How did you discover Spyderco?

[DougC-3]

While we are on this topic, do you think that right this very moment, somewhere in the world, there are individual persons who are just now receiving their very first Spyderco knife, and who will receive their first Spyderco knife, and, in the future at some point will join this excellent forum and share their experience with us?

This is no doubt true, SEF. This forum was what really got the ball rolling with me. Got my Boy Scout knife at age 6 or 7 (1948 or '49) and I don't believe I went through a single day of my life after that without a knife in my pocket. I did acquire several along the way, but went through decades of latency before belatedly discovering Spyderco about 5 years ago. I had got tired of not being able to close my large, cheap liner-lock stud-type no-name knife one-handed (left hand, and it had no lock cutout in the handle). So I ordered a popular stud type knife with an Axis lock but didn't like it and never carried it a single time.

I went on Amazon and this new H-1 steel caught my eye. I really liked the reviews and pictures of the black blade Pacific Salt and then the Manix 2 and Caly 3.5. I first ordered a hollow ground PS Manix 2, not from Amazon, but from National Knives. I was astonished at how smooth and precise the action was. I'd never handled a knife with zero blade play that would allow you to close it by gravity alone. My second order was the CF Caly 3.5, from Outfitter Country, and it may have been my downfall. It had some CF particles in the pivot which made it very hard to open the blade, and I joined the forum and asked for advice about it. I was overwhelmed by the friendly helpfulness of 8 or 10 forumites. (Nevertheless I went against their advice, took the knife apart and cleaned it out, and it's been one of my favorites ever since.)

But that got me started on the forum at a very exciting time. I got caught up in the excitement about the S110V 2013 Forum Native 5, the current mule, the current sprint run (green CTS 204P PM2), and it's hardly slowed down since. I've been sort of dazzled by the amazing variety of knife types and designs, steels, handle materials, traditions, countries of manufacture and so on. Received my 89th spydie last week, not counting a couple of Bug Sets I won at National Knives and 6 or 8 knives I've ordered for other people. I was amazed to notice that I have blades in 26 different steels! And I'm not even really a bona fide steel freak, just an intense dabbler.

[JD Spydo]

This is one time where I can honestly say that the Knife Magazine ads really helped shed light on Spyderco and what they were about. All the way back to 1994 and even eariler I distinctly remember looking at Spyderco's ads particularly about their serrated models in the three major knife magazines. I probably saw at least 2 advertisements in BLADE and in Tactical Knives both each issue. It got to where I couldn't even ignore them anymore.

it is one time when advertisements from magazines really got my attention. Especially in the late 90s/early 2000s when the 204 Sharpmaker first arrived on the scene I just had to have one of those. There was a dealer at the time here In Kansas City and I just bugged them to the point to where they probably dreaded seeing me :D But the Laytons who were dealers who did all the gun shows here in Kansas City finally got their hands on a couple of 204 Sharpmakers and I bought the first one they had.

Also during that late 90s/early 2000s era is when the Paladin Press book "The SPYDERCO STORY" was first introduced and the old American Survival Guide magazine did a really nice article on the book. At about that time I owned probably my first dozen or so Spyderco folders and had even bought some for my friends and family for Birthday and Christmas gifts.

This was truly a real American Company who built their reputation on quality and customer service. That's probably why I like the old school Spyders the best especially the GOLDEN ERA models 1998-2003-04. The models from that era truly established a platform that still exists today IMO.

[sonarsessions]

Honestly, for a while I felt like Spyderco was rather gimmicky with the spydie hole and how people swore by them... so naturally I went to my local bass pro shop and handled a delica, endura and Tenacious. This wasn't too long ago either, I'd say around mid 2014. Being used to assisted opening and flipper knives it immediately threw me off and the knives seemed hard to open, so I passed on them. Once I started to fiddle a bit more with my knives and got into sharpening them, custom clips, etc. I gave it another try last year, and found the FRN Manix 2 had hooked me. Once that happened I circled back at the Delica and Endura and made a few adjustments to them and the rest is history, although nowadays my Delica's and Dragonfly 2 get the majority of pocket time.

[rwponline]

The worker in the attached photo was actually my second, I had lost the first about a year earlier. Back in 1990, $64 for a pocket knife seemed crazy, but after trying a few 'cheaper alternatives', I gave up and bought this one. Little did I realize how much money I would spend on those goofy looking knives with the hole in the bade over the next three decades...

[vivi]

The worker in the attached photo was actually my second, I had lost the first about a year earlier. Back in 1990, $64 for a pocket knife seemed crazy, but after trying a few 'cheaper alternatives', I gave up and bought this one. Little did I realize how much money I would spend on those goofy looking knives with the hole in the bade over the next three decades...

It's fun comparing current prices to old prices. Hard to imagine there was a $40 USA made S30V Native at one point...that was one of my first Spydercos. I also remember paying $20 for my first G10 Cara Cara...insane quality for the price. I also recall the Paramilitary retailing for about $125-135 when Spyderco launched the Para 2 at under $100, which really impressed me at the time.

Kind of crazy that in all the years between the Worker and Para 2, bearing in mind inflation, different steels, different country of origin etc., they only charged another $30.

[PanChango]

In the mid 90's a friend of mine gave me a Harpy for my birthday.

[bh49]

It's fun comparing current prices to old prices. Hard to imagine there was a $40 USA made S30V Native at one point...that was one of my first Spydercos.

$40 Native was heavy discounted price only at some walmart stores. Dealers were selling it for $56. At one time dealers stopped buying this model from Spyderco because they were paying more than $40 and couldn't sell it even at cost.
Today, ten years later N5 is $30 more. But in my book it well worth it. Plus $86 now, probably like $63 back then.

[dialex]

Many years ago, it was an old SF movie (Screamers) where I first saw a peculiar (yet cool looking) knife, with serrations and a round hole in the blade. I thought it was especially made for the movie and I congratulated in my mind the prop master for his inspiration.
Imagine my surprise when I found it actually is a real knife, named Spyderco Delica (SS SE). :) Then I got my first Spyderco... then the second... and the rest is history. :D