post on pg 1 with photographs illustrating the spring differences ) about the Spyderco's use of an "integral backspacer and lockspring" that occurred with the C09 CoPilot. Sal has referred to this integral unit as the "split spring". The integral backspacer and lockspring was a single piece of steel, and was only used on the early C09 CoPilot and C08 Harpy models. All of the brass-lined CoPilots from the first run (1987) used the split spring. The second run of brass-lined CoPilots (circa 1992 with "G-2 Stainless" marked on the blade) also used the split spring. Use of the split spring continued after Spyderco abandoned brass liners on the C09 CoPilot (again, circa 1992?) and starting making the handles scales out of solid stainless steel. As a result, CoPilots with G-2 marked blades come in three distinct varieties: 1) Brass-lined with split spring 2) All steel handle scales (no brass liners) with split spring and 3) All steel handle scales (no brass liners) with seperate backspacer and lockspring. To help illustrate what I'm talking about with the split spring, I'm attaching a photo of a prototype in the Spyderco Archives. This example, with the G-2 marked blade, contains the split spring and it is paritially visible through the pierced "COPILOT" lettering on the handle scale. I have added some shading to show the approximate shape of the split spring. From what I understand, these split springs had to be tempered with the same tempering used for locksprings because they were the lockspring. I have also heard (and perhaps Sal can verify this) is that occasionally the split springs would break. Although I have never personally seen a CoPilot with a broken split spring, but have heard or read somewhere that this was an issue. I'm hoping that Sal will chime in here and shed some additional light on what exactly led to Spyderco to move away from the integral backspacer and lockspring (aka. the "split spring") and use the more-common separate backspacer and lockspring on the later C09 CoPilots. I have a feeling that it may have been a production cost-saving decision.

Pics:

Spyderco C09 CoPilot prototype with split spring partially visible (shaded in red):

Looking inside the knife at an example with the integral backspacer and lockspring ("split spring"):

Looking inside the C09 CoPilot at an example with the separate backspacer and lockspring:

Also, I realize that this isn't a photo of a C09 CoPilot, but this cutaway version of a C41 Native clearly shows what the seperate backspacer and lockspring looks like. As you can see the lockspring nests into a slot cut into the backspacer.

[bearrowland]

I just recently discovered this knife, read the thread, and really like it! Along with the Delica, I'm really loving Spyderco's smaller classics. The name appeals to me, as my Dad made his living as a pilot. I'd genuinely like to see another Sprint run of these knives. Copilot, excellent thread!

[The CoPilot]

Thank you, Barry. I’m glad that you have “discovered” the C09 CoPilot, and Appreciate the design. I’m also very happy to hear that this thread was of use to you!

Regards,

The CoPilot