Spydercos used by professionals

[BLUETYPEII]

Just for knowledge and to satisfy my own curiosity. I’ve been trying to find out a little information about Spyderco knives that are issued to, or chosen by Army, Secret Service, Navy, FBI... etc. etc.

The problem is anytime I try to look up information of this nature all I get is knife dealers, reviews and information about the Spyderco Military & Paramilitary 2. I have phrased it every way I could possibly think of but I get the same results every time :confused:

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Maybe search words or websites that would have information like this?

I’m sure the Pacific salt and Jumpmaster fall into this category but I am looking for actual confirmation.

Oh and if you are going to chime in letting us know what model you’re using/used. Who purchased it? You or the entity you work/worked for? Or in the case of US military is this just a “standard issue” situation.

The Spyderco knives actually issued by these organizations are the ones that I have been searching for but, I am also very interested to see which Spyderco knives people choose on their own to use professionally.

Thanks advance everyone!

[wheats]

As a CPA, I choose a Native LW most often. Does that count?

[BLUETYPEII]

[Cambertree]

I believe the blacked out TiCN PE Salt was issued to USMC pilots.

I recall Sal once saying that Spyderco supply knives to the Australian Antarctic scientific research bases. I’ve searched the open source Australian Government supply contracts, and using the rather poor search engine will show that ‘Spyderco Knives’ are listed as a procured item. But the search engine brings up lots of extensive contracts which I didn’t have the patience to wade through just for curiosity’s sake.

I thought Bloke might have once mentioned that Australian Navy divers are issued with Salts.

There was a non official blacked out Police exclusive for a California distributor, which was supposedly intended for USN SEALs.

[JD Spydo]

I've heard that Spyderco has had government contracts to supply various facets of the armed forces and other government entities as well. But I can't think of any that I can document at this time. As far as the government "alphabet soup" agencies like the FBI, BATF, IRS ect I'm doubtful if they would advertise anything like that. A friend of mine who was a gunsmith for many years was told not to let anyone know that he worked on firearms for many of these govt agencies.

I've seen several of those shows on the Science Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and NAT GEO>> and I've seen Spyderco knives show up on various shows. But you've almost got to be a Spyderco fan like we are to immediately notice them at times.

Oh they are out there I can assure you of that. But they've probably been told to keep their lips zipped too.

[The Meat man]

[BLUETYPEII]

As far as the government "alphabet soup" agencies like the FBI, BATF, IRS ect I'm doubtful if they would advertise anything like that.

I’m sure they wouldn’t advertise like you said. Neat little anecdote though in a review on a Spyderco automatic knife the person posting mentioned something about one of the alphabet agencies in a roundabout way without saying it so you know they’re using them.

[BLUETYPEII]

Spyderco Autonomy Coast Guard

Totally spaced that one. Rescue swimmers use a special version of the Autonomy without a clip because it’s kept in a pocket on their vest. I think it’s available to the public.

Oh and the Civilian is one too!

[standy99]

I know personally the HSC 85th are issued the Pacific Salt PE like above.




http://www.seaforces.org/usnair/HSC/Hel ... ron-85.htm

[Michael Janich]

Thank you all for the great question and the discussion.

First, it's important to understand that uniformed personnel (military, LE, and other duty-bound folks) can buy knives in a number of different ways--and at different "levels." This can range from a true "official issue" item that is adopted at a high organizational level down to individual soldiers and officers.

With regard to the former, the primary high-level successes that Spyderco has achieved have been:

The Pacific Salt PE Black Blade - Authorized for issue in US Navy and Marine Aviator SERE (Survival, Escape, Resistance, and Evasion) kits

The original Autonomy - Developed for the US Coast Guard rescue swimmers. Unfortunately, due to the long development time, its status as an official issue item was not as conclusive.

The Jumpmaster - Developed in close coordination with the Jumpmasters of the 82nd Airborne and in wide use with airborne units, but, again, not an official-issue item.

The Rescue Junior - The knife issued to the US Air Marshals.

Below this level, you have many smaller units that may choose to purchase a specific model of knife for their members. This can range from a few guys in a SWAT team up to a few dozen guys in a larger unit. Although we are honored to have them carrying Spydercos, it's inaccurate to say that our knives are "issued to" or "carried by" a specific agency or unit if that isn't true at the highest level of that organization.

Having worked military and law enforcement trade shows for Spyderco for over a decade, rest assured that our knives have been, and continue to be, carried by members of all branches of our military, all the "three-letter" agencies, and just about every other type of unit or agency you can think of. We're honored to have earned their trust and confidence.

Stay safe,

Mike

[normal]

Having worked military and law enforcement trade shows for Spyderco for over a decade, rest assured that our knives have been, and continue to be, carried by members of all branches of our military, all the "three-letter" agencies, and just about every other type of unit or agency you can think of. We're honored to have earned their trust and confidence.

Stay safe,

Mike

I got my first 2 Spydercos (Endura and Rescue) in late 1991 or early 1992 after carrying a horrible Bucklite in Desert Storm and I instantly fell in love with them and carried them on duty for the rest of my time in. I was at a special operations expo at Ft. Bragg shortly after and whoever was manning the booth was faster than anyone I had ever seen before at drawing and opening a folder. I have been buying Spydercos ever since.

[Cambertree]

Thanks as always for the fascinating information, Mr Janich.

I thought I’d also reference this post on the Moran being adapted for use for an Air National Guard unit.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=87163&p=1437447&hil ... n#p1437447

And Kissaki’s excellent history of the Spyderco Moran:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=87185

[Pokey]

Whatever Sal’s carrying.

[Michael Janich]

Thanks as always for the fascinating information, Mr Janich.

I thought I’d also reference this post on the Moran being adapted for use for an Air National Guard unit.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=87163&p=1437447&hil ... n#p1437447

And Kissaki’s excellent history of the Spyderco Moran:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=87185

Hey, Cambertree:

Thanks for reminding me of that one. That's an excellent example of an individual unit choosing a particular knife at their level.

Stay safe,

Mike