Spyderco Ouroboros

[tvenuto]

Paul, this is awesome news! I handled the Ouroboros at the last Amsterdam meet and it was one of my favorites. I was disheartened to hear rumors that the knife had been there a few years running with no signs of progress. Whether or not that's true, I'm glad to see it coming to fruition. I'll certainly be snagging this one when it comes out.

[Able Dog]

Greetings Paul, always a pleasure to get to interact with a designer directly!

I'm growing fond of the Ouroboros design, it looks very comfortable in hand and the rave reports from those who've handled it agree.

[toxophilus]

Very insightful Paul, looking forward to reading more; this one is definitely on my acquisition list & look forward to using it as a Bowhunter :)

[swigert]

Awesome Paul, Cant wait to hear more!

[Shockwave]

Thank you for engaging with all of us Paul. Looking forward to hearing more.

I just seen a video where Eric mentioned it's VG-10 blade steel, and it's up for pre-order already on kc. :)

[caitbwebs]

Looks great! This knife definitely piqued my interest moreso than many of the other new releases. How fun to see such a unique design!!

[paulwa]

Design specifics:

So as you can probably surmise, I’m a big fan of finger choils, and the Ouroboros takes the finger choil about as far as reasonably allowable. I find the finger choil provides a level of control of the blade that you absolutely cannot get with designs where the only grip afforded is around a fully lined and scaled handle (of course, personal preferences will vary and take my opinions for what they are). As I started prototyping the early designs, I found that the deep choil puts the edge past the back side of the index finger, like how kitchen knife edges hit the board before your knuckles, but without so much space you sacrifice control and would want to switch to a paring knife. For my hand, when I really choke up on the Ouroboros, the edge of the blade is sprouting from the back of my index finger. This intimacy with the edge and the dexterity provided by the narrow neck of blade tang really inspire confidence during precision tasks. Of course, this comes at the cost of less steel in the tang, especially with the Spydie-hole in there, but Spyderco has some minimum recommended steel sections for designs, and the Ouroboros exceeded those. But thanks to CQI, if there’s an issue, the hole diameter can be reduced a bit without severely hindering the opening action. (Strangely enough, the thin neck and large central hole also work well in a pinch grip, and a modified pinch grip with the blade rotated 90 degrees, edge inward, and the meat of the pad before the first joint of the thumb in the hole… nice for any chores requiring a shaving-like motion.) This design is not meant to be a brute of a knife, but more an everyman/woman's utility knife that’s sized for easy carry.

Speaking of carry, I wanted the Ouroboros to be as interesting and ergonomic when closed as when open. The smooth, lozenge-like shape when folded may not be the narrowest design, but the nested liner construction gives it a thin profile. Open, the intent is for the knife to symbiotically meld with the hand, more reassuring than resisting as grip intensity increases… The inner curves of the handle lock securely, the swell of the butt helping keep it firm in the palm (that last line may need to be censored…), while the single sweeping arc of the spine provides flexibility of purchase, with no thumb ramp to give you an “either-or” sort of position choice. That same arc also makes the fore and aft grips distinctly different; choked-up, it actually feels like a more conventional design, while the handle-only grip cants the point distinctly forward for more coarse chores. While I fully expect that there will be a fair share of folks who dislike the design, though I hope they at least give it a chance, at least know that the Ouroboros was designed to be capable and functional as well as aesthetically compelling.

Thanks, and maybe one more post to wrap things up.

- Paul

[Pockets]

Welcome!
I think the Ouroboros is a really neat new design, and it is on my list for sure. Thanks for stopping by and giving us some more insight :D

[Ruarch]

I just did a quick google search and I cannot find a pic of this knife. Is there one anywhere?

[farnorthdan]

I just did a quick google search and I cannot find a pic of this knife. Is there one anywhere?

Check the 2016 shot show thread, its shown there in the video.

[swigert]

We need some screen shot grabs here

[MichaelScott]

Paul,

Thanks for describing your design intentions - what you did and why. I'd like to see more of this from other designers. It adds so much detail and understanding of what a particular knife is meant to be as a tool. I like the attention you have paid to how the knife overall is designed to work with the hand and the edge in different grips for different tasks.

Did you consider other, perhaps additional, blade shapes? I wonder how a Wharncliffe blade would fare in this design.

[farnorthdan]

We need some screen shot grabs here

+1 on that swigert, I'd do it if I knew how but I still got training wheels when it comes to confusers (computers) :D

[SpeedHoles]

Paul, would you happen to have any photos of prototypes you've worked with that you could post in this great thread? :)

[gaj999]

We need a pic. Or at least a link to the relevant video with a timestamp. Reading this thread, I was thinking Introvert.

Gordon

[paulwa]

Don't have pics of the production version, but here's a couple shots of the solid model that are fairly representative and will hopefully tide you over till the retailers get images:

image.tiff (83.98 KiB) Viewed 3842 times

image.tiff (79.21 KiB) Viewed 3842 times

[swigert]

Thanks Paul, do you have an estimate of when t will ship to retailers?

[Johnnie1801]

Paul's images don't work for me so here are a few from the youtube video :)

[gaj999]

That's a nice looking little knife. I like very deep choils or none at all. Nothing in between. This works. I like the oval shape when it's closed, too. Good job.

Gordon

[dplafoll]

I like how the choil seems(from what I can see in the vid and screenshots) to not sacrifice the ability to sharpen all the way back on the edge, unlike most other Spydies with the big choil. That's a nice touch.