Back after over a decade.

[DMgangl]

After over 10 years of being away. I decided check out the forum again. Many things have changed. I got married, had a couple kids, multiple moves, bought a house, and changed many jobs.

But one thing has remained a constant. There is always a knife in my pocket. That knife is always a Spyderco. The main knife I carried for most of that time was a Caly 3.5 in ZDP. Last year I bought a house. In the move I lost several knives, including the Caly 3.5.

While it was devastating to loose my favorite knives. Other tried and true models have kept me going. My ZDP Endura has been a constant workhorse.

Finally after reluctantly accepting that I am not going to find my knives. I decided to buy a new knife. I went with the Dragonfly in HAP40.

New and exotic steels are one of the main reasons I love Spyderco. As a machinist, steel is a passion. I have loved ZDP-189, S90V, M4, H1, and I look forward to trying out HAP40. I'm excited to get back into trying out different Mule team knives. I love that Spyderco is always experimenting with new steels, and pushing the boundaries of what is possible. I wanted to say thank you to the Spyderco team. I bought my first Spyderco in 2005, and they have been a constant and reliable companion ever since.

[SG89]

Welcome back. What spydie do you have your eye on next?

[kennethsime]

Welcome back!

I recently came back after an 8-year absence: 2011 through 2019 or so.

Some of the old faces are gone, there are quite a few new faces, but one thing's certain: there are plenty of nice people with a passion for Spydercos here.

My first few Spydercos were in ZDP as well. Sadly, lost to the ages. Plenty of new steels to try out now though, we are really pretty spoiled.

[Evil D]

Welcome back! I also got my first in '05 and it's been a roller coaster ever since lol.

[Naperville]

Welcome back! Spyderco is still rocking the best steels.

[DMgangl]

Welcome back. What spydie do you have your eye on next?

Definitely a new Mule. After that I don't know. If it's still available maybe a Para 2 in S110v.

[vivi]

Welcome back!

Welcome back. What spydie do you have your eye on next?

Definitely a new Mule. After that I don't know. If it's still available maybe a Para 2 in S110v.

It should be, they've been standard production for a while

Keep an eye out for the upcoming K390 knives. That steel has really impressed me with how easy it is to sharpen despite having extremely high end edge holding.

[tbdoc4kids]

Welcome back! Between Rex 45, K390, SPY 27, 10v, 4v, and on and on, it is a great time for Spyderco!

[sal]

Hi DMgangl,

Welcome home.

sal

[SpyderNut]

Welcome back and congrats on the wife and family! The HAP-40 D-fly is a great choice, by the way.
I took a break from the forum a while ago too (seems like it was from around 2004 to 2009 or so). At the time, I was just finishing college and didn’t have the discretionary income to support my knife habit. I had also just met a beautiful girl and my interest in buying knives suddenly took a hit. Ha! (It worked out well though, because she later said “yes” to my proposal ). Anyway, good to have you back.

[The Meat man]

Congrats DMgangl! Welcome back!

[JD Spydo]

Welcome back to Spyderville :) I do vaguely remember you when you were here last time. It's always great to see some of the guys and girls from the old group check back in. Well you're here now and it's time to get to work :D

[foofie]

Welcome back!
And if you like your endura and dragonfly, consider the new production releases of all the above with k390.

[DMgangl]

Welcome back to Spyderville :) I do vaguely remember you when you were here last time. It's always great to see some of the guys and girls from the old group check back in. Well you're here now and it's time to get to work :D

[Sumdumguy]

Welcome back to the madness!

[JuPaul]

Welcome back - looking forward to getting to know you!

[Cambertree]

Welcome back!

I always like to hear about knife models that people settle into using for years and years.

What a great model that ZDP189 Caly 3.5 is. I’d be happy to use that one as my single knife for a long time as well.

Ack, sorry you lost it, too.

I lost a ZDP189 Manbug and a Superblue Dragonfly the last time I moved house. Hopefully I’ll find them again one day.

You have great taste in steels. I really like HAP40 - I have it in the Stretch, Endura, FRN Dragonfly, Manbug and Wharncliffe Delica. I recently had the Knifecenter HAP40 Dragonfly pass through my hands for an order for a friend, and it’s a superb piece, and still currently available, I think.

And yes, look out for the K390 Seki series, currently being released. It’s an excellent bladesteel.

[Doc Dan]

Welcome back. Perhaps a Caly 3.5 lightweight would interest you?

[Wartstein]

Welcome back to the forum! :)

Just had a look on your "old" posts: You´ve been around longer "back then" (2008 to 2011) than I am (I joined in 2018)...

On the knives you lost:
One is my absolute favorite folder of all times: The Endura, though I sold my ZDP one and kept it in VG10 and HAP 40. And I´d really love to see that model coming in ffg SE...
And the Caly 3.5 is a knife I never had but it looks like a perfect design regarding what I am looking for in a folder: Compact closed size, still a cutting edge of over 3", backlock and the "thinner" (3mm) blade stock (as opposed to the "thicker" pm2-ish 3.7mm)

Since you liked the Endura and like HAP40: The sprint run in this steel can still be found for reasonable prices, and I just can highly recommend it!

And since you mentioned you´re a machinist: I just can´t help and recommend the Chaparral, be it the FRN variant or perhaps the upcoming "sun and moon" version: Perfect fit and finish, probably the best executed backlock I´ve ever experienced, and just a design that is optimized for real KNIFE tasks (especially the thin (even thinner than the DFly), but still strong enough blade stock)

Anyway, and as you probably know even better than I do: Hard to go wrong with any Spyderco...

[ChrisinHove]

Hello!