Spyderco C09 CoPilot Varieties

[The CoPilot]

Wow, that's quite a collection. Congratulations on putting it together. Any idea why they made the early models with 0,1 or 2 brass liners? The brass is pretty cool looking but does it really do anything else?

I seem to recall Sal saying that they thought the brass liners would offer smooth opening and closing along with a touch of class. The smoothness was not significantly improved to justify the expense and the brass liners were abandoned. If you are reading this Sal, I'd love to hear your first-hand account of how things transpired.

[bengaiser]

After all these years the brass lined CoPilots are still the hardest to open of all of them for me. I would describe them as anti-smooth (not exactly rough). It might have been the original oil they used drying out, not really sure.

Also, I have not seen a brass lined version of this model with only a single liner (only zero or two), but would love to stand corrected if someone out there actually has one.

[The CoPilot]

Also, I have not seen a brass lined version of this model with only a single liner (only zero or two), but would love to stand corrected if someone out there actually has one.

That makes two of us, and I've seen quite a few Copilots as well.

[bengaiser]

You have indeed :D

[The CoPilot]

Dear Spyderco Forum Readers:

Some 8 1/2 years ago I painstakingly created this thread to illustrate all of the varieties (both major and minor) that I had encountered of the Spyderco Model C09 CoPilot. A few years ago, I had issues with the Photobucket account where I had the images hosted, and all of the image links were broken. I recently came across a backup archive of the images, and am now beginning the process of rebuilding this thread and its pictures. Please bear with me as this may take awhile, but I will get it back into shape so that it can once again be resource to the Spyderco Community.

Regards,

The CoPilot

[The CoPilot]

Variety Designation: C09 Owl
Model: C09 CoPilot
Embellished by: ?
Handle scales: Stainless steel with Mother of Pearl (MOP) decorative inlay
Blade Steel Type: ATS-55
Blade Markings: SPYDERCO ATS-55 / SEKI-CITY JAPAN
Producer: G. Sakai (Seki City, Japan) for Spyderco (knife only; embellishments by others)
Blade edges offered: Spyder Edge
Original box: unknown

Comments: Retailed in Japan by Hamonoichiba. This piece is not in my collection and the images are from the internet.

[The CoPilot]

I think I've got this thread rebuilt as good, or better than it used to be. Only had to re-shoot a couple of the images. I also updated the pics for variety C09-01 (Brass lined) because, through the help of a Forum reader, I managed to find an elusive Brass-lined, plain edge, lefty. Locating that piece filled an important empty slot in my collection of regular-production CoPilots. I continue to encourage readers of this thread to contact me by PM or email if they have other varieties of the C09 CoPilot that should be included here. I want to make this thread as comprehensive as possible. Hopefully now this thread can continue to provide a good resource of information about the model C09 CoPilot, which remains one of Spyderco's greatest little big knives!

[jabba359]

Great thread and impressive collection! I enjoy seeing when people really get into a particular model.

[Larry_Mott]

I appreciate the effort in making this compilation!
Invaluable for collectors!

[zacmangray]

Yeah man, you did an excellent job here. Really enjoyed going through this tread. Thanks for putting it all together the way you did. You are no doubt very proud of your collection, and you darn well should be.

[sal]

Exceptional collection. You are our CoPilot expert historian for sure. Thanx for the memory trip. I guess there are quite a few around. I'll keep my eye out as I go through old boxes for something you might not have.

sal

[The CoPilot]

Exceptional collection. You are our CoPilot expert historian for sure. Thanx for the memory trip. I guess there are quite a few around. I'll keep my eye out as I go through old boxes for something you might not have.

sal

Most kind of you, Sal!

When I visited the Spyderco back in 2009, I had a wonderful time visiting with Joyce Laturi at the SFO. She knew of my C09 CoPilot interest and brought out a box for five or six prototypes from the "archives" for me to examine. She allowed me to take some photos of the pieces, but I have never shown the images to anyone. I'd love to put those prototype variety images on this thread as well, but wouldn't want to do so without your permission. Do you think that would be OK?

The CoPilot

[sal]

That would be fine.

Joyce has been with us more than 20 years and is a significant part of the "family". I might add that she is part of the team that makes our excellent catalogs.

sal

[The CoPilot]

That would be fine.

Joyce has been with us more than 20 years and is a significant part of the "family". I might add that she is part of the team that makes our excellent catalogs.

sal

Wonderful! Thank you! I'll get the images uploaded here for all to enjoy.

The visit with Joyce was wonderful and she treated me so kindly. Somehow she knew when I was coming (I think from the Forum) and had set aside the CoPilots for me to examine. It was a wonderful privilege and Joyce is a tremendous asset to the company!

The CoPilot

[The CoPilot]

With Sal's permission (which he graciously granted), I wanted to share images of some of the C09 CoPilot prototypes and other pieces that are in the Spyderco Factory Archives. These images were taken by me on July 13, 2009, during my visit to the Spyderco Headquarters and Spyderco Factory Outlet (SFO) in Golden, Colorado. A few of the pieces appear to be true prototypes and others may have just been concept ideas that never really took off. But regardless, they are interesting varieties. My only wish is that I had taken more (and better) pictures back in 2009.

Here are pics of the C09 CoPilots from the company archives:

A C09 CoPilot that was modified by Sal. Note the stamping on the blade. Also note the lack of a lanyard hole. The blade profile and the shape of the butt of the knife have been modified so that they "flow" into one another when the knife is closed. Sal would later take this concept into further refinement on with the Model C61 Pegasus (which, in my opinion, is a real "jewel" of a knife design, especially when closed). He has also indicated that this modified knife was part of the process that lead to the development of the C61 Pegasus and the C29 Cricket.



One of my all-time favorites with cut-out letters on the handle scale. I love how the inner workings of the knife are visible - almost like a factory cut-away:


Another possible prototype; this one with plastic handle scales:


Zebra-stripe aftermarket decoration by Serene. Very similar to the "spyder web on bone" decoration C09 CoPilot that Serene made for knife retailer A.G. Russell (see variety designation: C09 SERENE (BONE) on Page 1 of this thread):


1993 DEMA (Diving Equipment Manufacturer's Association) special edition CoPilot. I believe that Sal was involved with DEMA in some capacity and special DEMA edition Spyderco knives were produced for their annual conventions for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s:


Sterling silver (I believe) "onlay" aftermarket-embellished CoPilot. Think of this one as the "Don't Tread on Me" CoPilot :D :

[SpeedHoles]

Wow, great read, nice work on this thread, CoPilot!

That is incredible to see some true vintage prototypes and rarities! I like this sort of glimpse into the history, and also a bit into the preproduction side that we might not otherwise get to see!

[The CoPilot]

Here is another image showing the various C09 CoPilots in the factory collection.

The other image is me out in front of Spyderco headquarters back on 7/13/2009 (a few years ago).

[Peter1960]

Thank you very much for letting us see these pictures Sal and also a great thank you for Mr. The CoPilote for sharing with us theses pieces of :spyder: -co history!

[nirvanero]

Thank you for updating this thread. Mine was a present so it's a special model for me...

[The CoPilot]

Thank you for updating this thread. Mine was a present so it's a special model for me...

That is a beauty, Nivanero! I can't quite tell from the picture but does yours have brass liners by chance?