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"Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:08 pm
by SpyderEdgeForever
The design I have in mind has a Scandinavian Saber-ground blade made from Sandvik 12C27 or one of their newer steel alloys, with a drop point like blade of some kind, and a handle made from either G10 or FRN or a mix of both. The hole will be for the trademark in the blade. The sheath can be either leather or some synthetic polymer.

Blade length would be under 4 inches to keep the knife legally-usable in a wide-range of places. Who's in for this design and what feed back do you offer?

What do you think, sal?

PS: This is not another incarnation of the Spyderco Puukko.

Also: It can come in both Plain-Edge and Serrated-Edge versions.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:09 pm
by VashHash
Sounds like you're asking spyderco to make a mora.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:12 pm
by bearfacedkiller
The just discontinued Bushcraft?

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 10:17 pm
by TomAiello
Honestly, I think there are a lot of really good knives fitting that description currently available, and I'm not sure that Spyderco needs to venture into that niche.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 10:39 pm
by Halfneck
Yea the Sandvik 12C27 and plastic handles market is pretty much dominated by Mora. While I have no doubt Spyderco could make one **** of a knife, they can't beat the price of a Mora.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:02 am
by awa54
Not I, leave Scandi knives to the Norwegians, Finns and Swedes! They do that format well (having invented it) and for less cost on the whole than I'd guess Spyderco could.

As Darby pointed out, the Bushcraft is discontinued already and I doubt that re-making it in a cheaper variant, with less desireable materials would save it from poor sales when the competition is $40 from Mora... Not to mention the fact that Spyderco doesn't work with Sandvik alloys and most here would probably feel that 12c27 is a low performing steel compared to the rest of the Spyderco lineup.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:00 am
by Dingo
Hmmm came away from this style knife

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:05 am
by supracor
A scandi-grind knife in 12c27 isn't a great improvement at all ;)

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 4:15 am
by Daveho
VashHash wrote:
Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:09 pm
Sounds like you're asking spyderco to make a mora.
This

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 6:25 am
by VashHash
Another option. Buy an aqua salt and have it cut down. It's not a Scandi grind but it's essentially what the vagabond was. It's also offered in PE and SE. Not to mention rust proof so it'd be great for survival. No worries about it getting damaged from years of storage in a kit.

I just measured my vagabond and it's a 3" blade. I keep it in my pack just in case. They used this handle to make the aqua so there's no chance for a sprint.
Image

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 3:53 pm
by SpyderScout
awa54 wrote:
Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:02 am
Not I, leave Scandi knives to the Norwegians, Finns and Swedes! They do that format well (having invented it) and for less cost on the whole than I'd guess Spyderco could.
Danes quietly heard sobbing in the background.... :p

:D Just kidding - as you hint at, a scandi grind is more often encountered in the aforementioned contries.
Ironic name for a grind used in Finland BTW - 'Scandinavian grind. Especially since Finland is not part of Scandinavia.

And yes, I agree; the market is flooded with nice cheap scandi grind knives of good quality. Just bought my fourth Terävä blade - the 140 Puukko. Good quality, strong, great handle, scandi with secondary bevel and cheap as chips. Tough to compete with.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 4:54 pm
by bearfacedkiller
The Terävä Jääkäripuukko is a beast of a knife and is definitely what I would call a survival knife due to how robust it is but it isn’t what I would call a Scandi ground knife. With a secondary bevel that big it is just an absurdly obtuse saber ground knife. Mine took a lot of work on a coarse stone to put a zero grind on it and make it cut well. It is a great value and I am happy with mine now.

I am a fan of Scandinavian knives and Puukko but many are not quite what Americans call survival knives due to the steep zero grinds (many Puukko are steeper than a Mora) and rat tail tangs. That is why Mora makes the Garberg and Helle makes the Temagami. Enzo seems to be targeting this western style of Scandinavian knives as well. Those all have sturdier tangs. They are Scandi blades with western handles. It is kind of the same idea as the Japanese putting western handles on their kitchen knives to appeal to our market.

Knives like the Spyderco Bushcraft and the knives by L.T. Wright, BHK and the like are what I would consider Scandinavian style survival knives. I agree that we could let the Scandinavian countries (and Finland) keep making their traditional knives which they do well. They have lots of makers and lots of options. That said, I see no reason why companies outside of Scandinavia shouldn’t make the full tang bushcraft style of knife that has become so popular.

So I guess the question is, can Spyderco produce a price competitive full tang Scandi ground survival/bushcraft knife that can compete with knives like the Garberg and Jääkäripuukko and if so would the market support it?

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:02 pm
by bearfacedkiller
I might also add that a Scandi grind and a saber grind are not the same thing. If a Scandi grind has a secondary bevel it is a saber grind. I would even say that if it has a microbevel that is bigger than what it takes to debur the edge then it isn’t a Scandi grind. Knife marketing is watering down the definition of the word Puukko as well as the definition of a Scandi grind IMO.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 6:01 pm
by Tdog
Though not a "Scandi" the Waterway might serve the purpose well.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:15 pm
by JD Spydo
I would be all for it under one big condition>> It absolutely must be made available in Spyderedge and Plain edge>> because they just need more fixed blade Spyderedged models and a Scandi model in SE would be really nice.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:31 am
by zhyla
SpyderEdgeForever wrote:
Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:08 pm
The design I have in mind has a Scandinavian Saber-ground blade ... with a drop point like blade of some kind ... Blade length would be under 4 inches
Wow, so many details, you've practically designed this knife for them.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:54 am
by Larry_Mott
I think making a knife like that is an excersise in futility considering the already available choices from Mora and Finland..
Living in Sweden i obviously don't have a clue about availability of the Moras in the U.S. but here you can find one practically everywhere at the cost of a McDonalds meal :)
I think it would be hard to compete with bang/buck and making it "too exclusive" would make people reluctant to use them as hard and ruthless as they would a plastic handled Mora.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:51 am
by NoFair
There was the Bushcraft. The market is pretty saturated and a carbon steel Mora is something like $4 (stainless about $10) and they are actually pretty good... ;)

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 8:56 am
by tvenuto
Yea, just look at the grief Spyderco is getting for entering the hatchet market, where there are many low cost and proven alternatives.

Re: "Spyderco Scandinavian Survival Knife": Who's in?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:22 am
by MichaelScott
An interesting, but not realistic from a business perspective. For example, if I wanted a collector “Scandinavian Survival” knife I would get one of Helle’s. If I wanted a user, I would get a Mora. Which one do you think will be the best seller? Not very many people would pay between $100 and $200 USD for a real user that might have to chop wood, pry rocks, dig holes, etc.

As indicated by the demise of the bushcraft, I believe the market for high end bushcraft knives is very small.