At this point, it's hard to see SPY27 replacing any mainline steel in Spyderco's lineup. There may have been a point where that was the intent, but like many have said there's not enough that sets SPY27 apart from other available materials to justify the price. I equate SPY27 to a very cool pet project that had potential, but ultimately was just a proof of concept and a fun exercise. After all, not many knife companies can say that they got Crucible to produce a custom steel for them. I have a Native 5 in this steel and I like it. Not surprisingly, it reminds me a lot of S35VN.
I wonder if it's a means to have a 2nd source for steel that's just a bit better than VG-10? If in the future there's a supply chain snag and VG-10 is hard to get, then substitute SPY27 in. All the while keep making knives with SPY27.
Carpenter made BD1N for Spyderco too, so lightning does strike at least twice.
Ah good point on the BD1N! Yes I agree, I don't think we've seen the last of SPY27, it'll pop up in production runs here and there. I seem to remember Sal saying he was looking to develop an American counterpart to VG-10 when he designed it, but I doubt they'd be shipping it to Japan in large quantities for production there. More likely it will be used for US-made models like it has so far already. Looking back over Larrin's data, it really does seem like a good blade material, it just also happens to land solidly in the performance range of a number of other steels that Spyderco is already using.
Current Carries: Military 4V, Stretch XL Cruwear, Sage 1 CF, Siren Sprint S90V, ZDP Delica Wishlist: Cruwear Military, Super Blue Caly 3.5 Favorite Steels: CTS-XHP, Cruwear, ZDP-189, LC200N
...Spy27 had a bit of a bad luck timing wise (2 years earlier it the situation would be a lot different)
This was my take, also. I own a SPY27 Manix. SPY27 performs like a lot of other great steels on the market; it's in a tight cluster of balanced steels that include S35V & S45V, and you could include S30V, XHP, M390 in that cluster also. I don't see SPY27 "breaking away from the pack" though. Larrinite will likely become that "break away" steel; it appears to be an unusual stainless outlier in terms of toughness.
I suppose that one of the main reason behind the standard models like Delica (other than the steel being actually quite decent and easy to sharpen) is unlikely to switch to steel like Spy27 is, simply, the cost. Will it be upgraded eventually? I suppose so, but keeping the cost as low as possible will most likely be the deciding factor.
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