Cobra Hoods

[Buddha UK]

In my modest collection there resides a shiny ATR. It has a Cobra hood as you all probably know. I think it looks great and works a treat. Am I the only one who would love to see this feature on more Spydies? Yes I agree the hole works perfectly well without it but even if my seat belts work perfectly I still appreciate air bags. :D

[MCM]

Yes, you might be the only one.

[Holland]

Yes, you might be the only one.

+1 haha :D
although, i would still love to see a salsa sprint!

[gaj999]

Yes, you might be the only one.

He's not.


Gordon

[TSchloz]

I like the Cobra Hood.

Tom

[appliancejunk]

I use to have a Salsa and loved the hood.
Should have never let it go...

[Tank]

I like it too

[The Deacon]

You're obviously not the only one, but you're probably part of a fairly small minority. And, while it only happens rarely, I'm with the majority on this issue. If Spyderco never made another cobra hooded blade it would be fine with me.

[JNewell]

I've had ATRs and Salsas and regard the cobra hood as a positive safety hazard. I had multiple unintended and unexpected wave openings with them. In my opinion, the only knife that has the cobra hood where everything tips in favor of the device is the Assist, where the user may be using the knife with a gloved hand.

[RanCoWeAla]

Never owned one with that feature but would like to try it. It looks like it would aid in opening the knife

[phillipsted]

The Assist has a cobra hood as well. On that knife it makes perfect sense because you want to get it open even when using gloves.

TedP

[gbelleh]

I like the cobra hood a lot. I've never had a problem with them accidentally deploying, and I like the wide thumb ramp it provides (and how it looks). I was disappointed to hear that if a Salsa sprint happens, it will be minus the hood.

[mikerestivo]

The Assist has a cobra hood as well. On that knife it makes perfect sense because you want to get it open even when using gloves.

TedP

Yes. I was about to say this but you said it perfectly.

[Dodge]

I think it has its place in the lineup. I think it would be good as an aftermarket add on to the salt line if you could figure out how to make it function.

[SCARLETT]

For the past 7 years I carry an atr daily on duty and the cobra hood is fantastic. When wearing slash gloves or winter gloves it makes it that much easier to use. That being said I wouldn't buy a small knife with one.

[bh49]

Cobra hood is nice, certainly better than studs. But IMHO it is little redundant if you have a spydiehole.

[Pinetreebbs]

I too like the cobra head.

[Buddha UK]

Aha, I'm NOT the only one, lol.
Thanks for sharing your on duty experience SCARLETT, I would imagine that a lot of users are from the emergency services and therefore wear gloves or have situations were slippery fluids of one kind or another might be involved. I personally love the feel and look of it but at the same time agree it wouldn't look right and isn't needed on all Spydies. The aesthetics of some of your semi-precious Kiwis and Kopas for instance Deacon would, I think, be ruined with the addition of a hood. It's definitely a feature best suited for the hard use knife and not for functional pocket jewellery. I'd like to see one on the H1 Dragonfly 2 as (I think) it is the only Spydie that has a finger choil, H1 steel (wet and slippery conditions) and is of a size where we in the UK can convert it to a non locker, yet it is just a little small for those with big paws and I think the hood would help with that.. I'd also like one on my Ti UKPK, under 'normal' conditions it doesn't need it but I think it would look great and add to its functionality.
The Spyderhole is definitely one of the greatest innovations in knife history. It is comfortable, works excellently and has such a natural feeling, adding the hood (for me) only accentuates these things. I want to make it clear that I am not hoping to see it on every knife, just on a few more would be nice.
On accidental openings with the Cobra hood, I have seen it mentioned before but have never personally experienced it so I just tried unsuccessfully for about 10 mins to get this to happen with my ATR. Even tried with two different pockets, basketball shorts and cargo pants. Maybe I could recreate it with my girlfriends skinny jeans but then you would be lucky to get a Squeak in those pockets once they are on her let alone an ATR. I'm sure this is my lack of skill in recreating accidental openings but it's also a slight possibility that if you do suffer from accidental Cobra hood openinings you may want to consider a less snug fit pants wise.
Let them breath folks! :D

[c.joe]

I'm in! More compression locks too!

[Jazz]

You're VERY close to the only one. :p The hole works fine as it is, thank you very much. I would love a titanium Salsa comp lock without the hood, though.