OIF native question

[BJEOD]

Is it still available for soldiers that participated in OIF? I am an army bomb tech that just got back, and wanted to purchase a few for my team as a thank you.

Thanks.

[SmoothOne25]

just walk into the army px and buy 8 at a time. :rolleyes:
you can do that apparently. cheapens the whole knife and its appearance imho. i can't believe sal let them be sold on bases to any d'b who walks in with a wad of cash and an ebay account. i thought they were super special for a long time. i thought they were for military, serving now only, if you win the drawing you get one. shame sal....shame! i "grail" hunted thinking my huge sum of money i spent was going to some lucky soldier who won your raffle and got one for his bravery and carried it home for miles, not some guy who "purchased" 5 at once on the army base store...
when i found out that was true and what it says in the catalog was b.s i was upset. i thought they were super limited. "sfo only makes like 50 a month and gives them out for free to soldiers who win our contest." i thought "wow how lucky, wonder how i can get one" then i met a man with 9 of them for sale at once.
well you get the idea...

i was ripped off money wise too but that is not what bothers me.

[Michael Janich]

just walk into the army px and buy 8 at a time. :rolleyes:
you can do that apparently. cheapens the whole knife and its appearance imho. i can't believe sal let them be sold on bases to any d'b who walks in with a wad of cash and an ebay account. i thought they were super special for a long time. i thought they were for military, serving now only, if you win the drawing you get one. shame sal....shame! i "grail" hunted thinking my huge sum of money i spent was going to some lucky soldier who won your raffle and got one for his bravery and carried it home for miles, not some guy who "purchased" 5 at once on the army base store...
when i found out that was true and what it says in the catalog was b.s i was upset. i thought they were super limited. "sfo only makes like 50 a month and gives them out for free to soldiers who win our contest." i thought "wow how lucky, wonder how i can get one" then i met a man with 9 of them for sale at once.
well you get the idea...

i was ripped off money wise too but that is not what bothers me.

First of all, your attitude does absolutely nothing to honor the service of our uniformed personnel. If you wish to remain a member of this forum, you should give that some serious thought.

Secondly, your understanding of the OIF program is factually incorrect.

The OIF program began as a means of honoring forward-deployed U.S. military personnel by giving them the opportunity to win one of a limited number of free knives every month. After the program was run that way for a considerable period of time, AAFEES (which sells Spyderco knives through their exchange system) and Spyderco both began receiving requests from OIF veterans who wanted to purchase these knives to commemorate their service in that campaign. Based on that demand, Spyderco scaled up our production of the knife and made arrangements to offer it exclusively through AAFEES and our direct-sale Save and Serve program. It remains a limited-production item that is only available through controlled channels that require a military ID for purchase.

As a military veteran and a Spyderco employee, I take great offense at your disrespectful attitude and your ignorance of the facts. If OIF knives have been sold on the secondary market, those are rare, individual exceptions to what is otherwise a unique program intended to honor the service and dedication of forward-deployed military personnel.

Please check your attitude and your facts and show some respect.

Mike

[iwolf81]

Well said Mr Janich!

Regards,
Ira

[TazKristi]

Is it still available for soldiers that participated in OIF? I am an army bomb tech that just got back, and wanted to purchase a few for my team as a thank you.

Thanks.

Please check your Private Messages, I can help you with this.

Kristi

[Zmonster]

I’ve been hovering over this forum for a few weeks now, but I just registered in light of this thread. I would love info on how to sign up for the raffle. I’ve been active duty for the last 14 years, and not quitting till they tell me too.

I was recently cleaning out some of my old gear and I found my old Spyderco that I purchased while stationed in Korea 13 years ago. I put that knife through some serious use, and can’t believe how well it has survived. It went to my first deployment in 2003, but I missed placed it for the last two deployments. I actually stumbled across this forum while trying to find out how to go about getting the old knife sharpened. It has a full serrated edge, but I don’t know what model it is. Can anyone help out? I'll post a pic when I get home.

Since fishing through the old threads, I’ve rekindled the desire for a new EDC blade. I’m really leaning toward the Military with a straight edge. Now I just need to find one that fits my bill.

Thank you for offering this raffle for us servicemen. Looking forward to your great products.

[SmoothOne25]

yeah well sfo told me these facts. i then found out they were lies. i was floored sal made them available to "anyone". my opinion is my opinion and to "sell" them, then in the catalog make it seem like they are for our serviceman as a reward and not a profit making venture upset me greatly so we are both upset about the situation...

your a mod, don't agree with what i said feel free to delete.

[tonydahose]

1st off, for all who have served and are currently serving out there protecting our butts back here, thank you. it may not be a perfect system that Sal set up but I thank him for doing it in the first place. Spyderco takes care of the military & the police/fire/ems as well.

[SmoothOne25]

and your wrong. there have been hundreds on ebay/secondary market, that cheaped it imo!

[TazKristi]

yeah well sfo told me these facts. i then found out they were lies. i was floored sal made them available to "anyone". my opinion is my opinion and to "sell" them, then in the catalog make it seem like they are for our serviceman as a reward and not a profit making venture upset me greatly so we are both upset about the situation...

your a mod, don't agree with what i said feel free to delete.

and your wrong. there have been hundreds on ebay/secondary market, that cheaped it imo!

The Tan Native has never been available through our normal distribution (Dealers/ Distributors) exactly as it is stated in our Catalog. AAFES does offer the Tan Native down range and in select stores on military bases. Not just anyone can even enter an AAFES store let alone make a purchase. So, unless you are calling a member of our military a "d'b" (honestly I'm not sure what that is but I have an idea) you don't seem to understand how AAFES works. These knives are not sold to AAFES in large quantities nor even produced in large quantities. Those sold through AAFES or our Save and Serve program are sold at a discount. It is not now, nor has it ever been about making a profit.

As for your comment of "hundreds on ebay/secondary market" I suppose that's possible that there could be hundreds over the course of the past 9 years. We don't control what anyone does with one of our knives after they receive it.

You are entitled to your own opinion, we have always allowed you to express it quite freely. However your choice to rant about it in this thread, which had nothing to do with your issue, is imho in poor taste. Perhaps you could have just shown appreciation to the OP for his service to our country and posted your opinion in your own thread.

Kristi

[Blerv]

Is it still available for soldiers that participated in OIF? I am an army bomb tech that just got back, and wanted to purchase a few for my team as a thank you.

Thanks.

Thank you for your service; welcome home!!!

Hopefully TazKristi can assist. That sounds like a very noble gesture.

[pmbspyder]

Thank you for your service! Spyderco is known for taking care of our service members, I'm sure someone can help you out!

Whoops, looks like TazK has already put the wheels in motion. Nice!

[redyps04]

First of all, your attitude does absolutely nothing to honor the service of our uniformed personnel. If you wish to remain a member of this forum, you should give that some serious thought.

Secondly, your understanding of the OIF program is factually incorrect.

The OIF program began as a means of honoring forward-deployed U.S. military personnel by giving them the opportunity to win one of a limited number of free knives every month. After the program was run that way for a considerable period of time, AAFEES (which sells Spyderco knives through their exchange system) and Spyderco both began receiving requests from OIF veterans who wanted to purchase these knives to commemorate their service in that campaign. Based on that demand, Spyderco scaled up our production of the knife and made arrangements to offer it exclusively through AAFEES and our direct-sale Save and Serve program. It remains a limited-production item that is only available through controlled channels that require a military ID for purchase.

As a military veteran and a Spyderco employee, I take great offense at your disrespectful attitude and your ignorance of the facts. If OIF knives have been sold on the secondary market, those are rare, individual exceptions to what is otherwise a unique program intended to honor the service and dedication of forward-deployed military personnel.

Please check your attitude and your facts and show some respect.

Mike

Thanks for clarifying this issue, and Taz as well.
I would like to just reemphasize what you guys have already said. These knives are in fact only available to soldiers as you MUST have a military ID card to buy one or win it in the raffle. Thus, the original owners must be military personel. However, if a soldier buys one and chooses to sell it on the secondary market, there is nothing that Spyderco can do about that, nor should they. It is the soldier's right to do so.
It's kind of odd how much confusion there has always been around these models.

[redyps04]

Oh, and thanks Sal for such a great knife. It has always meant a lot to me.

[BJEOD]

Wow, I really didn't mean to stir up any harsh reactions, i was just looking for a gift for my team members. Thank you kristi for the info, and I'll get the email out to you as soon as I get into work tomorrow.

[Whieee]

In the Netherlands, where I come from, today is the day on which we remember those who have fallen in WWII and afterwards. Many young men (including many Canadian and American soldiers) gave or at least risked their lives so Europe could live in freedom.

I think today is not the day to rant about profit, miscommunication and whatnot. Today is the day we should honor those who care enough to serve.

My 2 cents.