Looking for model #

[Fireman8102]

Hello all, first post here and I need some help. Back in the late 90’s/early 2000’s I had a knife that I regrettably sold. I’m looking for the model number if anyone can help. The best I can describe it was a Civilian but it had smooth stainless handles. The blade length was ~3.5-4 inches. Does any of this sound familiar. Any help is much appreciated.

[sal]

Hi Fireman,

Welcome to our forum and thanx for your service.

Smooth stainless handled Civilian is not ringing a bell. Maybe others have a better memory. Phil Gibbs used to make double Civilians with a Ti handle.

Paul?

sal

[Fireman8102]

Thanks Sal.. I hope someone here can steer me in the right direction. I bought the knife at a yard sale from a man who was a collector. I’m not sure if it was a civilian by name but it has a reverse S and smooth stainless. I traded it to a knife vender in approx 2002 for $250 trade value and he questioned me on where I acquired it as if it were something special. I was young at the time and feel as if I should have held onto it. I’m fairly certain it wasn’t titanium just from the sheer weight but I could be wrong.

[Doc Dan]

I do not know of a stainless handled hawkbill or similar that Spyderco made in that size. The Harpy had a shorter blade. The reverse S Cricket is a very small knife.

[JRinFL]

The Civilian did come in coated aluminum handles and in uncoated aluminum with kraton inserts. All according to the Spydiewiki.
http://www.spydiewiki.com/index.php?title=C12_Civilian

[Wartstein]

Thanks Sal.. I hope someone here can steer me in the right direction. I bought the knife at a yard sale from a man who was a collector. I’m not sure if it was a civilian by name but it has a reverse S and smooth stainless. I traded it to a knife vender in approx 2002 for $250 trade value and he questioned me on where I acquired it as if it were something special. I was young at the time and feel as if I should have held onto it. I’m fairly certain it wasn’t titanium just from the sheer weight but I could be wrong.

Are you 100% certain it was a Spyderco?

... and: Welcome to the forum! :)

[Fireman8102]

Thanks Wartstein, and yes I’m sure it was a spyderco. The inability to find it now throws me off but surely it wasn’t a knockoff, seems the dealer would have spotted that.

[Fireman8102]

Thanks to all who took the time to reply. I’ve looked through all your source recommendations and can’t find anything. I’ve searched high and low and still nothing. The only thing I can think of is maybe some custom job but who knows. I loved that knife and wanted to find another one just like it but I guess it never hurts to try another variant.

[Doc Dan]

WEll, I did not know that it came in aluminum. The first one had aluminum handles. They used to sell these at the store I haunted, but I did not remember the metal handles.

[JD Spydo]

What style of blade did it have? And are you 100% sure it was a "stainless" handle. I'm suspecting it might have been an older POLICE model based on what you're telling us so far. There were a lot of those around in that time slot.

[Wartstein]

What style of blade did it have? And are you 100% sure it was a "stainless" handle. I'm suspecting it might have been an older POLICE model based on what you're telling us so far. There were a lot of those around in that time slot.

Yes, but he said it had a reversed S blade... that does not sound like "Police"... :o

[JRinFL]

I'm leaning towards a custom or a custom re-handled knife. The only Spyderco with a stainless handle and a reverse S blade is the Cricket. Looking a Cold Steel's Talon & Talon II, neither came in a stainless handle.
We are left with few options if it was not a custom of some sort, OP misremembered the blade shape, or misremembered the handle, or misremembered the maker. It could have been a fake, but I doubt it. If was a custom, I'd love to see a picture of it.

[Fireman8102]

Man I wish I had pictures! This would be so much easier to describe. Unfortunately this was early 2000’s and no camera phones.

So what I am 100% on:
It was a spyderco
The blade was a reverse S, fully serrated (nobody does serrations as well as spyderco)
The handle was a smooth metal (think police)

Ok, the unsures:
I am not certain it was specifically a civilian model, although I see no other knife that comes close. Too big to be anything else.
I am not sure the actual metal material but the heft and appearance screams stainless to me.
I do not remember liner details, the best I remember it was a traditional lockback
I am not sure that it was a production model or a custom

This knife was my first Spyderco. I was 20-21 at the time and grew up on Buck 110’s and Case pocket knives my grandfather gave me. This was my intro into upper end production knives so it was my grail at the time, and really still is. I picked up the knife at a yard sale of a mid 40’s woman who had about 30 knives, benchmade, spyderco, etc. She told me her ex husband was a collector. (Fellas, be nice to your wives or hide your knives) I bought the knife and original packaging for $30 only because she felt bad because that was all I had. I kept the knife for about a year and traded it at a gun/knife show just outside Nashville, TN for $250 trade value. (I say that hoping the vendor might be on here). I regretted that decision ever since and I knew if I could ever find another it was going to cost me. Now I’m older and established I started my search only to find that I can’t find any trace of the knife anywhere. I appreciate all of you chiming in and glad for the discussion.

[Doc Dan]

I think he is confusing aluminum with stainless steel. The first generation Civilian had an uncoated, plain aluminum handle with kraton inserts according to spydiwiki.

[The Deacon]

Harpy perhaps?

Or aluminum Civilian with Kraton inserts?

[JRinFL]

Sounds like it might have been a custom blade swap? Who knows, maybe it was some prototype lifted from the factory? I remember Sal saying there was a not so good person who used to work there in the past.

[Fireman8102]

Thanks guys, I’m leaning towards something custom at this point. There’s literally zero information out there on it. If it was custom then props to the guy that did it because it looked factory for sure. I certainly hope it wasn’t lifted from the factory. There were no inserts in the handle. The scales looked like the harpy or police with a civilian profile. Def wasn’t the harpy, blade profile is not the same. I guess I’ll have to chock this one up as a loss

[The Deacon]

Thanks guys, I’m leaning towards something custom at this point. There’s literally zero information out there on it. If it was custom then props to the guy that did it because it looked factory for sure. I certainly hope it wasn’t lifted from the factory. There were no inserts in the handle. The scales looked like the harpy or police with a civilian profile. Def wasn’t the harpy, blade profile is not the same. I guess I’ll have to chock this one up as a loss

Sounds that way, as you've ruled out every production Spyderco. Only metal handled versions of Civilian were aluminum. Early one was bare aluminum, later one Tufram coated, and both were rounded (rather than flat like a Harpy or Police) and had Kraton inserts. Only other reverse S bladed Spyderco models at that point in time would have been the Matriarch, a slightly smaller version of the Civilian that only came with FRN handles, and the Cricket which, while available with a flat stainless steel handle, is a diminutive knife.

[rangefinder]

It appears that it's possible to put the Matriarch blade in an Endura handle (at least the Matriarch2/Endura4 combo): viewtopic.php?t=68075

Maybe someone combined a Matriarch blade with the stainless handles from an Endura? That'd be an easy way to get a reverse-S blade with a stainless handle.

Although the Matriarch only came out in 2000 and was not generally available until 2001, which might not fit the time frame being described.

[Donut]

I think the stainless models are pinned and the hardware is concealed. Probably a pain to get apart. Am I wrong?

I do feel like the OP should just get the "regular" Civilian and save himself some weight. If he really wants smooth scales, he can sand down the G-10 some.