Spyderco Forums

With inspiration from many forum members, namely gbelleh, Mr. Blonde, and nirvanero, I have decided that it is time to start an extended thread showcasing each of my Spydercos in the general order that I purchased them. "General order" because I have not kept an exact record of dates and purchases, so I will mainly be going off of Ebay purchase history and previous full collection pictures.

I will provide a single picture and a short description of the knife. I will post one everyday until I run out, unless I'm out of town, etc. Please feel free to comment! :)
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Rewind to August 6, 2013. I had just purchased my first Spyderco, with no idea that it would lead to another, and another, and then a dozen more, and then a hundred... :eek:

Today we will start off with Spydie number 1, the Spyderco Tenacious. This budget blade is famous for being the gateway to the world of Spyderco for many people, and it was the one that got me started. I modded the blade shape, did a bad job of polishing it, cut lines in the scales for grip, and convexed the edge to about 7 dps.

Tenacious:

A short while after receiving the Tenacious, I had fallen in love with the opening hole, quality construction, and unique look. I also found out that some Spydies were made in Golden, which is only 20 minutes away. After reading tons of reviews, I ordered a Paramilitary 2.

At that time, it was my most expensive knife, and I was slow to warm up. It was only after using it for a few weeks that I realized how much better it is than the Tenacious. Currently, the Paramilitary 2 line is my favorite EDC knife for camping or hiking.

Paramilitary 2 in digicam/satin S30V:

Nice pictures and reviews, GS. I like the reprofile job on your Tenacious. Kind of reminds me of the blade on the Stretch. Keep up the good work!

Hey Goldenspydie

First of all love the idea of this thread and looking forward to all the pics and descriptions you are going to post here. Because you have a great collection :)
But i have a little question for you.
I calculated from your first post that you bought +- 5 spydie's the month. (Impressive i must say )
But how do you choose a new spydie is there a specific way you want to go with youre collection? Or do you have such a bad case of the spyderfever that you buy all the ones you encounter you do not already have ? :)
Because **** 5 the month is hard work for youre thoughts i think XD

Tuning in...
Love the custom work on the Tenacious.
This is so much fun to watch, both you and gbelleh are great photographers and I'm enjoying the stories.

GoldenSpydie wrote:At that time, it was my most expensive knife, and I was slow to warm up. It was only after using it for a few weeks that I realized how much better it is than the Tenacious. Currently, the Paramilitary 2 line is my favorite EDC knife for camping or hiking.

I think the "PM2 is too expensive" stage is one that every spydielover experiences at the outset. "Is this really twice as good as my Delica" is what I was thinking at the time. Now it looks like the most screaming deal ever. Ah, how perceptions change over time.

SpyderNut wrote:Nice pictures and reviews, GS. I like the reprofile job on your Tenacious. Kind of reminds me of the blade on the Stretch. Keep up the good work!

PayneTrain wrote:Tuning in...
Love the custom work on the Tenacious.
This is so much fun to watch, both you and gbelleh are great photographers and I'm enjoying the stories.

Thanks! Maybe now that I have a belt sander (instead of just a dremel) I should finish the polishing job on the Tenacious?

apollo wrote:Hey Goldenspydie

First of all love the idea of this thread and looking forward to all the pics and descriptions you are going to post here. Because you have a great collection :)
But i have a little question for you.
I calculated from your first post that you bought +- 5 spydie's the month. (Impressive i must say )
But how do you choose a new spydie is there a specific way you want to go with youre collection? Or do you have such a bad case of the spyderfever that you buy all the ones you encounter you do not already have ? :)
Because **** 5 the month is hard work for youre thoughts i think XD

Thanks!

Ummm...please don't calculate or average anything. I worked around with average prices and I don't want to ever do that again... :eek:

In the beginning, I bought whatever seemed to get the best reviews--Tenacious, PM2, Delica, etc. After a while, as you will see, I decided to collect all of the Golden-made models, and that guided most of my purchases. I was inexperienced at collecting, and as you will see, some of my buys were not the best idea. (Either the knife was nearly destroyed, overpriced, or both.)

Now days, I try to find the best deals on good condition knives to fill out sections of my collection. For example, I got a Sage 2 to complete that lineup, and I need a Gunting and Yojimbo 1 to finish out the Golden-made Spydies.

tvenuto wrote:

GoldenSpydie wrote:At that time, it was my most expensive knife, and I was slow to warm up. It was only after using it for a few weeks that I realized how much better it is than the Tenacious. Currently, the Paramilitary 2 line is my favorite EDC knife for camping or hiking.

I think the "PM2 is too expensive" stage is one that every spydielover experiences at the outset. "Is this really twice as good as my Delica" is what I was thinking at the time. Now it looks like the most screaming deal ever. Ah, how perceptions change over time.

Very true. I also thought (at the time) that the blade-to-handle ratio was not as good as the Tenacious. I have since come to appreciate the choil and longer handle.

It will be interesting to see your collection's progression too.

I want to see your C-44 Dyad :cool: And your original Temperance 1 model if you ever snagged one. I truly hope you did get one of the Dodo models or one of the JD Smiths>> because all those I mentioned make beautiful pics for sure

Anything with Bob Lum's name on it also goes into the category of "fine Art" IMO

Thanks gbelleh and JD!

Next, I wanted to try out something from Japan, and the Delica 4 seemed to be very popular. This little guy went with me to Churchill, Manitoba, to see polar bears on foot. Sadly, I didn't take any knife pictures on that trip...

After that trip, my mom stole it for her backpack, but I got it back after she got a pink Native. So now it resides in my collection as the sole Delica that I have in Boulder. The design is very useful, and I want to get another Delica in Hap40.

I was satisfied with these three for a while, but as always, I eventually got the urge for more :spyder:s.

Next was the LW Manix 2 in CTS-BD1. It never really was a favorite of mine, but it introduced me to the CBBL (good) and FRCP (bad).

This old Manix now resides in a stash of stuff on our ranch in Wyoming since I have better knives for EDC. If I ever forget to take a knife up there (I don't know how that would happen), then I will have it available.

Since it is 8 hours away in Wyoming, I cannot take a new picture, so here is an old one:

Yea, as quick as I am to sing the praises of (Spyderco's) FRN, I really don't like FRCP. It would seem that such a minor difference shouldn't be that big of a deal, but it is.

Next up was a UKPK. I got the second one a few days after receiving the first, and they are the same model, so I'm not going to bore you by making two identical posts.

I really appreciate the quality and the design for a $30 knife, and the fact that it is made in Golden is just icing on the cake! I have recently modified the bottom one for a more acute tip.

Nice mod, similar to Gringo's. Since one is not too likely to do much prying with a knife like this, it seems appropriate :)

Thanks Doug!

I don't know what made me buy this LNIB Chinook 3. Although the Chinook was purchased on a whim, it is an amazing knife, and it started my journey into collectable Spyders.

The Chinook 3 is very secure in the hand, and the blade is really interesting. The 4mm lock back and dino jimping make this knife close to perfect.

Nice thread. :)

Thanks MacLaren!

Next, I found this little guy, a sprint run foliage green/combo edge D4 with saber grind, but but with a modified plain edge. I picked it up for a steal but never really carried it.

This Delica currently lives with the lw Manix in Wyoming, so here is an old picture:

At this point, something clicked, and I decided to collect the models made in Golden. I started out with the discontinued ones from the past few years, because they were easy to find but felt "rare." At that time, I thought that there would be 5-10 total! (There's more like 50.)

This Leafstorm is an interesting collab with Wilkins. It has a titanium frame lock, natural G10 scale with integral backspacer, and S30V blade. Many people have problems with the notch and spike at the rear of the blade, but the ergonomics are ok for me, so it hasn't caused any problems.

The Leafstorm was purchased only a few hours before I checked out with the T-Mag. Both were NIB and came from little-known dealers that still had them in stock.

The T-Mag is a unique collaboration with custom maker Ralph Turnbull. The overall shape reminds me of a modified UKPK. It uses a rectangular Rare Earth (Neodymium NdFeB) magnet to hold the blade open. The internal construction is very open and simple since the blade is the only moving part, unlike in traditional slip-its.

The blade is hollow ground and stamped "Golden, Colorado, U.S.A., Rare Earth," probably in reference to the Rare Earth magnet. The scales are carbon fiber, and they are slightly textured--a little rougher than the CF Dodo.

Overall, this is really a nice knife, and I don't understand why it had such a "meh" reaction from the majority. It was priced higher than the UKPK, but rightly so, as it had a unique non-locking system, premium materials, perfect f&f, and a cool custom design!

Awesome thread! great write ups and pictures! Keep them coming :D