Spyderco Forums

Black goes with everything.....sooner or later

Not if i can help it!

MichaelScott wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 20, 2019 12:29 pm

I like basic black, as do, I suspect, most buyers.

^^ This.. A black handle knife, black car and Armani suits will never go out of style.

Hate knives with black scales/handles.
Super boring, and uninviting.

Would love Dark Grey more, but especially dark blue or green.

I never disliked the black knives I have but I didn't want any more of them. Now I have all these knives with various handle colors including several with grey. Lately I find myself carrying my black knives again. Guess I just needed a break.

Nope, I prefer black. I would buy more sprints if they came in black.

I’d like something besides black. Almost anything else would be fine with me. Burgundy, Forest green or a dark but not Navy blue would be my first choices.

I like black, I'm glad it's the standard. I'd enjoy seeing more OD green / foliage green though. FG scales and DLC blade is an awesome combo.

I like the black, but hey, how about a goldenrod Delica wharncliffe?

Green for me

I like black.
Sometimes blue scales are fine.
The yellow salt is amazing.
The colors of the sprints are a nice change.

You can also use other/ dyed scales.

I am fine how it is today.

i like black. it may be plain, but that's what the aftermarket it for. if your favorite color is coquelicot, that's great for you, but you shouldn't expect a company to make a whole line of knives with it so you can buy one. i personally don't understand all of the color choices by spyderco and some of the dealers that make exclusives. i almost never like the colors and end up passing on otherwise great knives. i think "blurple" is a silly looking color and can't see myself ever carrying it. i hate carbon fiber stickers over g10. it looks cheap. and, for the love of all that is holy, why does almost every knife with carbon fiber have to be matched with a carbon steel blade that is going to patina or rust? that doesn't even make sense to me at all. i don't care for yellow, even though i have two yellow salts. i can't bear the look of the caribbean, which is really unfortunate because it's a knife i should own. orange...? not a chance. orange is for moras that i'm going to let my kids use in the woods (supervised, of course). i also don't care for any of the cartoon colors on the delicas and enduras. i'm not interested in carrying a knife that looks like a toy, although i'd argue that my yellow salts look like toys too. the red g10 sprints with satin blades look like cheap tools you buy at home depot or lowes rather than $120 knives.

now that that's out of the way, i do like most earthy tones. i like olive scales. i like brown scales. i even like the grey scales on maxamet, but once you start venturing out into these other colors, i think you end up shrinking your customer base. i think more people would refuse to buy a "blurple" or bumblebee knife because of the color than would refuse to buy a black knife for the same reason. maybe it would be nice if spyderco offered lighter colored scales in their different steels so they would be easier to dye whatever color the consumer wants. i don't think that's as realistic as just making black scales, but it's an idea.

I don't hate black scales, they're fine, but given the choice when purchasing a new knife, I'd prefer most any other color. A company has to produce what will sell though, and black ones sell.

Just reading through the replies to this post,if I personally was to introduce a new knife, it would have black scales. Black seems to be the least objectionable color. My favorite color, purple, would turn off more buyers than black. It might bring in a few new buyers but it would lose more sales due to the people that dislike that color. same situation with most every other color, except black.


As someone pointed out multiple colors is a manufacturing and logistical hassle. (To us consumers, logistical and manufacturing problems mean the prices would be higher.) Spyderco has released some knives outside the basic black, but I see many posts wishing they came in black. (Caribbean for example)

I'm a fan or Ti and as I look at my collection of Spydercos I find I only have one black knife, A lone Endura surrounded in a sea of glorious purple anodized titanium! (plus a couple other colors/ materials to keep things interesting.)

Grizz

Black is good. My fav is gray. Red and blue are nice. Green's not bad. Brown? Not a fan. Titanium is ok. Carbon fiber is ok, some I like better than others depending on how it's done.

Generally speaking I prefer to have color on my knives rather than plain black but I'm picky about it. Color has to be done right or it goes all wrong IMO. For that reason I use colors in nearly every custom handle I make but I can't see Spyderco being able to use anything that will be nearly as universally acceptable as black. Black does get boring, but if anything it sort of disappears on a knife and makes a person look more at the knife in it's entirety and appreciate the complete design aesthetic, rather than focusing on the color of the handle. Bringing out a color option as a Sprint makes sense to me, but it's also a risk because every color will have it's share of people who dislike it. "Blurple" for example...didn't stop me from buying an S110V PM2 but it does stop me from carrying it. It just strikes me as a childish color that belongs on a toy rather than a knife IMO, but there's probably people who like it...maybe..somewhere?

I like black, but it is so ubiquitous that even the el cheapo knives have black scales. I like colors if I can get them, but earth tones, greys, blues. I like dark olive drab, dark flat earth, dark grey, dark blues (though I do, oddly love the "blurple"). Browns are okay, depending on the shades, especially in linen micarta. I love off white and dark burgundy linen micarta, polished black G10, and other such colors, too.

SF Native wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 20, 2019 2:16 pm

bearfacedkiller wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 20, 2019 1:23 pm

My aversion to black is mostly that I have an aversion to all things tacticool. I am low speed and high drag myself and have never operated. I realize that black is the default color because it is neutral and is probably the most widely accepted color. Unfortunately I am hung up on my own bias that black knives all trace their lineage to the marketing of modern folders as tactical coolness.

I do make exceptions and honestly find polished black G10 and Micarta very attractive. Black peel ply g10 and black frn not so much.

That’s and interesting point. Hadn’t really thought of that. Growing up, most knifes were wood (buck 110), red (Swiss army), or natural horn or bone (case).

Ha, don't even get me started on he phrase "murdered out". :rolleyes: :D

When the handle-color of a new Spydie becomes my only fret, I know I’m looking at yet another great one. :cool:

bearfacedkiller wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 21, 2019 10:19 am

Ha, don't even get me started on he phrase "murdered out". :rolleyes: :D

Oh, have some fun! In my defense, I use that term in reference to the black on black often seen on vehicles with the black exterior and interior, not in tacticool terms.